Category Archives: garden seasons

joy in every season

Beyond Stone Mulch

stone mulch in Gordonhead, garden Victoria BC Pacific Northwest
photo by SVSeekins

The home owner wanted a nice looking yard.

He got it.

The stone mulch added that Zen feel.

He also wanted ‘low maintenance’.

stone mulch in Gordonhead, garden Victoria BC Pacific Northwest
photo by SVSeekins

Nope.

“Missed that by a mile,” he says.

Unless you’re into daily raking for meditation…
Don’t do it!

overgrown stone rock mulch , , garden Victoria BC Pacific North West
photo by SVSeekins

Why?

  • Any stray leaf, twig or weed stands out.  (Like dust on a black car.)
  • And the different rock sizes roll into each other during raking & leaf blowing maintenance.

But when it looks good, it really looks good, doesn’t it?   So…

stone mulch near University Heights, garden Victoria BC Pacific North West
photo by SVSeekins

If you’re determined to get ‘the look’ and insist on the ‘low maintenance’ too… perhaps the answer is cementing the stones into place.

Yeah, it’s not the same Zen as the first yard, but…

faux stone rock mulch at Denny's bus stop, garden Victoria BC Pacific North West
photo by SVSeekins
  • There’s no where for weeds to take root…
  • And the wind will likely take away any stray leaves.
  • There’s an added benefit of stopping soil compaction when folks walk across the bed (especially around this bus stop)
  • It also provides a distraction for the kids waiting & waiting….
stone mulch in Langford, garden Victoria BC Pacific Northwest
photo by SVSeekins

Either way, the look of stone mulch is popular in residential and commercial spaces.  They can’t all be disappointed..
or can they?

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Alice In Wonderland Mushrooms

orange mushroom toad stool Alice In Wonderland, garden Victoria BC pacific northwest
photo by SVSeekins

The scorched grass of summer morphs into verdant lushness.
The air sparkles.
Leaves tremble.

I’m Alice In Wonderland, admiring a toadstool.

orange mushroom toad stool Alice In Wonderland, garden Victoria BC pacific northwest
photo by SVSeekins

Am I too big?
Or are they too small?
Looking around, I’m disappointed there’s no bottle labelled ‘drink me.’

Still, I’m enchanted.

Anything this beautiful must be magical – – but NO.

Research says this is probably Amanita muscaria.  Hallucinogenic, YES.  But not in a good way.  Bad.  Very BAD.

cap of orange mushroom toad stool Alice In Wonderland, garden Victoria BC pacific northwest
photo by SVSeekins

Fungus & mushrooms are a mystery to me.  Our rainforest abounds with their fruiting bodies each autumn.
They’re so exotic looking – so tempting.

Haida Gwaii (also known as the Queen Charlotte Islands) is mushroom heaven.  I went there one September to visit friends & forage chanterelles.  We found so many varieties I lost count.  And the 2 volumes on Mushroom ID just made me even more nervous about proper recognition.
So many. So similar. So tasty. So deadly.
Too risky.

orange mushrooms toad stool Alice In Wonderland, garden Victoria BC pacific northwest
photo by SVSeekins

Each year the South Vancouver Island Mycological Society host a Wild Mushroom Information Day at Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary.  Perhaps I should be brave this year and give it a try.

Or maybe playing with my camera in the woods is more my style. Hmmm.

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Great Grapes

Woo-hoo!!
This year our grape-vine has produced grapes!  It’s thrilling.

green grapes September 2015 garden Victoria BC Pacific Northwest
photo by SVSeekins 2012

Most years we get 1 or 2 clusters of teeny-tiny grapes… and honestly, I thought that it was just the way this particular variety of grape made fruit.

Nope.

Whatever variety of grape this is, it is capable of producing a wonderfully sweet, juicy eating grape.

green grapes September 2015 garden Victoria BC Pacific Northwest
photo by SVSeekins 2015

When I picked my first cluster, he weight of it astounded me.  I  just had to check it out on the kitchen scale – –
2.5 pounds !!!

Can you believe it?

And they’re tasty, too!

Now it would be nice to know what we did differently this year…

 

green grapes September 2015 weight garden Victoria BC Pacific Northwest
photo by SVSeekins

Was it because C didn’t winter prune the vine as hard as he usually does?
… or because we had an especially sunny summer?
… or because there was less competition for water & nutrients in the planting bed this year?

Perhaps there’s a good reason this area is marketed as the Wine Islands.

Cheers      🙂

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