Category Archives: garden visits

exploring other gardens

drought tolerant, evergreens, garden visits, months 01-03: winter, urban deer

Conquering Daphne

01/19/2014 svseekins 4 Comments

It’s a fabulous season for finding my inner guerilla. On my morning walk I noticed a bunch of healthy daphne / spurge-laurel beside a wooded trail.

I have a paradoxical relationship with daphne.
I like it because its evergreen, drought tolerant, and deer resistant…
BUT the Coastal Invasive Species Committee call it invasive.
AND daphne has poisonous berries & wicked toxic sap that irritates eyes & skin.
BESIDES that – – there are less offensive options to replace daphne.

daphne beside trail — photo by SVSeekins

The rainy season & my mood convinced me that today I didn’t like it. So I decided to pull some daphne closest to the trail edge & my gloved hands.

I braced my feet,
bent my knees,
gripped the main stalk,
and PULLED.

Lo & behold the daphne slipped out of the ground easily! Roots and all! Woo hoo!

I felt like pounding my chest & letting out a guerilla roar!

I moved to another… and another. 🙂

tap root of a young daphne ws — photo by SVSeekins

developed root of an older daphne — photo by SVSeekins

A young daphne has one primary root, so in winter’s wet soil it pulls out readily. If it’s a couple of years older, it has more developed roots securing it in the ground . Even so, it comes out without much trouble at all!

In about 10 minutes I pulled 86 daphne!
(Seriously!! I counted.)

daphne pulled in about 10 minutes — photo by SVSeekins

There were more still standing beside the trail but I had places to go…
so I left those behind for another day.

This is certainly the best time of year to conquer daphne.

I reckon I’ll add a little daphne pulling to my morning walk.

How’s this for an exercise regimen:

get fit
roar like a guerilla
AND conquer an invasive!

Why not?

-30-
© SVSeekins and Garden Variety Life, 2014

attracting birds, evergreens, garden visits, months 01-03: winter, months 04-06: spring, months 10-12: fall, urban deer

Early Camellia

01/14/2014 svseekins 7 Comments

Camellia is one of my favourite broadleaf evergreens. It blooms early, then works hard as background support the other 3 seasons. Several birds make themselves at home in the camellia in our courtyard – – AND the shrub is deer resistant! That’s my kind of plant. 🙂

camelia in december, at LD downtown — photo by SVSeekins

A few years ago, I spotted a hedge of camellia in downtown Victoria, beside London Drugs. They were almost finished blooming in mid-December! I have no idea how early they’d started… November? October??

Who’d have expected blooms in autumn?

Camellia japonica apple blossom, Joy Sander, Camellia sasanqua,, garden Victoria, Vancouver Island, BC, Pacific Northwest — photo by SVSeekins

Not long after that, KC gifted me with a fall-blooming camellia. It starts blooming before Christmas and has even more flowers through January!

Yeah, Baby!

Once I knew it was possible to have blooms so early in the year, I kept an eye out for even more samples around town:

camellia, february, at the legislature, cu, garden Victoria BC Pacific Northwest

photo by SVSeekins

camellia, february, at the legislature, garden Victoria BC Pacific Northwest

photo by SVSeekins

It was delightful to find another variety of camellia starting to bloom in mid-February sunshine near the BC Legislature.

camellia, march, near the YM-YWCA, garden Victoria BC Pacific Northwest

photo by SVSeekins

Just a month later, in March, I notice these camellia blooming in a yard not far from the YM-YWCA downtown.

camellia, mid april, waterloo, garden Victoria BC Pacific Northwest

photo by SVSeekins

A block or so away from our place is a camellia that flowers through April.

camellia, courtyard, may ms garden Victoria, Vancouver Island, BC, Pacific Northwest

photo by SVSeekins

Then there is the camellia in our courtyard typically begins blooming in April & is in full blossom in May.

Autumn… winter… spring…

Who knew there are so many cultivars with differing blooming schedules?

bulbs, garden visits, months 01-03: winter

Winter’s Joy – Snowdrops

12/31/2013 svseekins 1 Comment

snowdrops blooming 2013 12 27 — photo by SVSeekins

The solstice passed & each day is just a little brighter than the last. With optimism I step outside searching for signs of the new year…

JOY !! Snowdrops in bloom 🙂

If these little bulbs can thrive during the cold, cloudy winter, then so can we.

Happy New Year!

P.S. Ok, to be honest: these blooms are not from my yard. I searched & searched but found no signs of them yet. BUT – – Just 6 houses down the street, there they are! Talk about micro-climates. 🙂 All the more reason to go for a walk, eh?