Category Archives: gardens with wildlife

living around wildlife

months 01-03: winter, months 04-06: spring, natives, perrennials, urban deer

Pink Trillium

04/30/2022 svseekins 1 Comment

Western Trillium Is not your typical flower. When the bloom first opens, the petals are white. Over time they turn pink. It’s two plants in the space of one. 🙂

Trillium ovatum, western trillium, Pacific trillium, Pacific Wake-robin, Western Wake-robin, Coast Trillium, Coast Wake-robin, garden Victoria, Vancouver Island, BC, Pacific Northwest — photo by SVSeekins

At the Garden Club’s plant sales table, I was fortunate to find a mature Trillium. (It can take up to 7 years before the first bloom!) Now, it grows in our courtyard — safe from hungry deer.

Each year I’m thrilled as the perennial emerges in March & blooms by Easter.

Trillium is from the Latin ‘in 3’s’.
• 3 leaves circle the stem.
• 3 sepals frame the flower
• 3 petals highlight the bloom
• the stamens are set in groups of 3.
• there are 3 chambers to the seed pod

I reckon it looks slightly alien. Trillium ovatum, aka Pacific Trillium, is native to Pacific Northwest. It’s a delight to come across on a walk through a local woodland.

Trillium ovatum, pink bloom western trillium, Pacific trillium, Pacific Wake-robin, Western Wake-robin, Coast Trillium, Coast Wake-robin, garden Victoria, Vancouver Island, BC, Pacific Northwest — photo by SVSeekins

Alien or native… bright white or soft pink… I enjoy Trillium. I’m glad to have it in our garden. There are other trillium species native to other areas of North America & further afield. A couple of varieties have made it into our borders. Hopefully, one day — or one year — they’ll bloom, too.

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bulbs, drought tolerant, months 01-03: winter, months 04-06: spring, natives, perrennials, projects, urban deer

Perennial Hanging Basket

03/29/2022 svseekins Leave a comment

Early last year, I made 2 perennial hanging baskets to rescue licorice ferns. The voracious deer in our neighbourhood were browsing them into oblivion. I peeled the moss & ferns off our rocky outcrop & used them to line the wire baskets. Dangling just out of Bambi’s reach, the ferns are recovering nicely.

Now, my challenge is maintaining seasonal interest in the baskets.

iris reticulata, spring bulbs bloom in licorice fern, perennial hanging basket, garden Victoria, Vancouver Island, BC, Pacific Northwest — photo by SVSeekins

Each winter, I’m desperate for early colour. Because these new containers hang within view of my breakfast table, I look at them with hope. Planting several types of spring bulbs only makes sense.

perennial hanging basket in February snow garden Victoria, Vancouver Island, BC, Pacific Northwest — photo by SVSeekins

Iris reticulata & snowdrops bloomed in early February, just a few months after planting. That got me excited about spring. Then a dump of snow insisted it was still winter.
Bummer. 😦
But the bulbs took it in stride & were still showing off their colours at the end of the month.

iris reticulata, galanthus, snowdrops, spring bulbs bloom in licorice fern, perennial hanging basket, garden Victoria, Vancouver Island, BC, Pacific Northwest — photo by SVSeekins

This winter, the snowdrops returned, but sadly there was no sign of the tiny iris. On the bright side, comparing how much the licorice fern fronds grew through the 2 winters without browsing is nice.

snowdrops, galanthus, spring bulbs bloom in licorice fern, perennial hanging basket, garden Victoria, Vancouver Island, BC, Pacific Northwest — photo by SVSeekins

In mid-March of that first year, narcissus, creamy crocus & snowdrops decorated one of the baskets.

galanthus, snowdrops, crocus, narcissus, spring bulbs bloom in licorice fern, perennial hanging basket, garden Victoria, Vancouver Island, BC, Pacific Northwest — photo by SVSeekins

The narcissus carried the show well into April.

narcissus, galanthus, snowdrops, crocus, spring bulbs bloom in licorice fern, perennial hanging basket, garden Victoria, Vancouver Island, BC, Pacific Northwest — photo by SVSeekins

I experimented with some native bulbs in the other basket, hoping to help out the native pollinators & beneficials. Northern Riceroot Fritillary bloomed simultaneously with annual sea blush as the grape hyacinths were finishing up. Through May, the blooms matured and set seed.

Northern Riceroot Fritillary, Fritillaria camschatcensis, northern rice-root, black lily; Kamchatka fritillary; northern riceroot, sea blush, spring bulbs bloom in licorice fern, perennial hanging basket, garden Victoria, Vancouver Island, BC, Pacific Northwest — photo by SVSeekins

By June, the white stonecrop gave me hope for a summer show. The big challenge is finding drought-tolerant plants that survive while we’re away camping.

Sedum album hanging basket, white stonecrop, Oreosedum album , small house leek, garden Victoria, Vancouver Island, BC, Pacific Northwest — photo by SVSeekins

As the bulb foliage died back, I planted a few Salvia seedlings for late summer & autumn interest. Fingers crossed that they’re more established for this year.

Isn’t that what makes gardening so fun? It’s all one experiment after another. 🙂

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months 01-03: winter, urban deer

Witch Hazel

01/29/2022 svseekins Leave a comment

Flowers in winter are like a welcome reprieve from the blustery storm. Witch Hazel has got to be one of the top ways to get winter colour.

The other day, out walking with friends & hoping for sunshine, we came across this delightful scene.

witch hazel, witch-hazel, Hamamelis mollis, Chinese witch hazel — photo by SVSeekins

Usually, Hamamelis is more like a shrub or a small multi-stemmed tree topping out at 15 ft. This specimen has got to be the largest Witch Hazel I’ve ever seen!

I’ve admired an orange-flowered Hamamelis at the Horticultural Centre of the Pacific. It is tiny in comparison to the beast near Mt. Doug Park.

The flowers are crazy-looking but long-lasting. Some folks say they’re scented, too, but I’ve never noticed. It’s just a nice surprise to see something blooming through the first few months of the year. As with most scented plants, come prophecies of deer resistance…. hmmm, I wonder… could it be true?

Listed as suitable for zome 5, Witch Hazels are a pretty safe bet for our zone 8-9 garden. Purchasing a specimen in bloom is one of the safest ways to be sure you’re getting the variety you want. February’s a good time to be planting a tree in these parts, too. Perhaps I’ve just talked myself into a visit to the nursery?

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