Tag Archives: evergreen

evergreens, garden chores, months 01-03: winter

A Heavy Snow Load

02/10/2017 svseekins 2 Comments

It was a dark and snowy night…

This is not normal for Victoria. The snow might be pretty but this is a rain-forest. We’re not set up for snow. Neither are our gardens.

the Yew bending under the weight of snow — photo by SVSeekins

Tonight’s concern is the snow load on the hedging. It’s amazing how flexible some branches can be as snow gathers & literally weighs them down. But some wood fibers are breaking as the branches bend. The sooner the weight is removed, the more likely a branch is to bounce back & resume its regular shape for good.

the Yew recovering from the weight of snow — photo by SVSeekins

Out comes my trusty rake. Wielding it backward, I thrust the pole end into the lowest branches & give the shrub a light shake.

It’s best to start low & gradually work up. Release the load from lower branches before risking adding more to them with the snow falling off upper branches.

Arbutus unedo bending under the weight of snow garden Victoria BC Pacific Northwest — photo by SVSeekins

Once broken, there’s no mending a branch. All those years of growing into a full-sized shrub…
the lovely shape…
our increased privacy…
can be ruined overnight. Heart-wrenching.

Arbutus unedo recovering from the weight of snow garden Victoria BC Pacific Northwest — photo by sVSeekins

Although hedgers like yew & cedar are especially susceptible, same goes for the broadleaf evergreens. Rhododendron.
Strawberry Tree.
Camellia.

Flower buds are already well-formed on the rhodos & camellia. So if I want many blooms this spring, it requires a delicate shake to remove the snow & only the snow.

After that, it’s good to head inside, dry off & treat myself to a hot chocolate (with Frangelico). After all, it’s a dark and snowy night…

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attracting birds, drought tolerant, evergreens, garden visits, months 04-06: spring, months 07-09: summer, months 10-12: fall, perrennials, urban deer

Red Hot Pokers – Kniphofia

07/29/2016 svseekins 2 Comments

Red Hot Pokers are goofy plants.

Folks either love ’em or hate ‘en.

Me?
I love ’em.

Here’s why:

The ‘red hot’ blooms remind me of Halloween candy corn from when I was a kid.
photo by SVSeekins

Kniphofia grow happily on our rocky outcrop in very little soil…
with very little moisture…
So they’re super drought tolerant AND low maintenance, too. Win, win!

They’ve transplanted easily into partial-shade borders. I like plants that are easy to grow.
photo by SVSeekins

Hummingbirds & bees LOVE LOVE LOVE the blooms.

The deer – – not so much. Our local deer just ignore the Kniphofia 🙂

Red Hot Pokers, aka Torch Lilies, are pretty much evergreen in Victoria – – unless it snows.
In which case they immediately turn to slime…
Then come up fresh & green again when the weather calms down. That works just fine for me.

photo by SVSeekins

The Red Hots I’m most familiar with – – those with the graduated red + orange + yellow on one poker – – bloom in our garden in May.

Last July I saw some blooming in the Government House Gardens. I immediately searched out a few summer bloomers for our place.

These varieties, likely Knifophia uvaria ‘echo mango’ and ‘echo rojo’ are dwarf and have much narrower leaves. They’re designed to re-bloom throughout the growing season.

They also stayed green through the winter, although they looked a little more dried & messy compared to the May bloomers. Happily they bounced back in the spring sunshine. Now they’re blooming !

The deer have nibbled a couple tender flower spikes, but I’m hoping that’s just curiosity, and they’ll leave the dwarf plants alone from now on. Finger’s crossed.

To my amazement Abkhazi Garden had some Red Hot Pokers blooming near their front gate in December!
Who knew?

Isn’t that a Must Have?

Anyone know where I can source some of those??

lilac, red hot pokers, irs, lupin Lupinus, with the ceanothus just about to come into bloom too, garden Victoria, Vancouver Island, BC, Pacific Northwest — photo by SVSeekins

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evergreens, months 01-03: winter, perrennials, projects

Hellebore Bowl

03/22/2016 svseekins Leave a comment

helleborus Hellebore - Mardi Gras double dangling garden Victoria BC Pacific Northwest — photo by SVSeekins

It feels like magic to have blooms in the garden through the winter months, so it’s no surprise I admire Hellebore.

helleborus Hellebore - Mardi Gras double & hand garden Victoria BC Pacific Northwest — photo by SVSeekins

Commonly the flowers gaze at the ground, likely trying to shed our west coast rain. When I take the time to lift the face of one, I realize it’s even more lovely .

Happily I don’t have to stand in the rain to enjoy the blooms. These flowers last really well inside the house as cut flowers (over a week). BUT their nodding heads do make a vase arrangement tricky.

At the mini-show of the View Royal Garden Club last month, judge JB suggested floating the blooms face up in a bowl.

helleborus hellebore garden Victoria BC Pacific Northwest — photo by SVSeekins

CH, from Victoria Horticultural Society, floated a collection of Hellebore in a large casserole at the VHS parlour show. Wow, what a variety of hellebore blooms!

It’s no wonder the Hellebore has become so popular over the past few years.

The very next day I delighted in another display. AF put together a collection of blooms from her yard & floated them in a bowl on her coffee table.
So simple.
So lovely.

With all this encouragement, I’ve finally got up the nerve to pick some of our flowers & try an arrangement myself.

I use a mini pie plate, fill it with water, then float the blooms. The toughest part is deciding on colour placement… but seriously, that’s just beginner’s nerves. It looks OK, doesn’t it?

Now it feels like there is hope for spring. What could be easier than this !?!

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