Tag Archives: low maintenance

bulbs, garden visits, months 01-03: winter, months 10-12: fall

Embarrassment of Riches

12/31/2015 svseekins 4 Comments

It felt so awkward, I couldn’t talk about it – – – until now.

At first, I was in disbelief. Here I am with errands done & time on my hands. What to do?

Check out Abkhazi Garden. 🙂 Each visit, I pick up a few more seasonal tips. It is always lovely, no matter the month.

snowdrops blooming at Abkhazi Garden November 20, 2015 garden Victoria BC Pacific Northwest — photo by SVSeekins

This time, even before walking through the gate, I’m awestruck.
Snowdrops!
At this time of year?
That’s crazy early.

I dig out my camera to prove the sighting.
An embarrassment of riches.

Now, I’ve heard the Oak Bay area is within the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains (just across the Straits of Juan de Fuca). Under the rain shadow, there’s more sunshine & less rainfall than anywhere else on Vancouver Island.

It’s real. My buddy RG, who lives only 3 km down the road, and on the border of Oak Bay, has crocus 3 weeks earlier than we do.

But these snowdrops – – these are super early.
Unbelievably early.
November 20, 2015.

I asked gardening expert Jeff de Jong about them & he said they were regular snowdrops… no unique species or cultivar… just well established, in a prime location & very happy to be there. Wow.

I wanted to tell y’all about the blooms, but though it might be taken as bragging instead. For a while, I contemplated El Nino, & stewed about global warming.

variegated camellia blooming in mid Februarygarden Victoria BC Pacific Northwest — photo by SVSeekins

Then Jeff posted a picture of a variegated camellia he spotted on December 14. (Similar to this one I’d come by mid-February last year). Perhaps his is a natural fall-blooming variety, but the posting took me by surprise anyway. Even by Victoria’s standards, It felt too early. Under our grey skies, this seemed an omen of climate change.

Daffodil blooming mid December at Deep Cove Chalet garden Victoria BC Pacific Northwest — photo by Bonnie Manning

Then on December 20, BM posted a shot of daffodils blooming at Deep Cove Chalet.

Are these a super early variety?
Or just well established and happy in a prime location?

Again, I’m awestruck.
On the last day of Autumn – before winter even begins – –
blooms!

Snowdrops, camellia & daffodils before Christmas? Seems crazy.

Now that Solstice & Christmas have passed, and we’ve delighted in a few days of sunshine, the snowdrops are just starting to bloom in our garden. I’m looking at the world with fresh eyes. No matter El Nino or whatever else is going on, I’ve decided to enjoy the flowers along the way.

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PS Here are some other snowdrop patches I admire:

at Maltwood Manor, Royal Oak in January
at Haultain & Forbes, Fernwood, in February
at Fort Street & Leighton Road, Victoria, in February
along West Saanich Road in February

garden visits, months 10-12: fall, projects

Beyond Stone Mulch

11/23/2015 svseekins Leave a comment

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’.

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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attracting birds, months 04-06: spring, months 07-09: summer, natives, urban deer

Hardhack

07/17/2015 svseekins 1 Comment

It first caught my eye on a walk in the sunny, rolling hills of Panama Flats. What a pretty shrub! AND It’s happily growing in the wild with no gardener to fuss over it!!!

hardhack, steeplebush garden Victoria BC Pacific Northwest — hardhack
photo by SVSeekins

My mind flashes to fantasies of a low maintenance garden. Isn’t this shrub a good candidate for membership?

My go-to native plant guide, Plants of the Pacific Northwest, helps identify it:
Common names: hardhack & steeplebush.
BUT it’s the Latin name that rings bells with me: Spirea Douglasii
Spirea !!
Cousin to the decorative spirea that I see in so many urban landscapes.
Very encouraging.

non-native spirea garden Victoria BC Pacific Northwest — non-native spirea
photo by SVSeekins

The Douglas Spirea ‘s deciduous leafs are grayish with woolly texture which leads me to guess that they’re deer tolerant. Word has it that black tail deer graze it. Then another source says it is deer resistant Who knows?

It tops out at 6ft./ 2m, which is handy for hedging.

The typical home is in moist areas. That explains why it’s found at Panama Flats as well as Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary. It’s suckering habit produces dense thickets along stream banks.

The pink steeples of Hardhack first appear in June. The flowers last through the heat of summer eventually turning to brown seed clusters that hold on long after the leaves fall. That’s a luxuriously long season for feeding bees, then birds!

This plant is just as pretty as the classic lilac (syringa) & butterfly bush (buddleja). Both of those shrubs can be dominating in a garden landscape, seeding or suckering willy-nilly. I reckon hardhack is a choice replacement option, especially because it is much more of a food source to local birds, pollinators, & wild life. It can be dominating like the other two, but only in very moist situations.

I’d like to grow hardhack in my yard, but the moisture requirements are too high. We do have a ditch that would supply the moisture needed… maybe C would give up a patch of grass along there ??

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