Tag Archives: shrub border

Forsythia Forcing Indoors

02/22/2022 svseekins Leave a comment

Forsythia in late winter, Forsythia x intermedia, Easter tree, golden bells, spring flowering shrub, border forsythia, garden Victoria, Vancouver Island, BC, Pacific Northwest — photo by SVSeekins

We’re beginning to see a little bit of sunshine peeking through our West Coast winter overcast. I yearn for spring, but it’s just not quite here yet.

The Forsythia is stretching for the sky. A couple lanky stems impede C’s access to the driver’s car door, so I’m pruning them back when a thought occurs to me: These bare stems might give us an early spring if I bring them indoors.

It’s easy. Just a vase, some water & a spot in some indirect light. After a few days, the tiny buds begin to plump & even show some colour. It’s promising!

forcing forsythia indoors, Forsythia x intermedia, Easter tree, golden bells, spring flowering shrub, border forsythia, garden Victoria, Vancouver Island, BC, Pacific Northwest — photo by SVSeekins

A few days after that — blossoms! Oh, JOY! 🙂

It’s like magic.
A patch of sunshine inside the house —
even when there’s an unexpected skiff of snow outside.

It’ll be a full month before the shrub near the driveway explodes into brilliant yellow blooms announcing to all that spring is upon us in the Pacific Northwest. Bring it on!

Isn’t this just another reason why Forsythia will always have a place in our garden?

forsythia in bloom, Forsythia x intermedia, Easter tree, golden bells, spring flowering shrub, border forsythia, garden Victoria, Vancouver Island, BC, Pacific Northwest — photo by SVSeekins

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attracting birds, months 07-09: summer, urban deer

Belief In Magic

10/22/2019 svseekins 5 Comments

It was one morning in September 2006 when I realized fairies are real. Dancing in the autumn chill beneath the birdbath was a flurry of naked ladies.

I found them enchanting…
surely elves & pixies would pop up any minute.

Only a month had passed since we’d purchased our home. I’d done nothing in the yard, besides delivering a few pots from our old home. This magic just ‘happened‘… unprompted.

We were crazy-busy, making the house our own. It would be a long while before much time could be spared for gardens…
yet I knew, then & there, this circle of fairy dancers had to be incorporated into our landscape plans… Somehow.

Given the birdbath & tiny flower bed was awkwardly adrift in a sea of lawn, I needed imagination. It took me a while to figure out what to do with it.

birdbath bed 2008 01 — photo by SVSeekins

Finally, we moved forward, creating a corner border. Rock edging started at the forsythia & gate (to the right / east)…
encompassed the birdbath, & cherry tree at the end of the driveway (center-right)…
then followed the northern fence line to the rhododendron (far left). (photo: Xmas 2007)

birdbath bed 2009 08 — photo by SVSeekins

Early on, it felt like a giant, near-empty space that would take forever to turn into a real garden. The new shrubs seemed tiny & lost. The local deer nibbled the Strawberry Tree (Arbutus unedo). They nearly destroyed the Bottlebrush (Callistemon) with their antlers. Happily, the fairies came back every autumn to dance in the shivery sunshine. The deer gave them peace. 🙂 (photo: August 2009)

birdbath bed 2013 09 — photo by SVSeekins

Five years in, it was starting to look like something more. The Rhodo (far left) loved the company – growing almost as much as the newer shrubs. Those shrubs were now large enough to stand up against the deer a little better, so I removed their cages. The birds & fairies were enjoying the extra privacy as the garden grew up around the birdbath. (photo: Sept. 2013)

birdbath bed 2019 09 — photo by SVSeekins

After a dozen years, the party continues. The shrubs have matured into small trees. The border has grown into a mini-woodland. The birdbath almost disappears in the dappled understory! I reckon it’s even more magical than before. And each September, the fairies come to dance. (photo: Sept. 2019)

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attracting birds, months 01-03: winter, months 04-06: spring, months 07-09: summer, months 10-12: fall, natives, urban deer

Scary Berries – Red Osier Dogwood

10/31/2018 svseekins 2 Comments

Cornus sericea, Cornus. stolonifera, Swida sericea, red osier dogwood, red-osier dogwood berries, flowers, white berry, garden Victoria BC Pacific Northwest — photo by SVSeekins

Until recently I hadn’t seen the freaky eyeball berries of the Red Osier Dogwood even though I’d planted the shrub in our garden several years ago.

Cornus sericea, C. stolonifera, C. alba, C. occidentalis, Swida sericea, red osier dogwood, red-osier dogwood, red willow, red stem dogwood, red twig dogwood, red-rood, creek dogwood, western dogwood, American dogwood, white berries, white flowers, white berry, garden Victoria BC Pacific Northwest — photo by SVSeekins

There are several reasons why I’d planted Cornus sericea in our garden:

It’s native to Canada & flourishes around BC, so I figured it would survive well & be low maintenance.
photo by SVSeekins

The flowers attract local pollinators.
The berries are a food source for many songbirds.
The dense vegetation provides wildlife shelter.
Red Osier Dogwood provides garden interest through all 4 seasons:
photo by SVSeekins

photo by SVSeekins

photo by SVSeekins

Flat-topped, white clumps of small flowers emerge in spring.
Those flowers morph into panicles of white berries in summer & persist well into winter.
The green leaves have the distinct parallel veins that make the shrub noticeable from other background shrubs in summer, but it’s the reds of fall foliage that’s even more eye-catching.
Red Osier Dogwood’s ornamental fame is based on the vibrant red bark of young stems – so decorative in winter when deciduous shrubs are bare & the world seems grey.

This is all true.
But there were 2 attributes I soon discovered for myself.

photo by SVSeekins

Red Osier Dogwoods survive drier sites but prefer lakesides & wet ditches. It’s happier with more moisture than our garden gets through long, dry summers.
Deer.
Deer enjoy the foliage & the flowers. Unfortunately, they’re too greedy to ever let the specimen in our garden prosper – much less ever go into berry.

I finally gave up & dug out the struggling shrub.

Now I enjoy sightings of Red Osier Dogwood in the wild – where the deer population is not as condensed.

At this time of year, when I’m out hiking, the freaky eyeball berries remind me the spooky season is upon us & trick-or-treaters will be coming to our door.

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