Some lovely spring weather this March. The snow disappeared quickly, and I could have my first walk about the garden.

The snow drops are out and really spreading. I don’t remember so many clumps before. Crocuses are blooming and spreading across the lawn.

And that’s where the fun ends.

I can’t even post pictures. The rabbits stripped two magnolias, the fragrant viburnum, the burning bushes, and the flowering dogwoods. Many other shrubs have been nibbled and chewed back. Even evergreens have been damaged. I was thinking some of the shrubs were getting big enough to handle some rabbit feasting, but this was too much. They went for shrubs that have never been damaged in 20 years!

Very discouraging to think about those shrubs and trees starting all over again.

I don’t think the ground really froze hard under all the snow we had, so the voles/moles had a great time burrowing in the lawns and flower beds, digging up perennial roots, and generally leaving trails of destruction.

It gets worse.

The pond heater failed. The pond froze nearly solid. All of my beautiful goldfish are dead. Some of them were in there for a dozen years or more. So sad.

And to top it off, these appeared at the back of our property this week.

Picturesque maybe. But these shrub nibbling, hosta chewing, tulip munching creatures are not welcome guests in the garden. I’m watching every dusk to scare them off.

So, I guess things can only get better now, right?

We have a deck on the north side of our house. Most of it is covered, but the part that is not was in bad shape and had already been replaced a few years ago. It was time again to repaint the wood that is under the roof.

So it was decided in 2019 to just redo the whole deck. First step: clear off the deck and then remove railing and posts.

Then all the boards need to come off.

New supports had to be put in between all the old joists.

Then finally the new decking material was laid on.

We replaced the wood railing with clear plexiglass railings.

It is a composite, not wood. Low maintenance. Turned out really nice!

This deck is a shady shelter from the summer sun, and we enjoy eating out here too.

I had to go through some older photos recently and I came across these from our trip to Hawaii. Truly a flower lover’s paradise.

In that climate, plants can get really big!

We drove through the clouds, up a winding road, to 10,000 feet above sea level. Quite a view from up there.

We also visited a pineapple plantation.

Botanical gardens were like another planet of plants!

And these are the flowers one finds in bouquets! Not a carnation to be seen.

Such a beautiful place to visit.

The back deck had a wee visitor.

It has been a mild winter. The chipmunks and squirrels are out nearly every day.

This squirrel found a new perch, overlooking the garden.

I have ordered my seeds for the 2021 gardening season. This year there isn’t one vegetable seed in the bunch. Slowly, the flowers have taken over the vegetable patch.

I’m trying some new seeds again this year, and giving up on others. No more asters, or ageratum.

There will be lots of dahlias again for sure.

And a good variety of zinnias. For the first time I started them early in flats, and those did really well.

Pinching back the cosmos resulted in great branching of the cosmos, and plenty of blooms to cut. I’ve ordered some new colours this year.

Celosias were amazing!

These were also excellent for fillers in the bouquets. Celosia flamingo feather.

A big patch of pink statice grows on and on, and is a great contrast in a vase.

Last year I had very bad luck with the snapdragons germinating, but I will be trying again. I ordered a package of plain white.

I also want to try more lisianthus. They need to be started very early, so I’m hoping the seeds arrive soon. They are really special, but they are fussy and slow. I did get 3 plants to grow in a pot last year.

I am certainly looking forward to lots of beautiful flowers to enjoy, and bouquets to give away this year!

I plodded through the snow to take a winter walk in the garden.

Garlands of snow.

Celena, our newest garden addition.

Snowy pillows.

This is one of my favourite resting spots in the summer. It’s a shady, quiet corner of the garden.

Charlie says hi.

The squirrels and chipmunks are out and about most days. Evidence of their activity.

A spot of colour in the white landscape. Barberry berries.

Since the trees were removed, the building has started. Digging out the hole, footings, walls, backfill. Lots of big equipment and excitement.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

The old garage lost the side wall and the roof, and the floor was jack-hammered out. Then there was a slight mishap, and the front wall was gone too.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

And of course, then the driveway had to go too.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

We also had to extend the water line, and the gas line, and the hydro line, so there was some more digging.

• 

• 

• 

• 

I’m hoping the digging is over. This trench through the lawn looks bad, but it cleaned up pretty good. The floors will be poured soon, and then we can start with the walls!

As colourful as this looks, it doesn’t make me that happy.

I didn’t plant most of these. A few years ago I dug out nearly all the phlox, and left only small plants. Now, they are overtaking the bed.

When they are done blooming, I’m going to dig them all out and get rid of them. It’s going to leave some big gaps I think, but I have some extra plants here and there to fill in, and the ones hidden by the phlox will get some space too.

The tall plants in the back corner are Joe Pye weed, and weed it is. Way too big and ugly and well, it’s gotta go too.

Guess I’ve got some work ahead of me.

This has been a great growing season for my cut flower garden.

The dahlias are beautiful and varied, with mostly pinks and purples.

I pinched the cosmos plants early, and they have provided lots of stems.

Statice is a great filler in bouquets.

This was the first year I started this celosia cockscomb with good success. Good stalks for cutting, striking colour, long lasting in the house. Yellow, orange, red, and a fuchsia tone.

And this wheat type celosia, also used as a filler in my bouquets.

And of course zinnia! I learned about pinching the small plants, and the results are big bushy plants, with lots of long stems for cutting.

Only 5 of the lisianthus germinated, and I potted them up together. I would love to have rows of these, with lots of colours. So lovely.

So this was the cutting results this morning.

Three bouquets for today.