I found this blue pot at a Thrift store, and I knew it would be perfect for succulents.

I’ve had the pedestal for many years, so once it was loaded on the cart, I carefully rolled it into place in the flower bed. I planted up a variety of succulents. It’s a full sun site – I think they’ll be happy.

Here you can see it in the flower bed. A nice shot of colour, and a fun focal point.

To build the new garage, we removed a cluster of poplars, and only the two on the right were left.

The bigger one had quite a lean to it.

So it finally gave in to the lean, and came down this week.

Fortunately, it missed hitting this hosta bed, missed my little dogwood and black lace elder, missed the other trees and the swing.

It did break the cedar fence, and landed on a few hostas. You can see there wasn’t much of a root ball.

That was a bit of shade for some hostas, so now they are in a lot of sun. I cannot completely replant that bed, so we’ll have to see how they do in the next seasons.

Giant fleece flower or Persicaria polymorpha certainly lives up to its name. I have one plant at each end of this bed. They are really big, looking more like a shrub. But all that growth starts out from nothing, as it dies completely back every year. It is imposing and beautiful and lush, with the wonderful white plumes. This is the size by mid June.

This statement plant is easy to care for, needing no staking or extra water. It grows here in full sun. I’ve had this bed since 2014. Some of the other plants have been changed.

But this fall or next spring I will need to dig some of the plant out. After this many years, it is starting to interfere with surrounding plants. I hate to toss the divisions – maybe a line of them at the edge of the field? Mmm.

A wonderful plant for a large garden space.

The window boxes on the south side of the house had been in shade for years. I always planted them full of impatiens and coleus and begonias. But the big trees are gone. The last maple had a big crack and had to be removed. The shady side of the house now has the sun beating down on it most of the afternoon.

So I get to plant sun loving annuals.

A bright fuchsia geranium, purple and pink calibrachoa, some blue ageratum, and such a pretty pink alyssum.

Aren’t those colours so vibrant and beautiful?

I filled the front brick planter with 4 ivies that I kept through the winter. They are very long, so they draped nicely on the planter edge.

Three coleus will provide some height, and two begonias are going to be added too.

The east window boxes are still in shade, under the old maple.

I was hoping the impatiens were fuchsia, but they are turning out more red. Some coleus, purple potato vine, and Swedish ivy will fill the boxes nicely.

The window boxes usually do really well. I always think they are such a beautiful addition to the house, and easy work. Once they are planted, I only have to water – no weeding there at least!

The garden holds surprises every season. This spring I got to enjoy this lovely fritillaria. Last year the lily beetles got it. It is pretty early, and pretty spectacular.

The viburnum beetles have been a big problem in my garden. The Snowball bush was destroyed, so we just chopped it down. But as we neglected to dig out the whole plant, it just proceeded to grow again. This year, it had lots of good growth, and a few lovely blooms. I was careful to watch for beetles, and treated them promptly. I cut back a few sprawling branches, and next year it should look great again.

The Highbush Cranberry is also looking especially lush and healthy too. Hardly a beetle to be found on any of the bushes.

That’s one of the highbush cranberry bushes to the left here, full of healthy leaves and blooms. The other blooming shrub is a beautybush.

Many years ago, I planted a Bears Breeches. Most years there was no sign of it. I would plant something else there, and late in the summer, there would be one leaf of Bears Breeches finally showing. Through time, I guess it finally got enough roots and enough room to grow. So this year, there’s some nice leaves, it’s really growing! (I’ve got to move that little coreopsis underneath.) Who knows – I might even get some blooms this year!

After all the rabbit damage, and the dead fish early this spring, it is pleasant to find some surprises and successes in the garden.

Selena, our Goddess of the Sea statue, was put in place last summer. So this summer we needed to do the bed around her. I wanted to try a more formal bed, so this will be a circle, edged in boxwoods, with colourful annuals inside.

There was another bed close by that first had to be cleared of all the plants and bulbs.

A rather large clematis was growing around the wagon wheel, so the plant and wheel had to be removed together, and plunked in a pot until later.

When the circle shape was laid out, and the other bed emptied, we were ready to till.

Then we used a string and stick, and marked out the real planting circle around Selena. The 24 small boxwoods were set in place, and they were planted in.

Around then, I decided that the curly willow tree was now going to be too lonely. The other three corners have bigger shrub beds. So I found a dogwood and a white weigela elsewhere in the garden. They were dug up and moved to keep the willow company.

A small bed was marked out for the shrubs, the soil was smoothed, and grass seed planted.

Inside the circle, I planted 48 dark purple cleome, so I’m hoping that becomes a beautiful mass of colour later this summer.

It all actually turned out really well, and quite lovely. And it was all done on the May long weekend, Friday, Saturday and Monday. I had the vision but Doug did most of the work. Good job Doug!

I’m always looking for new and interesting trees to add to the garden. I had read about the Japanese Stewartia, in Fine Gardening magazine. But the trees they write about are often hard to find. So when I did come across one in a local garden center, I purchased it.

Then they happened to talk about it on the Fine Gardening Plant Podcast. It has summer camelia like blooms, turns to a lovely red fall colour, and has an interesting peeling bark as it ages. Sounds good to me.

I was hoping to get some blooms this first summer, and indeed I found 4 tiny little buds developing.

I’m keeping it watered well, and checking for bugs or caterpillars, and so far, it seems pretty happy.

Finally I can clean the trays and cell packs. Got most of the plants in the ground now. Just a swish in a pail, and drying in the sun.

Drained the pool, cleaned it out, and got it filled with fresh water. Ready for the heat wave next week!

The hummingbird has returned, and has found his favourite perch, high above the garden.

Lots of shrubs blooming right now. Abelia at the front right, bridal wreath spirea behind, then the high bush cranberry, and on the far right is the beautybush.

The dogwood tree’s blooms are getting bigger. Full of blooms, for the first time ever.

Some edging work. Always looks so tidy.

The pergola clematis is starting to bloom.

And of course the lupins. I have never had such a lupin display, and I won’t count on it for next year! So I’m totally enjoying every day of their beauty.

A bit more news from the week. Wednesday night, trying to fall asleep, my left ankle was getting really stiff, swollen and sore. The next day, I tried to not aggravate it more, but by Thursday supper, I could barely walk on it. Near the ankle bone, it was itchy, red, very tender, almost purple. I couldn’t think of anything I had done to injure it so badly. By Friday morning, it was still a bit swollen, but less red, and I could flex the ankle again. I also got a possible answer – it could have been a bite from some bug. On Wednesday I had cleared away a big ant hill full of tiny red ants. So maybe it was one of them, I don’t know. I seem to be having bad itching and redness from a lot of bites this summer, so maybe it’s time for some repellant. (Which I don’t like wearing)

My rhododendron growing history has been pretty dismal. Oh sure, they last for a few years. These are from 2013.

The winter winds seem to dry them out and every year they just looked worse. Both of those have since been removed. At this point, I have three others, scrawny and rather ugly. They are well hidden by other plants, but each has managed to bloom.

Just one purple bloom here.

There’s new growth here and there, so I can only hope for some more blooms next year. But it’s nice to see some colour now, even just this bit.

After last year’s construction we have to clean up the area behind the new garage.

That bed with the blue flowers will get a new edge and we need to put grass in this whole patch. There will be some more tidying as we find new homes for stuff.

This is going to be made into a perennial bed. It needs soil and compost. There is a big white wall that calls for something interesting. I may re-use that old trellis, I don’t know yet. It is rather rickety.

I thought it was going to be very shady, but in the summer the high sun might reach it. I have saved some hostas for this spot, but I’m still thinking about what else will go here. A small statue? Japanese maple? I’ll have to see how I am yet inspired.

The other big summer project is a circular bed around Celena. (We name the figures around the garden – helps to clarify where you are working) The present bed around the willow needs to be cleared, the wheels removed, and then reseeded. I have never been happy with that flower bed. Only half of it was ever seen from the path, and it just seemed oddly placed.

Then we will mark and dig a circular bed around Celena and get it planted.