Dream in Flowers

Flame of the Woods-Ixora

'Time stands still in the presence of

nature's beauty.'

Bougainvilla

 I recently had the pleasure and privilege of traveling to St.Lucia.
   So today, as I look out my window to a cold, blowing snowy day I thought I would brighten yours by sharing some of the islands beauty.

Bougainvilla

Bougainvilla and Chalice Flower

  
I consider this a perfect day to look through gardening magazines and books or maybe to scan the internet for plants and ideas for the garden. Not only will it cheer you up but you will be prepared when spring decides to show up and you can get out into the garden.

Lollypop 

      













   Some of these plants such as the Bougainvilla and Lollypop plant can be grown as annuals so, if you don't live in a tropical climate, don't forget to check out the tropical section of your garden centre when looking for something unique for the garden.

Heliconia

Heliconia- Crab claw

  

Heliconia

 

    So don't get discouraged when you look outside, consider it a snow day for doing nothing but dream of sunny days to come.

    It is only 42 days until spring and if you think how fast the days fly by that is not that far away. 

    

     Happy Dreaming and Happy Gardening!!

Croton

Blue Jade Vine

Ginger Lily

Ginger Lily

Winter's Beauty

Ice covered branches

 "Of winter's lifeless world
 each tree now seems a perfect part;
       Yet each one holds summer's secret
             deep down within it's
                       heart."
                                   -Charles G. Stater

Snow covered Clematis and Birdbath

  January, it's that time of year when the excitement of the holidays has passed and we are left with days that are cold and bleak.  As the cold days set in and we long for summer days it is hard to appreciate winter's beauty. But, every morning as I take my dog outside I look around and winter casts her spell. It's like looking at your garden through a different lens, one that takes the dead and throws a blanket of white over it and gives it new life.
  Now I'm not saying I like the cold that winter has thrust upon us  but I do enjoy the magic it creates with its icy, snowy days.



   Going for a walk after a fresh snow fall has covered the trees and ground can make that winter day so much more enjoyable. The world gets transformed from a bleak grey to a beautiful wonderland of crystals sparkling in the sunlight.
    It's a great time to take your camera and capture some of the trees and plants that catch your interest, getting ideas for your own garden. One of the things to always keep in mind when adding larger plants such as shrubs and trees to your garden is how they will look in winter, think of what interest they will add to your winter garden.

Sumac covered in ice and snow.

  It's also a great time as January draws to a close to get out your wish book and write down all the plants you want to try this year. Draw out your plans for new flower beds or color schemes you want to try.

Weeping Japanese Cherry

Ornamental Grass

  Some people like to go with just one colour which can have a great impact, just make sure you have different variations of that one colour and a good assortment of plants and textures.
  If you want an all white garden, besides the snow covered one that is, think of adding different shades of green to it as well, the green shines, tucked among the white. Ground covers such as Sweet Woodruff with it's tiny white bloom adds great texture and it's leaves stay green long after the bloom has gone. Hostas are always a good choice when trying to impart green to a garden.
  An all blue or lavender garden brings a calm and relaxation to your garden. Red is bright and bold adding a certain kind of energy to it surroundings, the same goes for an orange themed garden. Yellow is like sunshine, bright and cheery.

Gingko Biloba Tree

    We only have 57 days until the first day of spring so use those days to dream of summer days ahead.  Curl up in a cozy chair with a cup of tea or a hot toddy and if you're lucky by a warm fire, pull out your gardening magazines and books and start planning for a new garden season. But don't forget to get outside once in a while and enjoy the winter garden and get inspired.


Happy Gardening! Happy Dreaming!

A Long Winter's Nap

Perhaps
      what moves us in winter
 is some reminiscence of
      a far off summer.
                                   -Henry David Thoreau

  










 Now that our garden's have all been tucked in and put to bed for the winter it is time to relax a little and enjoy the stark beauty of a winter's landscape.

     I for one love the look of winter. The trees exposed in all their glory, showing us their true shape. Each one bare, you get to see each twist and turn of the branches and the trees true character.
 I also love that all the birds nests which are usually tucked away from sight, hidden among the leaves, are now exposed for all to see. I am always amazed at the size of some of them, so tiny and intricate.  
  And then there are the squirrels nests, mounds of leaves formed to provide warmth on cold winter days and a place to put their winter stash. They aren't to afraid of the cold and it is only on very cold days that they tuck themselves away. I am always amused by the way they scurry up and down the trees jumping from one to the next. It's like a jungle gym for squirrels.

  
  Hopefully, you had the chance to cut back your perennial's, cover-up any delicate plants and plant your spring bulb's. I for one did not get around to planting any spring bulbs. I had good intentions but delayed it to long. I will just have to plant extra next year. I always try to put at least a couple of dozen in each year so that I always have a lovely spring display. Bulbs get old or get replanted by some meaningful squirrels ( or so I like to think)  So, if you add some every year,  you will always have something blooming for you in the spring.














       I did manage to cut back all of my plants and put cones around my roses and more delicate plants. I know some people like to leave their clean-up until spring but for me I like to do it in the fall. One of the reasons is that I find, especially in the past few years, the plants are coming up early and if you have left clean up for spring they tend to get lost among the old garden waste. Also, there is always a lot to do in the garden in spring so why add to it. Having taken care of it in the fall you can get right to things without having to clean up first. I'm all about the easy, plus I don't really like old wet soggy leaves.














      So now that you have all that work out of the way you can use these cold winter months to sit back and start planning your garden for next year. It's a great time to flip through gardening magazines and books and think of the things that did or did not work for you last year. Keep a note book and that way you won't forget what you would like to add or change. I like to keep a garden journal, I actually have a couple, with pictures and notes.  It makes life easier and helps you remember what everything looked like thus making it easier to know what needs to be changed. If you find pictures in magazines of a garden, garden accessory or plant you like, cut it out and put it in your journal. Write down names of plants, seeds etc of things you want to have a look at, try or find out more about.

  











  I have been looking at a few food blogs and have decided I would like to try and add a few more vegetables to my garden. This will take a bit of juggling of plants but I have time now to figure out what I have to do to make it work. One of the blogs I was looking at is called 'dishing the dirt' and another is 'white on rice' both great blogs and worth checking out.
     So use your free time from the garden to plan ahead. Enjoy the winter landscape, take a walk and see what plants other people have that are adding winter interest to their yards. Take time to relax and enjoy the break and dream of summer days to come.

Happy Gardening! 

Autumns little glories

Halloween  display

"I love Autumn, the one season of the 

year that God seemed to have put

there just for the Beauty

of it."

                                         -Lee Maynard

                                    

Blooms from succulents

   In the Autumn when we start to see our gardens die off there are always a few plants that seem to hang on. This is a perfect time to enjoy those last few blooms by bringing them in. 

I don't know about you but I hate to see those beautiful flowers sitting out in the garden not being appreciated by anyone. Also it gives us a chance to grasp the last few days of summer by brightening up our homes. 

Blooms from succulents

Climbing Rose

     I always seem to have roses that want to hang on, not giving in to cold nights and frosty mornings, so why not help them out and let them thrive inside. This red rose below is that lovely rose of mine that has such an intoxicating scent, there is no way I could leave it outside given the chance of smelling it one more time. 

Shrub rose

Pineapple Sage flowers

  This bouquet is the flower of Pineapple Sage. Unfortunately it seemed to bloom very late this year and so when I started to clean up my garden it was just in full bloom. Instead of cutting it down I decided to bring it in and I do think it makes a lovely display. Just remember the ants love this plant and hide in the deep throats of this flower.
    So give them a good shake and check them carefully or you might have ants crawling about the house.



   And then there are the grasses. They make a great display for Thanksgiving and Halloween.  I love the Northern Sea Oats because you can bring them in, place them in a vase without water and they just dry beautifully. They add lovely colour and texture to your Thanksgiving display and will remain that way until you throw it away. Talk about easy. You can do the same with Hydrangea's and Sedum blooms which make a lovely fall bouquet and would look great among the Sea Oats.

Northern Sea Oats

   The tall grasses are perfect for Halloween, especially the ones with feather like blooms. Just cut them and place them where you want, as they dry they have more character so it's a good idea to cut them maybe a week before Halloween.
    I also left my urn with it's grasses out for Halloween which made a colourful and interesting and not to mention easy display. All I did was add a few plastic skulls and faux leaves and I was done.

   So before you start tearing your garden down, look around and see if there is anything you can bring in, allowing you to savour summer for a few more days.

Happy Gardening!

Porcupine Grass 

Zen and Now

If you are having trouble seeing clearly,

take a moment to relax

and just enjoy

the view from where you are.

Zen garden/ground covers

  I don't know if you remember me talking in a previous post about my Zen garden but I had mentioned the fact that it was a great deal of work. 

  As you can see in the pictures it was very full and required many hours of weeding to keep it looking good. Now being a Zen garden I found it was not providing me with tranquility but frustration at the speed in which the weeds would grow.

  Even though I did love the way it looked and all the lovely ground covers,  I needed to change something.  So as the garden season came to an end I decided it was a good time to do just that and make my life a little easier. 

Zen garden

   I decided to make good use of the space and at the same time retain some of it's character. I left quite a few of the grasses on the edge of the garden and also my new Japanese Maple.















  This is my now empty Zen garden, it makes me a little sad to see it this way but I know I will enjoy the extra time I will have to spend elsewhere in the garden.
  I managed to move quite a few of the ground covers to different areas of my garden so I will still get to enjoy them, just not in such abundance. I also managed to give away most of the grasses so I feel good about that. Waste not want not.

    And this is my new patio. I am so happy with the way it turned out and can already picture how it will look with my planters and furniture in the summer.  As you can see some of the grasses are still there but it all looks much neater. I love the way my Japanese Maple is centre stage and hopefully it will thrive in that spot.

 I also find that the patio makes the whole yard look bigger and the area itself looks so much bigger even though it is almost the same size as before. 

    In the spring I will use various planters to add colour and character to this new 'Zen' type patio. I plan to put my stone bench back, maybe along the window wall and hopefully add a water feature as well.

   I  am also really pleased at how well it works with the deck, especially the colouring. It has a nice flow and turned out just as I had pictured.

  One thing for sure is I already feel more Zen just thinking of relaxing in that spot rather that being on my knees weeding.







  So remember, fall is a great time for making changes and if you are planning something like this I highly recommend the fall. I was not anticipating the amount of dust that would be involved and would not want that in the spring if it can be avoided.

  Also, when the snow starts to melt and those lovely spring mornings start calling you outside, the work is already done.
  You can sit back, relax and watch your garden come to life once again.

  I think that 'Zen' is already working for me.

Happy Gardening!

Late Bloomers

Blanket Flower

                                                            " By all these lovely
                                                          tokens, September days
                                                         are here. With summer's 
                                                             best of weather and
                                                          Autumn's best of cheer. "

    One of the things I have tried to do over the years is make sure I always have something blooming from season to season. I guess that is really the idea of having a perennial garden, to have a continuous bloom from spring to fall.
  Even though a garden is never really finished I feel I have been somewhat successful in accomplishing a continuous bloom throughout the seasons.

Sedum, Blanket Flower and Helenium

  Fall has a lot to offer in colour and as we all know if you have trees then there is a guarantee of some beautiful fall colour. That aside there are lots of fall plants to choose from, a lot of  'late bloomers' so to speak.
  There's something to be said about being a late bloomer. They get to be the last hurrah of the growing season and usually require little care. They also add a splash of colour to an otherwise colourless dying garden. I also find I tend to be less fussy about my fall flowers. Maybe it's knowing that they are the last hurrah and don't have to look good for a couple of seasons, when it's gone it's gone. Whatever the case may be fall can be a rewarding time in your garden offering a comfort that we don't get in the deep heat of the summer or the toil of spring gardening.

Anise Hyssop and Hibiscus

 Another thing that is wonderful about fall flowers is that some of them such as Hydrangea's and Sedum's, can be brought in and left to dry in a vase where they will self preserve. If you like you can spray paint them and add them to your Thanksgiving or Christmas decor.

Hydrangea and Hibiscus

Sedum - 'Matrona'

 











  

  Holly is also one of those plants that you can clip and bring in to add to your Christmas decor, just be sure not to bring it in too soon or it will be dead by Christmas. You also need to have a male and female holly plant in order to produce berries. Mine has taken a few years to get to where it is but I also moved it several times, which they don't seem to like. Something to keep in mind before you plant a holly bush.

Holly- Blue Princess

 I have a list of some of my favourites and if you're out at the garden centre don't forget to look and see if they still have plants that they are trying to get rid of. They may not look very good but that is to be expected and you should be able to get them for a great price.

Anemome - Queen Charlotte

Japanese Windflower - Anemome

Pineapple Sage - should be in full bloom this time of year.
Butterfly Bush - also still blooming
Coneflower - some will still be blooming, check bloom times
Fall Aster
Toad Lily
Sedum - at it's best right now
Japanese Anemome
Anise Hyssop
Sea Holly
Sweet Autumn Clematis - my absolute favorite
Holly
Hibiscus - amazing large plate size blooms
Chocolate Boneset - beautiful white flowers against chocolate colored leaves

 There are many more but those are the ones that I seem to have the best of luck with and they add a great punch of colour. Like most plants it's best to give them a try and see what works for you.

Borage

Also, don't forget about your herbs, such as  Lavender, Pineapple Sage, Borage, Nasturtium and Anise Hyssop which are all still in bloom in my garden. They add a great shot of colour and are easy to remove so you can leave them until first frost.

Pineapple Sage

    So even though we may be sad to see our summer come to an end, if we plan ahead we can have a beautiful fall garden, full of colour.
   Bring some of that colour indoors and enjoy all that Autumn has to offer.

Happy Gardening!

Toad Lily

Chocolate Boneset

Jam Session

Green Tomato Mincemeat

                                                   'Gratitude makes of each moment
                                           a feast for the eyes and a banquet for the soul.'

   I really liked the way my Lavender Honey and Nasturtium Vinegar turned out so I decided to try my hand at a few other things.
   I thought I would try a few different kinds of honey. The first one I made was Lemon Balm and Ginger honey and I have to say I think this is my favorite. It has such a wonderful flavour, both of the lemon and ginger. It is apparently a good honey to add to tea or to just take by the teaspoon full if you have a cold or sore throat. Either way it is very tasty. I also tried Pineapple Sage Honey, it's good but I don't find the flavour as strong as I would like. I think next time I would use more leaves and wait until it is blooming so I can also use the flowers. And of course there's the Lavender Honey which I made more of.  I love everything about Lavender but it is definitely an acquired taste and I find a lot of people don't like the flowery taste of Lavender.

Lavender, Pineapple Sage and Lemon Balm/Ginger Honey

  You can use these honey's where you would normally use honey such as on scones, muffins, toast, in tea and over fruit. You might also pair it with a strong cheese such as a blue cheese or cheddar.  You could also substitute it in a cookie recipe that asks for honey, especially the Lavender honey which would be wonderful in something like a sugar cookie or in shortbread. Use your imagination.

Herb Jellies

   The next thing I decided to try was Herb Jellies. The first one I tried was a Nasturtium Jelly and I am  very happy with the results but would have preferred a more peppery taste. As with the honey,  I think next time I would use more flowers and leaves and maybe steep it a bit longer. The recipe calls for you to bring the liquid to a boil and then remove it and let it steep for 10-15min. I think what I would do is bring it to a boil and then simmer it on low for half an hour and then adding more liquid if need be to have the required amount. The second one I tried was Nasturtium flowers with Rosemary and it has a nice earthy flavour. With this one I did steep it longer on a low simmer with much better results. They are both a beautiful colour and would look lovely sitting on a cheese platter pairing nicely with an assortment of cheese or with a roast of pork.

Tomato and Peach Jams

   I also tried my hand at some jams.  
  I first tried a Tomato Basil Jam at a restaurant in Burlington called the Alex. They served it on a Phyllo pastry crust along with Arugula and Goats cheese and if I'm not mistaken Caramelized onions. Amazing!!
  So, since I enjoyed it so much I decided to make some, I still had a lot of Tomato's from my garden and decided this was a great way to use them. I am very happy with the way it turned out and it also looks really nice speckled with chopped Basil also from my garden.
  It is best served at room temperature and also pairs nicely with cheese. Is there anything that dosen't??

   Next I tried my hand at Peach Lavender Jam with peaches that I bought in Niagara on the Lake. Now I'm sorry to say that although it looks very pretty it did not set. So not wanting to throw it away (and please don't ever do that unless it tastes vile) I decided to reheat it and add a little more pectin. Word to the wise, never leave it unattended even for a minute. It has a lot of sugar and yes will burn very quickly which is what happened to me. Lesson learned.
   If you don't want to go to the bother of redoing the jam if it dosen't set you can always use it for a topping on ice cream, pound cake etc. I wish I had decided to do that, I used my precious Lavender flowers in the jam and was so disappointed to lose it.

Green Tomato Chutney

  The next thing I tried was Chutney. Now I have not really had many Chutney's but again I had quite a few Green Tomatoes left and can only eat so many fried ones so decided on Green Tomato Chutney. It is really straight forward and dosen't need to set which is nice. After stewing all your ingredients together, pour into sterilized jars, follow the same rules as you do when canning and you're good to go. This pairs well with roast chicken or pork chops, you could use it as a relish on a hot dog or even with quesadilla's.

   I made two kinds of Green Tomato Chutney, actually one is called Green Tomato Mincemeat. The recipes is much the same except that you use brown sugar instead of white and eliminate the onion in the mincemeat. It seems to have a sweeter smell and is a nice dark color.
   I got the mincemeat recipe from a cookbook called Miss Mary Bobo's Boarding House Cookbook. It comes from Tennessee, home of Jack Daniel's Whiskey. A suggestion for the Green Tomato Mincemeat  is to add what else, Jack Daniels and walnuts, put into tart shells and there you have a great appetizer. Yum!! I will definitely give this a try.

Brandied Applesauce

  I also made Applesauce which I make every year. It is so easy to make and you get to control the amount of sugar you want. I always use brown sugar and very sparingly, along with that I add cinnamon and sometimes vanilla. This year I did make my every day applesauce but I also made one with a twist. Along with the apples, sugar and cinnamon I added dried cranberries and after cooling the sauce I added brandy. This makes a very tasty applesauce. It could be used along side pork or over ice cream or even as an afternoon snack. The options are endless.
 Maybe keep this one away from the little ones.

Anise Hyssop Infused Sugar

One of the last things I did was make flavoured sugars. This is such a simple process, just add Anise Hyssop flowers, Lavender flowers, lemon zest or what ever flavour you want, to the sugar. Place in jars and let sit for several weeks and there you have it flavoured sugar.

Ground Anise Hyssop Sugar

  Now you can use it just as is or you can do what I did and run it through a coffee grinder. Doing this you incorporate the flowers into the sugar and it turns into a fine powder. This makes it easy to use over fruit or to sweeten drinks, it would also
work for making a simple syrup.
You could also use it in cookie or pound cake recipes by replacing part or all of the sugar with the flavoured sugar. So easy while adding a lot of flavour.

  So before you put your garden to bed, look around your garden and see if there is anything you can use and would like to add to your sugar or infuse your honey with. Maybe you would like to use up some of your herbs by making a jelly or jam.
 You can also puree your herbs with a little olive oil and freeze them in ice cube trays and save them for a winter stew.

Whatever you decide to do, enjoy. You've earned it.

Happy Gardening!