Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Peony Fluff



Yesterday, our temperature soared to 36 degrees Celsius, here in Niagara....and in the course of less than 48 hours the peonies went from buds to blooms!
It was so hot and the humidity stifling, that I had to cut all the blooms at the risk of losing them overnight...

....our weather is continuing to be so unpredictable and by mid June I am fearful that the garden will be spent.....everything will have finished the growing cycle for the year....



....I was able to fill a large zinc bucket and another sap bucket full of the cut blooms....



....three plants growing in partial shade have still to bloom, so the peony parade isn't over as yet!



I was surprised, since our winter was very mild, the plants yielded bountiful bouquets.....

.....Perfect for a early June wedding......






....they look like fluffs of meringue.....



....a small delicate wisp of porcelain vine, adds just a touch of movement and interest....
.....could see this in a bridal bouquet, don't you think?



......such short lived beauty, but breathtaking......



....There is a season for everything, a time for every occupation under Heaven....

Ecclesiaste 3:1-8




...the garden....a constant reminder of the cycle of life.....



....and lest you should think that everything around here is just perfect....far from it....the carriage house is being readied for the storage of boxes and boxes and boxes.....and the house is a shambles in preparation for the reno !!

N.xo
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Monday, May 28, 2012

A Shade Palette



The blooms which I am enjoying in the garden at the moment, are primarily from the flowering shrubs and trees which predominate here, growing in the shade of the Carolinian forest surrounding us on the Niagara escarpment....


The Chinese peony,Chojwaku...is the tempermental princess in early Spring...



....she reigns over the garden for a very fleeting moment, it seems..... 


....here today, gone tomorrow, depending on the weather, humidity and rains and wind being her capricious instigation for what she will do next....


.....as soon as the roseum elegans rhododendrons, which border the woodland gardens appear, she disappears....


....at about the same time the Pink Cloud kolkwitzia tree and the white flowering deutzia shrubs bloom for a substantially longer period of time, adding to the soft, lavender and pink and white colour palette....



....you can see the roof of the carriage house peaking over the pale pink blossoms.....


....a misty morning view of the south border, with the laden down rhododendrons in full bloom.....


....I long for more options here, but the garden has a mind of its own, and I nudge it along, gently.....


...a singular rose bud, from the New Dawn on the arbour, just beginning to bud....


.....the peonies are still showing great promise....with the intense heat today, they should be blooming in all their glory very soon....


...the pale pink flowers of a wigelia given to me by my Mom, is always a steady performer here in the garden... 


....a section of the back stone steps as you round a hidden corner of the garden, laden with blossoms....
and ivy growing among the crevices in the rockery....



....the Duchesse of Edinburg clematis, just beginning to show off....





....more peony promise!



....I am often asked if I have help in the garden.....the "muscle men", as I call Joe and his crew, look after all the heavy grass cutting, trimming and leaf collection in early Spring and the massive fall clean up....
I spend every minute in the garden I can, tending the beds, terrace pots and border gardens, making it my mantra to fuss and pamper the plant material we have spent so much time and energy to cultivate and encourage to grow, and be happy here! There is always something to do.....but I don't consider it work...
I linger in the garden at dusk, the light filtering through the trees is magical then....



...all growing in the shade of a hardwood forest....more roses planted this Spring....which I shall post about soon....and the peonies....
in the meantime...content with what the shade endowes  us.....
.....a short garden tour for my very appreciated blogging friends...

N.xo 
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Friday, May 18, 2012

Choosing....



This time of year, Spring wreaks havoc upon me.....daily routine tasks become like a life sentence for my soul....do I stay indoors and pluck... dawdle away..... at what needs to be done..... :(



laundry..... sewing....cleaning.... or other projects begun in earnest when the weather was
not optimum.... 




like, vintage organdy waiting to be stretched over lamp shades....


or...do I sneak outdoors every chance that comes my way, when the sun is shining
and the garden is luring me in..... :)



 


The bleeding heart, about twenty years old now, needs to be divided and moved....




....the " montana" clematis just needs to be enjoyed in full bloom! Right?



....and the Chinese peonies, so tempermental..... this year, just three blooms..... last year over twenty, are threatening for attention....



I have surrendered to them before....



So fragile and beautiful.....



Some newly planted white rhododendrons, have attracted my attention, with first year, pristine blooms.....so grateful, I am.....


....and old faithful standbys, just deliver every time.....



....the fragrance from the "lily" distracts me for a long moment.....



....it doesn't take much to distract me out here!



....this woodland fern, which seeded here of it's own accord, is just starting to take part in the scheme of things.....



....and what brings me back to a sudden reality..... is the picked stalks of rhubarb, about the only thing I can grow here, in the woodland garden, except a few herbs....waiting to be chopped up and made into something wonderful!

How do you choose between indoors and outdoors these days?

The only thing that might work for me, is the promise of some
Rhubarb Lunar Cake....

Go to Canadian Living Cooking....and Google for recipe....I am going back outdoors!

N.xo

The first two photos are archived Victoria Magazine....the rest are mine.

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Thursday, May 10, 2012

Earth on Her Hands



Every now and then a book comes along that changes your way of thinking, perhaps, even your life.

That book for me was Earth on Her Hands, The American Woman in Her Garden, by Starr Ockenga.
In 1999, when I started my home decorating shop, Acorn Lane Vintage Living, it was the greatest contributing factor for me to take the leap of faith, and realize my dream, that of starting my own business.
Although the theme and topic were totally unrelated to what I wanted to achieve, reading the book firmly established in me the knowledge that we as women, and individuals can achieve anything if the desire and fire within us is allowed to be kindled and fuelled.

I read the book from cover to cover in one evening!
Each woman a visionary, standing alone with a dream and a purpose!

The book showcases the gardens of eighteen, ordinary, extraordinary women.....ordinary only in the fact that each of them is not a professional, none is a garden designer or owned a nursery.  Each garden is private, and has been created to be enjoyed by themselves alone and family and friends.
Crafted for herself alone....


The garden that resonated the most with me, was that of Ellie Springarn, who with her own hands crafted more than 600 feet of stone walls throughout her property, and maintains extensive rock gardens without any help, save that of her trusty vintage tractor.

"The rock was a gift from nature."




In my own garden, below, the majority of the rock gardens and elevated terraces were created with the help of my husband's uncle and ourselves, with rock and large stones quarried from our surrounding woods.
I think I could manage my own Cub tractor if I could get one!



Things are still popping out here, with the weather cooling down this month, and our location, with its own micro climate, we are usually a bit behind every one else.   The surrounding woods, and the coolness of the valley floor keeps all the plants asleep a bit longer here.....the sweet wood ruff edging the stone stairs is blooming....and the" Duchess" clematis is budding on the obelisk beside the stairs.



The Japanese maple has arched nicely over the stone steps, in the distance, creating it's own arbour..




The south garden, edged with beds of rhododendrons, Japanese anemones, lilacs, peonies, English roses and white wisteria on the arbour...still in early bloom....all the colours I strive for are lavender, pinks and white.... great colours for shade....



The peonies, in early stages....



a new introduction to the garden last season, white bleeding heart....



a patch of lily of the valley, in the wood land border...originally a gift to the garden, from my husband's grandmother



Sweet wood ruff edging the stone steps.....




......with all the rains  this week, the pond is topped up!






....white deutzia beginning to show off its tightly packed clusters of florets...



....more stones and rocks which anchor the gardens....bordered by ivy...



....peonies look promising......with lavender rhododendrons in bloom in the background...



I am dedicating this post to my beautiful mother, Sara, who truly was a woman with "Earth on Her Hands."
From the time she was a young woman in her native, Italy, tilling by hand, her family's fields and vineyards, and olive groves, to her small, meticulous and bountiful garden in Canada, my Mom understood the earth and loved it....she passed on that love and wisdom of gardening to me....teaching me how to use a garden fork to turn the soil ,to augment it, to know and experience, and feel the earth and the gifts it would yield in return....
....that plants and flowers are like children, they need patience and nurturing and love...

I wish all my gardening, and non-gardening mothers, a most beautiful and bountiful Mother's Day!
With affection and gratitude to all my readers....

The above photo was our passport picture, my Mom, Micki, my sister, and me in the little red dress!

N.xo
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