June Snapshots

The blooms are bountiful at Quilchena. I had the opportunity to take some snapshots today of the showstoppers. I was noticing that the gardens are a month ahead in maturity then normal. Spring disguised itself as Summer this year and our rainfall levels were at a record low for May. All these hot "Summer" like Spring days have really confused the plants. The Sea of Calamagrostis that is planted near the #9 green was a big flop the other day. The high amounts of nitrogen in the soil and the record levels of sunshine sped up the growth of this upright ornamental grass and it found itself weighed down after a brief evening of wind and heavy rain that we received. We have since tied it up to keep some order to that border of grasses.

The lavender around the property has started to bud out and has even started to bloom in certain micro-climates around the course. The iris's around the pond have been soldiering on and standing strong with a combination of purple and yellow erect blooms over the last month or so. They are just starting to dry out and leave some food for the birds. The dark purple perennial Salvia has been an excellent bold pairing to the prairie perennials around the course, along with the soft lavender purple of the perennial catmint. My personal favourite Spring blooming perennial, Astilbe 'Visions in Pink', has started to bud out at bed #18. The alien-like foliage of the perennial Sea Holly is sharpening to a shiny silver at bed #18 as well. The sea holly would be a well suited prop to any sci-fi movie. I've also been thoroughly appreciating the bold firecracker coloured blooms of the the Red Hot Poker over the last month. They are scattered all over the golf course and have been attracting many interesting bird species to eat the seeds from the cones. I have one right beside my office which has been creating a lot of entertainment with the hummingbirds coming by to feed. The Jerusalem Sage and Mexican Feather grass have been mellowing out the appearance of the garden beds with their characteristic relaxed beauty. And let's not forget all the traditional  lilies and roses that add that classic beauty to every garden bed. 

Plant Spotlight: Black Elder

The plant I get asked about the most at the golf course is definitely the Sambucus nigra 'Black Lace').  It is a tall, elegant, woody shrub that has beautiful dark chocolate lacy foliage and produces fluffy white fragrant plumes in June.

We have two Black Elder at Quilchena- one located at the bed at #18 and another located in the #12 bed.

For a woody shrub they sure have a lot of visual impact. They stand tall at a mature height of about 10 feet. With wide arching branches they add a strong visual impact to a garden bed. These low maintenance shrubs do very well in a full sun location. And have the added appeal of producing edible berries that are very attractive to birds in the Fall.

Plant these beauties in moist but well drained soil and give them ample room to put on a show. They are sure to wow!

A Spring Recap

Spring came and went in a hurry. It's always a hectic time for Gardeners- cutting down spent plant material, edging beds, applying soil and adding new plants to the mix. The tulips and daffodils pop up to let you know that it's time to wake up and get ready for the Summer. What a relief that pop of colour is! Needless to say, I've been incredibly busy in the gardens at Quilchena and I haven't had a chance to sit down and contemplate the season so far. A few items of interest that I recall were the island beds in the parking lot were planted with thousands of multi-colour tulips to brighten up the joint. The photinia hedges around the parking lot blazed there red new growth in symphony with the tulips. Azaleas and rhododendrons throughout the property lit up in celebration as well. It was quite the show. Additionally, the front entrance was decorated with Easter cheer. 

At the beginning of Spring, the female members met up to discuss business matters for the upcoming season. I was asked to give a quick talk on container gardening. To my surprise there was over forty members attending. Yikes! With my fear of public speaking I recall thinking forty people might as well be ALL the viewers of the Superbowl! Either way, despite my bumbling I got through it and I'm thankful that I was asked to participate in the event. I wanted to give a gift to the members who attended (for enduring my speech). I picked out juicy Ranunculus Spring annuals for everyone that attended and put together a few Spring planters as a prize. I snapped a shot of a faded coral coloured Ranunculus. How gorgeous is that?

To my greater surprise, I was asked to give a talk

on container gardening the following month. Interested members signed up at the Spring Fling.  It was a great day! I gave a quick introduction to the fundamentals of assembling a planter then everyone was set free to choose plants to fill there containers that they brought from home. There was a huge selection of vibrant coloured annuals to inspire some very creative planters. I was really impressed by the taste value of all the planters. Any of them could have graced the cover of any garden magazine. We have a bunch of green thumbs here at Quilchena. The clubhouse supplied mini quiches, fruit platter, coffee and mimosas (of course). The best part is that the sun came out to shine!  Here is a few pics from the event.

Plant Spotlight Red-Flowering Current

The Red-Flowering Current (Ribes sanguineum) is in bloom and you may just spot one on the course. It's located on the SE side of the 11th tee in the island garden bed.  This woody shrub can grow as large as 8 feet tall if in the desired conditions. The shrub on the course is only 4-5 feet tall and resides on the right hand corner of that bed.  The Red-Flowering Current is one of my favourite BC native shrubs by far.  It has rounded, lobed, leaves that are heavily veined and about 2"diameter. In the Spring time, the shrub bears tendrils of bright pink to crimson coloured bloom clusters that delicately hang from this rustic shrub.  They prefer full sun and put on quite a show if paired with the native Oregon Grape. Also, it times perfectly with the Forsythia shrub, they are often in the same vicinity. Hint, hint...there is a Forsythia right beside it.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Quilchena is hosting the annual St. Patrick's Day golf tournament on Saturday this year. Wear your nicest green shirt. I dressed up the front entrance in orange, green and white in celebration of all things Irish. I'm kind of a Robbie Burns girl myself but hopefully I succeeded in bringing the luck of the Irish to Quilchena.

Fortunately for us, a Leprechaun paid a visit and left his valuables behind. He was probably spooked by someone opening the door. A pile of gold nuggets sits on an old log with suspiciously small green footprints leading from it. Pots of grass and two planters flank the front entrance overflowing with varieties of heather and green foliaged plants. A lucky horseshoe is there to bring good fortune to all the members of Quilchena and a lucky rainbow. I hope you all enjoy it.

I did a little research on this holiday and I learned that it's more then just green beer. It's abundant with mythology, religion and a very respected man named Saint Patrick.

Saint Patrick was born in Roman Britain in the 4th century. His family was wealthy and his father was a religious man. The history of Saint Patrick is allegedly a first person account detailed in the Declaration (his spiritual bibliography). He states that he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and brought to Ireland where her spent six years as a shepherd before fleeing back to his hometown. The claim is that he found God within those six years and later returned to Ireland to convert pagen Irish to Christianity. He spent many years introducing religion to residents of Northern Ireland, converting thousands, before his death on March 17th. Legend has it that he would use the shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to the pagen Irish, which has become the symbol of this important Irish holiday. Since at least the 1640's people have been wearing shamrocks and emerald to demonstrate Irish pride.

Irish nationalist have been celebrating the death of there most prized patron Saint since at least the 9th and 10th centuries. In Ireland, the holiday is more religious in nature. St. Patrick's Day is celebrated worldwide though, but mostly in countries that Irish immigrants have settled. Celebrations are annually held in Canada, U.S.A., Argentina, U.K., Malaysia, Japan, Russian, South Korea, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand and most surprisingly the International Space Center. St. Patrick's Day is only a statutory holiday in Ireland, Newfoundland, Labrador, and Montserrat (the emerald island of the Caribbean) though. Traditional celebrations include parades, festivals, folk music and dancing. Historically, Lent restrictions on food and drink were lifted on St. Patrick's Day. This allowance would often to lead excessive eating and drinking.

Contemporary traditions celebrate all things Irish. Traditional foods (corned beef, braised cabbage, meat pies, and lots and lots of beer), the colour emerald green, mystical rainbows, pots of gold and mythical creatures like leprechauns.

The Leprechaun is an Irish fairy. Irish folklore states that a Leprechaun resembles a very small, old man (no taller then a small child). He wears a crooked hat, a leather apron and is cloaked in green. These creatures are solitary, unfriendly and partake in mischief. A captor can find a Leprechaun by the sound of shoeamakers hammer. Here is a little Irish blessing about a Leprechaun.

Near a misty stream in Ireland in the hollow of a tree
Live mystical, magical leprechauns
who are clever as can be 
With their pointed ears, and turned up toes and little coats of green
The leprechauns busily make their shoes and try hard not to be seen. 
Only those who really believe have seen these little elves 
And if we are all believers
We can surely see for ourselves.

March Plant Spotlight

Spring is just around the corner and I think the excitement is starting to build. It's hard to not throw on a pair of shorts and flip flops but the weather is not quite there yet. The temperature has been dipping down below 0 over the last week, especially with those blue cloudless skies. It's a great time to drive around and look at the plants brave enough to burst into bloom. I took a few snapshots around the course of these showstoppers!  

Camellia in gorgeous magenta pink 

Bird loving Cotoneaster berries hanging heavy

Winter heath 

Helleborus

Viburnum blooms

Beautiful architectural cones 

Happy Chinese New Year!

money container, lotus candle, insense burner and offerings for the Gods 

Chinese New Year or Spring Festival falls on February 19th this year.  It is a Buddhist festival that is celebrated throughout Asia and becoming popularized globally. This will be the 4712th Chinese New Year to be celebrated throughout history. This holiday was standardized during the Han Dynasty (206 - 200 BC) but is believed to have started centuries before that, perhaps as far back as Emperor Yao and Emperor Shun in 2300 BC.

Chinese astrology deems 2015 the year of the Green Wood Sheep (or Goat depending on who you talk

Lucky purple primroses and a symbolic dragons

to).  There are twelve animals in this zodiac kingdom and they are rotated to a new animal each year. The "Green" "Wood" portion is in reference to a reasonably complicated stem/ branch system. In this system there are 10 stems and 12 branches that combine into a cycle of 60 counting systems. So what does it mean? The characteristics of the zodiac totem suggest the qualities of the upcoming year. Sheep are amiable, gentle, creative and kindhearted creatures which suggest 2015 will be a year of peacefulness and harmony. Wood is associated with Spring, renewal and the colour green. This year proposes that the renewal and evergreen qualities of the tree will combine with the sheep to unleash creativity and to create a calm and steady path to follow. Sounds good to me!

Plum Blossoms for courage and pussy willows

Traditionally, the week preceding Chinese New Year is a time to cleanse ill fortune from your home. Cleaning and sweeping the home, paying off debts, buying new clothes and cutting your hair are chores to be accomplished before the first day of the year. Vibrant scarlet firecrackers and paper cut outs and couplets adorn windows and doors communicating popular messages like "Good Fortune", "Happiness" and "Long Life". Firecrackers deter bad spirits (like the mythical beast Nian) who, according to Folklore, was scared of the colour red and loud noises. The day proceeding the Chinese New Year is the official start of celebrations. At midnight, the firecrackers are lit along with burning bamboo. The dust pan is put away to avoid sweeping away good luck that will be entering the home. Food and gifts are placed outside the door as an offering (or a bribe) to the deities to report good things about the family to the Gods. Red envelopes containing money and traditional treats are given to friends, family members, business contacts and employees. Oranges and tangerines in the home and office are associated with happiness and prosperity. While fresh blooms represent new growth after a long Winter. Plum blossoms and narcissus are the most popular in China. Plum blossoms representing courage while the Narcissus symbolizes good luck and fortune. Each year also denotes lucky numbers, colours and plants that will bring good luck in the upcoming year. 2015 indicates 2 and 7 as lucky numbers. Red, purple and brown will bring blessing and carnations and primroses are the flowers of choice.

I was lucky enough to be asked to decorate the front entrance. After a few trips to Daiso and Chinatown, I think I was able to create a festive New Years display. Thanks for your help Melissa and Nick!

Red lanterns and "Firecrackers" to ward off bad spirits

God of Money