Shape and Form in the Garden

Iris's

Bunny tail grass in Winter

Winter is a wonderful time to really appreciate the shape and form of the plants in your garden.  As the frost coats the landscape in a crystal sheen, the texture of the garden outshines the colours. While the flame framework of dogwoods and fiery foliage of heavenly bamboo put on quite a show, the remainder of the garden mellows. Corkscrew Witch Hazel, spiraled Euphorbia, and radial pine trees can be fully appreciated when encrusted with frost. Seeds, nuts and berries accessorize many plants.  Over the last month, the course has been closed for several frost delays. It's an excellent time for zealous members to keep there pyjamas on a peruse their favourite edition of Golf Digest at home.

Euphorbia

Personally I really appreciate these days at the course for studying the framework and architecture of the gardens and mentally editing areas for future improvements. It is an austere and elegant season. The golf course is very still and silent and a perfect time for contemplation. The morning sky is stained pink and the air is filled with the sound of rattling seed pods and geese over head. It's pretty magical. I've been taking the time to take some snap shots of the garden in all it's Wintry glory so everyone can peruse them from home. I hope you enjoy it!

Heavenly Bamboo

Hydrangea under frost

Corkscrew Hazel Tree

Winter Winter Winter

Yesterday marked one month until Christmas.  The next thirty days will be a whirlwind of family, friends, feasts and fancifulness. I admit I like to get caught up in it all but it feels like a wild weekend in Vegas. I wake up with an empty wallet and a fuzzy memory of all the activity. This year I hope to spend more time appreciating every moment.

We have gotten a head start at Quilchena. Jason has started playing Christmas music around the Turf Care Centre. The clubhouse staff has been busy decorating the inside and Nick has been adorning the outdoor trees with lights. It's a pretty special time.  This morning I was able to share my own version of Christmas at the front entrance. I was inspired to create a Winter scene complete with;  snowballs, gifts, pine cones, conifer foliage and antique ice skates. I hope you all like it. It would be great to hear what the holiday season means to each member. I'm sure everyone would create there own magical scene!

Sweet Potatoes for a Happy Thanksgiving!

Gardening is so fascinating because there is always another level to it's profound nature.  Digging

through the dirt can reveal a lot of information about the health and vigor of the plant.  If the soil is healthy then generally the plant is healthy (assuming it's the right plant in the right place). Getting your hands dirty can be really rewarding, especially today. I've been removing the Summer annuals as they start to lose their spark.  A third of the containers displayed an ornamental sweet potato vine, in either chocolate or chartreuse foliage. The plants are decorative and eye catching, additionally they provide an edible sweet potato tuber. I pulled nine edible sweet potatoes out of the containers. Today's yield is going to Assistant Superintendent Josh to take home in an attempt to make a sweet potato pie just in time for Thanksgiving. These plants may not be quite as flavourful as the grocery store variety, but completely edible. Maybe dig around in your home containers and throw them in your next meal!

Ode to an Odor

It's here! My favourite time of the year.  I could smell Autumn in the air this morning and it was fantastic. Next time you have the pleasure of walking up to the front entrance of the clubhouse, take a moment to breathe it in.  It's the sweet smell of cotton candy and it's created by the Katsura tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) losing its leaves. This statuesque tree turns a soft peachy yellow colour in the Fall that almost seems illuminated by the daytime sky. There are two Katsura trees framing the front gazebo bed, both of which *survived the fire that took over that garden bed just a decade prior. Additionally, in this garden is a mass planting of lavender that has bushed out into a second growth for the season. Lavender is one of my favourite fragrances.  If you brush past it, the air fills up with a fresh herbal odor. I like to pretend I'm in Provence.

Soon, the clouds will get heavy with water and the leaves will drop. The sky will fill with the smell of smoke and wet leaves. The earth will become damp and rich. And on those dry days and cool nights the leaves will rattle across the pavement and the long, bold sunsets will stain the sky. And the pumpkins will get plopped on front porches and silent messages will be left in the air as people leave smoke signals with their breath.  Sorry, I got a little poetic there.  Either way, I'm obviously very passionate about the start of this new season.

As, I've been writing this long, flowery pose the sun just broke through the clouds and started warming up the place. Perhaps, we have an Indian Summer on our horizon.  It seems Fall will just have to wait a few more weeks before it's big reveal.

*Sidenote: Please do not throw cigarette butts into the garden beds. The bark mulch can catch on fire.

The Dance of the Black Eyed Susan and the Russian Sage

Could there be a lovelier duo then the mid Summer combination of Black eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida 'Goldstrum') and Russian Sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia)? It's the yin and yang of the garden world. The warm sunny daisy face of the the black eyed susan paired with the cool silvery foliage and purple blooms of the Russian Sage.  The upright stems of the black eyed susan look stunning beside the wispy foliage of the Russian Sage. It's warm and cool.  Hard and soft. This full sun plant combination has a long run of cheering it's admirers.  From mid Summer until Fall it outshines it's competition.  Due to my admiration I've planted this combination in the bed at the #18 hole and if I dare say it looked pretty stunning.

These plants are also present at the #9 hole.  The Russian Sage reaches a mature height of 3-5 feet and about a 2 foot spread.  The Black Eyed Susan maxes out at about 30" tall. This versatile plant flourishes in; dry clayey soil and rich moist soil, hot Southern U.S. Summers and Alberta Winters. No wonder it was chosen as the Perennial Plant of the Year in 1999.  The Russian Sage is a member of the mint family. Crush the leaves to release the herbal fragrance. A totally delightful pairing for a prairie perennial garden bed.  Throw an ornamental grass in there and you have yourself a garden party!

Summer Loving

Sunday is Summer Solstice. I'm trying to decide what I want to do on the longest night of the year. Maybe work on my tan in the EVENING (just because I can). I'm interested what other people do to celebrate the beginning of the Summer season. If you want to share please add it to the comments section.  Either way, these extended days are really lending themselves to more renewed energy.  The birds are definitely feeling it too. Most days I find the barn swallows attempting to build a nest in the Horticulture garage if I leave the garage door open too long. The resident coyotes have given birth to a litter of six cute and bouncy pups. Apparently, they have been spending a lot of time on the West side of the #1 hole. There is so much activity outside. I recently discovered a hummingbird hawk moth siphoning the pollen from the containers at #1. In my ten years of gardening I had never seen one before. Needless to say, I was pretty excited.

I'm also happy to say that the perennials and annuals are maturing for the year and the bed near the #9 hole is starting to take shape. In the last blog post I promised I would  provide the plants selected for that garden bed.  The plants were chosen primarily for it's Summer and Fall interest (i.e. the busy season). Warm yellow, cool blue/ purple, pure white/ silver and chocolate brown are the main colours used throughout the bed. I chose these hues to complement other garden beds and to be welcoming and calming. A mass planting of feather reed grasses were used in the center bed to create the illusion of a sea as the grasses move in the breeze.  Groupings of lavender were planted near the pathway to provide a pleasant aroma in the warm Summer months. Ultimately, it's a Summer prairie perennial garden bed and it should really be coming alive as we progress into these warm Summer days. 

Here is the plant listing for the beds:

Shrubs

Variegated Red Twigged Dogwood - Cornus alaba 'Elegantissima'

Dwarf Fothergilla - Fothergilla gardenii 'Mount Airy'

Heavenly Bamboo - Nandina domestica 'Gulf Stream'

Grasses

Feather Reed Grass - Calamagrostis acutiflora 'Karl Foerster' 

Mexican Feather Grass - Stipa tenuissima 

Blue Oat Grass - Helictotrichon sempervirens

Sedge - Carex oshimensis 'Evergold' 

Purple Fountain Grass - Pennisetum setaceum 'Rubrum' 

Perennials 

Cardoon - Cynara cardunculus

New Zealand Flax - Phormium tenax

Black Bugbane - Actaea simplex 'Black Negligee' 

White Conflower - Echinachea purpurea 'White Swan'

Purple Coneflower - Echinachea purpurea ' Magnus'

Cranesbill Geranium - Geranium 'Johnson's Blue' 

Perennial Sage -Salvia nemerosa 'May Night' 

Russian Sage - Perovskia atriplicifolia 

White Blazing Star - Liatris spicata ' Floristan Alba' 

Evergreen Spurge - Euphorbia characias 'Glacier Blue' 

Threadleaf Coreopsis - Coreopsis verticillata 'Moonbeam' 

Oriental Poppy - Papaver orientale

Phlomis - Phlomis tuberosa 'Amazone' 

Jerusalem Sage - Phlomis fruiticosa

Stella de Oro Daylily - Hemerocallis 'Stella de Oro' 

Spindle 'Emerald and Gold' - Euonymus fortunei 'Emerald and Gold' 

Rock Rose - Cistus purpureus 'Alan Fradd'

Fred Boutin Lavender - Lavandula intermedia 'Fred Boutin'

Wooly Thyme - Thymus pseudolanuginosus

Happy Easter!

It's Easter Sunday. Happy Easter! Finally, Spring is upon us. The anticipation of the Summer is here. At the Turf Care Center that means earlier and earlier start times.  Soon we'll be arriving at work when most party goers are still making there way home. It's the season of really long days and really really short nights. Excuse me while I just put my head down for just one second.....zzzzzzzzz....I digress. More to the point, it's the season where the air warms up and we reunite with all of the slumbering plants cozy under the soils surface. We've already seen the perky daffodils and tulips welcoming us through the entrance and the woody deciduous shrubs budding into new foliage for the season. I love the bright new red tips of the Photinia shrubs bordering the parking lot. It's my favourite time of the year to traipse around the garden and look for any new discoveries. I've noticed the herbaceous perennials are starting to plump up and are getting ready to put on a show soon.  Also, the iris's bordering the main pond are standing on guard and getting ready to bloom.  Currently, the young creamy yellow magnolia trees are blooming and timing perfect with the daffodils below them.  It's definitely the season of new beginnings and the season for Gardeners to reflect on their designs from the year before. 

This year has also seen the genesis of three new garden beds. The finishing touches are just being made to the beds at the #9 hole. They serpentine along the 180 foot walkway adjacent to the west side of the clubhouse. Unfortunately, an irrigation pipe burst at the foot of the main bed the day after planting was completed.  The Irrigation tech is waiting for a dry day when his schedule is free to fix the pipe.  Then that area will be patched up and replanted. High traffic turf and a heavy sand composition base was placed around the perimeter of the beds last week. The turf was modified from 3 feet to 2 feet. It will require a few planting adjustments to balance out the project. It's very close to being completely completed. Unless of course another pipe bursts or a parade of elephants decides to tromp right through the beds. Those variables aside, it's looking good. I'll follow up with another post soon about the plants in the #9 bed.  Enjoy your Easter holiday and I hope you all have some delicious sea salt dark chocolate hidden in your backyard and a cuppa hot early grey tea and a hot cross bun (not the stale grocery store kind, but the extra fluffy ones from the bakery...you know the kind)!