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.

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)!