Right now my garden is alight with the fiery glow of crocosmia–the smaller orange ‘Emberglow’ and the taller red ‘Lucifer’. I’ve planted the of the corms in clumps around the back patio, bordering the back of the front potager, and interspersed wherever I find a space that needs some cheering up.
Crocosmia also puts on quite a show when it’s in bloom, attracting a constant stream of bees, hummingbirds, and butterflies to entertain you. It is such a prolific perennial that some gardeners shy away from it. I just enjoy the many blooms and when they are through, I’ll give a clump to a neighbour or friend. And if you want to thin them out a bit, well, they make great cut flowers as well.
For more detailed information on crocosmia click here.
July 30 2010 | Flowers | 10 Comments »
This month marks the 6-year anniversary of breaking ground on my back patio project. I use the term “breaking ground” loosely as the year was basically a mud pit in the winter and a dust bowl in the summer.
Over the course of a few months, my husband loaded up more than 30,000 lbs of the backyard “soil” (another loose term) into a wheelbarrow and replaced it with a patio surrounded by beds and a small grassy area.
In the next 5 years the patio changed many times over. New house colours. New patio furniture. New deck. And last year was the beginning of the potager phase where I packed this wee garden with hundreds of vegetables, herbs, fruit, and flowers.
This year it already looks quite a bit different. I have replaced one of the tomato planters with a strawberry planter. I’ve been growing only lettuces in the wine barrel planters as they get too much shade from the trees now. I’m now growing mushrooms in my zen garden under the deck. I’m only going to grow what was a success last year (sorry, no purple cauliflower) and I’m going to try to keep the clutter down (damn giant purple cauliflower).
May 24 2010 | Projects and Vancouver | 24 Comments »
