Signs

Day 83: Someone once said that fishing was "an endless series of occasions for hope." I feel that way about Spring. The first swelling bud, the first tip of green to burst through the soil, inspires me to break out the seed catalogs to begin planning my year's gardening adventure. These days, of course, my perusing is done on line which, if the truth be known, is much less satisfying than going page by page through a "wish book," but on the other hand (and I'm sure companies won't want to hear this), it keeps me from buying more varieties than I actually need, or daring to try something new. I order my tried-and-true favourites, and that's it. That said, there's not much room in my garden for annuals these years. My mother's wisdom finally soaked in, and I've let the perennials spread. All I really want is colour without a lot of weeding. A dense cover of perennials makes my job a lot easier.

Best Buds

Day 176: It's been a few days since I took these photos, and my "best buds" are noticeably farther along. Spring is definitely in the air after what seemed to be an interminable winter. Today, I noticed the first signs that my three-foot tall fig tree is awake, and it's usually the last to put on leaves. From 12 o'clock around, we have here lilac, spiraea, blueberries, golden chain tree, wild currant and hardy kiwi, the last of which is showing the most change since the photo. Fruit and flower, my garden is growing!

Dreams Of Blueberries

Day 207: When I put in my blueberry bushes, I selected "mid-season" varieties using the logic that the pollinators would not be around at this altitude for early-season types. Now I am beginning to wonder if I should have bought late-season plants instead. Last year, I got enough berries for snacking, far short of what I envision as the eventual yield. The bushes are still young...or rather they are new to the "blueberry pen" outside my kitchen door. One was a sickly plant which had been shaded out in another location after losing its partner to similar circumstances. I moved it two years ago and added a second variety beside it for cross-pollination. It has perked up amazingly well, and both plants are covered with buds. A third bush is dwarf and self-fertile; it bore a handful of large, sweet berries last year (its first year in my garden).

As of this writing, all three bushes are lavishly adorned with pink buds, but there is a distressing absence of pollinators, and I can hardly give each blueberry flower the same reproductive assistance I'm providing to the Akebias. Transferring pollen from one flower to another on the tip of an artist's paintbrush is time-consuming! That said, we have a few warm days on the roster and the blueberry buds are not yet open. Perhaps all the elements necessary to provide a good yield will still manage to come together at the proper moment.

One, Two, Three!

Day 182: I must be doing something right. Sarracenia rubra has not one, not two, but three blossoms coming! Can you spot the third one? It's hiding out behind the one on the right.

You might think that these showy and mysterious carnivorous plants are tropical, but in fact the Sarracenias are native to the United States and Canada and are quite hardy, despite their exotic appearances. Mine thrive on my back porch, and I only bring them indoors when nighttime temperatures dip into the low 20s. The secret to keeping them is in providing the bog-like conditions they favour. They like peaty soil, and their pots should be kept standing in an inch or two of water (depending on size) at all times.

The flowers are spectacular, peaking approximately two months from the time they break the ground (see my posts for 23 June last year), and hang on for four weeks or more, the vivid colour gradually fading to a sere brown. If you want a conversation piece for your garden, you couldn't do better than a Sarracenia.