perfect peonies

The weather has been cold and rainy (a high of just 13C a few days ago) but the peonies are thriving.
My very favourite is Coral Beauty, purchased from Veseys.

The bud promises an unusual colour:  pinky orange.

I like single peonies with fewer petals much better than the heavy doubles, which need to be staked to prevent them from hitting the ground at the first rain.  The singles also invite bees and butterflies.  The doubles don't allow insects to get close to the nectar and pollen.

This single peony looks like a poppy.

The old fashioned double has its charms.  It has a heavenly fragrance that the singles don't have.

A tree peony grows like a shrub.  The structure does not die down to the ground for the winter like herbaceous peonies.  But they are more susceptible to frost, and are harder to keep happy.  But they are really worth the trouble.  The flowers are as big as dinenr plates.

bug protection

The mosquitos and blackflies are putting a damper on my gardening fun this year.  They seem extra numerous, and extra frantic to get a blood meal.  I don't want to spray myself with DEET because the last time I did that, it melted my plastic hairband and I wondered what it was doing to my skin!

I found the answer.  It's not sexy, and it impedes my vision, but combined with gloves and long pants, a bug jacket allows me to stay outside as long as my back holds up.  I still here the bugs angrily buzzing around, trying to get in, but they can't get me!

irises changing colour

A  few years ago, I bought a showy German bearded iris - white with rusty brown veins.  Really different and beautiful.  This year, it is still beautiful, but I noticed quite a change.

The brown has turned to pale purple.  Sometimes plants revert to the colours of their ancestry, and maybe that is what happened here.
A few more irises in my garden:

There don't seem to be as many irises as previous years.  Maybe they die out after a while.

siberian iris

An old variety that is not as showy or bright - it's more transparent.

This dutch iris grows from a bulb, planted last fall. 
The others above are all from risomes.

seafood feast for the soil

We had our first big feast of mussels last week.  Delectable morsels of goodness, dipped in garlic butter - they are as habit forming as potato chips. 

After dinner, I wanted to keep the good vibes going by making use of the shells. 

I spread them on cookie sheets, and baked them for 20 minutes to take care of some of the odor that results from the decomposition of the little muscle that holds the mussel in the shell.  The heat also makes them easier to smash.

Then I put the shells in a sturdy bag and banged it with a hammer until the shells were in bits.

Now what to do?  they still smelled a bit, and I was afraid to spread them directly on my veggie garden for fear of attracting skunks and raccoons.  So I checked my old friend the Internet, and found this entry from The Washington Post:

The exoskeletons of crabs, lobsters, shrimp, crayfish and insects contain chitin, a slow-release source of the nitrogen plants need. Because it doesn’t leach out of the soil, it doesn’t pollute waterways the way soluble nitrogen fertilizers do.
When crustacean shells are added to the soil, they stimulate and increase populations of chitin-devouring bacteria and fungi. Once they decompose the shells, they devour certain chitinous pests, most notably root-knot nematodes, which can lead to poor yields in some crops.
The shells also contain calcium carbonate, the key ingredient in garden lime. Calcium raises the pH of the soil in areas that are too acidic.
Shellfish meal can be added, raked in or tilled just before planting, but whole crustacean shells are best chopped up, turned under and allowed to mellow in the soil for a month or more. Leaving them on the soil surface is a bad idea. They attract flocks of sea gulls and raccoons.
A better idea: put all of the shells on the compost pile. Burying them with a garden fork will not only hide them from birds but also set the heap to “bake,” cooking up the best compost you’ve ever made.

I have decided to add it to the compost bin, stir it around, and let it mellow.

greenhouse

My son Dylan gifted me with a small greenhouse last Christmas.  It has four shelves and has a well-fitting plastic cover.
I usually keep my plants on the windowsill until they are ready to set outside.  They end up being lanky and thin, because they are reaching for the sun.  But in the greenhouse, they get so much more light.  They are stocky, with thick, strong stems, very green and healthy.

In May, I bought two rhodos full of flowers.  I set them in the greenhouse to protect them from the cold.  On May 20, I saw a hummingbird hover near the plastic, looking longingly at that nectar source.  Of course I took the rhodos out immediately!  A few minutes later, the hummer had a drink of nectar.

On warm days, the greenhouse develops its own misty atmosphere.

When the weather threatens to get too close to 5 C, I drape the greenhouse with white row cover to insulate it from the cold.  This is much easier than lugging all the plants back into the house.  And light passes through, so I can leave it on during the day if it is too cold.

The marigolds, zinnias, three kinds of tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, purple basil, coriander, lettuce, and ice plant and geranium cuttings protected in my tiny greenhouse are all doing very well.

some healthy looking lettuce

shrub gets a new home

Two years ago, a small shrub magically appeared growing in the gravel by the pipe that leads away the rainwater from the roof.  Not a good place to be - we brushed up against it every time we walked into the garage, and a branch was broken.

Last year, it bloomed, white flowers with a dark blue centre.
It may be some kind of hibiscus.

So this year, I pulled away some of the gravel, gently stuck in a spade, and the shrub came out surprisingly easily.

But where to put it?  Sun or shade? Because I don't know what it is, it is hard to know what conditions it prefers.  But it is pretty tough if it can survive growing in gravel.

It came out bare root, so it was really easy to transplant.

I decided to set it in the flower bed behind the house.
It is on the north side with shade until the afternoon.
The soil is moist and  rich.
Here it is in its new home, and it already looks happier. 

In the few weeks since,

 it has grown and put out lots of leaves.

now it's June, and the plant has leafed out and bloomed.  To my surprise, it's a viburnum.  The flower heads are the identifying factor.

The leaves are being attacked by the viburnum beetle, which is becoming more prevalent.  They skeletonize the leaves, which can kill the plant.  The beetles are hard to control, because they overwinter in tiny holes in the bark.