Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, April 2011

Once again it's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. Looking back at my April Bloom Day post from last year, I can see that spring really is coming along more slowly this year, it's not just my imagination. Last year I had a couple of native blooms for April 15: Waldsteinia fragaroides (barren strawberry waldsteinie faux-fraisier) and Mertensia virginica (Virginia bluebells, mertensie de Virginie), but there's no sign of them today, not even foliage (which worries me). I do have some flowers blooming today at least:

Chionodoxa forbesii (glory of the snow, gloire des neiges).

The Primula hybrida (primrose, primevère) which my landlords got as a disposable houseplant a couple of years ago is a bit of a mess, but at this time of the year I am grateful to see any flowers at all!

Behind and to the right you can see a bit of foliage from our native Tiarella cordifolia (foamflower, tiarelle cordifoliée). I think it kept its foliage all winter (hard to know for sure what's going on under the snow). It's sending out runners like a strawberry! I will be very happy if it spreads.

The Puschkinia libanotica (snowdrift, scille de Liban) is not "drifting" at all. I wonder how long it took the neighbours to establish this beautiful mass of snowdrift? Since this isn't native, I guess I should be glad it's not prolific since that means it's less of a risk to wild areas. Scilla siberica (Siberian squill, scille de Sibérie) is continuing to spread. I didn't realize at the time we rescued it from a neighbour's garden that it is an invasive species here in Southern Ontario and my landlords' kids would be upset now if I tried to remove it—not to mention that it is very difficult to remove. I will be deadheading. If you don't have this in your garden, don't plant it!

Behind and to the right of the scilla you can see some Aquilegia sp. (columbine, ancolie) foliage. The columbines in the front yard haven't bloomed yet and I can't remember if they are our native Aquilegia canadensis (wild columbine, ancolie du Canada) (my favourite flower) or the non-native Aquilegia vulgaris (also nice, and the bees like it). Maybe this year I'll find out!

Barbara Pintozzi at Beautiful Wildlife Garden wrote about using non-native minor bulbs to attract pollinators. I was hoping that the local bees and friends would visit these early flowers, but I haven't seen one! Fellow Torontonians, have you seen pollinators visit early non-native flowers (like crocus, squill, winter aconite, etc.) in your garden? Or are they just too early?

Thanks to Carol from May Dreams Gardens for hosting Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. Be sure to visit her and check out what's blooming today in gardens all over the world!

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, August 2010

August is prime blooming time here in Toronto!

Natives

• Agastache foeniculum (anise hyssop, hysope anisée). I'm very excited about this one because it's the first time I've managed to grow it successfully from seed; in fact this plant is in it's first year and already blooming!
• Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly weed, asclépiade tubéreuse)
• Conyza candensis (horseweed, vergerette du Canada)
• Eupatorium 'Phantom' (Joe Pye weed, eupatoire naine)
• Monarda didyma 'Jacob Klein' (beebalm, monarde)
• Myosotis laxa (bay forget-me-not, myosotis laxiflore)
• Oxalis stricta (wood sorrel, oxalide)
• Rudbeckia fulgida (black-eyed susan, rudbeckie voyante). This one was a surprise because I was sure this plant was one of my Echinacea purpurea seedlings, but obviously not.
• Rudbeckia hirta (black-eyed susan, rudbeckie dressée)
• Solanum ptycanthum (eastern black nightshade, morelle noire de l'est)
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• Solidago sp. (goldenrod, verge d'or)

Others

• Antirrhinum majus 'Montego Pink' and NOID (snapdragon, muflier)
• Calibrachoa NOID
• Cerinthe major 'Purple Bells' (honeywort, grand cérinthe)
• Cuphea hyssopifolia 'Lavender Lace' (false heather, étoile de Mexique)
• Glandularia NOID (verbena, verveine)
• Helianthus annuus (sunflower, tournesol)
• Iberis umbellata 'Fairy Mixed' (candytuft, ibéris en ombelle).
• Impatiens walleriana 'Xtreme Pink'™
• Lobelia erinus 'Cascade Sapphire'
• Lobularia maritima 'Snowstorm' (alyssum, alysse odorante)
• Monarda 'Bergamo'. This annual was supposed to "attract butterflies by the dozen" according to Park Seed but the butterflies who visit my garden ignore it.
• Pelargonium NOID (geranium, pélargonium)
• Pentas lanceolata 'New Look Pink'. Another supposed butterfly attractor that local butterflies have ignored.
• Petunia 'Carmine Madness', 'Ultra White', and NOID
• Scaevola aemula (fairy fanflower, scaevola émule)
• Tagetes patula 'Janie Primrose' and 'Janie Tangerine' (French marigold, œillet d'Inde)
• Tagetes tenuifolia 'Lulu' (signet marigold, tagète tachée)
• Thunbergia alata 'Blushing Susie' (black-eyed susan vine, suzanne aux yeux noirs)
• Tropaeolum majus 'Whirlybird Cherry Rose' (nasturtium, capucine)
• Viola 'Penny Purple Picotee'
• Zinnia elegans 'Persian Carpet Mix' and 'Thumbelina Mix'

Thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. Be sure to check out what's blooming around the world this August!

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, July 2010

Lots of blooms for July, mostly annuals. I started a lot of plants from seeds this year, and it is gratifying to see some of them flowering already!

Natives

• Adiantum pedatum (maidenhair fern, adiante pédalé). I bought this beauty at the North American Native Plant Society Plant Sale this spring. It will never bloom, of course, but it's too pretty to leave out.
• Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly weed, asclépiade tubéreuse). I saw a monarch butterfly in the garden yesterday; maybe it will lay some eggs? Fingers crossed!
• Myosotis laxa (bay forget-me-not, myosotis laxiflore). Another treasure from NANPS, it has already quadrupled in size! I'm going to relocate the encroaching sedum soon to give the forget-me-not room to really go crazy.
• Oxalis stricta (wood sorrel, oxalide)
• Rudbeckia hirta (black-eyed Susan, rudbeckie dressée); as always, the star of the summer garden.
• Solanum ptycanthum (eastern black nightshade, morelle noire de l'est)

Alas, the Monarda didyma 'Jacob Klein' (beebalm, monarde) which put on such a show last year is very unhappy this year; it had a few small sad blooms which are already past. I tried moving the Liatris spicata (dense blazing star, liatride à épis) to what should be a better location for it in terms of sun, and it seems stressed out too, though it is working on a flower spike.

Happily, some of my native seedlings are doing well, in particular, Tradescantia ohiensis, Agastache foeniculum, and Asclepias tuberosa; maybe they'll make an appearance for a Bloom Day next summer!

Others

Antirrhinum majus NOID (snapdragons, mufliers)

Calibrachoa NOID

Campanula rapunculoides (creepy bellflower, campanule fausse raiponce). This pretty plant is horribly invasive here in southern Ontario; I've started trying to get rid of it though it seems futile.

Cerinthe major 'Purple Bells' (honeywort, grand cérinthe). Compare these cream and pink flowers to their depiction at the McKenzie Seeds website. This isn't the first time that McKenzie seeds have come out very unlike the depiction on the package. They're okay, but not especially striking, especially from a distance.

Chlorophytum comosum (spider plant, plante araignée)

Cuphea hyssopifolia 'Lavender Lace' (false heather, étoile de Mexique)

Glandularia NOID (verbena, verveine; apparently they've moved these common annuals which everyone calls verbena into a new genus)

Heliotropium arborescens 'Marine' (heliotrope, héliotrope)

Hibiscus syriacus (rose of Sharon, althéa)

Hosta 'Orange Marmalade' and NOIDs

Iberis umbellata 'Fairy Mixed' (candytuft, ibéris en ombelle). Grown from seed for the first time this year, started outdoors, very easy. I think I'll be growing these again!

Impatiens walleriana 'Xtreme Pink'™

Lobelia erinus 'Cascade Sapphire' (I think)

Lysimachia

Matricaria recutita (German chamomile, camomille vraie)

Pelargonium NOID (geranium, pélargonium)

Petunia 'Carmine Madness', 'Ultra White', and NOID

Rosa NOID (rose, rosier)

Sanvitalia

Scaevola aemula (fairy fan flower, scaevola émule)

Sedum spurium (rock cress, orpin bâtard)

Tagetes patula 'Janie Primrose', 'Janie Tangerine'

Viola 'Penny Purple Picotee'

Zinnia elegans 'Magellan Persian Carpet Mixed'. I'm pretty pleased with these, though I do feel that Park Seed misrepresented the colour, what do you think?

Thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. Be sure to check out what's blooming around the world this July!

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, June 2010

This month lots of things are starting to bloom:

Natives

Anemone canadensis (Canada anemone, anémone du Canada). I was thrilled when this pretty native volunteered last year. Unfortunately I've never managed to get a good picture of it.

Myosotis laxa (bay forget-me-not, myosotis laxiflore)

Oxalis stricta (wood sorrel, oxalide)

Phlox divaricata 'Sweet Lilac' (woodland phlox, phlox bleu) is on its last legs; here's a picture of it in its prime.

Non-natives

Antirrhinum majus (snapdragon, muflier). These volunteered last year and managed to survive the winter! (Usually they're treated as annuals in Toronto.)

Digitalis × mertonensis (strawberry foxglove, digitale hybride)

Heliotropium arborescens (heliotrope, héliotrope du Pérou)

Heuchera 'Bressingham Hybrid' (coral bells, heuchère)

Impatiens walleriana 'Xtreme™ Pink'. These are very vigorous and floriferous plants; too bad it turns out they clash violently with the strawberry foxglove.

Lilium (lily, lys). Veseys sent some free mixed Carpet Border Lilies with my order last fall. They are lovely, until the lily beetles start nibbling them. (I don't feel comfortable killing animals, even insects, for what are merely cosmetic concerns. I would have squished the eggs but my son thought even that was "mean".)

Matricaria recutita (German chammomile, camomille vraie). I sowed this annual once a few years ago and it's been volunteering ever since. It has a lovely pineapple smell, like its less showy relative, Matricaria discoidea (pineapple weed, matricaire odorante)

Petunia 'Carmine Madness®'. My landlords get hot pink petunias every year.

Petunia 'Ultra White'. These are actually fragrant!

Rosa. This is a fragrant variety, and the bees love it. I'm not sure what the green bug in this photo is.

Scaevola aemula (fairy fanflower, scaevola émule), an Australian native (like my late father).

Tagetes patula 'Janie Primrose' (French marigold, œillet d'Inde)

Tagetes patula 'Janie Tangerine'

Viola cornuta 'Penny Purple Picotee' (viola, viola). This is my first year raising violas from seed—it was easy and fun. I got my seeds from Stokes, which has a great selection of viola seeds.

My landlord just got this lovely planter, which includes Callibrachoa, Chlorophytum comosum (spider plant, plante araignée), Sanvitalia, Scaevola aemula, and a plant I can't identify.

Thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. Be sure to check out what's blooming around the world for the June 2010 Bloom Day !

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, March 2010

Spring is just getting started here in Toronto. There are a whopping two species in bloom in our garden (which is two more than most of the other gardens around here...) The snow crocus (crocus du printemps, Crocus chrysanthus 'Blue Pearl') were the first to bloom. They're staying closed today because it's cloudy and cool, but they were wide open on a sunny day last week. This is my first year growing snow crocuses and I am very pleased with them.

My first snowdrop (perce neige, Galanthus nivalis) bloomed today. I planted a good sized clump of them, but so far only this one lonely plant is blooming. But I can see tips of a few neighbours so hopefully the full clump will appear. I'm disappointed that the snowdrops have been so slow in our garden; I guess they don't like this location? Other snowdrops in neighbourhood gardens were out in full force a week ago.

Check out what's blooming in gardens around the world for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day March 2010. Thanks to Carol of May Dreams Gardens for organizing this event!

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, November 2009

Here in Toronto, there isn't much blooming; in fact, I was surprised to find as many blooms as I did. Interestingly, they're all volunteers except for the chrysanthemums.

Antirrhinum majus (snapdragon, muflier). I'm not sure where these snapdragons blew in from, since we didn't plant them last year either. I'm planning to let them self-sow.

Chrysanthemum sp. (chrysanthème). The mums aren't as pretty as they were last month, but they still have lasted a very long time.

Erigeron annuus (daisy fleabane, vergerette annuelle). I was surprised to see daisy fleabane blooming at this time of year; it mostly blooms in early summer.

Lobularia maritima (alyssum, alysse odorante). I love the way this alyssum volunteers in a crack in the driveway. I may deliberately sow some in cracks next year.

Lobularia maritima (alyssum, alysse odorante). More alyssum. I must plant more of this next year, it has such a long blooming season, smells lovely, and pollinators love it! Stokes has some interesting colours you don't usually see in alyssums.

Petunia. I can't believe this petunia is still blooming, it lost its leaves ages ago and looked so nearly dead my landlords dumped it out of its hanging basket. Here it is sitting in a clump of dried up soil in November, and it's still blooming.

Sutera cordata (bacopa, sutera cordée). This was a pleasant surprise volunteer. I may plant some deliberately next year. It really needs to be started early indoors; this plant didn't bloom until autumn.

Check out what's blooming in gardens around the world this Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. Thanks to Carol of May Dreams Gardens for hosting!