Hummingbirds!

Hummingbird at our feeder June 5, at sunset (light transmitting through red glass onto the bird)

 After a few days of rapidly-moving dark clouds dumping sudden bursts of rain and some smaller showers in between, we are anticipating a long warm dry spell here in the South Okanagan.  The tourists rejoice and children will want to be out of school.  Summerland's Action Festival will have great weather this weekend.

The weeds and the plants are racing to outgrow each other.  I have a mint plant that scared me with its quadrupled size in the last week.  The children are going to grow tired of virgin mojitos with Schwepps ginger ale.  I tried a mint ice cream recipe using fresh mint leaves a few years ago, but its texture was reminiscent of licking velour, so we quickly abandoned that.  Perhaps we used the wrong kind of mint?  This year, we have spearmint...a lot of it.  I do have the plant sunk in the ground within a large container, but it has escaped to the surrounding soil though it will ultimately be restrained by some nearby retaining walls. 

Thornless blackberry blossom, June 5

 My Blanc Double de Coubert rose is already done blooming, but I pulled a bunch of developing rosehips from it to try and get some more flowers.  That rose has a lovely scent, which is a big part of why I bought it, besides its low maintenance needs.  It had flowers for about two weeks.  I think the Red Meidiland shrub rose (pictured) is supposed to have a longer blooming season, but it doesn't have much scent.  The color really stands out though. 

Red Meidiland shrub rose, shaded in evenings and mulched well

 I love planting rock garden plants in crevices, which possibly appeals to my love of miniature things.  I have been stuffing a variety of Sedums and Sempervivums (hens and chicks), Thyme and little buns of Draba in these spots.  The thyme likes a bit more water and shade (they get the water that trickles through the earth from the underground drip-watering system).  The sempervivums are very hardy even in drier spots, and sedums seem at least moderately hardy.  I like the low-growing, carpet-like sedums at the tops of the rocks (Sedum album "Orange Ice" is in bloom right now), where they cascade over the edges.  Thyme blooms early in the summer, but the creeping green mats of thyme still look amazing the rest of the year.  Make sure though to get the lowest and densest varieties of thyme.  "Elfin" is great.  Wooly thyme has a fascinating textural effects.  The edible type thymes would not be suited for this kind of planting. 

Thyme (foreground) and sempervivum in crevice between granite boulders

The vegetable garden (in stock tanks) is growing enough lettuce to feed an army.  Will kids notice it in smoothies?

Our New Grafted Apple Trees

After a one-day deluge last week, the plants (and weeds) are making great strides in this warm spring Summerland weather.  The tourists are roaming around our Bottleneck drive neighbourhood, with wine tour buses regularly passing our house (should I wave?).  I was too busy to photograph the irises as they bloomed in the last few weeks, but the cheddar pinks (Dianthus gratianapolitanus) are looking great in the perennial beds.  I appreciate their compact shape with a dense show of deep pink flowers over blue-green foliage.  I certainly would love to have more of these.

Cheddar pinks (Dianthus gratianapolitanus) - May blooms

In the realm of edibles, the new apple nursery is now established with 4800 trees.  I believe these are called bench grafts, with the tops (scions) collected from Ambrosia trees early this year and grafted onto specific rootstock by a nursery in Summerland.  They looked like twigs going into the ground, but in the last week, have produced some leaves.  They will eventually be dug up and and moved to their final locations next spring, where they will grow as a high-density orchard.

Newly planted grafted apples

The old-style orchard: Macintosh apples this week

One of our table grapes - planted this spring

 The vegetable garden has produced a tidal wave of spinach, leaving us searching online for spinach recipes and blanching and freezing some for future use.  There will be spanakopita and spinach salad for every meal!  I've even tried playing YouTube Popeye videos for subliminal messages to the children.  I think smaller, spaced out successive plantings would have been better, but the initial garden efforts were a bit enthusiastic.  Next year, we will try for more self-control.

Greens in the stock tank raised beds

So far, the stock tanks are working well as raised beds.  We still have to hand-water them from the top, as not every plant will have deep enough roots to reach down to the damp soil closer to the reservoir on the bottom. I have faith that the tomatoes will eventually reach down and tap into the available water though.  They have big root systems. 

Vegetables Already!

We got a good rain overnight, which is the first significant rainfall we have had in months -- not really surprising in this semi-arid desert climate.  This will be good for BC's wildfires, though the lightning is still unwanted.

Spinach and other vegetables in the stock tank raised beds

The stock tank raised beds are offering up some great spinach at the moment.  The only quandary is finding recipes for spinach that children find appetizing.  We will have to do some internet searching or hand it out free to willing friends and neighbours.

I inter-planted the spinach with carrots so that the carrots will continue on when the spinach is done.  Of course, we planted "rainbow" colored carrots, as kids love the novelty of interesting colored vegetables.  I surely hope they EAT THEM too.

Tomato Time!

Corn starting to come up in the "Three Sisters" plot

I transplanted my tomatoes outside this weekend, filling another two stock tanks.  I am trying a variety of heirloom varieties, including Costoluto Genovese, Omar's Lebanese, Black plum, and Black cherry tomato.  I am also growing a hybrid cherry tomato called "Jelly Bean".  Besides its appealing name, it has good disease resistance and bears large clusters of oval-shaped fruits.  They grow very tall, so will be needing support systems.

Scallions and marigolds in raised bed

I was going to put all the tomatoes into the stock tanks, but Gardener-man appeared distressed when I mentioned driving tomato supports into the raised beds.  This is because there is a membrane separating the water reservoir on the bottom from the sand layer in the middle.  Also, all of my tomato plants are indeterminate (vs. determinate), which means that their vertical growth doesn't stop after reaching their genetically-determined height.  They will keep getting taller all season.  We will have to come up with a support system that is compatible with the stock tank raised beds.  However, "Jelly Bean" will go into the ground near the asparagus and have the benefit of underground drip-watering.

Meanwhile, in the Flower Beds...

Shaded border - Cunningham white rhododendron

My Blanc Double de Coubert shrub rose is blooming and already dropping petals!  I was not prepared to have roses so early, but having moved from Saskatchewan makes these events seem astounding.  The rhododendrons around town are looking great and my still-tiny rhodos with white and red blooms are looking good, though barely visible except up-close.  The small-statured Rhododendron "Baden Baden" is in the rock garden and has already finished blooming, while  red "Vulcan" is presently looking great.  The "Cunningham's White" had an intermediate blooming time and is pictured here in this post.  I had a little panic episode this spring when I saw that the closed buds were PINK, but was relieved to see the flowers are indeed white.

Allium "Purple Sensation"

 My Allium "Purple Sensation" is the first bloomer of my ornamental alliums.  It will be finished before A. giganteum "Globemaster" blooms (which I am really excited to see, because it was never hardy in Saskatchewan).     

Table at the Summerland Ornamental Garden Plant Sale, May 9

I thoroughly enjoyed the Summerland Ornamental Gardens plant sale last weekend.  I heard in advance that it was very popular and that one should get there early, which I did, despite a puking child.  However, getting there at the official opening time of 8 am doesn't get mean you get there before the crowds of people.  Gardeners must be early-rising and highly-competitive sorts, because I had to drive down to the far-away overflow parking spots.  I think the keen gardeners before me had lined up in the early morning.  Fortunately, I wasn't after the bedding plants.  I had my eye on some native perennials and a few other unusual plants, like Echium amoenum "Red Feathers", which is now planted in the "desert bed" with a variegated yucca.  Although I don't want to swell the crowds for next year's plant sale, I must say that the prices were quite good and the selection quite nice.  They even were prepared to take interact and credit card! 



 

The Season of Yellow Flowers

Certain colors dominant short periods of time in the perennial garden.  Right now, the wild Arrowleaf Balsamroot is flowering in the hills around us and they look so bright and beautiful.  Did you know they are the official flower of Kelowna?   

Arrowleaf Balsamroot in bloom, Summerland, BC

 Meanwhile, we have accumulated some composted manure in a square patch next to the stock tank raised beds and declared it a vegetable garden.  Sticks designate the places where I have planted corn and beans, the start of our traditional "Three Sisters Garden", a beneficial companion planting of traditional South American plants. 

Squash, cucumbers, and zucchini will fill the spaces between staggered stands of corn, which in turn will support bean plants.  The large leaves of the vine plants shades the soil, keeping it moist for the corn and beans.  We didn't make mounds for the corn, since we have a dry climate and the linked article above says that flat ground is better in dry areas.  We haven't had too much rain in April, so we will have to stay dedicated to the sprinkler for the germination period.

Stock tank raised beds - first one is growing spinach

The daffodils are at the end of their season and the Aurinia saxatilis is forming carpets of blooms.  Several neighbours have stunning slopes entirely covered in these yellow flowers.  They are very hardy, require full sun, and can live in poor soils.  They probably seed out a bit, as I see them naturalized in rocky informal settings where they probably were never intentionally planted.  I would like to spread them all over my yard, because they look great and are so easy!  Elsewhere in the yard, the new growth on the Euphorbia polychroma is a similar bright yellow and quite striking next to contrasting purple Heuchera foliage or bright blue or pink spring flowers.

Aurinia saxatilis in my perennial bed

Next in the garden season is...Irises!  Can't wait to see the show. 

I am hoping to go to the Summerland Ornamental Gardens spring plant sale this year.   They promise unusual plants and some interesting varieties of tomatoes, from what I can see on their Facebook page.  Besides being a great place to pick up uncommon plants not seen at garden centers, this is a fundraiser for one of my favourite gardens!  It should make for good Mother's Day shopping too!
  

Knit for Monarchs?

Have you heard about #knit4monarchs?  Its a David Suzuki campaign to get people knitting a chrysalis to keep monarch caterpillars warm.
(posted on April 1, you should note)

Otherwise, they are serious about planting milkweed, the only plant on which monarchs lay eggs and it is the only food for Monarch caterpillars.  The major threat to monarchs is said to be the destruction of wild stands of milkweed, especially caused by agricultural practices across North America.  The use of Round-up ready crops and therefore, the herbicide "Round-up" to destroy the nearby weeds (including milkweed), has destroyed the home-base of monarch butterflies.  Given this, the Okanagan should really be a heaven for monarchs.  Milkweed grows wild all around here and there are no such thing as Round-up ready grapes or tree fruits.  Milkweed really lives up to its "weed" name, as it actually thrives in neglected spots all over the place.

Our wild milkweed, Asclepias speciosa (Showy Milkweed) is rather coarse looking large plant with large pink ball of pink stars.  They are very drought tolerant, which is demonstrated by the ones growing alongside the cactus in the scrubland across the street from our house.  They survive in zone 3-9 and grow up to 6 feet tall!

Asclepias tuberosa seedlings

I decided to grow milkweed other than the local native one, so I have some seedlings going for the yellow variety of Asclepias tuberosa.  I started the orange variety last year.  I am also growing Asclepias curassavica, the Tropical Milkweed.  I think these other milkweed are a bit more attractive, but are also good for the monarchs.  Milkweed seeds are VERY easy to germinate.  They germinate quickly in warm conditions with no need for a cold period.

Stock tank raised bed

The stock tanks are full to the brim now.  The previous layers of rocks and sand are now covered in potting soil.  Last week, I planted spinach and carrot seeds in this first one.   

Plants in the greenhouse

 My greenhouse is growing plants for the yard and cilantro for regular use in Thai and Indian dishes.  Yum!  I planted potted herbs outside this week too, with the exception of basil, which is too tender. 

Chionodoxa in bloom

Spring is the season for the lovely small bulbs like scilla, crocuses, chionodoxa and more.  Also, if you stay indoors, you can know its spring in the Okanagan because the seniors are now wearing sandals (with socks)!  Yes, despite the freak storm of sleet at lunchtime today, the sun did come out in the afternnon and I got a photo of my Chionodoxa blooming.  I picked up some drumstick primulas and a few more bunches of grape hyacinths to fill in the "rock garden" flower bed.  Once the peony and other perennials get going, it might not look so bare.

More of the Stock Tank Raised Beds

While the spring flowers have been slow to appear here, the stock tanks continue to move along in preparation for spring seeding.

The first steps in this project can be found in an earlier post here: http://applesandasclepias.blogspot.com/2015/02/starting-on-stock-tank-raised-beds.html

Landscape fabric over rocks, drainage pipe

After the layer of river rock, the man-gardener covered the rock with a permeable landscape fabric to prevent the future sand layer from falling through into the rocks.  The vertical pipe at the end will be the inlet for water that will sit around the rocks and wick up to the plants (theoretically).   A perforated plastic pipe covered in a fine mesh of some sort (to keep out the sand) crosses the tank above the landscape fabric and sticks out a hole cut in the side of the tank.  The purpose of this pipe is to drain off any excess water, should it reach the level of the pipe. 

Drain pipe from middle layer of tank

After the drainage pipes were all installed, the layer of sand was added.  It appears there is only a few inches of sand (I didn't stay to watch the whole process).

Sand layer is added in stock tank

Next will be a layer of potting mix (no landscape fabric to separate potting mix and sand though).  We are waiting until the local suppliers have bulk amounts of potting mix available.  The spinach seeds are waiting! 

Starting on the stock tank raised beds

The resident heavy-lifter (man-sort of gardener here) has begun the spring work of creating raised beds out of stock tanks.  He purchased them at a place down in Washington state that has cheap prices on such things and hauled them up here last fall. Now, they have been placed on the south side of the barn and it appears he has placed perforated plastic pipes in the bases, with the upwards-pointing end functioning as a port for watering. 

Stock tanks destined to be a garden

On top of the pipes is a layer of river rock, which will eventually be topped with permeable landscape fabric, a few inches of sand, and then potting mix.  I have some doubts about the whole YouTube-researched project, but it seems many others have tried this sort of thing and have had success.  The home-design website, Houzz, even has a selection of photos of such garden additions.  I originally had dreams of a French-inspired gated- and lavender hedge-surrounded potager garden complete with ornamental allium, calendula and sweet pea flowers.   He wanted to match the barn's metal roof with the adjacent metal tanks to complete the agri-industrial look.  Whatever.   

My planting ideas for these things so far includes tomatoes, peppers, strawberries and lettuce.  We don't need herbs in here because they already have their own very successful location elsewhere.  With the high number of rodents around here, un-protected strawberries quickly disappear.  I am planning to cover one entire tank with netting just to protect the strawberry crop.  After that thought, I also wondered about covering another one with a shade cloth tent in which to grow lettuce in shaded comfort, so that the Okanagan heat doesn't make it go to seed so quickly.  Any ideas or tips?