Calgary Garden Coach

a "special" Christmas tree

  We had to laugh at ourselves this past week-end as we brought the tree into our house.  It was a tall pine tree out of the backyard that had to come down anyway, so we saved it until now.  It was about 25ft tall, so of course some of the branches snapped off as it came crashing to the ground.  Here it is looking a little lopsided and flattened as my husband chopped off the top 8ft to bring inside.  While maybe not the prettiest, it's certainly the tallest tree we've ever had!

 

With all the cold temperatures we've been having, it was close to impossible to get any of the snow and ice off the tree before we brought it into the house.  And thanks to the fact that it was frozen solid, it was almost impossible to get it in the door despite the fact that it had lost several branches and looked very flat!

But half laughing, half cursing, we brought it in anyway, dropping pine cones, needles and snow everywhere, and let it drip on our floor for an hour.

 

We put it in the corner of the sunroom, with the flat spot and missing branches hidden at the back.  Then Sunday we had some family over and decorated.  It doesn't look so bad with a few shiny trinkets on it, does it?  (Notice the lack of decorations on the lower branches because we have an 11-month old!!)

Merry Christmas everyone!

a cold, white Christmas across Canada this year!

It is cold and snowy everywhere in Canada, I think!  I think it's great as long as you don't have somewhere to go.  I hope it warms up enough we can take the kids toboganning soon!

Here's a cute post from Jen - one of those mystified (and lucky!) west coast gardeners who doesn't normally get winter.

the gardening off-season

  I have said it before - I love winter!  People always seem to be surprised to hear me say that, considering how much I love to garden.  But really, gardening is such a passion for me that during the 6-7 gardening months, I never get anything else done!  Nothing.  I even admit that I neglect my husband during that time!

So I am thankful for winter for the chance to do other things.  One thing I like to do is make a few presents for my kids, niece and nephews.  Here are the bags I made for my two older daughters and niece this year.  Could they be any more sparkly?

 

And here are the toyboxes I made for my young nephews (the girls have already received toyboxes in previous years).  I got some plain, $20 toyboxes from Ikea, painted them up, and put on a pillow top.  Easy peasy!  Now how am I going to wrap them....?

making a nature wreath

This year, for our "annual girls' craft night", we made pine cone wreaths. 

This would have been a fun craft to do with the kids if I'd been organized to go collecting with them before it snowed...  The kids already like to bring sticks, dried leaves, pine cones etc. into the house, why not have a little scavenger hunt and then let them use their treasures to decorate a wreath?  It would be a great way to recycle some old ribbons and ornaments as well.

Mine ended up being quite simple, but I like it as a backdrop for other Christmas decorations on the mantle in our living room.

Elli's tip: stand up while you're making it so you can get a better view!  Oh, and a little wine doesn't hurt either...

locally sourced Christmas tree

I've read a lot about the debate on real vs. artificial trees in terms of the environment.  For me it's a no brainer - it's got to be a real tree for emotional and nostalgic reasons.  But there are still many factors to consider when you choose a real tree (how far was it shipped?  was it sustainably grown and harvested?  has it been sprayed with fungicide or who knows what else?)  It's enough to make a person want to give up!!

This year I am happy to report that I didn't have to worry about any of these issues!  I had a pine tree in my backyard that I've been wanting to take down for a while now - and I saved it until now.  How's that for a locally grown, organic, small carbon footprint tree?!?
We're going to chop off the top to bring inside for our Christmas tree this year, and the rest of the branches will be put on the garden for winter insulation.

This is the last tree I wanted to get rid of in my backyard.  It had to go because it was too close to a retaining wall we want to replace next spring.  Besides, someone landscaped this yard nicely about 30 years ago but planted way too many trees and shrubs way too close together (a pet peeve of mine), so I don't feel guilty at all about taking down a tree or two (or ten).  Now only one more tree to get rid of in the front yard, if I can only convince my husband...

still planting bulbs in mid-October

It's too late to plant daffodils, but tulips and a variety of smaller bulbs for spring will be fine if you plant them now.  I just received a package in the mail of bulbs I ordered way back in summer, when I had much more gardening energy left than I do now.

Every year I do this - I order way too many, and then I regret it when they arrive and I resent having to take the time to plant all these bulbs.  But I grudgingly do it anyway so they don't go to waste, and then in spring I am thankful I did.

I tend to avoid tulips, although I did plant some with my kids a few weeks ago.  I prefer the smaller, naturalizing bulbs.  They bloom earlier in the spring when I'm absolutely dying for some colour in the garden, they don't look god-awful once they've finished flowering and they come back and even multiply year after year.

This week-end I will be planting:

• 25 mixed Darwin hybrid tulips (really?  what was I thinking?)
• 10 allium "Purple Sensation"
• 10 species tulips "Little Beauty"
• 25 species "tulipa tarda"
• 50 iris reticulata
• 1 lilium "Canadense"

hard frost

For the record, the first hard frost (at least in my yard) was Oct 8.  Most of the annuals and even some of the tender perennials froze.  This coming week-end will see me starting to tidy up the garden for winter.  That's all right with me - I have some painting projects that I am itching to get starting on...!! 

Am I the only gardener who is satisfied with what I accomplished this year, and ready for winter so I can take a break?  I think if I lived in a place where I could garden all year round, I would probably burn out or at least not enjoy it as much.  Hooray for frost!

October to-do list

Sigh.  It's almost clean-up time.  Oh well, at this time of year I am usually satisfied with what I've accomplished in the garden (I've got a big old yard that needs a lot of work done, it's very much a work in progress).  So I'm happy to start putting things away for the year and to move on to some other hobbies that don't get any attention during the summer... or clean the house...

Here's my to-do list for October:

1. Cut down some perennials and compost them.There is much debate about whether it is better to leave everything standing, or chop it all down, or do something in the middle.  I will post more soon about what plants definately should be chopped down for the winter (because they just turn to a mushy mess or to prevent spread of disease, for example) and which plants definately should be left standing for the winter because they look so great!  Everything in between is a matter of taste, I think.
2. Rake leaves and mow lawn to the lowest height setting on your mower.  Rake up the cuttings and compost as well.
3. Soak all trees and shrubs with a soaker hose for a full day in mid- to late-October.
4. Empty ceramic pots and store where they will stay dry - the freeze/thaw cycle will crack them if they get wet.
5. Clean out eavestroughs and downspouts once leaves have fallen.
6. I don't grow any plants that need special winter protection, but I will put a few spruce branches on top of some of my evergreen perennials such as moss phlox and sea thrift, to prevent them from drying out.
7. Harvest carrots and pumpkins!!

indian summer

  I think this is my favourite time of year.  Yes, spring is exciting, but you don't get to be outside enjoying the exuberance of growth that exists at the end of the season.

Summer is great but when it's too hot I resent having to water my pots (and there are not many) and veggie patch every day.

This time of year we are enjoying the harvest of the veggie garden, still enjoying plenty of flowers, there's still lots of good weather to come, my big projects for the year are done, and the cooler weather means almost no watering.  Ahhhhh (sigh of contentment).

September to-do list

Well, gardening season is pretty much over for me.  The perennials have a couple of months left of looking good (or at least decent, for the most part), but my gardening usually happens in the mornings for a half-hour here and there on the days I manage to get up before the kids.  This time of year, it's too dark and cold that early in the morning!!

Anyway, here's my list for this month, for what it's worth, modified from the Calgary Horticultural Society's to-do list:

• Keep harvesting raspberries, peas, beans, lettuce, tomatoes, and carrots.  Yum!
• Water pumpkin plant every day - those suckers need lots of water!
• Move and divide perennials – now is a great time as they are full size so you are less likely to plant things too close together.
• Keep up with weeding - ya right...
• Deadhead annuals and some perennials to encourage more bloom; leave some seedheads for decoration or to collect seeds.
• Stop fertilizing trees, shrubs, and roses – any surge of fresh new growth now will just weaken the plant before winter.
• Stop deadheading hardy roses for the same reason.
• Plant spring bulbs as soon as possible - I went overboard buying bulbs this year as usual.
• There’s a whole slew of advice on how to keep your containers and plantings going as long as possible, but by this point in the year, I’m getting tired and frost is welcome!!  There will be no trucking pots in/out of the garage every night/morning at our house!
• Cut flowers that preserve well and save them for indoor arrangements or winter containers (e.g. globe thistle).
• Think about what worked or didn’t work this year, while it’s still fresh in memory, and start planning for next year!!

first frost

Sigh.  The rooftops in my neighbourhood were white this morning.  Everything's OK, even the impatiens, which are the first things to go when there's a killing frost.  But still... the end is near...

bleeding heart going dormant

Don't worry if your bleeding heart looks like this!  A 5-day heat wave and this is what mine looks like.  Actually, I have more in the backyard that get more shade and are still green, but this one gets a fair amount of morning sun.  Bleeding hearts will go dormant in the summer if they get too much sun/heat.

It looks alright but will soon get ratty, so I am cutting mine to the ground.

hail report

Standing on the back porch, helplessly watching the hail pound down on the garden every summer - this has got to be the hardest part about gardening in Calgary!!

I can handle zone 3, I can handle the chinooks, I can handle the cold nights and the short growing season and even the freak snowstorms in June and September, all things which make gardening in Calgary notorious.  But the hail in July and August, when the garden is at its peak, is just, well, painful.

Fortunately, I don't seem to be in much of a hail belt and sustained very little damage.  I don't think the tomatoes were impressed, though.

what to do before going on holidays

• mow the lawn
• drain the rain barrels with soaker hoses and leave the hoses attached
• deadhead annuals
• move all the pots to one spot on the patio to make it easier for the teenager next door to water them
• deadhead perennials that are finished or almost finished blooming, if there’s time (I doubt it)

 

Not that I don’t trust the teenager next door, but I took pictures of all my pots in case they don’t look as good when I get back.  I don’t claim to be any kind of container artist, though.  These are all planted with a few staples I pick up every year (sweet allysum and petunias for scent, snapdragons for their frost tolerance, impatiens for shade), stuff from around the house, and whatever else my Mom had left over after planting up her containers.  Anyway, here they are:

July to-do list

• Pull weeds.  A few minutes a couple times a week is best so you never get overwhelmed.  If you don’t have much time, at least pull off the tops of ones that are flowering or have gone to seed.
• Deadhead perennials that have finished flowering (such as iris and peony) to tidy them up.  Deadhead annuals to promote more blooms.
• Prune lilacs after flowering is finished - pruning later will remove next year's flower buds.
• Thin crowded vegetable seedlings.  Root crops such as carrots and beets especially do not like to be overcrowded.
• Continue breaking off the secondary branches from indeterminate (vine) tomatoes.
• Stake tall plants such as delphiniums and monkshood, if you haven’t already.
• Water the lawn about 1” per week (water deeply i.e. once or twice a week instead of every day).  Mow to a 3” height to help keep the roots shaded, and leave grass cuttings on the lawn.
• If planting anything this late, be sure to give lots of water.
• Water trees with a soaker hose after 2 weeks of hot dry weather.

first harvest

Time to thin the veggie seedlings - I'm a little behind because I had to prepare a new site for the veggie patch before I planted this year. Normally the first harvest would be much earlier.

I always sow my seeds randomly within a square area, rather than neat little rows.  I like the patchwork look and it is a better use of space.  Thinning the plants is a pleasure since I get to make gourmet salads of the little baby plants - in this case several colours of lettuce and baby spinach.  Yum!

hail report

First hail of the season yesterday and a few plants are looking a little shredded, but will bounce back (if it ever warms up....)

The hostas often get decimated because they have such broad, tender leaves, but most of mine are in full shade and are just starting to appear so they are unscathed.  This one gets a little more sun and has already leafed out so sustained a little damage, but I've seen much worse.

If any plant is damaged, remove only the very shredded leaves, as less damaged ones can still feed the plant.  A few hot days and everything will recover (except later in the season, hostas don't recover so well as their growth slows right down in summer).

Thank goodness for sun today.

not record rainfall in Calgary... yet?

Everyone's complaining about the rain.  Yes, I still have a few more wheelbarrow loads of compost to move around, and I'd like to get it done before going on holidays, but planting is done and no major flooding is expected, so I'm happy!  It would be nice if temperatures were a little warmer...

One thing about being a gardener is that you start to keep track of weather patterns from year to year.  It always rains a lot in June - I was expecting this!  Hence the mad rush to get all my planting done before now.  So far in June, Calgary has received 47 millimetres of rain, compared to the average rainfall for the month of 79.8 millimetres, and the 247.6 millimetres that fell during the floods of June 2005, according to Environment Canada.  This is nothing!!

June to-do list

Here is my to-do list, modified from the Calgary Horticultural Society.

• Weed regularly - I can't emphasize this enough! A litle every few days is better than letting them get out of control (which they will, especially in June) and then trying to catch up.
• Plant potatoes and tender vegetables and annuals after June 1.
• Mulch flowerbeds to keep soil cool and moist, and keep down weeds.
• Water regularly as a supplement to rain; 1 inch/week (including rain) is generally recommended. Use an upside down frisbee to figure out how long to leave your sprinkler on for.
• Remove tip-kill on roses and other shrubs just above an outward-facing bud or shoot.
• Prune out the oldest wood on spring-flowering shrubs once flowers are finished, to stimulate new vigorous growth.
• Snap new growths (candles) on mugho pines in half (or more) when fully extended, just before needles open, to control size and shape.
• Assemble stakes, cages and grids to support tall or floppy plants such as peonies, delphiniums and monkshood.
• Deadhead (cut off finished flowers to either promote new flowers, reduce self-seeding, or keep a plant tidy-looking).
• Keep birdbaths freshly filled and clean.

hummingbird feeders

This is new for me this year, but since I am planting a hummingbird/butterfly garden, I'd better have a hummingbird feeder too!  According to my Mom, the bird expert, it's time to put the feeders out now as the hummingbirds will be migrating through Calgary soon.  Apparently once they find one, they'll return to the same spot year after year. 

Feeders can be filled with a 4:1 water:sugar solution (eg. 2 cups water, 1/2 cup sugar).  Keep them clean and full.

PS (as of May 16, my Mom has had 1 hummer at her feeder!)

For more helpful tips, click on "comments" below for information from Zoe Anne Hinds at http://www.hummingbirdsformom.com.

did I jinx it?

Yes, I know the world doesn't revolve around me, but for both April and May now, the day after I posted the monthly to-do list, it snowed.  Coincidence?  And what should I do for June?

May to-do list

This is the busiest month!!  If you can get major changes, planting, fertilizing and weeding done now, you can take it easy and enjoy your garden for the summer.  Seriously!! 

• Begin hardening off annuals in a protected area; bring indoors at night if frost is predicted.
• Plant frost-tolerant annuals.
• Plant up containers that are small enough to be moved indoors if frost threatens.
• Get lawn power-raked and aerated (see more comments here).  Top dress lawn and garden with compost: 2” on garden beds and rake ¼” onto lawns.  If using synthetic fertilizer, apply a slow-release lawn fertilizer in mid-May (any earlier and it will get lost in run-off before the ground is warm enough to activate it – a waste and not very environmentally friendly, either).  If planning to seed or overseed your lawn, wait till June.
• Shop, shop, shop!  Perennials can be hardened off and planted any time.  The garden centres have lots of bare root and bulb packages of common perennials at this time of year – you won’t get the instant gratification of planting leafy, blooming perennials in the garden, but they are way cheaper this way – think of the energy saved in transportation, too!.  Choose from hostas, dayliliies, lilies, echinacea and rudbeckia, liatris, and more.
• Existing perennials in the garden can be dug up, moved, divided or shared any time.  Generally, fall-blooming perennials should be moved in spring, and spring-blooming perennials should be moved in fall.  But that’s only if you want to ensure best bloom – go ahead and move spring-blooming plants now if you’re willing to sacrifice a few blooms.  Ideally, most spring planting and replanting should be done in May, so the monsoons of June can water them in and they’ll be well-established before the heat of summer.
• Plant hardy vegetables such as peas, beets, and spinach in early May.
• Prune roses.  Remove dead, diseased or decayed branches.  Cut off any tip-kill, just above an outward-facing bud.
• Stay on top of the weeds.  This is probably most important!!  If you lack time, at least pull off the tops so that they don’t set seed.  Weed seeds, June rain and gardening do not mix well.  Trust me, you will save huge time later on. 

frost-tolerant annuals

Everybody thinks that May 24 is the time to plant annuals outside.  Why wait?  I know I can’t.  I need colour now!!  There are lots of annuals that are frost tolerant.  You can buy them now, harden them off for a week or so (less, if you’re impatient like me), and get them in pots or in the ground next week.  These are some of my faves:

• Pansies and violas - these can stand 10 degrees of frost and can generally go outside mid-April.  They would have made it through our late spring blizzard this year no problem.  Note that they don’t do well in the heat of the summer, but if you cut them back in summer they’ll greet you with more flowers in the fall.  Flowers are edible.
• Snapdragons - my favourite because they look good all summer, and flower right until October, providing much-needed late fall colour as well.  I always plant the medium height (2’) varieties because they don’t need staking – I’m all about low maintenance!
• Dusty miller – great for its silvery foliage colour all season, and drought tolerant too.
• Dianthus (pinks) and carnations
• Ornamental cabbage and kale – these are planted for their fall foliage colours, but can go in now.

spring at last!

It's hard to believe that yesterday morning there was still snow on the ground!  By the afternoon it was sunny and 20. 

But the plants are all fine, including these tulips and the crocuses that were blooming before the snow and cold came (a week ago!).

I got my garden fork out at last yesterday, and moved 2 perennials and 3 shrubs.  Fun fun fun!  It's too early to put new plants from a greenhouse in the ground, but anything that is already growing outside won't be shocked by the move.

Enough already!

A week of snow and temperatures continuously below freezing.  The worst april on record for a loooooooong time!

I am way behind on my gardening plans!!! 

Someday I will be posting beautiful pictures of plants that do well in Calgary... in the meantime here are some of my lilacs encased in ice.  Sigh.

April blizzards bring... June flowers?

OK, I know occasional snow storms in April are normal for Calgary.  But for 5 days straight?  With daily highs in the minuses???

Sigh.  I just have to keep telling myself:

the moisture is good.... the moisture is good.... it's okay, the moisture is good... 

and at least it is snowing before it gets too cold to help insulate all those plants already growing.

veggies to sow in mid-April

inside:

• cucumber
• lettuce

outside:

• peas
• rutabaga
• turnip

ladybugs

I was out poking around in the garden this morning and saw lots of sleeping ladybugs.  Don't rake up those leaves just yet!!

the grass is greener

I notice my grass is starting to green up.  Not really that exciting for a non-lawn lover like me!  But this is a great time to pull out any grass that has made its way into your perennial beds and mixed with the perennial roots.  The grass is turning green while most of the perennials haven't started sprouting yet, so it is really easy to pull out the grass right now.  It's almost impossible later.  Make sure the soil is a little moist for best weedability (give a little water the day before if you have to).  While it's still too early to do most of the things on the April "to do" list, if you're itching to get outside like me this is a great way to feel like you're gardening.

Be patient...

... I should have added that to the "April to-do list" that I posted a couple days ago!  This was my garden when I woke up this morning.  It's beautiful but a little tiring by this time of year.  But I am grateful for any moisture we get in Calgary, really. And I might as well spend a few more mornings on the couch with my feet up before I start getting up and madly gardening each morning (I will get maybe a half an hour each day before the kids get up, if I'm lucky).

The compost delivery is coming April 14 and after that there will be no more leisurely mornings!!

april to-do list

• Finish pruning shrubs and trees.  If you don’t know what you’re doing, I strongly recommend calling a certified arborist this year, and ask lots of questions while they’re doing it so that you can do it next year.
• Give trees and shrubs a drink.  Put a soaker hose around the drip line (directly under the outermost branch tips) of each tree and shrub and turn it on for a full day (12 hours).  Watering your lawn all summer is not enough to keep your trees healthy (you don't need to water your lawn yet!!)
• Finish cutting down last year’s perennials if you haven’t already.
• Pull winter mulch back from crowns of perennials that are starting to grow. Don’t rake it up too early or you’ll disturb all the sleeping ladybugs!
• Clean eavestroughs and downspouts if you didn’t last fall and set up rain barrels.
• Start some annual flower seeds.  Most are fast- and easy-growing, and seeds are cheap!  Some recommendations include:
  • petunia, godetia, lavatera, nigella (indoors early April)
  • phlox, marigold, morning glory (indoors late April)
  • cosmos, sweet alyssum, sweet pea, sunflower (plant inside late April or directly outside in early May)

... and keep the snow shovel handy!!  When it snows (and it almost definately will), shovel the snow onto your garden instead of the street - why waste it to evaporation or run-off when it could add moisture after a long dry winter?

repot your tomatoes

Any tomato seedlings that have developed their first real set of leaves should be repotted into bigger containers to keep them happy.  Mine already had roots sticking out the bottom of the cell packs.  Choose the strongest seedlings, and plant them deeper in their new pots.  Repot them at least one more time before they are ready to go outside, planting them deeper again.  This will minimize them getting too leggy from growing indoors, and the buried stem will send out new roots, helping the plant become stronger.

Don't you love the smell of tomato leaves?  Having tomato seedlings in the basement makes me feel like I am gardening already! 

Seedy Saturday is this week-end

10:00-3:00 at the Montgomery community centre in Calgary.

Not that I need more seeds, but I can't wait!  Heirloom varieties and open-pollinated seed and seedlings, seed swaps, fun for kids and more.

March: starting seeds

If you are relatively new to gardening, starting plants from seed may seem a little daunting.  But if you choose the right plants, and know when to start them, it’s pretty easy!  Plus you can save big bucks and get a better selection of plants.  I only grow flowers that are easy to start from seed, and veggies that are worth the effort i.e. easy to grow (lettuce, carrots) or taste infinitely better fresh than what you can get at the grocery store (tomatoes, peas).

Here are my tomato seedlings under lights in the basement.  Aren’t they cute?  They are short-season varieties so that I can have fresh tomatoes in July.  I have also started agastache foeniculum “aurea” and verbena bonariensis (for the butterfly garden), salvia “marble arch”, hesperis matronalis (dame’s rocket), nicotiana sylvestris and castor bean “impala”.

Other faster-growing annuals and veggies can be started from seed in April or sown directly into the garden in May.

Water...?

Most experienced gardeners in Calgary will say you don't need to start watering until April, when you can give your trees and shrubs a big drink, however there is some debate.  Even if your soil seems dry on top, if you try digging down a bit, you will probably find it still frozen and/or moist in most areas.  If you watered everything in the fall, and have been piling up snow on the garden when you can (I still have just a little more snow left in shady spots), then you're probably fine.

That said, I have 12 large spruce trees on my regular city lot, plus a garden bed under the eaves on the south side of the house where rain or snow never falls.  Some of my beds are DRY.  I gave them a little drink with the soaker hose this week.