Calgary Garden Coach

... more flowering houseplants... and snow... and general winter thoughts

Since we've been talking about flowering houseplants, here's my jade plant in bloom.  Like the Christmas cactus and lemon tree (calling it a tree is pushing it at this point), it is in a sunny, west-facing window, and that's the Adventure Garden - now blanketed in thick snow - in the background again.  Jade plants will bloom when they reach about 7ish years old if they get enough sun.

I've been meaning to post an explanation of what I'm up to these days, but, well, I just haven't had time.  At this time of the year, I can barely remember what it's like to be able to keep on top of the laundry, let alone have time to garden! Hooray for winter!  If it was gardening season and I didn't have time to garden, I would be a lot more grumpy.

For those of you who don't know, I work at Mount Royal University and at this time of year I'm swamped with teaching prep and marking issues.  I would say that for me, the four seasons of the year are:

1. Gardening season
2. Trying to stay 1-minute ahead of my students
3. Reflecting on the past year's garden
4. Planning next year's garden

In actuality, I reflect and plan constantly all year round, but it just so happens I don't have time to write about it in seasons 1 and 2.  So I have lots of interesting ideas to talk about and in a few weeks when season 2 starts to wind down, expect to hear more from me! 

Enjoy the snow... isn't it beautiful?

... and speaking of colour...

I'm actually not a very keen houseplant person (they get neglected all summer while I'm outside), so the few houseplants I actually do own have to be extra special:  anything that is easy to take care of, yet flowers, is definitely a worthwhile houseplant in my books!

Christmas cactus fits the bill:

People who've been over to my house recently have asked, "Do you fertilize your christmas cactus?"  Why, yes, of course!  It is a wonder to me that people think they can grow a plant in a pot for years and not feed it anything.  I feed this the occasional 20-20-20 mixed in water from about March through to September (when I remember) and then stop.  By now the plant has enough energy to flower and then I want to give it some downtime over the winter before it enters its next major growing season when the days start to lengthen again.  This is growing in a sunny, west-facing window, BTW (and that's the Adventure Garden in the background.)

I also have a Meyer lemon tree which I acquired this past spring.  It took a while to get settled in its new pot but seems to be doing OK now.  It is everbearing so always has flowers on it - which smell AMAZING!  I have yet to harvest a decent lemon but it's worth it just for the flowers.  I can always hope for future lemons since it's early days still.  I've also heard that these plants are fairly finicky about their moisture requirements...  I'll have to do some research.  Anyone have any tips for growing Meyer lemons?

colour in the late season garden

Yes, Calgary has a very short "growing season".  If you define the season from the last frost in the spring to the first frost in the fall.  But perennials last much longer than that and of course, shrubs, trees and evergreens extend the season even further.  This late fall has been glorious - the first Hallowe'en the kids didn't have to try to squeeze their costumes over winter coats and mitts!  There are many shrubs and perennials still looking very colourful in the garden right now. 

Since my two main criteria for choosing plants is that they must be low maintenance and must have a long season of interest, it just so happens that many of the plants still looking good right now happen to be many of my overall favourites:

Above: sedum 'Matrona' and helictotrichon sempervirens (blue oat grass);

 

Above: blue oat grass again with my new barberry 'Rose Glow' in front;

 

Above: the same blue oat grass from another angle, with ornamental allium seed head in front and sedum, nepeta (catmint) and lamb's ears adding texture and colour in the background;

 

Above: many of the roses still have leaves on them and this one, 'Snow Pavement' also has extra large hips;

 

Above: asters still blooming with a rose, artemesia 'Silver Mound', a purple sedum and perovskia (russian sage) in the background;

 

Above: lonicera 'Scarlet Trumpet' honeysuckle still blooming;

 

Above: scarlet trumpet honeysuckle with perovskia (russian sage) and liatris;

 

Above: ninebark 'Diabolo' at the back of the Adventure Garden;

 

Above: lamb's ears, nepeta (catmint), sedum 'Matrona', bergenia, festuca glauca and calamagrostis 'Karl Foerster' still providing colour and texture;

 

Above: sedum 'Autumn Joy' (this particular specimen is getting a little leggy due to its warm location on the west side of the house, so it probably needs dividing next spring);

 

Above: sedum 'Autumn Joy' in more exposed locations in the front Welcome Garden stay more compact;

 

Above: sedum 'Autumn Joy' in front of calamagrostis (feather reed grass) 'Karl Foerster';

 

Above: teasel and feather reed grass in the front Welcome Garden seem to glow when backlit;

 

Above: another specimen of 'Karl Foerster' that I enjoy viewing from the kitchen window all year long;

 

Above: the leaves in hte strawberry patch are turning brilliant colours in front of dwart Alberta spruce (a plant I don't recommend for Calgary, BTW) and calamagrostis (feather reed grass) 'Overdam';

 

Above: and finally, many of my tough, dry, shade-tolerant perennials such as lamiastrum (shown) and epimedium are still looking green and healthy.

 

 

 

 

 

ninebark 'Diabolo' holds its leaves late in the season

... and absolutely glows when backlit by our golden, low, November sun.  These pictures were taken mid-day on November 6, but my camera just doesn't do it justice.