Calgary Garden Coach

what's blooming in the Adventure Garden in May

This is the only real sunny garden area in my yard so blooms are coming along much more quickly here than anywhere else.  I am purposely not showing you any close-ups because I haven't done any weeding here yet and in fact, I STILL haven't finished cutting down some perennials from last year!  Life is busy.  The poor garden is going to be a little shabby for a while, but as I always say, this is a REALITY garden blog.  Fortunately, the plants I grow are all pretty low maintenance and a little neglect won't cause any permanent damage.

If you look closely, you will notice:

• yellow leopard's bane and pink bergenia blooming in the shadier (closer) side of the garden around the birdbath - hooray for their early blooms!!
• several clumps of dwarf purple irises on the sunnier (far) side - they really do need to be divided this year - anyone want some?
• Romance series cherries sporting white blooms on the far edge of the garden, in front of the hoop houses with a few tulips nearby,
• yellow Iceland poppies sprinkled around here and there, just starting to bloom (I yank them out by the handfuls after they bloom or else they will seed everywhere, but a few new surprises each year are always nice to have),
• two gorgeous flowering crabapples (a pink one and a white one) belonging to neighbours on the other side of the back alley which I get to appreciate very much,
• a new fence along the back (left) of the garden which is one reason I'm behind on weeding and plant maintenance...

To see this garden at other times of the year, click here and scroll down.

How is your garden coming along?

a new weeping crabapple for the Adventure Garden

Okay, I know I just finished saying that I was going to focus on weeding and mulching this spring rather than planting new plants, but a girl's gotta have a little fun.  Above, please see my new 'Rosy Glow' weeping crabapple, a tree which I have coveted for several years!  It has already finished its bloom for the year because I bought it in bloom several weeks ago, but next year it will only add to the spring show of yellow tulipa tarda and pink bergenia, which can be seen from the kitchen window.  This tree will also provide ornamental crabapples in summer, fall foliage colour, and winter structural interest.  I am thrilled to finally have it in my garden.

the front Welcome Garden in May - ready for mulching

On the long week-end I spent several hours doing a thorough weeding of the front garden.  I don't know about you, but I'm vowing things will be different this year.  In past years, I've had so much renovating to do each spring that I never actually took the time to get on top of the weeds.  But now is the easiest time to do it - the plants are still small so it is easy to reach between them to pull the weeds out.  And better to do it now before any of them set seed and create a million more problems to deal with later.

So, before I start painting the new fence, before I start working on the new patio in the backyard, before I level and plant that pot in the photo above, I'm going to attack every last weed in the garden (well, okay, maybe I'll level the pot 'cause it looks terrible!)  And then I'm going to order a big load of mulch and spread it everywhere, which is going to minimize future weeding and also do great things for my soil and plants.  It's the sort of investment I should really have done earlier but I was having too much fun moving plants around and creating new garden spaces. 

While weeding and mulching doesn't sound very glamorous, and isn't nearly as much fun as planting new plants, it will soon pay off in terms of the size and health of the plants in my garden (mulching helps conserve moisture and insulate the soil),  not to mention the fact that it keeps the garden looking neat and well maintained.  So stay tuned - the garden is going to look amazing this year!

This week in the vegetable garden...

It has been crazy busy in my world but at this time of year, somehow I always find time for my garden!  Last week-end I got the raised beds set up by topping up with fresh compost and worm castings, and putting the strings in place for square foot gardening.  This week I got many of my seeds in and then last night after supper (isn't it nice to be able to spend time outside after supper!?!?!) I put the plastic over my boxes to make mini-hoop houses. Bring on spring!

If you're interested, here is how I built the hoops and then I attached the plastic with clips from Canadian Tire.  Here's a close-up:

It ain't pretty but I think it will work!

Are you gardening this week-end?  Other things I expect to be doing over the next few days are finishing cutting down last year's perennials and getting ready for a new back fence to be built next week. Oh, and perhaps a little plant shopping.  ;-)

What are you up to?  You may find these resources useful:

• My April 2012 garden to-do list (we are WAAAAAAAAAY behind last year so this list is still appropriate for this week-end!!)
• spring garden clean-up tips

• Vegetable gardening in Calgary 101, which includes notes about raised beds and square foot gardening, and
• When to plant vegetable seeds in Calgary, which is one of my most popular posts.
• preparing and amending vegetable garden soil
• excellent resource on northern vegetable gardening