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“I sometimes wonder whether all pleasures are not substitutes for joy”
C. S. Lewis
This post should have featured wild animals in their natural habitats in the Botswana bush – though perhaps not quite: “Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically across the plains”… as John Cleese would have it.
Instead, here are some photos of the flora in our garden:
Time for some photos of plants growing in our garden. I know that I do this every year, but the garden is not the same from one year to the next so I don’t suppose that the images are either. Anyway – the nature of this journal is that there will always be something else along in a moment and there are no penalties for skipping ahead (I wanted there to be but couldn’t figure out how to do it!)…
The reason for my somewhat incredulous byline is that – no matter how much a part of it we all are – nature is still pretty much a riddle to me (wrapped inside a mystery etc, etc)… Take this Camellia for example. Some seasons back (maybe four or five) I pruned it back a little in the early spring. It was probably not the best time of year for such a treatment, but I was not too severe on the shrub; merely trying to persuade it not to stomp all over the ‘lesser’ plants around it.
The Camellia clearly took umbrage and refused to flower at all in any of the succeeding years – with the exception of the odd desultory bloom once in a while. This year – well, take a look for yourself:
Maybe I will post an update when all those buds burst into bloom.
Not so many posts ago I was grumbling about the weather here in BC and mourning the loss of a number of shrubs and other erstwhile growing things in our garden. I have a feeling – in fact – that I visited the theme in more than one post, the which only goes to show just how poorly the climate has treated us thus far this year (now that I put it like that, of course, there is a rapid light-bulb moment as the realisation strikes that this maltreatment is undoubtedly mutual and indeed causal. What goes around etc, etc…).
Anyway, the weather has perked up just a tad (with the exception of today – bah!) and I have spent considerable amounts of time (and not a little cash on new rhododendrons, hydrangeas, viburnums and a plethora of hostas) trying to cajole what was left of the garden into some sort of shape; to make it look at least a little bit cared for. As it turns out I can still only make a plea for a small percentage of the credit for the turnaround that has occurred – nature herself seeming to rebound from the hard winter with considerable vigour regardless of my efforts.
Either way, I thought you might like to see some pictures of the improvements.
Many thanks are due to two good souls who have contributed in no small degree to this renaissance. A long-time and most dear friend furnished us with three gorgeous stone Bhuddas, the which needed a good home as a result of an impending move:
…and our good Glaswegian (but also long-time Canadian) horticulturalist friend not only provided much good advice but also graciously allowed us to make use of his wholesale discount at Island View Nursery.
Our most grateful thanks to both…
I wrote recently in rather gloomy terms on the subject of the less than stellar performance thus far this year of the weather gods… at least where this corner of Vancouver Island is concerned. Spring and/or summer (assuming that they eventually do turn out to be distinct seasons) have yet to put in an appearance. Temperatures in this usually clement corner of the world continue to lurk some five to six degrees Celsius below the usual average for the time of year and the endless rainfall does seem actually to have… no… end!
…and that really sucks!
Sadly, that isn’t the end of the bad weather news.
A quick search for ‘storms‘ in the archives for this blog will reveal that during the fall and winter seasons here on the island such phenomena are regular occurrences. They cause a certain amount of mild havoc – power outages – branches falling from trees – bins overturned… that sort of thing… but beyond that they are pretty much accepted as just part of the rich tapestry that is living in a country that is yet largely wilderness. Such events, however, are considerably less well tolerated in the supposedly balmy springtime and summer seasons (not that we have seen either yet!).
Today we had an extensive and unseasonal wind storm that included gusts of up to 90Kph. We had a three hour power outage – branches fell from the trees into our newly coiffured garden – our bins were blown over!
Bah!
I was in the studio working on some music. No power = no studio, however, so that was the end of that!
The other thing that I should be doing is working in the garden; amongst other things on planting out the recently purchased replacements (more on that later) for the various flora that we lost during the unpleasantly lingering harsh winter. I do draw the line, however, at venturing forth when repeated squally showers soak one to the skin and tempest-like gusts of wind threaten to bring large branches down upon one’s tender head.
It does look as though we might get a few sunny days now, but in gardening terms it will take me all that time just to get us back to where we were before the storm. At this rate the garden will be just about ready in time for this year’s fall storm season!
I’m afraid that it didn’t take me long to get back onto the subject of the weather… did it?
Sorry!
Tags: garden, Spring, Vancouver Island, Weather
Today is the 1st of May.
By rights we should be well into spring by now and heading rapidly towards to the balmy, bosky days of summer.
Here at the southern end of Vancouver Island the weather gods clearly did not get the memo. For the last however many weeks (endlessly, or so it feels) it has been, it is only fair to say, markedly chilly… not to mention damp to boot.
Now – if I were to be strictly fair there have been some quite sunny days and even on (rare!) occasions it has felt just the slightest touch on the warm(ish) side. Such days, however, have simply rendered the disappointment of subsequent, less passable days all the more bitter.
The garden – meantime – has blithely got on and done what gardens do at this time of year – ie. grow prodigiously, regardless of what is happening climate-wise. This is in marked contrast to its response during the winter when parts of it reacted quite negatively to what I thought was not really that bad a fall of snow. Clearly my understanding was based on some of the less appropriate of the fifty words that the Inuits apparently do not have for snow – and this was really quite, quite bad snow. That is certainly the impression given by the number of plants that turned up their toes (interesting metaphor there) and gave up the ghost (alright – stop this now!)…
Anyway – I really should be cutting the grass now instead of writing this…
…well – that’s done – and it didn’t actually rain – though it did think seriously about it!
Where was I?
Ah yes… The winter term at College has finished (there is a theme here!) and the summer term (during which for this year I will not be teaching) does not start for a few days yet. I am off duty until September, so my mind should now be turning to all manner of summer activities… which it sort of is – though a bit of a warm spell would really help things along the way.
Now – I think I have laboured the point quite enough to be getting on with and I do promise that my next post will contain no mention of the weather at all!
What weather?!
‘Tis the time of year that nature ‘springs’ (see what I did there?) back to life following the dread months of winter.
Naturally this means that it is also the time of year that I must reluctantly drag my sorry ar*e back out into the still cold and damp outdoors in order to start to ensure that there is some semblance of order in the garden before everything goes completely berserk.
Not these pretty pieris of course…
Nor this gorgeous cherry tree. Berserk is definitely not the word.
Nice blossom there. Sad that it only lasts about a week and a half before disappearing…
March means first cut for the lawn – and the usual thoughts about feeding and liming it.
Notice the rather splendid new garden fence – courtesy of our new(ish) neighbours below. They have done a good job on it, but it does mean we will be looking at new things to plant in front of it.
Another side effect of this tidying up of the boundary between our properties is that I now have a rather splendid – and functional – compost area. I have of late been spreading the products thereof over the beds in the front garden.
Much yet to do, of course!
…of the year?
It is quite a responsibility – owning an expanse of lawn – and I am not at all sure that I am qualified for the job. Certainly I have discovered that I am far better at growing moss and mushrooms than I am at tending grass… and I am not sure that that is anything about which to brag.
This is a crucial time of the year for us lawn owners in the Pacific North West. If the grass is to get its best chance for next year then it must be tended correctly now. Nervous lawn guardians who lack the necessary knowledge (that would be me) naturally turn to the InterwebNet for advice and guidance.
The InterWebNet is agreed upon the following. Winter preparation involves a final close cut, clearance of leaves and other detritus, the addition of lime (almost always necessary here in the damp northwest where the firs and pines do their level best to swing the soil balance to the acid end of the spectrum) and then some slow-release fertilization to ensure that the grass has something on which to chew when it reawakens in the spring.
Most helpful – except that as soon as one tries to dig a little deeper – to get into the details – the advice becomes less certain.
When should one carry out the final cut? Some give vague guidance derived from the phases of the moon. The more down to earth say: “When the grass stops growing”. That’s all well and good in theory, but ascertaining that something is not happening is considerably more difficult than that it is. “What do you think? Has it stopped?” – “Dunno – looks like it might be about to have another spurt“.
Then there is the question of sequencing. Does one cut and clear before applying treatments? Should the liming occur before the fertilizing – or is it the other way around? Or can they be done at the same time? And if not, how long should one wait between treatments?
Apparently (according to the InterWebNet) the answer to all of these question is “Yes“… or “No“… or even “Maybe!“… Or – most helpfully of all – “It depends!“…
None of this would matter too much except that this is wet season on the west coast of Canada. It is also ‘First storms of the winter‘ season. It is also ‘The sun’s shining – better get out in the garden – what shall we do first – oh no! too late – here comes the next downpour!‘ season.
It is little wonder that some years some of this stuff simply doesn’t get done. I’m not doing too badly this year. The lawn has had two final cuts already (“I hadn’t finished!“) and been limed. Autumn fertilizer awaits – as do other important garden tasks (clearing the gutters – cleaning up the last bunch of crap that was blown out of the trees) but at the moment the rain is mounting a major offensive. Who knows when next I will get the chance to venture forth onto the estate.
I will probably keep you posted…
It feels to me as though it has been quite a long time now since even the blowsy days of August – when everything in the garden wore the appearance of having enjoyed rather too good a night out and was, in the aftermath thereof, trying just that bit too hard to convince that all was still coming up roses (see what I did there?)… Never mind looking back even further to the true highlights of the season (as far as our garden is concerned, anyway) in May, June and early July…
And as I say – even August is now but a memory…
Yet here we are – with the race to the shortest day well underway and nature – if not quite yet in full retreat – certainly considering carefully turning tail and joining the rout.
Kudos, then, to that flora still determined to see things through to the bitter end. Your loyalty is much appreciated and we thank you for yet bringing a little colour and light into our lives.
Some images, by way of illustration:
Tags: Autumn, British Columbia, garden, Photo
Regular readers of this cybernated chronicle will be aware that I like – on occasion – to share experiences of the interface between (wo)man and nature that inevitably occur as a result of living in this verdant wilderness.
In other words – I post stuff about the wildlife that we see in our garden!
Having a decent sized plot and being surrounded by trees we are routinely visited by all manner of birds. I posted earlier in the year on the subject of some of the more annoying of these, but we are also graced with visits from larger and more impressive avians. I recorded, for example, the visit of this eagle back in 2017 – a vulture last year and this blue heron earlier this summer.
Our most recent visitor was this beautiful owl – who decided to rest for a considerable period in one of our trees before heading off again to get on doing whatever it is owls fill their days with. Now – owls have virtually no natural predators and thus are afraid of practically nothing – particularly aging gentlemen armed with nothing more offensive than a camera, so this one just sat and watched me whilst I meandered ever closer – taking snaps of him/her.
And now – as is my wont – here are some examples for the gentle reader’s edification. Click on the images for the bigger picture.
Enjoy:
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