Vive les Canadiens

This is a just because post!!!!!! Being a Canadian we love our Hockey. The other day the Montreal Canadiens went to the second round fooling every one and destroying the Washington Capitols. The top seeded team in Pro Hockey. Montreal was 8th. So here is my boast for the moment. The banner is flying high in my Garden.

Lawn Repairs

To-day was the day to fix the lawn. YUCK!!!!! Anyway the grass areas are in fairly good shape so it was a patch job really. This was interesting as the problem had been persistent for years in the same area. As it turns out from doing some digging, the area was full of very old styled Shingles and Tyre pieces. So some one at some time used this spot to bury garbage.

Here is one way to do the repair...

Prepare soil by removing weeds and damaged grass. For best results, enlarge the area about 15 cms beyond the problem itself. Next, prepare the soil as thoroughly as you would if you were replanting a new lawn. Turn it over to a depth of 15 cms, removing any obvious roots or rocks. Add some compost or well rotted manure and mix into the soil well. Lawn Soils specifically formulated for starting lawn seeds which contain a starter fertilizer can also be used. Smooth with a ground rake and then firm soil with your hands.

Sow seed at the rate recommended on the package, scattering by hand. Rake to cover with a thin layer of soil. If the weather is especially hot or dry, cover the seed with a light layer of weed-free mulch. Dried grass clippings make an excellent mulch for this.

My Mom's Birthday

To-day would have been my Mom's 73rd Birthday. She Passed away a couple of years ago from Bone Cancer. If it should ever strike you to give a bit (Great or Small) to Cancer Research. I am certain all victims will thank-you

Ile de France Tulip pics

Tulipa Ile de France ( Ile de France Tulip) These are now fully mature flowers. Just not opened up for the day

Myosotis sylvatica (Forget me Not)  and Tulipa Ile de France (Ile de France Tulip)
 This makes a very nice show in the garden.

Tulipa Ile de France (Ile de France Tulip) next to the fish pond. The liner edge you see will soon be covered by plant growth. It is really important to have your liner higher than the surroundings. You do not want soils and debris falling in to it, or worse garden rain water running into the pond

here are some Ile de France open for the day. I actually do not like the tulip at this stage.

the Herb Garden is about to start

Here it is the beginnings of a herb garden. I think that this will be a lot of fun and who knows maybe well worth the effort. I planted Parsley and Dill already, and they have started to grow. Not much to look at yet but they are there. I will plant these to-marrow. I must say I have been inspired by another Blog from England to do some neat stuff this year.
http://plantsalive.blogspot.com/
It is called "My Gardening Form" and well worth the visit

Queen of the Night

 Tulipa Queen of the Night ( Queen of the Night Tulip). Very beautiful Tulip. Probably as close to a black tulip you can get

 Queen of the Night Tulip these are really showy any where. They can stand on their own or with in a crowd

Here is a small grouping of the Queen of the Night Tulips in the garden. Because of the very warm spring and early bloom they are smaller this year than normal. Still other than that they are still fantastic

3 Bleeding Hearts

 Dicentra spectabilis Alba (Bleeding Heart Alba) This is a beautiful plant. It really shows off the flowers. The plant it-self is rather nice as well, The leaves have a beautiful green leaf. more so it is very full and produces nicely.

 Dicentra spectabilis Gold Heart (Gold Heart Bleeding Heart). This is a fantastic Bleeding Heart the flowers are a great pink set up with a very yellow leaf. Very unusual but beautiful.

The lower one is the traditional Dicentra spectabilis (Bleeding Heart). Still the old time favourite. These also spread well through seed. Maybe too well. I have a lot of them in the garden now.

Van der Hof Garden

A small portion of the Garden

Narcissus Mount Hood (Mount Hood Daffodil) This is such a beautiful daffodil, It does not describe to words easily to do it justice.

Prunus Burbank (Burbank Plum) I gave this a heavy pruning in the fall of 2008 . Last year it was ugly, however now again this year it is starting to look like it's former glorious self. I missed the Grandeur of this tree for a year. I am so looking forward to next year.

I was so honoured this evening by my next door neighbour. He saw me in my Garden and stated that the Garden needed a name. So I said sure. I had never given it a thought before. He is Dutch born and just celebrated his 80th Birthday on Thursday. Anyway he gave the Garden the name of Van der Hof. I really like it. It sounds important !!!!!. Any way in old Dutch it means "of the garden", so it is well suited. To-day he says the "Hof" tends to mean Lawn. still well suited as I have a fair size lawn as well.

Just a Bunch of Tulip Pics

Just a bunch of Tulip Pics !!!!!!

What is in a Name

Tulipa Diana PoW (Diana PoW Tulip) This is a truly beautiful cream white Tulip and I can see why it was named for her. This was the tulip used for her casket in 1997. I bought these in 96 so it had nothing to do with her passing at that time. I will say the price doubled on these in the fall of 1997 . Sadly it was to take advantage of an event.

Diana was the former wife of Charles and mother of the future King William V

Tulipa Toronto (Toronto Tulip) These are very beautiful and a strong pink for a tulip. Very sturdy and long lasting. These guys stand out even with large numbers of tulips on display.

Toronto is the largest city and metropolitan area in Canada, as well as the Capital of the Province of Ontario. Population Metro area 5,900,000

Tulipa Ile de France (Ile de France Tulip) This tulip is probably the very best of the reds. Absolutely out standing in every way. I recommend this one every time.

The Ile de France was considered the most beautiful ship ever built. She was in the Art Deco style. She was not the biggest or the fastest ship built but she was all style. There is a replica of her first class dinning room in Montreal Canada, a real must see.

Narcissus King Alfred (King Alfred Daffodil) and Tulipa Ile de France (Ile de France Tulip)
King Alfred was the king of Wessex and later claimed more land, which later grew and became England.

Happy Birthday, Elizabeth II of Canada

I find it inspiring that this Lady has continued to be so dedicated to Canada and the Commonwealth even now, when she could have retired so many years ago. She is a very Christian Lady, who serves God and does good work for the lesser amongst us.

By the way she is also an avid gardener. She enjoys getting her hands dirty in her private gardens as well.

A Quote from Christ,, April 21 2010

Elytrigia (Crouch Grass) and Digitaria (Crabgrass). Where does one start with these guys. Well not to-day. However I will to-marrow in how to get rid of these in the garden. These fit in with my to-day's Quote however.

Tulipa (Tulips) These are just beautiful as are the hundreds that are now in bloom in the garden.

‘Men pull up weeds and burn them in the fire. It will be like that at the end of the age. The *Son of Man will send out his *angels. They will take away everything that causes *sin. They will take out all people who do evil things. They will throw them into a great fire. Many people will weep then, and be very sorry. Then the *righteous people will shine like the sun in the *kingdom of their Father. If you hear this, understand it’.

I thought of this to-day when I was pulling the grass out of the garden and it haunted me continuously.  So what better Quote of Christ than this. I would also have thrown these in a fire but we are not allowed to have fires any longer. So into the big paper recycle bag they went.

The tulips at the moment remind me of the righteous, doing and showing their beauty and glory. Amazingly they look even more beautiful when the weeds are removed. I think that speaks of us as well.

A few birds

Turdus migratorius (American Robin) This guy is a friend of mine and we have known each other for a couple of years now. He creates a nest in my Catalpa Tree each spring and I always make worm hunting a breeze for him. I recognize him by the fact that he has one back feather always out of place, not seen here. We are buddies really, he has no fear of me at all.

This Cardinalis cardinalis (Northern Cardinal) has a nest near by and he is a real talker. I love their song and it is so distinctive. These are my favourite song bird for show. If you never seen one it is hard to believe how red their red really is. The male does lose some of that brilliance after the mating but is still amazing.

Passer domesticus (House Sparrow) These guys are so common here that it is hard to remember that they are a transplant from England. They are a wonderful social bird that really carries on. O man can these guys fight and carry on. I understand that they have been so successful that they have displaced many native birds.

A little bit of the Netherlands at home and next door

These are a really nice yellow Tulip. I have no idea what this one is but it is a Darwin variety. Maybe "Strong Gold" but that is a guess.

The Dicentra spectabilis Gold Heart  (Gold Heart Bleeding Heart). This is a favourite plant of mine. It was a flower gift to me when my Mom passed away a couple of years ago. I am so glad for the plant rather than cut flowers, as I see it annually now and is a wonderful reminder of past times.

The Prunus salicina Burbank (Burbank Plum), This is a wonderful tree and a great producer. The flowering is just starting and in a few days it will be amazing.

My Neighbour's Prunus x Falling Snow (Falling Snow Cherry Standard.). This tree is spectacular. A real show stopper on the street.

My neighbour's front yard has this wonderful Windmill. He is a native of the Netherlands. Coming here after the war. It is wonderful to experience the culture of other lands next door. His wife is American so double the culture curve. My Mother's family are Dutch as well. So a little bit in common with my Neighbour. I love to hear his stories and experiences of the War Years as a young man in horrible times.

Up in the Sky

 

A strange pic for this site for sure. I live 90 KM due south of the Pearson International Airport (Toronto International). Lester Bowles Pearson was a Canadian Prime Minister, and Nobel Peace Prize winner. This is a normal site now when you look up in the sky here. For some reason I thought it was interesting to-day. So here is a pic. The one heading to the top of the page is a Boeing 737, the other I am not sure. The one heading to the bottom of the page is landing in Toronto the other is headed to the USA or beyond.

A Few Sun Rise Blooms in the Garden

Here are a few of the Orange Atje Keulen Tulips, they are back dropped by large cedar roots.

A few flowers from the Caltha palustris (Kingcup or Marsh Marigolds). These really are a great spring flower in the garden.

A few Narcissus blooms starting off the day

Tulipa Toronto (Toronto Tulip), This is a wonderful pinkish to red tulip and is very early in the garden. It really is a show stopper in the tulip garden.

These pics were taken at 07:00 hrs this morning just as the sun was starting to shine on them. It is so nice Spring is here in full force now.

a few more spring flowers

Tulipa Golden Charm (Golden Charm Tulip) This is a really small tulip and only reaches a height of 10 cms. This one is great for spring flower borders. The nicest part is they seed readily.

Tulipa Atje Keulen (Atje Keulen Tulip) If you love orange tulips you will love this one. It is a beauty. Early bloomer and has really  nice height. Very showy when the sun is on it.

Muscari armeniacum (Grape Hyacinths) I think these are great little guys. Once you have them you always will. They are so easy to grow and look great. I have many clusters of these guys and they are every where.

The garden is now starting to colour up. Tulips are starting to bloom and in a few days there will be hundreds. Right now still just a few, but I am looking forward to about a week from now. That is when I wish I could take a full garden pic.

Some more first day blooms

Prunus accolade Standard (Cherry Accolade Standard) This standard is in my neighbour's yard. It is beautiful. I will post the tree later when it is more opened up.

Pacasandra (Pacasandra) These are a great ground cover but I am not really fond of it as it tends to look scruffy most of the time. It does have it's place all the same in a difficult planting space.

Myosotis sylvanica ( Woodland Forget me Not) These are wonderful in the garden and I just let them go where ever they want to. At the moment they are just 6 cm high, but as they flower they increase in size and show. They really add to a garden. I have the white variety as well.