Star-of-Bethlehem

This true bulb is an Ornithogalums from the Lily family it blooms in late Spring.  The leaves have already laid down in exhaustion before the blooms appear and sometimes though the flowers are worth the wait I am tempted to pull out the slovenly looking leaves.  My solution is to plant them very close to hostas. As the new leaves from the hostas come in, the flowers of Star of David push through and form a halo around the plants.  It is very effective and gives you a whole new appreciation for the plant.
The bulbs naturalize readily and you will find them all over once you have introduced them in your garden - even in your lawn!  Plant in drifts. Plant bulbs in Spring or Fall. One inch white flowers on one inch white stems. 

Ducks on the Pond

The colourful male, keeps a watchful eye on events.

Relaxing in comfort

A pair of mallard ducks have decided we make a nice bed and breakfast.  They arrive each night about 4 pm and tuck in for the night.  They go out to eat (I think our neighbour feeds them).  I don't know what the fish think of them!
This has been our year for wild life, we also have a raccoon that strolls the grounds at 5 pm.  It is very fat and healthy looking and only waddles away with a backward glance when we yell at it! 

More Before and Afters in Spring

Before

After - edging reclaimed, seedlings pulled, trees pruned, plants tamed.

Being ruthless and pulling out plants that have migrated to the wrong areas is easier in other people's gardens.  At home I spend too much time potting up plants to give away and don't get the cleanup done. So if you need help doing your garden cleanup email: 

perennialgardener@rogers.com

Before and After

Before - bare earth, root bound, very shady. A canopy of mature trees

After -  hostas, daylilies and euonymus. A restful area for our eyes.

A shade garden near the gazego.  The hostas are barely up.  Check back later in the season. Hostas, daylilies, peonies, some bulbs, spirea and euonymus.

People keep asking me for some before and after shots.  I must confess I almost always forget to take the before picture, because I am focused on what needs to be done and on starting work. Often the 'after' pictures don't show that well, because the plants are so small that it is hard to see the difference they have made. But here is a sample of a before and after job, where I was asked to transplant because some work was being done where the existing plants were, and they have to be moved or they would be lost.

It was funny, as I was finishing work, a child and his grandmother walked by and the child said.  "I never saw the gazebo before! Let's sit down!".  It just goes to show that a careful planting will make people stop and look and rest, in the garden!

Spring beauties

First time I've grown a double tulip. I could get addicted!

Species Tulips

Form a nice clump

Pulmonaria - spotted lungwort

I love the outer  blue and inner pink combination of colour on the tiny bell flowers. 

Spring Flowers

Grey furled leaves of the sanguinaria papaveraceae - bloodroot

The flowers appear before the leaves

Bloodroot is a wonderful secret plant of Spring.  Not many people seem to know about it, or have it in their garden.  It does not like summer drought or full sun. In the forest, where is it at home, it is one of the first plants to appear on the bare April soil. In my shady, humus rich garden it seems to have found a home.  I bought it last year at the Cloverleaf Garden Club plant sale.  Only one lonely plant arrived on the day of the sale and I snapped it up (it pays to volunteer!).  When you cut the leaves or rhizome, it oozes red juice, hence the name.
Propagated by division, but I won't be dividing mine for a long time!

Hedge Pruning

Before

After. The idea is that new grow will be forced along the branches and fill in the bush.

Hedge at the side also in need of rejuvenation.  It had only three main stocks on each bush, but they had grown  5 meters, so I could only take them down to about 1 meter. 

Here is a honeysuckle hedge that has been neglected for years.  The rule of thumb in remedial pruning is to only take out 1/3 of the old growth each year.  So long lanky limbs remain even after you have done your best to get a shrub back on track.  It is a three year process. It looks drastic, but because it is early Spring there is lots of time for new growth to sprout and form an effective screen to give privacy from  the neighbours.  What is desired is that new shoots will be forced along the branches and provide a denser mass of branches.