Saturday 30 June 2012

Stairway to Heaven Part 3. The Dock Stairway

If you remember, I had promised to continue the Stairway to Heaven post in Stairway 2

Looking down towards the lake. (If you remember, I used to like to sit on these steps and survey the lake).
 If you turn around, you face another set of steps.

Here you can really see the railway-tie step-building technique.

At the top of this stairway (which eventually leads down to the Dock) is one of our first gardening attempts, the Dock Stairway Garden (DSG).  Over the course of 5 years, David has dug out the grasses and debris between the existing rocks, shifting some and maneuvering others to create a pocket where a plant could be tucked.  The DSG is mosty situated to the left of these steps, however, if you look closely you can see a small planting of sempervivums on the right of the steps.

This technique is called "Developing a natural outcrop" (who'd have thought this is an actual technique!), and I will be showing you our progress in the next post.

Thursday 21 June 2012

Bambi is no longer welcome here

One of the things I love about the area where Kelly Gardens is situated is the abundance of wildlife. I remember when we first used to go up and visit, we'd be hushed and awed when a deer and her fawns came up the drive in the early morning or evening. We'd rush to get the camera and shout in whispers and try not make sudden moves so we wouldn't scare the deer away.

Well, I think I'd scream blue murder now if I saw a deer in my garden. (Does this mean I'm now a real country person?). And I bet you can guess why the change of heart. We have just returned home from our first visit to Kelly Gardens this year. And what did we find?  The deer have used Kelly Gardens as a salad bar.

We really shouldn't have been surprised; after all, we know that deer have regular trails all over our property, we know they get hungry in the spring, and we know that they like to eat. We just didn't expect them to pull up all the adorable miniature Chamaecyparis that we planted last year, decide they didn't really like the taste, and spit them out down the hill! 

Bambi also decimated the Korean Fir, which had weathered a winter and grown a good 6 inches.
Abies Koreana "Horstmanns Silberlocke", planted June 2011
Here's what's left of the Korean Fir after Bambi had finished with it. Picture taken in May 2012.  I wanted to weep.

Here's the Picea orientalis "Tom Thumb" right after it was planted.
At purchase "Tom Thumb" was 7" wide  by 5 1/2" tall (credit, David's data base)
And here it is again after the deer had given it a hair cut. Luckily it is putting out some new growth, which is bright yellow/green.

David is of the opinion that I'm taking this loss far too seriously, and perhaps he has a point. I'll get over it, but meanwhile the fight to foil the deer is on. But I will probably still be in awe when I see the deer in the garden.


P.S. It wasn't all bad news. The deer left many things alone, including the Juniperus communis compressa. This gave us heart, and, more importantly a big clue... Bambi doesn't seem to like Juniper. Let's buy some more!


Juniperus communis compressa 9" tall by 3" wide at planting (May 2011) and very slow growing.
P.P.S. The deer also didn't spot the Japanese Maple, perhaps because it hadn't leafed out yet.
Shhhhh, let's keep that one a big secret.

Sunday 17 June 2012

Butterflies really fly free

This year has been a wonderful year for butterflies in Southern Ontario. Partly due to the very mild winter (which has been blamed for the raise in many of the bug populations) and partly because of the winds, which gusted from the South in mid - April, allowing the butterflies to hitch a ride, we have been blessed with their presence.

In Toronto in early May, there were many sightings of butterflies.  A Red Admiral even flew into a street car I was riding one day after work. (Of course it could have been a Painted Lady, the colouration is very similar, and they all look a bit like Monarchs to me when they're flying by ... except of course, the Painted Lady and Red Admiral are smaller than the Monarch).
Red Admiral , Painted Lady and Common Buckey (photo credit, G. Richardson and A. Guidotti)
Up at Kelly Gardens at the end of May, the air was filled with Giant Swallowtails. We probably saw 3 a day!

Here's one having a rest on the lawn (I'm being sarcastic... we don't have a lawn).
And here's a Giant Swallowtail at the Montreal Botanical Gardens.

Although I loved seeing the butterflies at the MBG along with thousands of other people, I much prefer to see them in the wild.

Now don't forget, if you want to continue to see them, you need 3 things.

Firstly, you need plants with nectar to feed the butterflies. Species plants have more nectar than Hybrids.
Secondly, you need plants that the butterflies will lay their eggs on, (each butterfly has a preferred host plant) and third and perhaps most importantly ... know your caterpillars, because without caterpillars there will be no butterflies!

Painted Lady Caterpillar
Common Buckeye Caterpillar
Red Admiral Caterpillar
And the Giant Swallowtail caterpillar is so ugly, I don't want to post a picture of it. Call me squeamish, but I'm not fond of bugs.   It looks a bit like bird poop, except when it gets threatened and then it extends these red horns and gives off a nasty scent. And this ugly duckling becomes an exquisite butterfly. Go figure.