Clematis

The clematis in the backyard this year is FINALLY growing into the shape I've been training it to.  The eventual goal is to have them grow onto the large tree trunk that's along the fence and covered by the beautiful purple flowers and foliage.  

I never know how to prune back clematis during the off season (Fall?  or Spring?).  So I did a little bit of research on the "inter-web" and found some useful links:

http://www.raymondevisonclematis.com/main/guidesPruning-simple.asp?a=1

http://www.finegardening.com/how-to/articles/clematis-pruning-guide.aspx

Also, I've been trying to figure out what kind of clematis this is as it was planted by the previous owners of the house.  After some research, I think this is the common "Clematis Jackmanii" - purple in colour and four-petal configuration.  

Strawberries

Spring and Summer had a late arrival this season, so did the strawberries in our yard.  The strawberry blooms didn't start until almost the end of May...

The fruits finally started to form after Memorial Day.  I used the plastic bird prevention net and ground stakes again to help protect some of the crops, knowing that it'll probably be a light year for strawberries this season, so I had to protect whatever we can get.... 

Finally, first strawberries ready to eat on June 10th.  It didn't help that it's been such a rainy Spring/early Summer, that some of the fruits started to rot before they were even ripened.  

I'm still extremely thankful that I got to enjoy fresh strawberries from my own backyard.  Even though they are not the sweetest strawberries, they are so much more fragrant than the ones from the store, which makes the perfect for SMOOTHIES! 

Colour in nature

Beautiful colours - all from nature! 

Rain, rain, and more rain....

Although not preferred by people, Spring rain is extremely good for plants... and water/dew drop photography! 

I love how the water drops are beaded and suspended on leaves and branches...  

My nemesis

This is an act of my nemesis ... "the squirrel".... 

Only in our neighborhood do the squirrels try to hide a large piece of pita/naan in the soil of a small potted plant.  Really?  Is that the only place you can hide your treasures?  There's a whole yard right in front of you!    Grrrrrr....  

Hopefully they won't cause too much havoc on the strawberry patch and vegetable garden this year! 

Happy Victoria Day!

Happy Victoria Day!  Lots of gardening plans for the holiday weekend.  Everything are in full bloom in the garden (finally!) despite the slow start to Spring.  The garden seems to be much fuller this year compared to  last year, so in the near future I'll probably have to put in some "clean up" effort.  

Here's an updated view of the backyard.  Vegetable seedlings are have been transported to the planters and more vegetable seeds have been sowed.  I've put up the "safety net" in place straight away because I can't risk having the squirrels destroy the small seedlings (due to late start of Spring).  

What were your gardening plans for the long weekend holiday?  

Spring Bulbs

 

Spring bulbs in the front yard have started to come up for a few weeks now.  This year, we have:

(Left above) Hyacinth (Orientalis Mix - various colours) - first ones out of the gate this year, very fragrant and beautiful colours.  The kids in the neighborhood seems to like them :) 

(Right above) Daffodil "Sir Winston Churchill" - these are beautiful as well as incredibly fragrant.  The only downside to them is that they are quite "head heavy", as they have double petals as well as multiple flowers per stem.  So if there's heavy rain fall, the think stems aren't actually strong enough to hold up the flowers and ends up snapping.  So this years these ended up as cut flowers I have in my house, which are perfect because they smell so nice! 

(Left above) Narcissi "Texas" - double petal yellow bright yellow daffodil.  Really gorgeous, strong stems.  

(Right above) Muscari "Armeniacum" - first year planting these.  Apparently they're also known as Grape Hyacinth.    They are low to the ground and have very pretty purple colour.  

 

(Left above) Orange tulips - we got incredibly lucky that the squirrels didn't get to these before they were in bloom.  Theses are not as orange in colour as I was hoping for, but still beautiful to look at :)

(Right above) And lastly, these beautiful little flowers (which I did not plant) came out again this year.  Last year I had a post just for this flower trying to see if any of my friends/family would be able to identify it.  This year I finally found out what they were called!!  These are "Puschkinia".  A flower named in honour of a Russian botanist.  

The only other bulb still yet to bloom are the Allium "Purple Sensation" also known as Dutch garlic.  I'm hoping in a week or two they will be in full bloom.  Can't wait! :)

Here's a link to a handy little bulb planting chart http://www.bhg.com/gardening/flowers/bulbs/planting-charts-for-spring-flowering-bulbs/  .  I'm already brewing some ideas about how to re-arrange some of these bulbs later and what to plant for next season.