My Costco Plants: April Bulbs

I bought a six-pack of mixed "forced" bulbs from Costco for about $5.99, sweet $1.00 a pot. It came with three Hyacinths, one white, two purple, and three mini-daffodils in yellow. I would say the daffodils had about 6-8 mini bulbs in each pot, a great deal. I planted them out in the front garden near the path leading to my door. I must say, 10/10 for those mini-daffodils, they are amazing! There is like 20-25 flowers on them right now, its an explosion of blooms!

At the end of the row, beyond the
double pink/white tulips

Nearing the end of it's best show,
you can still see plenty of blooms!

Purple Hyacinth almost done, one pot of mini-daffodils
and some pansies I added. One pansy has frilly edges.

This will not be my last costco trip... stay tuned for May!

My Potting Shed Haul

In my last post I raved about The Potting Shed in Dunnville, ON. What I didn't add was my haul from that garden-shopping trip! I had a small budget, and there was so much to choose and consider, my main goals were; Quality, Size and Collection. In general the quality and size at The Potting Shed are above average, and I don't have to worry about choosing an unhealthy plant. They also stock plenty of unique and rare varieties that are hard to find anywhere else in the area.

Here is a photo of my haul, sitting at the side of the house, in the "Bike Walk-in Area" construction zone. Its protected from any intense sun and I can water them all in one place, before direct plantings. My haul included: Giant Variegated Reed, Hosta "Final Summation", Hosta "Alakazam", Hosta "Rainbow's End", Hosta "Variegated Mouse Ears" and a pot of Candy Lilies. The other plants you're seeing are a haul from a Zehrs garden centre clearance; Hosta "Abiqua Drinking Gourd", white echinacea, and "Big Bang" Coreopsis.

This is the super tall flower stem to Hosta "Final Summation", it actually ended up flowering on three separate stems over the course of the summer. It has gorgeous semi-shiny foliage and lavender flowers.

My placement for my three mini-esk Hosta varieties in my small shade garden, it's getting very cramped in there, I think I'm going to have to expand my shade garden.

Chris and Jim's Poolside Garden

Take a look at Chris and Jim's poolside garden from my neighborhood. I did some dog-sitting and watered this garden while they were away. I just had to show off there amazing little garden and blooming choices. It has a cottage flair that I love, and so many busy blooms happening at once!

View from one end of the garden, towards the water-slide.

Mr. Sun and Echinacea

Light blushing pink Asiatic lilies, Lavender and Echinacea

Mallow, Monarda, Daisies, Annuals

Garden Design: Dark-dreamer

In the extreme heat we've been having, I've been playing inside, working on some different garden concepts. In this "Garden Design" post I've focused on the dark side of plants. Not the evil or temperament, but the hue of these gorgeous plants! There is something so haunting and unique about dark flowers and foliage. I found some great plants as examples and I hope it inspires you, like it did me. The contrast of light green foliage and dark, almost black flowers and dark purple-black foliage of other species.

Centaurea montana "Black Sprite",  Lillium "Landini", Black Mondo Grass, Helleborus hybridus "Onyx Odessey",
Heuchera "Geisha's Fan", Rudbekia occiddentalis "Black Beauty"

Clematis Recta "Velvet Night",  Pennsemon "Dark Towers", Sedum "Bertram Anderson",
 Hellborus "Black Diamond",  Dianthus "Velvet & Lace",  Eupatorium rugosum "Chocolate"

Cimicifuga simplex "Hillside Black Beauty", Phlox paniculata "Wendy House", 

Geranium psilostemon "Bressingham Flair", Aster lateriflorus "Prince" 

New Lilies! When "Mona Lisa" Smiles...

This is a new lily I picked up at Costco in Kingston, Ont. It was $9.99 and I don't think I've ever seen such a healthy shipment of plants anywhere! They had probably 4 kinds of Asiatic lilies, Astilbe, Coral Bells, Hosta and others. The lilies were by far worth the money, with 3-4 tubers per pot and super healthy plants. Somehow I managed to find one that wasn't blooming so I could take it the long drive back to Guelph. Now about three days later it's in full glory!

Lillium "Mona Lisa" (Oriental) Isn't she gorgeous! Super fragrant too!

They also had a few "Tango" lilies but I didn't want to crowd our full car, maybe I'll head back to Costco next week and they'll all be reduced...here's to hoping. Honestly, I just want them all!

Here are the other options from Costco, both Asian and Orientals available. I'm dying to have a tango lily in my collection! Please Garden-Gods, make it so! 

Elaine's Lovely Rockwood Garden

 I wanted to share my family-friend's beautiful garden! She lives in Rockwood, Ontario. Elaine is a great gardener with an eye for special plants, design and classic style. Her plant choices usually consist of pinks, white, purple, red and deeper pinks with contrasting green hues. I also have to commemorate her on starting most of her annuals from seed and battling cancer over the past year.

 Gorgeous large and lush clematis staggers over several fences areas in the yard.

Dainty light pink lilies contrast beautifully in the shade of her half pergola. You can also see the deep pink clematis in the background.

 Seeded husk-planters off the deck, filled with nasturtiums, purple sweet-potato-vine, and small purple flowers. More gracious clematis nearby, travel vertically throughout the yard.

Click the photo to see a larger version of Elaine's garden in a panorama-view.

I freaking love Tradescantia/ Spiderwort!

I love Tradescantia. otherwise known as Spiderwort! It is possibly one of my favourite plants in the garden, but like having multiple children, you can never just pick one favourite. This plant is amazing!

Clockwise from top left; "Concorde Grape", "Bilberry Ice", "Osprey", "Blue and Gold"

It comes in many more forms and colour variations, with typically a purple or violet bloom and green foliage. It likes partial shade, and only a few hours of direct sun and moist soil, although it will do nicely in a drought. The flowers only last about a day or two, but bloom consistently throughout the spring/summer season and even into the fall! I also love how they look like a grass and many other types of flowers depending on where you have them, a true chameleon. 

 Here is my Spiderwort blooming this year. "Sweet Kate" is the variety.

My favourite nursery has this variety in stock now and I want it!... Canadian Tire also had a lovely variety I haven't seen around, and I'm going to investigate that one.

"Sunshine Charm"

The lilies I ended up buying...

I fooled myself, and my blog post from earlier! I do think that the varieties I stated were gorgeous, but not the variety I had on my mind, I was slightly (very much) off. Anyways... isn't she lovely!? It's a dwarf Lilium Hybrid called "Lollypop". When I got there I had a 50% coupon on the small perennials, so I picked four pots with the largest plants and three blooms per stock. Two aren't even blooming yet, the woman at the cash questioned this and I giggled... because three is better than one and twelve is better than three?!

I haven't exactly decided where she will go yet...

I have my eye on a few things...

I did some garden centre recon and found some plants I'd like to haggle for later today... I would wait until close up for buying most plants on discount, but when it comes to more showy bloomers, it's important to buy them right before they bloom or during. This way can can better assess what kind of blooms you will get; wither it be the colour or size or number of physical blooms on the plants. Store garden centres (as explained in THIS post) tend to have a bad reputation for mis-labeling plants... or over pricing poor quality plants. One rule to keep in mind is typically, if it looks great in the pot, just imagine how it will look in your garden with root space, and special care. If it's healthy and you like the blooms, its the best time to buy it. That way you also get to enjoy a bit of time with it in your garden also.

I really have my eye on some Asiatic lilies I saw yesterday, some were dwarfed and others giants. I'm going back to "Metro" to try and haggle my way into getting a few lilies for cheap. I don't know the variety name, but I'll post that later. They kind of looked like these nice varieties.
                                                         

 "Cappuccino" Asiatic Tango Lily

"Nettie's Pride" Asiatic Lily

"Black Spider" Asiatic Lily

I guess we'll find out later what variety I picked up... I also saw some very tall beauties from Canadian Tire with double blooms... maybe my dad will be into those... can't exactly bike with a 5 ft potted plant in my basket.

Snow in late April?!

Yes, its April 24th and there has been a light dusting of snow! Thank goodness I haven't planted any seeds yet. We're all worried about the beating that they my have suffered, but I guess only time will tell. At least it did make for a great photo opportunity!

 Tiny hills of frozen droplets.

Icy dew drops!

Garden flox is coated like sugar piles!

The New Tulips

Here are the new tulips my dad found and placed in the "old barn foundation" garden. They are a medium height tulip with double/triple blossoms. I find the red and white particularly lovely due to the painted nature and detail in the foliage. They are very hardy and look like great multipliers.

In love with this variety... I think it's called 'Carnival de Nice' 

and the red variety is called 'Uncle Tom' or 'Redwood'.

Garden Update: Early April

Here's what's blooming now in the garden! Stay tuned for more updates, feel free to ask questions about any plants or my gardens!

A mix of daffodils coming out, 

we have lots and lots of bulbs now!

Pulmonaria Red Start and other pulmonaria blooming!

View of the garden below the first step. Taken on April 13th.

Some dwarf irises in bloom!

Some tulips we re-planted from a spring planter-basket last spring!

The new tulips my dad picked up on 

discount last fall, can't wait to see this display!

He bought two types; one with ruffled foliage and dark red-pink double blooms and the other has traditional tailoring and light pink-white stripping on the edges of the leaves, the blooms are double-triple with white and red strokes.

My Garden Centre Picks - "Stores with Garden Sections"

Home Depot garden centre in spring.

Here are my ratings and reviews of some garden centres I've visited in Southern-Ontario.

Stay tuned for new garden nursery reviews, as I explore more locations and businesses. Today I will be reviewing those box-stores we love to hate and hate to love. If you've never considered it a stop on your plant search, maybe you should give it a try, I have been shocked over the years at the amount of surprising varieties and selections. Garden sections are great for knowledgeable and keen gardeners who enjoy ripping off these stores during sales, and final season clearances.

Navigating the "GARDEN SECTION"

Canadian Tire Garden Centre

Canadian Tire (☆☆☆☆)

Price: $-$$

Stock: Seeds, annuals, planters, popular perennials, vegetable plants, shrubs & trees.

Review: Usually located on a side department of the store, Canadian Tire stores provide a seasonal array of plants ranging from trees and shrubs to annuals and perennials. Many times I have been browsing the stock and found some very unique plants. The prices are low to mid-range, appropriate for the quality and size of the plants. Damaged or dying plants are reduced to mere cents, and I've had a 95% rate of survival. End of season clearance and sales are great, reducing the price 60% or lower and almost 80% lower than what the plant would cost in a nursery.

What I've found: 15$ spruce and pine shrubs, 2-3$ exotic herbs and vegetables, tons of free dumpster perennials, golden raspberry plants and my entire strawberry patch for less than 20$.

Walmart (☆☆)

Price: $$-$$$

Stock: Some seeds, annuals, pre-made planters, popular perennials and some shrubs and trees.

Review: Nothing unique or special about the stock or plants at Walmart. The quality is excellent, but the size of the plants are often small and exorbitantly priced. They tend to focus more on annuals and pre-arranged hanging baskets and planters. If you catch a clearance sale and don't mind some ugly plants (that will be an investment in the next season) than head over and grab what you can. (Sales are the only time I feel it's worth buying anything there)

What I've found: Free half-dying annuals and some unique annual planters under 10$.

Home Depot (☆☆☆☆)

Price: $-$$$

Stock: Seeds, annuals, planters, popular perennials, vegetable plants, shrubs & trees. General landscaping needs (pavers, wood, concrete, fencing and decor).

Review: Home Depot houses a wider variety of plant species, ranging from ornamental grasses, tuberous flowers, tropical annuals, edible plants (fruit trees, shrubs and bushes included), herbs, hosta and lilies. Plant quality is excellent and only degraded by poor maintenance at the store. Prices can be high, but I've also been surprised by extremely low prices on new items. Sales are great, often selling 2-5 plants off in one deal. They stock amazing perennial/annual mixed planters that can be recycles back into the garden for the next season. Clearance sales are AMAZING. Be prepared to load up your entire trunk and available seats.

What I've found: 50¢ Hostas (unique varieties), 50¢veggies and herbs, 10$ planters (5-7 perennials in each), oriental lilies 12$ a pot (10 gallon) and so much more, literally "dirt-cheap".

Target-Zellers Garden Centre

Zellers/Target (☆☆☆)

Price: $-$$

Stock: Annuals, perennials, veggies and herbs, some planters and hanging baskets.

Review: Annual and planter quality is pretty low, due to poor maintenance. The perennial selection is surprisingly good, consisting of unique varieties and surprisingly rare plants. The prices are very good, but they often have a very low stock on good plants an never move to sales when the plants are deteriorating. They remove the plants before they can be sold at pennies.

What I've found: Unique herbs and some vegetables (Pineapple Sage, African Basil etc). Some unique full-sun perennials.

Zehrs (☆☆-☆☆☆☆)

Price: $$-$$$

Stock: Annuals, perennials, planters and hanging baskets, some fruit and veggies as well as trees and shrubs.

Review: Somewhat over-priced stock, but good quality and unique varieties. Zehrs tends to carry unique perennials with award status (such as: hosta of the year, perennial of the year). They also carry plant brands from national distributors like; Steppables, President's Choice and many more. Sales can be meek, or amazing. End of season clearance can be extremely discounted (and you can hit all the Zehrs you want in one day).

What I've found: Very nice perennials and some great picks around sale season. One year my dad and I loaded about 200$+ stock into our car because they wanted to toss it all away... time things right, and you get free stuff. On another occasion I was given an entire pallet of green pepper plants. The best thing about side-garden-centres is that they don't have the resources to over winter and maintain plants, so they have to clear them out (which almost always comes down to pennies).