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

Cactus and succulent blooms!

Recently I've been exhillerated with the idea of collecting some cold hardy succulents and cacti. Anything weird and beautiful always holds my attention. It's also a great idea for dividing up areas of the garden for interest. The last motivation would be the gorgeous blooms they produce at this time of year... they just look so juicy and tender, bright and happy! The "store" garden centres will be closing up very soon, so it's time to swoop in and get killer deals on some plants... The clearence period is exactly why I love "store" garden centres, (no offense to starting gardeners, but...) many high value and gorgeous plants are left behind because most shoppers are blinded by flashy blooms, names and fake sales. A veteran in training (like myself) can spot hidden value, rip-offs and uniqueness that most cannot eye. I'll have my eye on past-high value flowers like lilies, spring perennials, and soon-to-bloom fall perennials. The good news about the past flowers is that they are often started in greenhouses and very early to bloom, next season they will be on track with the other plants in same blooming period!

...anyways, back to the cacti! I wanted to show-off some of the blooms on my cacti and succulent area which is growing and growing. Stay tuned for new additions after Canada Day!

Here is my backyard Prickly Pear, expanding beautifully 

since I weeded and removed all the stonecrop.

This is my neighbor's (from down the street) Prickly Pear. Its a bit crowded with weeds right now, but, boy is it blooming! Behind it are a few Yuccas and some different ground cover surround it. I'm jealous because its way-bloomy-er than mine!

The last picture is my blooming hen & chicks that I picked up at metro for about $1.50. Its actually quite cute and whimsical! I'm slowly placing succulents and tropical looking plants around the cactus. I think I need to find something bright pink or magenta...

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.

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.