A Little of This & A Little of That

Was out this a.m. thinking that with the coming wind, I'd better catch the last bits of colour in the neighbourhood. What's better than one Japanese Maple, why three of course.

We are between two weather fronts. We had some cold rain this a.m. Just a few hours to the north there was snow. The good news is that behind this cool and wet is some unbelievable sunshine and warmth. We are expecting it to be a blistering 14C (57F) by Monday. For this time of year that deserves a Triple Woohoo x 10 the the power of 6. I'm dizzy with excitement of the idea of being able to plant my bulbs in these near tropical temperatures.

I've noticed that what colour I've got left in the garden is due to the aliens I've planted. The natives have just curled up and put themselves to bed - timing themselves to lives of their pollinators. This is the only Allium ('Ozawa') I've got that refuses to spread, no doubt because there's no creature about to give it a helping hand.

I love this scrambling clematis. Any climber that produces such pretty seeds and flowers at the same time is a winner in my book.

If it were in my own garden, I might have pulled out fallen leaves, but I sort of like having them woven in.

Now, this was going to be my shot of the day. However, it was taken down by the lake, in the historic section of town, with the big trees, with the acorns, with the squirrels which caused Bart, who was attached to my camera holding hand, to circle my legs in frantic apoplectic manner, and hence caused the shot of the day to be out of focus. Will try again tomorrow.

These sculptures are life size. Shoulder height of a moose is about 2 Meters (6+ft). Only reason I mention this is that I had no idea how big they were until I saw my first one north of Lake Superior years ago. We used to rent a Lincoln Continental as our camping car (yes, it was gold and had opera windows too!), my husband's point that if we had to sleep on the ground, we might as well travel in comfort. I was shocked to realize that if we met in the middle of the highway - none of us would be walking away from the accident - the body of the moose being higher than the lid of the car.

Great fuzzy-wuzzy clemie.

I can't believe this, I'm looking out the window and we're getting some sort of ice pellet storm.... Above is a Kolkwitzia - one of the new charteuse varieties that does very little but be chartreuse. Not bad fall colour.

And speaking of fall colour - here are some of my snaps from our Thanksgiving weekend in October taken in the early a.m. So very beautiful and so much to be thankful for:

Same shot, minutes apart.

Nothing like a walk in the woods to build an appetite.

Lots of yellow from the maples.

Almost looks like I've coloured these two trees in.

And at the edge of the forest, there's a great walk across the rocks to a look-out. Not much soil left here after the glaciers left.

Amazing that anything grows at all.

It was just a glorious day.

We'll see about fattening these guys up for American Thanksgiving.

Wild turkeys weren't the only creatures around. Early in the morning Percy joined us in our bedroom with his eyes fixed on this large winged visitor:

My camera only has a 4x lens - so I put on my sneaking up shoes on - left Percy to watch by the window and crept up.

Closer.

And closer.

And finally, just a little too close:

Quite magical to be able to get so close to such a wonderful bird.

It's All About the Light (and of course the Leaves)

I swear that these wonderful leaves are going to be my photographic downfall. I've become a leaf groupie taking photos I never would if they were just utterly boringly green. I've thrown composition, lighting and the most important reason to take a photo - "What is this picture really about?" out the window - just because the colours are pretty.

Case in point - this is my front porch establishing shot. I've stood out in blizzards, 30C, rain and the most blissfully beautiful days in the world and taken this shot, just to show what things are like in the garden. This was yesterday, look at that light....

Look at how much better the first one is because I took it when the light was better. I'm almost certain that if the photograph is taken during dazzling good light, the leaves needing raking are far less apparent.

Yes, it's pretty and yellow, and it's nice grass....but I certainly didn't work too hard for this shot.

More colours and less composition. The home owner has done my work by providing an interesting combination and garden design.

This shot taken today - definitely eye-bleedingly beautiful. Light + Leaves.

Hmmmmm, Leaves - Light shows how much better you can make a shot when you wait for the right light.

My garden chores have really started to pile up. Sadly, I'm just going to have to murder some of my tropicals - have you ever seen such an infestation of spider mite? There's no way I can bring in anything that's been in pots near this one and risk infection of my houseplants.

The Solanum laciniatum looking positively French provincial standing next to the Eupatorium coelestinum.

Now, here is a combo that is OK during the growing season, but look how great their colours are together - H. quercifolia and Calycanthus florida (bright yellow).

Early on Sunday morning - wasn't that extra hour divine - won't be too long before that long slushy pile of leaves is replaced with crusty piles of snow....

One of the first trees to be completely bare down by the lake.

This is a grocery store Easter Hydrangea that didn't produce flowers for the first time in years. Very cool the way the stems are changing colour at different rates.

So lovely two days ago, so yucky today.

I've probably got a week before I have to cut back stuff here. I like to leave as much as I can so I have something to see from the back window.

Ah yes, just had to have a picture of our new addition - Bart from the Hamilton/Burlington SPCA. He's slightly miffed that he's on a rope and can't get into Barbara's Squirrel and Chipmunk sanctuary. (No fears Bart, when the bulbs go in, I'm giving you a longer rope.)

Lots of Lovely Colour and a New Little Dog

Three guesses what I'll be doing this afternoon. First two don't count. The trucks of leaf suckers have started to circle. The leaves are composted by the Town of Oakville and offered back as compost twice a year. I used to do a lot of my own leaf composting, but found that it just took too much space. Let's hope we can at least get this section done before the vacuum men come back 'round the block.

It's been a while since I've been able to get to my computer to share what's going on in the garden and read about what's happening in your neck of the world. So here is a quick and dirty run around the garden. This is the first year for Solanum laciniatum - a native from Australia. It grows 3 meters there. In my garden about 1.5M. Obviously it needs more warmth to really produce good fruit, but the leaves and flowers certainly have earned it a place in both my garden and planters next year.

Considering what a mess other plants look like from the Solanum family
- this plant looks really good.

So nice when a plant is tough as nails; takes dry shade and looks fab in three seasons. Here is
Poygonatum odoratum 'Variegatum' in its final fall days.

And Hydrangea 'Limelight'.

The view from under the dining room Japanese Maple.

The trick will be to get out there to cut back these Hosta before they turn into putrefied slime. Right now I just don't have the heart to touch them as I adore this golden colour.

And a few days later - more of the P. ordoratum.

Lovely golden/brownie Hosta.

It is an excellent fall season for colour. We had an abundance of rain this summer and not much cold so far. It seems that each plant is taking its own turn at providing colour, making it lots of fun to be out with your camera.

The is what the Japanese Maple looks like from the dining room. I've never seen so many colours in the leaves.

And the ridiculous Allium thunbergii 'Ozawa'. What kind of a hardy plant starts to bloom in late October?

An astounding red from the Viburnum plicatum - most years it just looks like a bruise.

And here's what the neighbourhood looked like this w/e. Postcard perfect.

Just eye-bleedingly beautiful.

So, from here on it's about our new dog Bart. Can't help myself. Go no further if you don't wish to read about our new beast.

Last Sunday, after my dearest friend Carrie died of multiple myeloma at age 56, I didn't know how I was going to get out of the house. Every morning for the last six years, Carrie would call at 8:30 sharp to say it was time for our morning walk. We met at a half-way point when we both had dogs and then closer to her home after Agatha died and Simba became lame. Simba became the only Golden on the planet who was unhappy to see me, as he knew as soon as we met, it was back home to bed for him - Carrie coaxing him, me lifting his derriere up the stairs.

I just knew I had to do something. So I said to Kevin, "Let's go to the Hamilton/Burlington SPCA to get a dog. Look at all the nice dogs they've got online." Before I could rethink my thoughts, he had me in the car headed for the pound. The dog we thought was going to be ours was completely uninterested in us - no connection whatsoever. So, Kevin walked past the columns of dogs, went to Pam and said, "We're looking for a nice dog. Show us your nice dogs." Pam put Ferguson into my arms and said, "Here's a really nice dog." He just melted my heart - warm, cuddly, sweet, full of licks - however, and as you can see from the photographs, he's a Jack Russell - more commonly known for murdering vermin and creating havoc. Pam insisted, "What you see is what you get. He's lovely." So, Kevin decided we hadn't exhausted all the "nice" dogs and wanted to see more - so we did, however, I would have had to put the newly named Bart down on the ground to hold them.

I confirmed that it was Bart I wanted - we form filled, were interviewed, saw Bart's assessment, paid our $300+ and he was ours. As with any (or many pound animals) there are a few other problems, and 3 visits to the vet so far as he'd been obsessed with his spay stitches - what man wouldn't be? And now that the first end is fixed, he needs drops at the other end in his ears. Hercules, the cat, is taking advantage of the cone-headed Bart. Life no doubt will change next week when he is de-coned.

Here's 6'5" Kevin with Bart on the front lawn pre-raking. You can see why we had always had Saints before....

Here he is with a tennis ball that has since been murdered.

On my office chair helping me with my book-keeping.

And what was left of the pillow after the Ativan wore off.

We learned why we got the cage and that he isn't fond of soft furnishings. Will save money on doggie cushions.

Bart in the last week has shown himself to be brave (couldn't be bothered with small snarling dogs), smart (brought my shoes to the front door when he wanted a walk), and exceptionally lovable. He is very quiet and great company. We've made a wonderful match.