Virtual Garden Tour 2000-2021

Discussion in 'How's It Growing?' started by Margot, May 15, 2020.

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  1. pmurphy

    pmurphy Contributor 10 Years

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    I've been posting photos of plants for years but thought I'd take my cue from Gwen Miller and show where all these really are located.
    I enjoy an eclectic collection consisting of the unusual and hard to find, semi-tropical, desert and (believe it or not) native plants, and have spent the last 10 years acquiring what I have and blending them into my own little cohesive ecosystem. I live in Vancouver on a 45x150ft residential lot so I think I've master "space management" when you consider that there are well over 300 different varieties of plants growing in my gardens. And they're not all "tiny treasures" as there are a dozen different varieties of fruit tree ranging from apple to quince to medlar. I also garden "vertically" by training vines up trellises and even into tree-form.
    My front yard looks pretty normal with gardens around the perimeter and grass in the center but then I ran out of room a number of year ago and so terraced the slopes outside our front gate and up to the sidewalk (permitted by the city - Boulevard gardening guidelines). But all the fun lies in the backyard where there is a deck for relaxing by the waterfall, a hothouse for growing vegetables and propagating plants, our covered Garden that allows me to grow not only zone 9 plants but cacti outside year round, and the Greenhouse where the fish pond is located and I can play with aquatic and bog plants. And all remaining nooks and crannies are filled with edibles (as in vegetables and berries), water barrel features (which attract a surprising amount of bird life to our yard), and garden art strategically placed amongst the larger plants. (when I get bored I paint on old windows, the first and last images are an example of this)

    Edited by wcutler: tag= ferns
     

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  2. Gwen Miller

    Gwen Miller Active Member

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    pmurphy, how do you keep track of your plants? Do you have a good spreadsheet format? I love spreadsheets where I can sort and record info such as bloom time and colour, by month and year purchased, the number I have, name, common name, where it's situated in the garden, where I obtained it, and sundry notes. My spreadsheets end up way too wide, I'm afraid. My excel skills have improved since the early days, but it's not a task I relish. If someone has a good format to share I'd rather not duplicate the effort.

    You clearly spend all your time in your garden! And artistic in many ways! Your ferny path beckons - really pretty. The buds opening on the Callistemon citrinus are wild!
     
    Last edited: May 29, 2020
  3. Margot

    Margot Renowned Contributor 10 Years

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    Your garden and your art illustrate your creativity. Beautiful!
     
  4. pmurphy

    pmurphy Contributor 10 Years

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    Spreadsheets got too big and difficult to handle so I resorted to a word document with a simple single page entry for each plant. Each page has a table into which I enter relevant data such as name, date acquired and where, info on plant characteristics, location etc. I also can enter as many as 4 images for each plant. Using word also allowed me to set up a table of contents so that I just have to find the name of the plant and click on the link; its takes me right to that page. I actually printed out all the pages once and it filled a 3" binder (and used LOTS of ink). Now I just keep the info on a usb and update as necessary.

    FYI, my gardens don't take a lot of care as they are well established and therefore very little weeding is required. It just takes me a couple weeks in the spring to clean up from winter and just a minor maintenance every couple of weeks (I think I spend more time cutting the grass). But I do enjoy puttering and training the plants.
     
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  5. pmurphy

    pmurphy Contributor 10 Years

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    Update:
    Callistemon citrinus blossom one day later......
    Callistemon citrinus - one day later.JPG
     
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  6. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

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    That is Gorgeous, the beauty of plants at its finest. Great photography @pmurphy.
     
  7. pmurphy

    pmurphy Contributor 10 Years

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    I went outside to check after the wind and rain from yesterday and had to prop up one of my black gooseberries and the pomegranate that got knocked around (I didn't realize it had gotten that windy). While checking things and saying "Hi" to George (a territorial male Anna's hummingbird that enjoys bathing in the waterfall) I thought I'd take a few more photos of my plants and their progress......

    Just a couple of notes;
    I included an image of Dracunculus vulgaris as of today and will post another once the flower opens in a couple of weeks.
    Regarding the photo of the columbine, this plant was accidently brought back (along with some Symphyotrichum foliaceum - leafy aster) over 15 years ago from the Cariboo region - it was growing wild on my mother's then undeveloped property growing amongst the alpine strawberries and prickly wild roses (which were plants I was digging up). Can anyone put a name to it?

    Edited by wcutler: tag= ferns
     

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  8. Margot

    Margot Renowned Contributor 10 Years

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    These photos are so beautiful, pmurphy. I love the translucent petals of the kiwi flowers.

    The Aquilegia doesn't look at all like any of the BC native ones . . . is there any possibility it could be an introduced species?
    E-Flora BC: Species Search Page
     
  9. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    Aquilegia vulgaris for instance
     
  10. pmurphy

    pmurphy Contributor 10 Years

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    This is what I'm wondering but the question is how and when was it be introduced?
    The land that my mother purchased was totally undeveloped with the only access being down a logging road. When the land was purchased she and her husband moved an old trailer on to it while they cleared part of the land and built an access road, house and barn/outbuildings (they also had to dig their on well and arrange to have power installed on the property) - in short there was absolutely nothing on the land but trees and swamp. There are other farms and ranches in the valley but she had (and still has) no direct neighbours as the adjacent lands are still Crown land (closest neighbour is about 2 km away and they have cattle).
    There are lots of the red & yellow western columbine on the property so if this blue one was introduced how it came to be here is a mystery.
     
  11. pmurphy

    pmurphy Contributor 10 Years

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    I was wondering about that but then again the question is how it came to be on my mother's property.
    I just had to go back outside and take a closer look at the plant (which is almost a meter tall)....even though its been growing in the back corner for years I've never really paid much attention to it until now.
     

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  12. Margot

    Margot Renowned Contributor 10 Years

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    There is probably a very interesting story to explain how that particular columbine came to be on your mother's remote property. Columbine seeds aren't known to be distributed by birds and unlikely to be spread by animals either. Quite a mystery!
     
    Last edited: May 31, 2020
  13. Margot

    Margot Renowned Contributor 10 Years

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    The local rhododendron society I belong to runs a weekly 'What's in Bloom' review online to which members contribute. These are the photos I've submitted this week. (The affix, 'from Margot's garden) is there to identify them as mine and I don't have time to remove it for this site.)

    You get a different perspective and new appreciation for your own plants when you see them isolated in photographs, don't you think?
     

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  14. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    The iris looks like tenax. Yes, the rhododendron is not 'Ruby Hart'. 'Johnson's Blue' is not a Geranium sanguineum selection. And the plant you are showing is not 'Johnson's Blue' but rather one like x magnificum or maybe one of its parental species.

    In the picture set preceding the columbine grouping the mulberry looks to have the smooth shiny leaves of white mulberry. This often produces black fruits and is therefore confused with the very much less prevalent black mulberry (Morus nigra), which has dull green, fuzzy leaves.
     
  15. Margot

    Margot Renowned Contributor 10 Years

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    I have to say, I'm getting seriously annoyed about plants I have bought being mislabelled . . . I found out last year that R. 'Ruby Hart' is not R. 'Ruby Hart' and I suspect R. 'Kiwi Magic' is not R.'Kiwi Magic'. Now I find Geranium sanguineum is not what it was represented to be. The list goes well beyond the plants I have posted here. As for Iris tenax, I have grown that species for many years but the one I labelled as just 'Iris' is quite different in leaf and flower so now I'm very confused.

    Comments about mulberry relate to pmurphy's post, do they not?
     
  16. Gwen Miller

    Gwen Miller Active Member

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    Margot, it's wonderful to see plants I don't know. Your (possibly) Kiwi Magic is gorgeous. The simple bell and the apricot blush are exquisite. Prostanthera is new to me. It's lovely. Do you need to protect it over winter? The site I glanced at mentioned flowers 4 - 6" long, from November through April. Seems like a lovely plant. Does it have a down side?
     
  17. pmurphy

    pmurphy Contributor 10 Years

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    If it truly is white mulberry masquerading as black I'll be very disappointed as well, but I wouldn't be surprised either *.
    I purchased 2 saplings from a grower on Saltspring Island (about 8 years ago now) and have been eagerly waiting for them to produce fruit and a couple of years ago they started to do just that. The fruit starts out white and then turns black. Unfortunately I haven't had much luck in keeping the fruit because once it starts turning black it seems to be a signal to every chickadee in the area and they literally strip the trees bare within a matter of days - I've actually watched them pull the ripening fruit off and consume it on the spot.......very annoying!

    * As an example of not getting what you pay for I been trying to locate seeds from the hardy yellow passionflower - passiflora lutea - which is a small vine native to the southeastern US. Vines are hardy to USDA zone 5 and produce small, marble-size dark fruit. Any seeds listed as P. lutea that I find for sale note the plant as being "tropical and large yellow fruit". The yellow passionflower has yellow flowers, not fruit.
     
  18. pmurphy

    pmurphy Contributor 10 Years

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    I noticed my peonies are starting to open.
    Funny thing about the 'green halo; it was very green last year but also very shaded so I moved it into the sun back in March. Now not so much green but very pretty.
     

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  19. Margot

    Margot Renowned Contributor 10 Years

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    Breathtaking!
     
  20. Margot

    Margot Renowned Contributor 10 Years

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    Prostanthera cuneata, aka Alpine Mint Bush, has become a favourite since I was given it as a gift a few years ago. My previous attempt to grow one ended in failure but I seem to have accidentally put this one in exactly the right spot. You can read more about it here: View Plant | Great Plant Picks
    I hope you won't be disappointed that it's not the same as the one you looked up - the flowers are actually quite small but attractive in profusion.
     
  21. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

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    Good morning, there is nothing quite like Summer rain IMO.
    These two in my garden a few minutes ago looked like they were enjoying it. Patriot and Orange Marmalade.
     

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  22. pmurphy

    pmurphy Contributor 10 Years

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    I gave my husband a DSLR camera for Christmas - Canon EOS200D - to replace his old "point and shoot" digital. I didn't really realize how different it was until I decided to try it out the other day; a little more difficult but you can do so much more with it. Today I went outside in the gardens to play with it and was amazed at the close up photos I could take compared to my 15 year old digit camera!
    These are the results.....
    * The "mushrooms" were something I found growing in an old pot I wanted to use; they were tiny and looked so nice I couldn't toss them so I transplanted them into another planter where they've been growing for the past 2 months.

    Edited by wcutler: tag= ferns
     

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  23. wcutler

    wcutler Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout 10 Years

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    Those are amazing photos for playing with a camera for the first time.
    I saw an Athyrium filix-femina 'Frizelliae', Tatting Fern, the 5th photo in the previous posting, on a garden tour one year, a guerilla planting on a boulevard, and was hoping to find one for my balcony, but did not see one when I went looking, ended up with a Holly Fern, Arachniodes simplicior 'Variegata', which I posted in another thread but will include here. Not as cute, but at least it's evergreen.
    Arachniodes-simpliciorVariegata_HomeBalcony_Cutler_20200518_153149.jpg
     
  24. pmurphy

    pmurphy Contributor 10 Years

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    I was lucky enough to pick mine up at the annual Van Dusen plant sale about 4 years ago, and this was the only time I've ever seen one for sale.
     
  25. Margot

    Margot Renowned Contributor 10 Years

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    For anyone looking to buy a Tatting Fern and not finding any for sale, Fraser's Thimble Farm has them listed at $11.

     
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