throwing in the trowel

Again this year, the red menace has struck in force - scarlet lily beetles, to be precise.

I fought them in the last few years by hand picking and drowning in soapy water every day.
Last year I added coffee grounds to my arsenal, and it seemed to work for a while.  But when I went on vacation, the beetles took over and the lilies were chewed, pooped on, and destroyed in an ugly way. 

So I have given up, thrown in the trowel, so to speak.  With great sorrow, I pulled out every one of my beautiful lilies.  I had creamy orange asiatics, martagon, strongly scented orientals.  Now I have two wheelbarrows full of dead stalks.  I'm afraid it's the only way to convince the bugs to find another home.  Because now they are moving on the the fritillaria. 

The leaves are chewed, and there are holes in the flowers.  But because the plants will fade and disappear in a few weeks, I'm letting them stay.

serpent in the garden

The garden has quickly progressed from a cold, brown, dead looking thing to a vibrant, colourful, lovely thing.  Solomon's seal is popping up like alien worms.  Fritillaria is showing off checkered flowers.  The daffs are laughing.  And if you look closely, you can see the tree peony I planted 5 years ago is finally going to produce two buds.  I should be happy.  But the serpent in the garden is the dreaded lily beetles.  The lilies are barely out of the ground, and they are already striking in force, eating big holes in the leaves, and ready to do a summer's worth of damage.  Last year I kept them at bay with hand picking and liberal doses of spent coffee grounds applied EVERY DAY.  And when I returned from holidays, the lilies were an unholy mess, the leaves and flowers chewed off, and gooey beetle larvae and their poop all over the plants.  I have made a very unhappy decision.  As unfair as it is to blame the victim, I'm going to dig up all the lilies, even the creamy orange Asians I love so much.  Maybe some year the bugs will run their course, and I will be able to enjoy lilies once again.

hidden worlds

We definitely have the worst lawn in the neighbourhood.  My back yard has lovely grass, but the front, where everyone can see it, is scrubby and stubbly and covered with everything but grass.  My theory is that when the house was built, they stripped the top soil off the front and planted grass right on the hardpan. 
I spread lots of lime last fall, which killed the moss and the mushrooms, but it has not helped the grass grow.  Even though it's in full sun, there's lichen, wild strawberries, hawkweed, and even little evergreens are popping up from who knows where. 
I was down on my hands and knees rooting out the shrubs when I stopped to take a good look at what is growing.  It is actually a miniature world with a host of tiny delicate plants.  It is much more interesting than plain old boring grass, and I have decided that I like it just the way it is. 

In amonghst this tiny world is my reward for letting things be:  wild strawberries are already blooming.   I'm looking forward to a treat in June.







my island in ice

A few weeks ago, as the temperatures rose and the snow was disappearing, I found in the grass the icy outline of my province - Prince Edward Island.
It is Easter Sunday today, and suddenly the snow is back.  Today we had high winds, and snow blowing sideways.  It has covered the brave crocus and iris reticulata, but they are tough enough to stand up to whatever nature throws at them. Winter doesn't let go easily.  It will be another month before we can be sure that snow is finished for the season.

renewal too

Flushed with success with my grape vine, I decided to tackle the PG hydrangea next.  It has grown out of control, with arching branches that bear their flowers close to the ground and make it very hard to mow around it.  So I have taken drastic action, cut out the oldest shoots, and ended up with a pile of trimmings bigger than the resulting shrub.  I'm hoping that the flowers stay off the ground this year.

renewal

My grapevine - before and after.  I showed a vineyard owner a pic of my wild vine, and he was shocked at the size of it.  Some of the branches reach 20 feet or more.  He said 90% of a grape vine should be pruned  out every year.  It seemed drastic, but once I got going, it felt kinda powerful!  When I feel brave enough, I may do even more damage, but I'm thinking it's ready for spring.

snow's back

Last week, the temperature went up to 23 C, and it was lovely to feel the warmth of the sun. The first pic shows the melted field.  The second snowy shot was taken 2 days earlier.   I figured that there would be no more cross-country skiing this year.

But it ended after 3 days, and winter came back.  Today we have 90 km winds, and blowing snow that makes visibility tough.  The province has virtually closed down - schools, the college, the university, and many businesses are closed.  It may seem inconvenient, but it's like being given the gift of time.  A day off work lets me catch up on other tasks, and take a breather in the midst of a busy week.