Rainy Summer

I mentioned in a previous post that the summer had started rainy. Well, it still is rainy. A few drops are falling as I am writing this, and the day before yesterday a downpour lasted several hours.

Lilium michiganense - native to our area though rare in the wild and now included in Lilium canadense

Raised Beds

We have always had raised beds in the southern half of the garden, but not in the other half.
The soil is very thin here in the Bruce, and so anything that can increase its volume is most welcome.
These first raised beds were made when the garden was first created, around 2007, and are very permanent, made of stones and concrete.

The existing raised beds made of stones and concrete

A Summer of Revenants

The last four or five weeks have been rather wet in our part of the world, and hot days have not been numerous (hot days for us are above 25 C).

 Even if humans do not enjoy that kind of weather, most plants do. In fact, a good number of plants I thought dead, some for many years, have made a comeback.

I expect the extra water is the reason for these "resurrections". The most spectacular is Camassia.

Bulb Query

I have some questions about two spring bulbs that some of you might be able to help me with.

The first one has to do the small daffodil, Narcissus bulbocodium, often called hoop petticoat daffodil.

Narcissus bulbocodium

When we find ourselves in the place just right

The majority of gardening jobs have to be done in spring and one that takes a lot of time here is moving plants. Finding the right spot for a plant might seem straight forward enough, but it is much more difficult than it appears.

The herb garden on May 1st

Turnip Top - a lesser known vegetable

You might have read one of my previous posts in which I wax eloquently about turnip tops, a green I hold in very high esteem. It is a very little know vegetable and, to appreciate it, you need to realize two things: first, that turnip top is neither a turnip nor the green leaves of a turnip, and second, that you should not attempt to eat it as is recommended in seed catalogues.

Turnip top at its prime