Gardening Blog

Now that my garden is fast asleep, I fulfill my gardening urges by sorting through my garden photos.  We all admire plants for their colourful blooms and interesting foliage, but what about their other unique attributes.

Take curls for example. I found these two examples of plants with curls in my garden photos, but I know there are many other plants that showcase these curly tendrils. Of course I admire the plant’s ”whole package’, but sometimes it’s fun to focus on one interesting aspect. So today, it’s all about curls!

Yucca tendrils

Pumpkin tendrils

One of the first gardening projects my husband and I tackled when we first moved into our house was dig up an old Privet hedge in our backyard. The hedge grew between the upper and lower patio – I think the original homeowners wanted a screen between the house and pool, but when we moved in, it was unkempt and burly. I had thought we could salvage it, but my husband wanted to remove it (Yes, honey. You were right!)

It took a whole weekend to dig out the bushes and deep roots. When we were done, we were left with a sloping L-shaped bed.  Once I saw the blank canvas, I envisioned a small rock garden. I built up the bottom of the slope with rocks to create a foundation and then amended the soil with compost and topsoil. The next step was deciding what to plant. Aside from a variety of succulents planted in the rock crevices, I also added a bunch of perennials including sedum, lamb’s ear, coreopsis, creeping phlox, and Scotch moss. To add some height, I decided to plant a few ornamental grasses. Miscanthus sinensis ‘Goliath’, Miscanthus sinensis ‘Zebrinus’, Miscanthus sinensis ‘Titian’, Carex pendula (Drooping Sedge), Carex flacca (Blue Sedge), and Festuca amethystina.

Two years later, the ornamental grasses have stolen the show. They’re not that showy in the spring, but by midsummer they’re quite impressive. By early fall, they skyrocket  and bloom, and are quite spectacular. During the winter months, they create interest in the garden when everything else is hidden underneath the snow.

If you haven’t tried growing ornamental grasses, I highly recommend adding them to your garden. They’re easy to grow, versatile in the landscape, and incredibly showy. I’ve become addicted to ornamental grasses and have dabbled with a few in the front yard. I also want to design a new bed under a huge maple tree at the back of our yard. Ornamental grasses are definitely a good thing!

Most people choose plants for their garden because of the showy and colourful flowers, but I love plants with unusual foliage, especially succulent plants with cool foliage. Hens and chicks are one of my personal favourite foliage plants in the garden. 

One of the reasons why I love hens and chicks (Sempervivum) is because of their fleshy rosettes of leaves. Did you know that their botanical name Sempervivum means ‘always alive’. These hardy little perennials are drought tolerante and love full sun. In my rock garden, I have a dozen or so mature plants and two of them currently have flower spikes thrusting into the air.  I’m always amazed at how sturdy they are. The top heavy spikes look like they could fall over at any moment.  I love how unusual the flowers are. The cluster of starshaped flowers look like something out of a sci-fi movie.

If you’re looking for more information on how to grow your own hens and chicks in garden, check out some of these great articles at CanadianGardening.com.

• The delicate beauty of hardy hens and chicks
• A garden of succulent treasures