I think I mentioned a few weeks back that I was expanding my collection of native plants. Back in early spring, I put an order in with Ontario Native Plants and at the end of my vacation week, they finally arrived.

I wanted some more plants for the woodland garden, particularly for the bed up against the house. It’s very dry, sandy loam there. And it only gets sun in the late afternoon. Definitely a challenge.

I chose six plants:

New Jersey Tea.

Left is my little fledgling New Jersey Tea shrub, Right is what it will become. I chose it, not only because it thrives in dry conditions, but also because it’s the host plant for the mottled duskywing butterfly, which is considered endangered here in Ontario.

Obviously my little sticks have a long way to go to becoming a shrub, but I’m confident it will get there.

Another plant I chose was a Heart Leaved Aster.

I already have two native asters (Smooth Aster and New England Aster), but this one grows in the shade! And it has pretty heart-shaped leaves. As you can see, I have two gnomes overseeing this one while it grows.

The next plant I put in was Narrow-leaved Vervain.

It’s only a little plant – so it’s also guarded by gnomes. And look at those pretty little flowers. This one is vital to the Common Buckeye butterfly. I’ve seen one in the garden just once before but I’d love to have it be a regular visitor.

The last plant I put in was Spotted Bee Balm

I didn’t take a picture of the plant (which isn’t in bloom yet) so this is what it will look like eventually. I have two other native bee balm (as well as some hybrids) in the garden but this one is so unique. It’s also the host plant for the Karner Blue butterfly – another endangered butterfly, similar to the Spring and Summer Azures I’ve had in the garden.

Out front, I’ve planted Heath Aster.

It’s in the driveway garden behind Susannah Swan. It should provide a nice pop of flowers right into winter.

And the last plant I ordered was the Michigan Lily.

Mine won’t bloom for a couple years… but won’t it be so pretty when it does?

That was it for that order… but you know I didn’t stop there. I wanted to expand the small garden on the outside of the fence. This is where my native geranium and woodland poppy live. (There’s also a hydrangea).

It doesn’t look like much right now…. but in there I’ve added a native blue lobelia and a native columbine

The Lobelia wil bloom later this year, and the Columbine is just finishing it’s bloom season.

I also added a non-native fern, and a hosta to the area, but this post isn’t about them.

Last….

It looks like my Jack-in-the-Pulpit is VERY happy in its woodland garden home. Look at all those little seedlings coming up!

This past weekend was absolutely perfect, weatherwise, so I spent almost every minute of it out in the garden. That means, with the exception of today, I’ve got nothing but garden posts for you this week.

I didn’t get in the sewing studio. I didn’t knit a stitch. I didn’t paint anything. However, once it got too dark to be in the garden, I did come in and stitch.

As a result, I got a good amount of work done, stitching out the ribbons that curl and loop gracefully from the the back of the fairy. I’m really pleased with how well the purples work with the rest of the colours.

I am however, going to rip out that one small section of light purple on the bottom left part of the ribbon end.

The shade I chose is much too pale and doesn’t flow well with the other shades. Happily, I discovered it before I’d filled in too much of that colour!

The other day, I posted on facebook – a picture of a new (well, thrifted) fairy that Dave had painted and put on the fence for me.

These pics….

And a cousin, who lives across the province said… “Now you need some gnomes!”

Well dear cousin… have I got news for you!!!

So just for her, I went around the garden and took pics of all the gnomes and fairies I have in the gardens. I thought you all might like to see them too!

Let’s start with the fairies. The one on the fence above is laser cut metal. It was solid black but I had Dave spray paint it with silver glitter paint. The gate is in the woodland garden and always in shade, so she pops nicely.

This one I’ve had since we moved her. I bought her from the local hardware store – she was orignally rustic rust coloured, and I painted her with green glitter spray paint. But she needed to be re-painted the year so we did her silver to match the other fairy. She’s now hanging from my swinging bench.

I bought this spinner this year – she now hangs from the arbour at the entrance to the woodland garden

But the woodland garden isn’t just home to fairies…

Quite a few gnomes that live there too

I have a whole collection of these verdigris style fairies. The ones with the globes (which are solar lights) sit on concrete stones around the veg beds. The last one on the swing, is swinging above the strawberries right now – though she moves around each year.

Also in the veg beds

The gnomes have moved into their little mushroom homes.

Though their happy little village could be under threat from Furbzilla!

We picked this laser cut gnome on our travels to the cottage a couple years ago. This year he’s guarding one of the raised beds.

But the gnomes aren’t just outside.

And there’s more to come….

All of the ones above are awaiting a new paint job, and homes around the house and garden!

It’s still to early to grade my seedy efforts, but I think its fair to say, at the very least, the salad greens are a resounding success!

The first salad will be enjoyed this weekend!

The beans has popped up and are growning quickly. The peas are much the same, despite Furby’s “help”

I’ve harvested a few radishes. I don’t eat them, but Dave says they “taste like radishes” so that’s a success. There’s lots more coming. Some will probably end up in that salad.

I’m trying a new thing with the potatoes… growing them in a laundry basket. There are three layers, separated by straw. The greens are supposed to grow out the sides. Having put it all together, I’m not totally convinced by it. But time will tell.

The sunflowers, and other sprouts are all looking good. The sunflowers, at least will probably go out into the yard soon.

May is drawing to a close, but the garden is really getting started. Something new blooms pretty much every day.

Regular readers will recall that these particular poppies weren’t planted. In this spot, I planted a solid red, and a solid white. But poppies are promiscuous, and they cross bred, and this is their offspring. I really can’t complain. I’m curious to see if there are any solid red or white left. Time will tell.

Because of the Iris Borer Moth, it’s been a pretty poor showing for the recovering irises. This one was completely unaffected however and it’s just stunning.

Happily, my Shaker’s Prayer Siberian Irises are not susceptible to the moth. I split it up into several different spots last year and they all seem very happy about it. Each bloom only lasts a couple of days, but boy are they gorgeous when they do.

The chives are very floriferous and the bees are loving it.

And I’ve got a variety of alliums coming up almost everywhere else. They are mostly out front, but I do need to split them up so they will probably spread to the backyard this year.

I have a couple Verbascum in the garden and I would like more. This little magenta one is always the first to bloom.

All my Widows Tears are blooming. they will bloom on and off all summer long. The dark purple also need to be split up so it will probably make it’s way to the backyard too.

I’ve got this lovely little Alpine Aster at the front of the sidewalk garden. It doesn’t last long, but it’s a little bit of cheer while it’s around.

The Lupin are in full bloom. Sadly, it’s just my purple ones. My pink one disappeared. I bought a new red one this year, and I hope it is actually red. Several years back, I bought white, and got more purple! I’d love to have them in every colour.

My purple lilac has finished blooming but the pink one (Tinkerbell) is in full glory. And oh does it smell wonderful.

I have several ornamental sages, but I think this pink one may be my favourite.

And this little Geum is absolutely blooming its heart out. I absolutely love it. I bought it last year – it was on the pricier side. If it wasn’t, I’d buy several more. When it’s done blooming, I may just see if I can split it up a bit.

And of course, there’s so much more to come. What’s blooming in your garden?

Furby cares not that he’s sleeping on freshly planted peas.

Furby only cares that the soil is a nice warm place for a nap. Pea sprouts be damned!

After finishing up the last pair of socks, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to knit next. I was pretty sure it was going to be another pair of socks…but I had no idea what yarn I was going to use.

That is, until I did my studio clean up.

I bought this skein from Lens some time last year when I was visiting with Mom (she bought a skein too). And then I promptly left it at her place. When I was down there in February, I tossed it in one of my bags, brought it home and there it stayed until I finally cleaned the bag out on studio clean up day.

I originally planned to make Dave a pair of socks with it…. but…. I don’t have any grey socks. And I have a fair bit of grey in my wardrobe (as demonstrated by my dress fabric behind the skein).

With that determined, I needed to decide on a pattern. Years ago I made the Broken Seed Stitch socks. I wore them constantly until I ultimately wore them out. So it was time to make anothe pair.

Paired with some solid black Regia, I think these are going to be a great pair of neutral socks! Of course, I have to finish them first… so back to knitting!

In addition to my garden borders and raised beds, I also have quite a collection of containers I like to fill with annuals. In fact, the collection gets a little bigger every years (thanks thrift stores), so it took a full day while I was on vacation to get them all planted up.

Here’s a look at some of them.

I’m not a huge fan of Geraniums. But this year I bought a full flat.

You may recall that last year, I discovered that they can be used to help control the dreaded Japanese Beetle. The beetles are attracted to the leaves… but eating them stuns the beetles. It makes them easier to pick and dispose of, and often the beetles never recover and dry out in the heat.

I had a handful of plants last year and while it didn’t make a HUGE difference to the overall damage across the garden, it did kill quite a few beetles. So I decided to go wit a full flat (18 individual plants) and planted up a pile of containers which I’ve placed throughout the gardens. I added in some petunia for interest as well.

Another thing that I learned last year is that small pots dry out FAST. And I have quite a few small pots. To help with this, I bought SEVERAL flats of portulaca

Portulaca can take being hot and dry for much longer than many other annuals, giving me a chance to get out and water them before they dry up. The petunias I planted in small pots last year were definitely a fail.

This was especially true for the pots in stands I have at the front door.

The portulaca should be just as colourful and fare much better.

And I’ve added a pile of new small pots!

Like this large candelabra we found a thrift store last year. They will look fantastic when they fill in a bit.

Thrifting has also provided me with a nice little collection of decorative bird cages

This is just two of them (there are six total outside) and they also have portulaca. I think they are going to look amazing with the stems start falling a blooming through the bars.

Another things that does well in pots…

Hens and Chicks! The first two pictures are new “Collector Chicks” apparently. They are “Chocolate Mint” (Red), “Appletini” (green with dark tips}, and “Gold Nugget” (yellow). the third picture is a pile of babies from other hens that broke off.

Established containers include…

My pump half cask with “Blue Fountain” salvia and white bacopa, and my cauldron, with celosia flames, bubbling over with a white dahlia and alyssum.

And last…

Because of the cooler spring, my porch pansies are absolutely THRIVING! It will interesting to see how they last once the weather really heats up. I may pot up some marigolds and set them aside to fill this is the pansies give up.

Despite a pretty busy weekend…

Decent progress was made on Miss Woodland Fairy. The leaves on the front of her dress and sleeve were finished up. And I even had time to complete the ones that lined the lower part of her skirt.

I think I might work on her rippling ribbon this coming weekend!

Vacation has, sadly, come to an end. But it didn’t go by without some time in the studio. Two days, in fact!

We are refinancing our mortgage this year, so early in the week we had an appointment for the bank’s assessor to come through. That meant I had to so some cleaning because the studio was in bad shape!

Yeah… it was that bad! Surprisingly, it didn’t take terribly long to get it back in order.

And I have to say, when I went back in there a few days later, it was so nice to just start sewing – and not have to clean anything up first. I really do need to get better at cleaning up after I work in there, instead of saying “Ill do it later,” and shutting the door.

And here’s what I was working on…

Yup… it was time to finally get those arrow blocks together into a top. Since they were 16″ blocks, it didn’t take long.

We just sewed them up, added a quick, plain white border and it was done!

It finished up at 56″ x 72″ so a nice size for a small bed, or a big lap quilt.

I’ve had this quilt planned for several years, including this flannel backing for it. And I decided to go with some scrappy binding using more fat quarters from the bundle.

There’s still LOTS of fat quarters left, so I’ll be making another quilt from these fabrics at some point. But not just yet. Now I’m in the mood for something completely different… stay tuned!