In very short order, Dave built and hung the gate on the new fence.

It looks great from the outside, and I think it looks just as good from the inside.

Dave put the “arch” over the gate for me, so I could grow something up and over it. Virginia Creeper is native plant that grows all over the place here (there’s some at the back of the yard I could transplant for free!). But it would require constant maintenance, as it grow like… a weed! It does turn a beautiful red in the fall though.

As I mentioned, it’s a fairly large area to fill (almost the size of the of the townhouse backyard)

This year, I’m thinking I’m just going to focus on the fence line between us and the neighbours. I can keep the rest of it tidy with the mower for the rest of the season.

I have a lot of plants, but not enough to fill the whole thing just yet. I have all the plants I showed you on Sunday, plus some lily-of the-valley. I will probably split some of my sedum in the catio to put there. I also have tonnes of Foxglove seedlings I need to move from the front gardens.

I’ve certainly got a lot of work ahead of me!

Not a lot of stitching was accomplished this weekend…

But I did finish my chicken. There’s more stitching to come on this one, so hang in there.

And to answer the question about how I’m stitching on the potholder…

I turn it on it’s side, so the opening is to the left so I can hold it open a bit. And then I stitch into the stitch, and out to the new stitch at the same time. It takes a little getting used to, but it’s proving quite efficient for me.

And Lemmy demands more stitching time, because he wants more lap time!!!

While Dave was busy banging in fence boards, I was busy making my own kind of fence….

A baby rail fence quilt!

Rail fence is a super easy block to make, and I’m amazed I haven’t done one sooner. It’s even easier when you have a Jelly Roll. And I did! A Jelly Roll called “Eat Your Veggies”**. And it’s chock full of fun dinosaur prints.

I’ve got a couple yards of coordinating fabric for the back and some of the fun orange dino foot print for the binding.

It all adds up to a super sweet, quick quilting project. I’m headed to Mom’s for the weekend, so you may even see this one done by next week.

** I got this Jelly Roll because of a mix up. On one of my MSQ buying sprees, I’d bought a charm pack with dinosaurs, and tucked it away. Later, when getting backing fabric for my Round Robin quilt, I saw the Eat Your Veggies yardage on sale. So I bought some, thinking it went with the charm pack I had.

It was only when it arrived, and I pulled out that I realized my mistake. And how I mixed them up I have no idea, because dear readers, that other collection (Called “Roar”) looks like this…

Not even remotely alike!!!

Happily, a short while later, I was doing and other Connect Threads order and was able to get the Eat Your Veggies Jelly Roll and some yardarge to go with Roar.

So long story short… I’m going to be making a lot of dinosaur quilts!!!

Over the last few days, Dave’s been working on the new fence to replace the old, crappy one that blew down in the big storm.

And he’s done a wonderful job. He made it to match our neighbour’s fence to the left (which you can just see the edge of). All that’s left if the gate, which he will be finishing today. And once he gets all his tools out of there, it’s up to me to make the new space look pretty.

By moving the fence, it’s given me an area about 15′ x 15′, all in shade, to create a new garden space.

To that end, I’ve been plant shopping.

The Heuchera (Coral Bells) have done so well in the shade by the driveway, that I got more for under the tree here. There’s four different ones.

And I got these two. It might be too dry under the tree for the bugbane, but I think it’s worth a try. The Astilbe has a really pretty leaf. I’ve not had much luck with Astilble, so I’m hoping this one does ok.

And naturally, I got some woodland natives…

I also got some of these…

Yes. I got some hostas. They are not my favourite plants, but I can’t deny they they grow well in shade! And I’ve got a big space to fill!

Time to look at some of the new things in the garden

Two new daylilies…. Left is Tropical Surprise, Right is Rosy Returns

And two new lilies: Sugar Love and Solution. (I just love the dotted lilies!!!)

I love my pink Yarrow so much, I had to get more colours. The yellow was planted last fall (it just bloomed this year), and the red I got on clearance before the grocery store garden centre closed for the season this summer.

Both of these coneflowers were bought on clearance last year. Left is “Green Twister” and right is “Pink Double”. The petals coming out of the centre will get bigger and wilder as it grows.

I’ve got quite a collection of Tickseed now. This is Crazy Cayenne and Uptick Cream. Both are new this year.

I bought a couple Hollyhocks on clearance, and this one is the first to bloom. It’s growing sideways instead of up, so I’ve got to get some stakes for it.

None of these are “new” but they have have just started to bloom. They are three of my butterfly bushes. Black Knight, Queen of Hearts and Royal Red (which is of course, pinky purple). White Profusion should bloom by the end of next week and I’ll get pics of that one too.

You will recall how delighted I was with my yellow Geum earlier this year. I was happy to find a red one on clearance. I didn’t think it would bloom this year, but here it is! I want more colours!!!

This Beardtongue is a new addition to the newest garden at the side of the front yard. It’s loving it’s spot. I had some of this at the townhouse, but it didn’t survive the move. It certainly never bloomed like this there!

This pretty little think is a Cinquefoil. I bought it on clearance last year, and it’s kind of struggled along since. It seems to be very slow growing. It should eventually get quite shrubby. These pretty little blooms have been appearing on an off for the last month or so.

And last… I’ll leave you with this pretty Barbie pink Hibiscus (since it’s all about Barbie lately!!!). I will probably end up murdering it when I bring it inside for the winter (Haven’t managed to keep one alive yet), but It looks great potted up in the catio!

Relic a generally a rather humble feline (especially compared to the two drama queens in the house)

But his regal feline magnificence can’t help but shine through!

As you know, I have a very wide variety of flowers in my gardens. I really don’t discriminate! I want them all!!!!

But I definitely try to include native plants whenever I find them. I’ve got a nice little collection, spread throughout the gardens.

You’ll recall that I have two typed of milkweed. First is Common Milkweed, which showed up last year as a volunteer. I had three plants at first, and now have seven. The second is Swamp Milkweed. It’s planted in the catio. Last year, it got aphids really bad, and then early this year, it developed a type of mildew. I didn’t think it was going to make it. But it did, and it’s flourished. I think it’s a little prettier than the Common Milkweed, but the monarchs don’t seem to play favourites.

We are up to four caterpillars and at least a dozen more eggs between the two patches. And that’s only the ones I can see. There’s most likely more.

Out front I have Cardinal Flower and Blue Lobelia

They are related, as Cardinal flower is a type of Lobelia. And you can see the similarities. But other than their colours there is one other big difference – the height! Cardinal Flower gets almost as tall as me (I’m 5’7″) and the Blue only gets about 15″ tall. I actually had to move it because it shaded out by the New England Aster (another native, but it’s not in bloom yet).

These are both supposed to attract hummingbirds. I’ve not seen hummingbirds at them yet, but I have seen them at the bee balm

The first is Wild Bergamot (another name for Bee Balm), and Scarlet Bee Balm. I love the Scarlet one because it makes these double decker blooms. I have a non-native pink version in the catio, but I have to find a better spot for it because it’s getting shaded out by the coneflowers.

And speaking of coneflowers. No Ontario garden is complete without Echineacea – or Purple Coneflower.

There are many varieties of Coneflower (and I have several), but the purple coneflower is just so classic. It’s not only a big favourite of butterflies and bees, but also goldfinches, who love the seedheads.

Liatris (also known as Gayfeather or Blazing Star), is another butterfly favourite. It has just started to bloom. I had some in the catio (brought from the townhouse) but I got a few more plants for out front this year. It multiplies quite nicely once established, so it will eventually be spread through all the gardens.

This neat plant is called Prairie Conflower. Eventually that centre will turn dark brown. Is it a coneflower, is it a Rudbeckia (Black-eyed susan). I’m not sure… but it’s wild! The plant is so big and heavy, I have to have supports to prop it up. I definitely need to split it up this fall (and I only planted it last fall)

I have another relative of it, commonly known as Mexican Hat. It’s not quite as tall, and as you can see the flowers are red. The centres also remain green.

And we can’t forget the Common Black-Eyed Susan

It’s one of my faves. I’ve got three clumps throughout the gardens, with several seedlings started in my greenhouse. The ones in the garden are just starting to bloom. And of course, they will bloom right to the frost. Hard not to love a flower like that!

I have a couple types of Helianthus (False Sunflower, Ox Eye Daisy). I need to move those multicoloured ones though. They get very tall and need to be moved to the back of the garden.

And this odd looking flower is Pearly Everylasting. I bought it spring of last year, and planted it in the catio. Sadly, it didn’t do well because it was in Relic’s favourite nap spot and he would not stop sleeping on it! But the roots managed to take hold, and it got going well enough before the weather got warm enough for Relic to spend all day napping outside, that he found somewhere else to sleep! IT’s just started to bloom.

I’ve told you of my love for Coreopsis (Tickseed)

And this Lanceleaf Corepsis just happens to be a native too!

There are several other natives yet to bloom – Annise Hyssop, Boneset, New England Aster, and Smooth Aster! (And of course, the ones that already bloomed – Native flag iris, Harebell, and Foxglove Beardtongue)

Since most of my weekend was spent on storm clean-up (with the exception of the small bit of stitching I showed yesterday), I don’t have any crafting to show you. I’m afraid you in for several garden posts over the next couple days.

Edible Alley is proving an exciting endeavor. I don’t have a huge amount of experience growing food. Mom and Dad had a fairly large veg patch when I was a kid – but the thing I remember most about it was being put on tomato hornworm picking duty (I got 5 cents for dead ones and 25 for live ones).

At the townhouse, the only thing I managed to grow with any success was cherry tomatoes.

So far, the sugar snap peas have been a huge success. Every few days I get a bowlful for Dave to snack on. I’m not a huge vegetable fan, but I admit, I’ve been enjoying a peapod or two (though I prefer to open them up and eat just the peas).

It’s the same with the tender beans. Ever couple of days, I get a nice bowlful. Dave eats them raw, though if I manage to get enough for two, I may cook some up, because I prefer my beans cooked.

I also planted long beans – they aren’t producing yet, but they are making me think if I plant them again, I need to get taller trellising for them. They’ve reached the top of my supports and look like they want to keep going.

The carrots have been…. interesting.

You will recall the first seeding did not go so well. I have a couple from that first seeding that are doing really well

And now the second seeding has started to sprout…

With a vengence!!! I have to get out there and do some thinning soon.

I mentioned before that Mom used to grow pickling cucumbers. I’ve done a little pickling myself (with store bought cukes), and my attempt at dills was not successful. So I decided to plant eating cucumbers instead for Dave. Sadly I don’t remember what kind I planted… but…

The first picture was taken on July 13th. The second on July 21th. The last on July 24th! I can’t believe how fast it grew.

I picked it for Dave because he needed some cucumber for his falafels.

He’s going to have to wait a while longer for the grape tomatoes though…

They’ve still got some ripening to do!

While most of the veg I planted for Dave, the pepper squash I planted for me. Pepper squash (also known as acorn squash) is one of my absolute favourite vegetables. And it can be very, very hard to decent ones in the grocery store. It just doesn’t keep as long as some other squash, and the ones brought up from Mexico are usually flavourless.

I had four plants, but two have died. The two that are remaining seem very robust. They can produce around 8 squash each, so even just two plants should give me a good harvest.

So when I discovered this neat new moth in the garden…

I was quite excited! Until I looked it up. It’s a Squash Vine Borer. As the name implies, that’s not good news for my plants. I dispatched her quickly and checked my plants….

And I found two leaves with these neat arrangement of eggs. A quick google check told me that these are NOT Squash Vine Borer eggs, but Squash Bug eggs! Another pest! I destroyed the eggs, but I’m going to have to remain vigilant.

Just like my flowers, growing edibles has proved to be a great learning experience! And it’s only July!

Obviously, storm clean up took up most of my time on the weekend, but I did fit in a little time to start a new stitching project.

After I started the butterfly and thistle, I kicked myself, because I’d forgotten all about the pot holders and tea towel I’d bought at the antique shop. So when it came time to start something new, I went looking for something I could stitch on the potholders.

Being that it’s going in my kitchen, you know it had to be chicken-themed! Obviously it’s not finished yet, but I think you’re going to love it when it’s done.

Stitching on the potholder is a bit of a challenge, as it’s like stitching on a pocket that’s already attached. But I’ve got a good technique down, and it’s going pretty well. This project won’t take terribly long to complete.

Thank you for all the concern about our trials over the past couple of days. As I said, in the long run, we are far luckier than many of our neighbours. With the exception of Dory, things are pretty much back to normal. Annoyingly, my headache turned into a weekend-long migraine, but on Saturday, there were no more generators running, and by Sunday, the cacophony of chainsaws and wood chippers was significantly lessened.

Dave has also started on rebuilding the side fence.

Orginally, the fence ran from the back corner of the house, at the line where the coneflowers on the right side are. He’s now got the posts (and framing, not pictured) in, and it’s much closer to the front of the house, in front of the maple tree. That brings all the space between the small garden and the tree into the backyard. It will become my shaded “woodland” garden.

Moving the fence was a project we planned to do in the fall. The storm just moved it up for us. Getting the rest of the materials will have to wait until we can get Dory back, because we can’t fit all the wood we need in Dave’s Buick.

While he was building the fence framing, I was doing my best to tidy up the gardens. I love getting on level with the plants. There’s an amazing world in there that we so often overlook.

This little guy is an Eight-Spotted Forester Moth. It’s a new one for my garden. I just love those fuzzy golden legs!

There are several backyard ponds around us, so dragonflies are a common sight. I still delight in seeing them.

And check out this master of disguise…

Can’t see him? How about now…

This little Katydid is almost perfectly invisible. I wouldn’t have seen him if he hadn’t moved! A perfect way to outwit predators.

And last… it seems Ms. Monarch did her job. The common milkweed were almost all completely knocked over in the storm, and when I was staking them back up, I noticed some holes in the leaves. It didn’t take long to discover why.

That’s a monarch caterpillar. And that’s my thumb! Such a wee little thing. And it wasn’t until I opened the pictures on my computer that I noticed the second, even smaller caterpillar. Can you see him by the hole?

I found this third, larger one on the pod on the swamp milkweed. With a little luck, we might get another monarch chrysalis or two.

You bet I’ll be keeping my eye out for these, and all the other little tiny miracles that call my garden home.