A rose from my garden

A rose from my garden

 

Roses beside the pool

I like flowers . . . I like bright flowers in my garden . . . I like fresh flowers on my kitchen table . . . I like to photograph flowers.

So it's no surprise that my house is surrounded by flower beds, the swimming pool is surrounded by flower beds, there is a perennial garden and a water garden as well, just to keep me busy.  I have planted as many perennials as possible over the years, but the local garden centers still look forward to my visits every spring.

Every day through the spring and summer I spend a few minutes, or an hour or two, weeding, trimming and pruning.  This summer has been very hot and dry and I have watered virtually every night.

Sunflower beside the pool

Irises and birdhouse

 

I really enjoy every aspect of gardening except the weeding . . . but it has to be done.  And I just love the end result.

 

Even though I have plenty of flowers at home, I like to visit other gardens from time to time as well.  The quaint old historic town of Niagara on the Lake is full of impressive flowers all summer, and I also particularly enjoy the Naturium butterfly and hummingbird garden at Greenway Blooming Centre, north of Cambridge Ontario. 

My uncle Ray made the wheelbarrow

Zoe on the diving board

Iris

While working in Vancouver, BC a few years ago I fell in love with the Rhododendrons which were in full bloom at the time, so I now have several "rhody's" in a sheltered bed in front of my home.  The Buchart Gardens in Victoria, BC are spectacular, be sure to visit them if you are planning a trip to Vancouver Island.

Rhododendron in my garden

Hollyhocks and False Sunflowers

When I'm not tending my gardens, feeding the fish in the flower garden, or busy with my other hobbies, you can often find me snapping pictures of my garden.

All of the photos on this page are from my gardens, I hope you enjoy them!

My perennial garden

A ruby red rose!

Anniversary Rose

Zak & petunias on the back step

A wheelbarrow full of petunias

Alas, since I wrote this page, we have moved and I tearfully left my gardens behind.  Our retirement plans involve lots of travel and the gardens were interfering with our travel plans.  So they had to go!

We are now in a larger home on a much smaller property and we intend to landscape the new property with "low maintenance" plantings.

Since I still love flowers, Gary will have to keep reminding me to keep it simple!


August 1, 2009

Since I wrote the notes above we have moved from Burlington to Kingston, with the intent of downsizing our property and eliminating the need to be tied down to the pool, pond and gardens. The first year was easy living without a garden.  There were more important things to be done around the new house; we did not even have grass until July. There was also a driveway to pave, curbs and sidewalk to be put in, a deck to be built and then finallly the fence around the back yard.

Our new deck

The second summer came along and I decided that we did need some sort of small garden in the back yard.  It would consist of mostly flowering shrubs and require minimal care. Once the shrubs were in then a few annuals were added for colour.

It is now the third summer in our new home and the garden is flourishing, I don’t see it getting much bigger, I don’t have the room, but it does keep me happy.

A pretty cluster of roses The same roses from another angle
These snapdragons grew on their own.  I didn't plant them, it must be magic! I keep hoping to attract hummingbirds.  We've had a few sightings, but no regular visitors.