Blogs

Anemones are amongst some of the showiest plants we have for the garden; and thankfully, the tuberous rooted species are some of the easiest to grow.

Anemone nemerosa is found on wooded hillsides throughout Europe. Digging up a colony reveals a mat of thin, woody stems that much resembles a writhing tangle of snakes – if only they would move a bit. This makes propagating straight forward as division of the “twigs” is all that is required. The result is a carpet of flowers (with 6 or more petals), mostly pure white in type. Of course gardeners being curious sorts, selections have been made. There is a plethora of colour variations and, as with snowdrops, nothing is more attractive than “the odd one.” A. nemerosa ‘Viridescens’ is most strange.

I was asked how I got into rock gardening. We lived in BC in the early 70‟s and spent a year wandering and working. I had a very good friend who was from the East Okanagan area, near Lumby. At that time forestry was king, and the wood came into the mills so fast the burners could hardly keep up with the waste – smoke filled the Shuswap valley so thickly it would drop the jaw of a medical professional today. No one seemed to care. Travelling east from Lumby on Hwy #6, the road climbs into the Monashee.

Yesterday I was uploading and organizing pictures of the plants along the Maitland River, and the harbour beach in Goderich where we visited 2 weekends ago. That day was calm - in what is called Ontario's "Prettiest Town".

The plants in genus Dionysia are some of the most demanding in cultural requirements that few people attempt to grow them. They possess beautiful flowers, form tight domes of tiny leaves and the intriguing habit of growing on near vertical walls with a ledge of rock protecting them from full sun and weather.

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Aside from the great swaths of poison ivy, this was a wonderful place to be 30 minutes from our home/nursery. Why? Read entire article »