Six on Saturday – 08MAY2021 – Hippy Dippy Days

Chris Mousseau

I was Instant Messaging (IM-ing for those in the know) with a colleague last week about how grey and rainy it’s been so far this spring. She replied, “..or, as my hippy dippy parents would say, it’s a silver day.” Silver indeed – that’s been the colour of May so far, including today. I braved the rain drops this morning to look around and take a few snaps of things happening in my garden. Still lots of spring bulbs, joined by flowering shrubs and growing veggies. Every Saturday, The Propagator encourages gardeners around the world to share six things that are happening in their garden.

A few weeks ago another blogger showed a photo of a lovely trout lily and I commented that mine were not yet in bloom. They are now! They only open in the sun though, and I was lucky to be out and about to get these shots. I have a colony about 500 metres long of both these yellow ones (Erythronium americanum) and, at the very top of this post, the white variety (Erythronium albidum). They like the dappled sun along the tree line; like all spring ephemerals, they’ll quickly disappear (leaves and all) as tree foliage expands and temperatures rise.
Canada Serviceberry, (Amelanchier canadensis) is a four season favourite. These delicate flowers will produce berries that are a favourite of the local songbird population (edible for people too, but the birds almost always beat me to them), as the nice green leaves develop for the summer. In the fall, leaves turn a lovely orange/red, and the bark and branch structure in winter provides a nice contrast to snow.
Moss Phlox (Phlox subulata) is starting to do its thing. Fascinating how it’s mostly evergreen throughout our cold and snowy winter, until the last few weeks when it turns brown and crispy and appears dead. Then, miraculously, it quickly greens up again and gives loads of lovely flowers.
One of the last daffodils to bloom – the delightful, diminutive Narcissus haweri has very small pale yellow flowers. I’m still looking for the perfect spot for them – ideally some place a bit high with other small plants.
I have two dwarf sour cherry trees – this is the very first blossom of the year. They should enjoy the cool yet sunny (hopefully…) conditions in the coming days. This is likely ‘Juliette’ – I have ‘Romeo’ as well, which blooms a bit later. Both hybrid varieties were bred at the University of Saskatchewan, on the Canadian prairies.
Doesn’t look like much, but after four years this Ogon Spirea (Spiraea thunbergii ‘Ogon’) is finally somewhat pretty. It’s never been terribly happy; I hope its roots have found their way deep enough into the compacted, rocky foundation soil to keep growing.

Nothing from the kitchen garden this week but just you wait…peas, lettuce, spinach and chard are all up and going strong, I’ll be pulling the first rhubarb stalks tomorrow, and hardening off begins next week for tomatoes and peppers. Have a great weekend and stay safe!

12 Comments

  1. What are you doing with your sour cherries ? Something with alcohol? My father-in-law uses them in maceration with fruit alcohol, sugar and spices. ideal for long winter evenings with a Scrabble 😀

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    1. That sounds just about perfect!! It will depend on how many I can harvest before the birds eat them all….I don’t mind, I don’t put out bird food so this is my way of giving them a summer treat.

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  4. Hippy Dippy sounds like it should involved daisies. That is what I remember about all the hippies who migrated to San Francisco with flowers in their hair. Daisies. I was just a tyke, so do not remember it very well.

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