Mill Hill Regional Park

On Sunday I went on the Wild Flower walk at Mill Hill Regional Park. We followed our naturalist guide up the rocky trail to the summit.  I did not make it to the very top.  Apparently there is a marvelous view that I missed.  The photo above is a tapestry of some of the wild flowers in bloom now.  Drabas, camas, shooting stars, fawn lilies and many more. 

These tiny blue flowers are blue-eyed mary, the pink ones are a variety of thrift or armeria.

Two of my best shots of the calypso bulbosa orchids.  There are quite a few of these tiny beauties out now.  They need a special soil fungus to grow, so I have not found any available at the plant nurseries, yet.  They would be very difficult to grow, with a very short period of bloom.

This is a large patch of camas.  The death camas have white blossoms.  The native people would remove all of the white flowering camas, so that they could eat the bulbs after they had matured.  I have a very nice camas growing in my garden.  I must keep all the 'blue bells' away from it, as the foliage is similar and the blossoms are the same color and look similar too.

a draba.  I am not sure which one this is.  I now have 2 tiniest ones in my little rockery.  This is a macro shot of the plant.. They are very very tiny, also.

A fawn lily.  There are large patches of these lovely lilies.  I have some growing in my woodland area.  I also have a yellow variety. 

This is miner's lettuse with the flowers open.  The photo from my previous post of this flower, had the blossoms in bud. 

There were many of these showy shooting stars (dodecathenon) in bloom.  I have not been successful in getting one to grow in my garden yet.  Perhaps its because the leaves look like they might be a dandilion kind of a weed.

The skunk cabbage were quite a distance away and down from the path.  We were not to go off the path, of course.  These were not very prime specimens of this plant either.  I hope this colony expands and grows larger plants.  The leaves seem to be under attack from something. 

a Trillium.  three petals, three leaves.   There were quite a few of these in the park.  Its nice to see these protected flowers becoming more abundant.  According to our Naturalist guide it takes 10 years for a plant to reach the flowering stage.  I am doubly amazed at the one in my woodland garden that has to blossoms, this year.  There is a large leaved plant growing over the area where this trillium grows.  Maybe they like it crowded, because the one in the front garden is not doing quite so well.  I keep the other plants from growing within its 12 inch diameter circle.  Perhaps it needs more leaf mold and a bit more shade.... a cool, moist root run.

the little yellow wood violets are really very pretty up close.  I have purple violets in my garden and find them very invasive.  These little plants did not seem to be quite so invasive. 

In the Spring Garden

This trillium and the easter lillies or fawn lillies are in bloom in the woodland garden.  These are both indigenous plants.  The woodland is very much in need of renovation.  It would be a good idea to clean up the area around these plants before they are gone to dormancy.  The blue bells, thistles and lemon balm are taking over.

The gentan is one of the good rock plants along the edge of the garage garden bed.  The primulas are along in front of the rhodos in the back garden.  There are more primulas and I have close up shots of some of them.  I hope to eventually have an annual garden album on my web page.

The marsh marigold is looking good on the pond.  The water hawthorn is in bloom too.  Yesterday I restarted the water fall.  The water level has stayed nicely up.  We have not had rain today.  That slow leak must have somehow healed itself.  I have no other explanation.  There is clay around the pond.  Perhaps the clay is fully saturated and blocks the tiny hole in the liner.   I have seen quite a few small black fish in the pond.  I understand that baby goldfish take about 2 years to turn colors.   I am going to have quite a lot of gold fish in there next year.

These are anemones and hyacinths that are in the bed by the garage.  These are across the old sidewalk from the gentian.  Very colorful mix and making a nice show right now.  The end of this bed needs cleaning up also.

This red pasque flower is in the front garden by the bamboo.  There is another purple one in the area.  I am slowly getting the weedy flowers out of this area.  The iberis along the front of the border are filling out.  I seem to have got rid of the violets.  There are still a lot of dandilions coming up all over the garden.  I need to be vigilant in getting rid of them.  I should like ti get a rabbiting spade to use to dig them out. 

On Saturday we took the new old Model T on its first run.  McMorran's is closing... after all these years.  It  has a big place in the history of Victoria.  There were many old cars out, and many other people.  The McMorrans started the place as an icecream stand, and so we had hot dogs and icecream for lunch.   Too bad it was such a cold day!  The car ran beautifully.
Today I walked back from the lab where I had to go for blood tests.  I brought home a couple of fuschia cuttings, a marguerite, a parsley and some seeds.  Maybe I will get out to plant them later in the week.
Last nite I finished reading Whitley Streiber's Critical Mass.  Now I need a book to read and want to pick up another Strieber book or two.  So, tomorrow I will go down to Monroe's or Chapters and spend a few enjoyable hours browsing books.

The woodland garden

I don't remember the name of this plant. It is very well behaved and has big green leaves. It is just at the back of the garden by the firethorn and holly trees. It has some lemon balm near it, that needs constant controlling (another invasive plant, but lovely fragrance).
As you walk along the chip path along the side of the garage the last plant before the driveway is the bleeding heart. This plant is becoming quite thick and lovely since I have been feeding it compost and more water. There are also a few other choice spring blooming plants along this little strip of woodland garden, in the shade and under the eaves of the garage. I now have the new big green compost bin by this end of the garage and we park the van right up by the green bin and the front of the garage in the side driveway. I might be the only one who gets to see this garden because of the close proximity of the van and bin.
This is the large trillium. I found it had two blossoms this year. The red one is the older one. They turn red as they age gracefully. Its nice to see my trilliums increasing. The fawn lillies are finished but, they too are growing into a nice patch with a few new ones popping up in other spots of the woodland garden, too.
This is the linaria or money plant. It self seeds and is an excellent plant with its silver seed heads all winter.
The Saskatoon berry trees are full of blooms this year. I must keep them watered and see if I get enough berries to make a pie this year. They are delicious fresh also.
As you walk along the old cement sidewalk it turns left at the end of the garage and goes long behind the garage with approximately 15 foot strip between my property and the neighbour's planted with woodland plants, a huge eucalyptus tree, an evergreen that turns a burnished brown in winter, some cedars for screening, a yew, a holly tree, a firethorn, Saskatoon berry trees, a few sumacs. On the side of the path nearest the garage there is a bed of sweet smelling evergreen ground cover (forget its name) with a special hydrangea, a large fern, a lily of the valley shrub, the compost bin, some daylilies, a multistemmed pin oak, and a rhododendron. At this point the old cement sidewalk is mossy and becomes the chip path. As you turn the corner around the garage you follow the chip path with tall cedars along one side and more woodland perennials. I have bluebell bulbs taking over... they are very invasive. I have found that if they are covered heavily with mulch they can be controlled somewhat. I have some talll german irises along this area also that will one day have to be moved. Many of the plants that no longer fit in their beds find their way into this woodland area. The honeysuckle and a little black bamboo are in the corner and will need attention. There are thistles (from birdseed fallout) and those awful perennial morning glories (very invasive) as well as black berries. I need more chips for the trail. It is still a fairly easy care area, with lots of good interest in the plants and trees in color throughout the seasons.

On my walk and in my garden

This lovely spirea, bridal veil, is in the front of my front garden. I have it pruned into a round ball. If I did not prune it the branches would fall over the plant in long sprays. But if left unpruned it would become ratty and stringy in appearance. The bright white just glows against the dark hedge.
white fawn lillies in their natural habitat, except for the ivy that is very invasive and is taking over the planet.
This is an armeria or thrift and a couple other little rock plants. You can see the work I have ahead of me in cleaning up this rock path, though.
The tulips all over the garden are blooming. They are so late, I had thought the squirrel had got them.
I seem to have only one of these lovely red anemones blooming this year. I must get more.
The trillium turns reddish as it ages. It is growing old gracefully.
Every year I see holes eaten in the buds of this peony. Ants making those big holes are out of the question!
the fern leaf peony is putting on a great show now

Yesterday I did quite a few things out in the garden. Mowed the lawn and did some of the edging. Put the lawn clippings around the strawberries for mulch, over the compost. I mixed a bag of sand with a bag of topsoil and added this to the little rockery areas I cleaned. Cleaned up two little areas of rockeries in the front and started the trimming of the thyme circle, which is long over due. I watered a bit in front and back. I did the transplants of the little lupine, the new thrift, an iberis, a phlox. I dug out the old rosemary and replaced it with a new one and a lavendar beside it. I may need to keep both of them pruned to fit the space. Was really quite warm out.

Today was a lazy day. I finished reading my Deverell book last night and stared this new one about identity theft. I am barely past the first chapter and finding it very interesting.

I tweaked a few photos for the Victoria Grid group on Flickr but my heart is just not in it!! Flickr can be so slow and the glaring white makes my eyes hurt. I just cannot seem to find the time or inclination to keep up with commenting friends or group pool photos. The garden beckons and the books, too.

Trillium

Another flower from in my woodland garden. I am introducing species that grow naturally in our area (Pacific Northwest). The fawn lillies are spreading nicely. This trillium remains as a single plant, as does the smaller Trillium. I must find a shooting star or two to add to the collection.