November 1st in the Garden

 Leaves falling on the rockeries need to be cleaned up often.  This little rockery in the back garden needs an addition of a bit of compost and more pea gravel mulch.

 There is an interesting combination of Autumn colors in the perennials in this rectangle bed near the driveway in the front boulevard garden.

 The leaves from of the sweet gum tree in the front garden make a colorful carpet over the grass.  As at November 1st the leaves are just beginning to fall.

 This is a photo taken from just across the street of the front garden.
There is the spirea bush in the foreground, then the green of the cedar hedge with the colorful sweet gum tree.  The leaves of this tree are enclosed by the hedging and get heat off the house and so the leaves at the bottom remain green/yellow.  

The sweet gum tree holds it colorful leaves for quite a long time.  The view from the windows at the front of the house are a treat.  This is November 17th and we still have the glorious show in the front garden.

October birds in the garden

 The robins were around to test the firethorn berries for ripeness.  They did not seem to find the berries satisfactory, as there is a lot of them dropped on the sidewalk beneath the firetorn bush.  The holly tree still has its berries.  Hopefully they will be ready on Christmas Day, again.

 I liked the reflection of the background bokeh in the water on top of the deck table.  With the curves of the table and the reflection of the humming bird feeder over the bokeh reflection, I thought it made a nice abstract kind of a picture.

 The hummingbirds are liking the feeder this time.  I have seen two of the birds at the same time.

Another photo of the Anna's humming bird at the feeder.

A close up of the humming bird.

It has been raining lately and I have been raking leaves.  Most of the leaves are off of the English Oak at the back.  The sweet gum tree is holding about half of its leaves.  It has glorious colors again, this year.

October color in the garden

 The Irish heather has been blooming for weeks.  This one is in the front garden next to the stone path to the water meter, and the new planting on the other side of it.

 The blue salvia is one of the new salvias, and other plants in the new planting at the front.  When the David statue fell over I renewed the plantings around it.  I removed a lot of Michaelmas daisies that were seeding everywhere.  I added compost to the soil of this strip from the David to the Irish heather and bordering the stone path.  Then I added a French lavender, the salvias (blue, red, pink) a couple of the milkweed plants.  The milkweed from Dave survives.  I am not sure about the others.  There are bulbs around the edges, including crocuses and dutch iris.  

 The smoke bush gets some gorgeous color, especially with the sun shining through the colored leaves.  There is a bit of bamboo in the frame for contrast.

 This is the Japanese cedar, the sumacs in the woodland.

The October colors of the woodland.  There is the Japanese cedar, sumacs, firethorn berries and the variegated holly with berries.  

October deck plants

This is a tiny fern that I got at the VIRAGS Plant sale.  It is adiantum aleuticum subpumilum $ 5.00

needs to be kept moist.  and a Gentiana depresso.  I will put the fern in the moss garden as its seems quite hardy.  The gentiana has yet to be decided.

I think this one is a primula auricola.  This might look good in one of the pink pots.

 I took a few cuttings of the delosperma cooperi,  Hardy Ice Plant.  I think mine is Fire Spinner
https://www.highcountrygardens.com/gardening/growing-ice-plant-delosperma/
very informative site 
I am thinking about planting them in the big pink pot and making an arrangement of these pink pots with more rock/alpine plants in them.

At the VIRAGS show and sale last Spring: 

April 21, 2018

Saxfragia Hybrida (R.M.) $ 4.00

Silver Saxifragia Symons Juene (R,M.) 4.00

Saxifragia apiculata (R.M.?? not sure) 5.00

Saxifragia Stadii (R.M.) 4.00

Saxifragua M.B. (R.M.) 4.00

{Saxifragia paniculata from Royal Oak } 2.50

Saxifragia in Butchart Gardens cement pot from R. M. Home........... $20.00

no name. I think it is a primula auricola 

I transplanted the Rex Murfitt saxifrages into the big white pot with one of the tufa rocks.  I have lost one of them, not sure which one.  

The one in the cement pot is still there.  Not sure how it is named.  It will have white blossoms when it blooms.

The soil has packed down in the pot and I might need to repot them.  I will first try a gravel mulch on top.  

In the last week the fish have been running and counted at the fish fence near the Tilicum Mall.  I have been out to look for some in our area but did not see any.  We have had more rain, so this should be good for the fish.  

October

 The tray with found rocks and the new bought ones. These semi precious stones used in jewelry can be found for sale almost anywhere you live or travel.

 I bought these rocks at the Santa Claus tourist trap in Ravaniemi when on our Scandinavian trip in August.  There is an ammorite, a carnelian, an agate and I think the green one is malakite.

 More found rocks that are unpolished.  The one with the seashell is a particular treasure.

 More of the found rocks.  Sadly, I do not record where I found the rocks.

 When we returned from our trip and after getting over my pneumonia, I put the light garden back in its corner and cleaned it up.  I found I had room for plants on the little table next to the window.  So I have arranged the rocks for display on the table.  I have more found rocks that are a larger size, sitting on the deck railing.  And a few bought tufa  rocks in my rock garden and in a planting of saxifragia in a pot on the deck. I have some volcanic rock from the Clearwater, B.C. area in my rock garden.

 The apple tree is loaded with apples this year.  I am making apple sauce and we have had a pie, given some away to friends and still have more to process or give away.

 A photo of the pond fish feeding.  I was happy to see that I have quite a few of them in the pond.  There seems to be 11 or 12 of them.  One large comet and two more comets.  There seems to be three sarasas and one white one.  I can find four or five shubunkins.

This little plant is a Kenilworth Ivy or ivy leafed toadflax  (Cymbilaria moralis).  This will eventually appear on my wed page, under gardening in the Survivers and wildflowers, album.  This little plant seeds everywhere, but is not hard to remove.  Its a pretty,  delicate little plant, perfect for rock walls.

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The salmon are running in our Colquitz watershed.  I must get out and look for some in the River.

From the Saanich News and Pennisula Streams stewardship people:
From the Saanich News, October 31, 2018:  https://www.saanichnews.com/news/truckloads-of-junk-pulled-from-colquitz-fish-habitat/

Truckloads of junk pulled from Colquitz fish habitat
Rains bring early fish to upgraded Colquitz fish fence

TRAVIS PATERSON  Oct. 31, 2018 5:30 p.m. LOCAL NEWS

Flush from heavy rains, the Colquitz River’s vibrant Coho salmon population is returning to spawn.

As of Monday, the count totalled 93 Coho salmon, broken down as 15 females, 11 males and six unidentifiable, as well as 61 jacks, which are precocious two-year-old males returning early. Sixty-five of those fish came in on Monday following the weekend downpours, said Dorothy Chambers, lead steward for the long-running fish fence.

(Inset photo: A preschool class enjoys the new viewing area along the Colquitz River fish fence in Cuthbert Holmes Park. Submitted.

Read More: Where’s the fish? Doom and gloom for Colquitz spawning season

“[There’s] some nice sized adults coming in …. mostly all chrome [in colour], but a few are starting to ripen up … into the bright red spawning fish that we see a lot of,” Chambers said.

Last year’s Coho numbers were dismal not only at Colquitz but around the Greater Victoria and lower Vancouver Island spawning creeks and rivers.

After some lobbying from Chambers, Colquitz underwent an environmental clean-up last week with representatives from the federal and provincial governments, and Saanich’s parks, stormwater, and environmental departments all combining efforts to focus on the lower Colquitz River.

“Six shopping carts … many bikes, a mattress, signs, large plastic containers, construction material, and a ton of small garbage debris,” Chambers said. “Multiple truckloads were hauled away.”
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http://peninsulastreams.ca/
November 1, 2018
email from  Brian Koval
Dear Colquitz Mainstem Volunteers:

We would like to know where the Coho salmon they are on their journey upstream and where they are spawning and would like your help! If you walk near the creek, please look for adult salmon and report back to me: location, number and species (if you can identify them).

Also, I will be taking a walk up the creek to look for adult fish. If you would like to come on the walk, please let me know. Waders are required but these can be supplied if you do not have any.

Thanks and happy fish spotting!

Brian

PS here is the latest report from Dorothy Chambers:

Wed, Oct 31, 6:47 PM (2 days ago
to
https://www.saanichnews.com/news/truckloads-of-junk-pulled-from-colquitz-fish-habitat/

A hearty thank you to everyone who is helping out !
about 120 salmon counted so far.

sincerely,
Dorothy and fish crew !
Salmon in The City project
--
Brian Koval, MSc., RPBio.
Peninsula Streams Society
Assistant Coordinator
Office: 250.363.6596
Cell: 778.350.0510
www.PeninsulaStreams.ca

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When I was out shooting photos for the Victoria Grid Project on Flickr, the Grid was in our area.  The water in the Colquitz Creek was really low from all the viewing points I have next to the River.  This is  beneath the bridge over Loenholm Road, just off Wilkinson Road.  You can see that the water is very low. 

Recently we have had a lot of rain and this has encouraged the Salmon run, which seems to be abundant.  Hopefully they can get past the ditching that occurred in the River when the Panama Flats area was agricultural land.

If interested here is more information on my Flickr account:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/8596060@N05/45282941141/in/dateposted/