Garden Nursery Visit - Brentwood Bay

Licens, mosses, grasses and red rock plants covering these rocks by the shore. I did not want to crawl around on the rocks as this appears to be a fairly fragile ecosytem, easily harmed by careless shoes or dogs.
Some of the picturesque driftwood and rocks with barnacles along the Songhees shoreline.
Another long shot of the painted dragon just a little bit along the walkway from Spinnakers Pub. I believe the little Harbour Ferry docks stops here. That arbutus tree is outstanding!
This is a telephoto view of West Bay Marina; taken from the walkway while shooting for the Victoria Grid Project.

Easter was a quiet day for us, with a duck for our Easter Sunday feast. It was a fine day.

Pat had a delivery of a door prize for the car club to make in the Brentwood Bay area. It was a lovely drive and we stopped at Brentwood Bay Nursery on our way home. This is my favourite nursery but I seldom get out here any more, as my garden is full. Also I get free delivery from Cannor with my membership (also 10% off all plants). Cannor is much closer also. But Brentwood Bay is a real treat to visit. They have many rare and specialty plants. I get alpine plants every year at the Club show and Sale, too, so have not had an urgent need to shop at Brentwood Bay. But, of course, I found a couple of little plants that I could not resist. A cyclamen coum (not really rare - but I could use one or two more of them) and a Daphne x rollsdorfi Wilhelm Schacht which had to come with me. The Daphne tag says: Dark green, thick foliage, dense growing evergreen shrub to 12". Very fragrant purple-pink flowers. A beautiful and choice selection. Zone 6. This time my Daphne is going in a pot, where I can take proper care of it and keep an eye on it. I must research its care, as I have managed to kill a few Daphnes already.
I found a good source of information on growing Daphnes. They need good drainage and yet do not let them dry out.

Just as I had found these two choice plants, the sleet and hail began bucketing down. It really got cold in a matter of minutes. The lady at the nursery was loading wagons with precious plants and getting them under cover in the green houses. This hail/sleet kept up until we were half way home and it turned to rain. We must have been a pocket of cold air. Freaky weather.

My big white phalenopsis is still in bloom. There are African violets in bloom also. Its all clean and looks good. I love my new room and the kitchen. Life is good! We are so very fortunate.

I read quite late last night, so am not very alive today. As well as reading 'Arminius" (which is pretty tough going at times) I am reading Lords of the Bow by Conn Iggulden. Its about Genghis Khan and the invasion of China. This history is not as old as I had thought it was. There is a date of 1211 AD on one of the chapters. It is a very good read. This author has done a Roman series of books as well as more of the Mongols.

I had some very exciting news from Cyrus about his new photo upload/sharing site. Two months, maybe!! I can hardly wait. All of the features and design look just terrific!

The Ocean

On Sunday we took a drive about the West Shore communities. The development in the commercial areas has been just booming in the last few years, along with new roads and much beautification and landscaping of the boulevards. When we lived out there it was just a little wide spot on the road.. 20 years makes a lot of difference. We stopped for a look at Langford Lake. It looks rather like a big weedy slough. The cottages in the area look just a bit down at the heel, too. No doubt, it will get a facelift, soon, too. Then we drove out to the area where the big development is going to be where the gravel pit is now. There are some little pockets of development with big new houses. Some with some terrific views. We went home past the Esquimalt Lagoon, where we stopped while I took wave pictures!! Lots and lots of wave pictures. I love the ocean. It was great being out in the refreshing, cool breeze with the smell of the ocean.

Lunch by the seashore

Tuesday, a week ago, we picked up deli food for lunch and went to Sidney. We picked up our stuff from Maria and then parked by the ocean and had our lunch. I went out to shoot for a few minutes. I used the ND filter and it did help a bit for the ocean/sky shots. It was a cold and windy day. The bank along the beach is very steep but the grass and dandelions hold it all together. Someone planted a couple of red tulip bulbs. It was just perfect to catch them blowing in the wind. I tried to make a movie, but the wind noise was too much. I could not hear the sound of the waves.

Today I dug over half of the vegetable garden. I have some good soil in the veggie patch at last, but the cedar roots and other trees roots are not very deep. I am still thinking of converting this patch to a cutting garden.