The Project Begins........

The front of the house. Renovations are ongoing inside with a blank slate for the yard except for some backyard fruit trees and the stunning multi-coloured bougainvillea to the right of picture.

The house Bougainvillea adorning a bottle of 2004 Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame, one of the best Champagnes I've tasted.

The before picture of the backyard. To the right a large mature Golden Apple tree and left a Mammy Apple.

8 Yards of compost delivered just before the fencing goes up. An attempt to amend the extremely heavy clay "soil" roughly 2 feet above solid limestone. A challenge.

The first delivery of very valuable mature palms for free!! via the clients old school friend that had to remove them from a project site being developed.

Me admiring the second delivery of palms, 10 in all !!!! A true blessing.

Barbade

I have taken a wonderful assignment for the winter in Barbados to design and build a garden. I also decided to import plants from Canada to Barbados for this project. All necessary permits and inspections were completed after an interesting shop to two nuseries in ontario www.floraldimensions.com and www.bonsaistore.ca the first specializing in succulents and the other airplants/Tillandsias. Below a few pictures of the succulent nursery, cuttings were made from stock plants alleviating any rootwashing that is mandatory with plant export, over 100 cuttings were made.

A selection of the Tillandsias I chose, which had just arrived into Canada the day previous from a supplier in Europe.

The suitcase being opened and plants being potted up. Most of the plants are varieties not available on island after discussing beforehand with a local bajan garden designer.

The next chapter of the project will follow shortly......

Grass Fire

This Molinia has such a glow even on a dull cloudy november day, a burst of gold.

Lifting the Veil

I was given the opportunity to do a garden consult for an out of town church. The day was forecast to be clear, sunny and mild...but being in such close proximity to Lake Ontario it was under a veil of fog from a convergence of warm air aloft and the cooler lake temperature. The mist revealed dozens of bejeweled cobwebs throughout the garden, all at various stages of creation. The garden is flanked by an impressive custom ironwork gothic arbour walkway supporting several types of vines, instilling once again the theme to 2012 being the renovation of gardens that have been left to grow on their own and now needing an edit, redo or reigning back and the installation of plants with "the right plant in the right place" mantra. I hope next year I get the opportunity to practice my skills on this interesting garden.

Warm Thoughts

My thoughts have moved south and a winter garden project in the Caribbean. I Found a wonderful source of Tillandsia's or Air Plants tucked into a residential area of Hamilton. Tropical Expressions www.bonsaistore.ca has a very large greenhouse stuffed with tropical Bonsai, Bromeliads and Tillandsias. The Tillandsias you see in the picture above will be packed up in a suitcase along with other plants for the trip south next month. The Tillandsias will be placed on live trees on the property and some mounted on bark around the patio. The tropical heat and humidity will make them feel right at home. All the legal paperwork of importing is underway. Fingers Crossed.

a beautiful collision

The Evolution of a Gardener

Ive been assisting in developing this garden, the one stumbling block was the aversion to having japanese maples in the garden. A couple years ago I was able to convince the addition of an Acer shirasawanum 'aureum' set in front of a mature yew. The golden foliage glows continuously then burns to a crimson shade in fall....they have been satisfied with this choice. Now to open the door a little wider to more possibilities. There has been a temperamental Dogwood  Cornus florida  ' Cherokee Chief ' a full grown specimen of 12 feet with spectacular fall colour but over the past few summers it has been afflicted with mildew, leaf drop and fewer flowers. The suggestion was a Japanese maple.....lots of hmmmming and hawwwwing.....On the thanksgiving weekend I dug up the dogwood quite successfully with strange fleshy almost perennial like roots intact, wrapped and driven to my parents home on Lake Simcoe. Fingers crossed lets hope the open space and more sunlight keeps it healthier. In its place I have planted not one but three!! Japanese maples. I see them growing together as a grove each with unique leaf shape and fall colouring, the advantage of buying maples in the fall to pick the best of the lot for colour. The trees were purchased at one of my favourite of nurseries in Ontario, Whistling Gardens. A unique treasure trove of trees and shrubs by the masterful Darren Heimbecker.

Dogwood 'Cherokee Chief' ...(red leaf tree in middle of picture)

Dogwood in its new lakefront home...(left of picture)

 The three amigos in their now new Acer friendly home.

 Unknown name Acer

 Unknown name Acer

 Acer aconitifolium