plant monday – coppertone stonecrop

Plant of the week –
Common Name: coppertone stonecrop
Botanical Name: sedum nussbaumerianum

I’m feeling the succulents love lately [and I feel I should post more plants for the warmer climates since they are just as lovely]. They require very little maintenance and watering so it’s ok to “forget” about the one you bought at the store and tucked away somewhere. Another great thing about these plants is they all start easily from cuttings.

This succulent has cylindrical foliage that turns a magnificent coppertone colour in the sun. A fairly low growing, compact plant that produces lightly fragrant white  flowers in a flat topped umbel-like inflorescence. Sedum nussbaumerianum was first discovered by Carl Albert Purpus at a sulfur spring in a ravine at Zacuapan in Vera Cruz, Mexico in 1906/1907 but was later described in 1923 by the German botanist Bitter who named it for Ernst Nussbaumer, the head gardener at the Bremen Botanic Garden in Germany. It was in cultivation under the name Sedum adolphi in California in 1944, and it wasn’t until 2002 when it was given the marketing name Coppertone by Magic Growers Nursery of  California.

For those of us in colder zones this plant looks wonderful in a planter making a colourful collection of succulents or mixed in with annuals.

Description – succulent
Hardiness Zone – 9-11
Exposure – full sun to part shade
Mature Height – 8″
Bloom Time – late winter-early spring
Bloom Colour – white
Scent – slightly fragrant 

photo credit – Canada Plants

my seed balls are going to 1st grade

My daughter’s grade 1 class has been planting seeds for their classroom to give kids the responsibility of being attentive to their own pot, nurturing the seeds with water and light, and watching their hard work blossom. They have planted marigolds, zinnias, California blue bells and asters. Of course, I would love to know which varieties they have planted, but the newsletter that was sent home didn’t have that information, heh.

I saw her teacher on Friday we talked about the fun craft of making paper seed balls. She seemed very intrigued and asked if we could make some up for the class to plant as well, and include instructions so they could get messy making some themselves. My daughter already being the master at making these with me loves this idea. Yesterday, we stopped by the store and picked up cosmos ‘purity’ and ‘savannah pink’ seeds. These are the ones we are going to send to school tomorrow. I think cosmos will be fun in the classroom.

The bowl on the right has the balls with cosmos seeds. We also made other seed balls that she wants to give to grandma. They have a mix of shasta daisies, marigolds ‘zenith mixed’, snapdragons ‘frosted flames’, poppies ‘ladybird’, asters ‘princess mix’, pink bellflowers, left over cosmos and geraniums ‘appleblossom’ – all seeds picked by the kid. We used 100% recycled paper pulp instead of just newspaper so they turned out a little prettier this time. We picked up mesh bags with pink ribbon at a craft store, so now they are ready for their trip to school on Monday.
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We also had fun experimenting new ways to make seed balls that involved these items –
[post to come later…]

on my mind – tuberous begonias

I bet it would be hard to find a gardener who hasn’t grown begonias at some point in his or her gardening lifetime. The tuberous begonia is very popular and more widely cultivated than the other 1300 species and their cultivars combined. It’s a wonderful thing to see the vibrant rainbow of colours light up the shadiest of gardens.
My mother grew begonias every year. Most of the potted tuberous begonias for sale at the nurseries have been grown from cuttings, therefore don’t have enough time to produce a tuber in our notoriously short summer season. So she never could dig and store them over winter to have again for next season. Every June she would buy a dozen red begonias to plant around the hostas under a maple tree in our back yard.

The lovely scent of these begonias is amazing. I got to see and smell the newest cultivar from Blackmore & Langdon called John Smith at a nursery last year. The most beautifully soft coral-pink colour you will ever see on a flower. There were only a handful for sale and the price nearly knocked me to the floor – I believe for one plant it cost $65. I’m sure is worth every penny, being very high-quality [and if they are properly cared for] can last at least five years making it more economical in the long run.

John Smith is named for one of the breeders who is now working with the fourth generation of Langdons. It shows yet another begonia breakthrough  with being the first upright fragrant begonia rather than the usual pendulous blooms.

 I would really like to try germinating begonia seeds. I have heard the good [cheaper and economical] and the bad [much skill and patience]. I am not an experienced gardener, but I feel the urge to indulge my spring fever. The Blackmore & Langdon website sells perfumed pendulous begonia seeds in mixed colours and I’m very tempted. Perhaps I should read all the information I can first before I give the seeds a try so I know what I am getting myself into. For now, I’m really wanting to add Sunrise tuberous begonias from the Scentiment series to my garden. Ahh, I can smell them now.

photo credit – GAP gardens

plant monday – dicentra spectabilis ‘gold heart’

Plant of the week –
Common Name: bleeding heart gold heart
Botanical Name: dicentra spectabilis ‘gold heart’

These heart shaped flowers dangle from long wands above gorgeous chartreuse-yellow foliage. A stunning plant to brighten up a shade garden. The foliage typically mellows a bit in colour as the season progresses, but is still a stunning colour nonetheless. It is a clump-forming plant that typically forms a foliage mound of graceful, fern-like, golden leaves. Nodding heart-shaped, rose-pink flowers, usually 1” long, hang in a row on long arching racemes that bloom slightly above the foliage mound. I would love to plant a shade garden full of Gold Heart, or all Dicentra for that matter.
About 15 species make up Dicentra, a genus of perennials native to Asia and North America. The common name derives from the unusual heart shape of the flowers. They all prefer moist soil and very little to no direct sunlight. An old-fashioned gardeners favourite for many years.

Description – perennial
Hardiness Zone – 3-9
Exposure – part shade to full shade
Mature Height –  24 “
Bloom Time – late spring to early summer
Bloom Colour – pink
Scent – none

photo credit – farmingtongardens.com

wish list

Just a few gardening supplies and items I have been eye-balling over the last few weeks. Some I plan to buy, others are just to dream about.
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Please Water Us Watering Can from Liberty. I may already have a black floral watering can along with a light blue one, but this watering can is oh so cute.


Thoughtful Gardener Watering Can from Chapters. Unfortunately this watering can is no longer available – it was from last summer. I just love the saying.

Gardening Gloves from Anthropologie. Am I the only one that goes through gardening gloves like there’s no tomorrow ? I went through two last year and will definitely be needing a new pair this spring. I think I’m going to order these.

Pretty floral print garden pruners though I’m not sure where they came from and the more practical Bypass Pruners from Lee Valley.

Thoughtful Gardener Trowel and Fork Set [on the trowel it says ‘despite the gardeners best intentions, nature will improvise’] from Wild and Wolf.

Gardening Tools set from Home Sense. Guess I have more girl in me than I thought.

Bulb Planter from DeWit. I also want the Dibber. Such neat tools.

Celia Birtwell Gardening Apron from Sprout Home. I am enjoying many items from Sprout Home including the Bloom Bag grow kits.

Moleskine Gardening Box from Moleskine but can be found almost anywhere. This garden planner in a box, equipped with a journal, pockets and seed envelopes, is one of the coolest organizers for garden planning. This is a “must-have” on my list.

 Sixties Floral Planters from Liberty. I believe Liberty of London made a line for Target, too ? I couldn’t resist these cute planters.

is it time for garden shows ?

With this mild winter we have been having, my gardening fever is kicking into high gear. I can’t wait to get out in the garden and see everything in bloom again. When I think about it only being mid-February and the fact that I live in zone 5 I really can’t do much of anything until mid-late May which is when we should be all clear for frost. Yet, when I think about how my littlest will be 1 [!!!!] in June it seems so close, and how can it be that she will be 1 already ? I pretty much put myself into early labour [well, she was only 2 weeks early] by gardening every single day with planting and lifting and digging and raking. As much as I told myself to stop and slow down, I’m 9 months pregnant for sheesh sakes, I couldn’t help but be out there digging about. And though she may have been born only 5 lbs she is a healthy little thing. She was going to be small anyway if she was 5 lbs at 38 weeks and my husband and I are small, but don’t tell him I just told everyone that. Heh.

I must be feeling sappy and nostalgic today. Strange because I am very much looking forward to her understanding that night time is sleep time. All night long. Every night. But, she is teething in a bad way right now so I know she is feeling miserable with that. Poor thing.

Anyway, I need to get back on topic… my mum and I have scoped out garden shows for this upcoming spring and found a Flower & Garden Festival in Toronto from March 16-25th called Canada Blooms. I have never gone to a garden show before so I’m very excited, and with it being early spring it’s going to be great to be surrounded by flowers again ! Looks like they are also having a National Home Show which will give me free admission to that when I purchase tickets for to the garden show. Exciting, too, since another love of mine is decorating.

Time to go buy those tickets and then count down the days left until the show !

sensory gardens for autism

My cousin’s daughter was first diagnosed with autism last fall at the age of 2 and a half. Two weeks ago they found out that her autism is on the severe side. They are unable to determine at this point if she will attend a regular school/what kind of help she will need throughout her life. Myself, not knowing very much about this awful condition is heartbroken for my cousin and his fiance [they are both in their early 20’s so I think they are having a difficult time coming to terms with this issue] and for little Sylvia.

Their doctor made the suggestion of creating a sensory garden where she can be stimulated by feel, smell, taste and sight, and adding in wind chimes for sound. I thought that was an amazing idea; for any child or adult with special needs. The family lives in an apartment so my aunt has vowed to start a sensory garden in her backyard this summer.

My mum and I were talking with her over the weekend and we came up with a few plants that she thinks would be good for the garden. For taste: basil, sage, mint, and oregano which would also be for smell. Strawberries, blueberries, blackcurrents. Smell: various roses, asiatic lilies, clethra, honeysuckle and lavender. Feel: she wasn’t too sure on this so I came up with stachys, phlomis [not hardy here, though], salvia, yarrow, heather, calamagrostis [I love this grass] and the possibility of adding in textured stones for a path or border and moss seats. Sight: the possibilities are endless with this. As I think all plants are beautiful, this is what my aunt was most comfortable with growing and having Sylvia around – zinnias, wildflowers, marigolds, begonias and poppies for annuals. Russian sage, coneflowers of all colours, amsonia blue ice, hardy geraniums and astilbe. Hibiscus shrubs would probably look great in there, too, with their big bright blooms. Sound: in addition to the wind chimes we thought of a bird bath to encourage birds to stop by and sing in the bath.

I’m not sure what plants she will end up using as her yard isn’t very big. She was thinking of hiring a landscaper and plant more mature plants so she doesn’t have to wait a few years before the garden is established. She wants to have each section [smell, feel, taste..] separated since there is a concern that too much at once might overwhelm her. It’s been upsetting watching her grow up around children and her not interact with them, not being able to communicate with you and not even acknowledge you when you talk to her. Now that we all know she has autism we are trying to better understand her world and how to help. I did some looking around on the internet about the sensory idea and it seems fairly common to create a garden that stimulates the senses for autistic children. I even discovered sensory garden schools and parks specially designed for autistic children in the UK and Australia. I’m trying to look for some in our area right now. This is such a great thing for people with sensory perceptual issues associated with autism that really needs more attention in our country and others.

I will keep this blog updated with the process of the sensory garden and how it turns out.

plant monday – double-flowered bloodroot

Plant of the week –
Common Name: double-flowered bloodroot
Botanical Name: sanguinaria canadensis ‘multiplex’ , flore plena

After this plant was mentioned on my ‘past plants’ page I decided to look up Bloodroot. WOW is all I can say. I am in love with the double-flowered variety and would like to find roots somewhere to plant in my garden.
Here is what I was able to find out about double-flowered Bloodroot –
The bloodroot gets its common name from the bright red sap that bleeds from the broken rhizomes which I find very interesting. Its Latin name implies that it comes from Canada, but its home stretches far south in eastern North America so even though this plant looks tropical (to me, anyway) it is very cold hardy. The flowers of this kind last much longer than its single-flowered cousin and in the spring they give you dramatically beautiful, white blooms in the shade garden, typically planted in a woodland setting. The blooms open before the leaves giving it the appearance of a waterlily sitting atop the soil. Bloodroots are a lovely addition to any shade garden, but  the double-flowering type is sterile and since it does not set seed it must be propagated by rhizome division.

Description – perennial
Hardiness Zone – 3-9
Exposure – full to part shade
Mature Height – 8″
Bloom Time – spring
Bloom Colour – white
Scent – none, that I know of

photo credit – Ellis Hollow, remarc.com