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A Veri Peri Inspired Garden  | The Best Purple-Blue Flowers for Your Garden in 2022

1/27/2022

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Pantone's colour of the year  described as a periwinkle purplish blue with red-violet undertones.

Could there be a better colour selection for gardens?! I personally love purple/blue flowers in the garden because they complement and contrast with green foliage so beautifully.
There are many flowers that come to mind that could be described as a similar hue to this year's colour selection. Check out my "Veri-Peri-Inspired" mood board to the left. 

I already have all of these lovely flowers in my garden, so it looks like I'm covered. I highly recommend all of these plants! 


Here's what I like about them: (clockwise from top)

1) Muscari. A small early blooming which happily naturalizes.
2) Allium. Adds interest and height. These flower balls can come in all sizes but I prefer the largest ones!
3) Lavender. A classic flower/shrub which is evergreen in some climates.
4) Hydrangea. The large flower heads on these shrubs add a pop of colour in the garden. They also make beautiful cut flowers.
​5) Hyacinth. The early season blooms and beautiful fragrance of these flowers make them an essential addition to the garden.
6) Butterfly bush. These semi-evergreen shrubs seem to bloom all season long. They are also a magnet for butterflies (hence the name), bees, and hummingbirds.
7) Campanula. I think campanula has not gotten enough credit for its long blooming, low growing habit. The flowers bloom over a long period and it is well-mannered in its spread.

There you have it! My purply-blue favourites in the garden. What's your experience growing these in your garden? Will you be adding any this year?

​Let me know in the comments below!

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Create your own natural playground; Design your landscape for kids!

1/26/2022

 
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Originally posted August 2020, Updated January 2022

Let me start off by saying, “good job!” You’ve made it to August. Holy moly, 2020 has been a long year already and it’s not over yet. As I have said before, I am so thankful that I have a garden. It has provided us with so much fresh air, food, and entertainment. We have been taking social distancing seriously, so we have been spending a LOT of time at home.

You might remember from a previous post, that we had our while front yard scraped away to start fresh. That was before the pandemic turned our lives upside down. Since the first days that I stared at that blank slate, my garden design has evolved. I have strongly held the belief that gardens should have something to offer; they are not just pretty things to look at. They should provide food, places to play, wildlife habitats, feed the birds, or feed the bees. I am not one to envy a prim and proper rose garden. Concerns about food security prompted me to incorporate a vegetable patch and foodscaping elements. We added a beautiful rustic split rail fence to give our yard a park-like feel and to help contain our 2- and 4-year old kids.

This new garden gets much more midday shade, so we have found ourselves playing out front much more often. Inspired by our local park excursions, I decided to incorporated natural play elements in the garden to make it more fun, interactive, and inviting for the kids. So I set to work.

Objectives:
  1. Create a garden for the kids to play within.
  2. Create a space where the kids can read a book, surrounded by the garden.
  3. Use natural elements to encourage play and exploration.
  4. Not buy anything new.

​Let me begin by saying that I am not a landscaper, landscape designer, landscape architect, or even a horticulturalist. I am a gardening enthusiast. So please excuse my rudimentary illustrations and non-technical terms.

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 The above illustration represents the front-most portion of my garden bed. It is large; approximately 26’x10’. First of all I needed to determine the trail through the bed that the kids would use to move through the space. I used some dusty old soil to mark the path they would use. Then I let them play in the partially planted bed to see where they tried to enter and exit the garden naturally, and marked those paths as well. I also wanted a circular element which would allow them to run circuits within the bed without exiting (i.e. the trail around the large tree). I ended up with five entrance and exit points. I cleared the routes of this paths and entrance/exit points of any plantings (don’t worry, I transplanted them elsewhere).

Next step I needed to determine the elements of play on the trail. I’ll describe them sequentially by number according to the illustration above. I've also included some photos if your scroll down.
  1. This is a rope swing jump off a stump. The stump is only about 12” high and the rope hangs from a small Japanese maple tree, marked by the tree graphic. The grey circles indicate large rocks for stepping/climbing on. The kids step up onto the rock and stump, hold onto the rope, and jump off. It’s super fun for them, and it is low enough that it is safe. This exit point is where the reading nook is found.
  2. This area is underneath a small, but old Japanese maple tree. It is obviously a bonus if you have an established tree that you can incorporate into your natural playground. The area under our tree is clear and mulched. This is the kids’ ‘clubhouse’ where they can do free play. They have a lot of second hand figurines and animal toys which they can take out to the garden and play with here. There is also a small single rope swing with a 2x4 seat that is only a few inches off the ground for them to get on and off of easily, and it is low enough that it is safe in the event that they fall. Under this tree, they also have a section of tree stump that my Dad lovingly carved into a seat for them. This also provides a place for them to dig to their heart’s content since it is clear of plantings.
  3. The dark brown circles in the illustration represent horizontal slices of tree trunk, cut into steppers to mark the trail. The kids can hop from one polka dot to the next, encouraging them to stay on the path rather than venture off and trample the plantings; however, I am well aware that they will probably do this as well. These slices were cut from free scrap firewood.
  4. This is a larger stump off which the kids can jump in one direction, and down to lower/shorter stumps in the other direction. This is an old stump we saved from a tree cut down in our neighbourhood.
  5. These are three large rocks that I repurposed from our garden bed hardscaping. They are increasing in height, like steps.
  6. This is a balance beam created from spare lengths of wood from our split rail fence. At both end points and in the joint are short posts for stepping onto.
  7. This is a “troll bridge” (as named by my kids) that was created from spare 2x4s, 2x2s, and broken-down pallets. It is used as an entrance/exit point.
  8. This is a trail of stumps of increasing and decreasing heights. Again, this is made from free scrap firewood collect from felled neighbourhood trees.
These hardscaping features were installed quickly and easily. Since this was a relatively new bed, I completed this projected over the course of a week. I am pleased that all of the features that I added were free and created from found and discarded materials. You may use the same concepts as I have but with other materials. This little garden trail has already provided the kids with HOURS of garden play. Being outdoors is important to me and I want to foster an appreciation for nature in my kids. This feels like another way to encourage this.
​

While you are creating your new landscape design, there are other things that you may want to take into consideration:
  1. Encouraging birds. You can add bird feeders to attract hummingbirds or local songbirds. Plant annuals, perennials, shrubs, and trees which provide habitat for birds. Birdwatching itself can provide endless entertainment for kids and families.
  2. Attracting beneficial insects. Add plants in the bed which will attract bees and butterflies. I have written about the importance of using your garden to feed the bees. Amidst the pandemic, we should have more empathy for bees which are facing a crisis of their own.
  3. Create a sensory garden. Select plants for their varied textures, colours, and scents. Encourage kids to explore the difference in these plants.
  4. Have your kids select plants and seeds! Let them choose, plant, and nurture their plant of choice so that they can feel pride and ownership of their garden space. It is also great for teaching life cycles and responsibility.
  5. Choose kid-safe plants!!! This one is important. For example, I planted a wildflower seed mix which included foxglove which is toxic. Obviously, I ripped it out right away. Other plants like sweet peas are toxic. Make sure you do your homework.
  6. Plant some tasty treats. My kids LOVE peas straight from the garden. I’ve planted some dwarf/bush peas for them to pick and snack on while they are in the garden. Because I have also created the surrounding garden as an edible foodscape, they also help with picking the green bush beans that I have planted around the border.
  7. It goes without saying (but I would be remiss without mentioning) that your natural playground should be in a safe location. Ours is surrounded by a fence to contain the kiddies.
  8. Get the kids involved with decorating your garden! There are so many arts, crafts, and activities which you can incorporate into this play area. I have been loving an almost-free craft - rock decorating! So much learning can be done outdoors in a hands-on environment. So many schools and daycares are looking for outdoor education opportunities right now because it is less conducive to transmission of coronavirus. You can achieve physical distancing and excellent air circulation outdoors. Look for my future posts on recommended activities.
And there you have it! That was a lot of ground to cover, but this is a fun project that you will find evolves as your needs and the seasons change. You may also get inspired to make additions and changes as you go. Now get outside into the garden, and dig in!

Seeds to Plant in January | Growing Artichoke From Seed Indoors

1/10/2022

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This is one of my most favourite times of year. The garden is full of potential even though it could be buried in snow.

I think about all the plants in the ground waiting to spring forth with new growth. I also think ahead to all of the things that I will plant throughout the growing season.

I look forward to January because I get to plant my very first seeds of the new year. And it's one of my favourites!

I. Love. Artichokes. I love eating them. I love looking at them. And I love the veritable cloud of bees they attract to my garden. If you've never grown artichoke, then 2022 is your year to start! 


The Dirt on 
Growing Artichokes

Most people would probably think it sounds strange to talk about planting seeds in January. For me, it marks the first seeds of the year that I will plant. Artichokes are a bit more challenging to grow than directly sown veggies like radishes. Artichokes are a perennial vegetables, which means that, with proper care, you can have multiple seasons of artichoke heads from one plant. It's worth the extra effort!

Here's the scoop on artichokes so that you can determine if it is the right fit for your garden:
  1. Difficulty level: intermediate to difficult. Artichokes need to be started from seeds indoors in January to ensure that they will be well established by fall/winter. It will also ensure that you give the plant enough time to form edible-sized flower heads the first year (though you might not get many). Artichokes also need a little extra TLC through the winter in colder planting zones; you'll need to heavily mulch them to insulate the root system from  freezing temperatures.
  2. Size: 4 to 6 feet tall! Artichokes can grow to be towering plants. You'll need to give them plenty of space. Don't expect to plant one in a small to medium raised bed, unless you're not planning on growing anything else! I've even tried growing artichokes in large containers without much success.
  3. How to Grow: Artichoke seeds are fairly large and can be planted in individual cells or expanding coir seed pellets (no peat moss, please!). Keep them moist but not soggy until germinated, upsizing the pot as needed for the rapidly growing seedling. If you see the roots sneaking out the bottom, it's time to plant them in something bigger. Transplant the seedlings outside in warmer weather (around early June).
  4. Features: Giant blooms! If you allow the artichoke buds to bloom, you will wonder how you ever lived without them in your garden. The electric purple flowers are huge. Not surprisingly, they are pollinator magnets! I often will see three or more bees sharing a flower at the same time. They look like little clownfish swimming in a purple sea anemone. It is such a happy sight. Lastly, they are a perennial producer of a fairly large crop of vegetables. Mine usually produce so many buds that I eventually let some them bloom because I can't keep up.
  5. Cultivars/Varieties: I have grown two different varieties in the Pacific Northwest (zone 7b/8a). Both have started and transplanted equally as well. Here is my personal experience in growing them:
    1. ​Green Globe. This cultivar is a heavy producer of large, round heads. They have excellent flavour. They are more resistant to aphids than Imperial Star. I also found that it bounces back after winter much better than Imperial Star. I am very happy with Green Globe and will continue to grow it in the future.
    2. Imperial Star. This variety did not produce as many oblong buds the first season as promised. I also found it hard to keep the aphids at bay, which would damage the plant and hamper the growth. I would not choose this variety in the future.

After only seven days, my Green Globe artichoke seeds have already germinated! I used coir seed pellets and kept them damp in a sunny window. I did not use bottom heat or a grow light. I am hoping that I will get first year buds on these artichokes.

My kids are already excited about having more artichokes in the garden! We love them both as food and flowers.

I hope you will love them too! Let me know in the comments below your experience in growing artichokes.
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Free Wildflower Seed Packet Planting Instructions!

1/10/2022

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You don't need to be a greenthumb to grow wildflowers! They practically grow themselves.
By planting this packet of seeds, you are doing some amazing things!
  1. Encouraging biodiversity. This includes plants, insects, animals, fungi, and micro-organisms that work together  in the ecosystem.
  2. Feeding and attracting pollinators to your garden. Pollinators can help increase food and flower production. You might also get to see bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds working close up!
  3. Providing habitat and food for birds. Many birds feed on seeds produced by flowers. The also eat insects that live in your garden.
  4. You will get the best flowers for your garden conditions. The flowers that will grow the best are the ones that that like the light, soil, and water levels the best.
  5. You will use less water. Wildflowers are just that- they grow in nature without people tending to them. 

Planting Instructions
​It's SOW Easy!

Clear the are to bare soil.
  1. ​Sprinkle the seeds evenly over the surface of the soil. Try to space them out a bit - remember that they will grow into mature plants.
  2. ​Gently scratch the seeds into the surface of the soil.
​Now sit back and watch your seeds grow! Let me know how they do in the comments below (or find me on Instagram).
​

For more on water-saving gardens, check out my post on my chafer beetle and drought resistant lawn. Even through the drought and heat dome last summer, I never watered my lawn and it stayed GREEN ALL SUMMER!
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The above picture is my wildflower garden. I think my favourite flowers are calendula and poppies.
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Foodscaping; Creating an edible landscape in your front yard (updated)

1/8/2022

 
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I love all things gardening. I love flowers, annuals, perennials, and trees. But my biggest passion of all is growing my own food. There is something incredibly satisfying about plucking your own fresh vegetables from the garden. You have planted it, watered it, fed it, and harvested it yourself. You know that it hasn't been doused in chemicals or sat in a crate for a week. You truly start to appreciate the beauty in the expression "farm-to-table" because it is so close to home. There's just nothing comparable.

So what happens if you are not in farm country but a urban or suburban neighbourhood? In a complex with a homeowners' association or strata bylaws? You might have your own little patch of dirt by you have to play by someone else's rules. Or, simply, you might just not want to commit to converting your garden to raised or bermed vegetable beds. That's OK!

There is a lot the you can do and grow in a regular old garden bed or border. There are sneaky ways of incorporating fruits and vegetables in your front yard plantings. With a bit of planning, you can interplant edibles with shrubs, perennials, and annuals without sacrificing the beauty of a traditional bed. 

I recently created another post with some examples of excellent choices of fruits and vegetables to incorporate into an edible border. I would like to take it a step further to talk about how to design such a space. Keep in mind, at the end of the day, it is YOUR garden. Your taste, aesthetic, climate, and neighbourhood are all different than mine. And, again, that's OK! 

Edible bed and border design is at the front of my mind these days as we are started our front yard from scratch  (see the photo above from early 2020). Our lawn and beds were exclusively compacted clay dating back to the construction of our house nearly three decades ago. It was so hard, we couldn't get anything in or out with a shovel. We hired a small excavator to scrape away the surface for a fresh start. We are starting with a blank slate which is both exhilarating and overwhelming!

Here are some things that you might want to take into consideration while designing your edible beds and borders:

1) Light and Growing Conditions.
I suppose this is first and foremost. You aren't going to be able to grow much (if any) in an edible garden if you don't have sufficient light and other growing conditions. Pay close attention to how much light that you get in a day in the areas you plan to grow vegetables. Some perennials and shrubs may be more forgiving of lower light, but vegetables usually need a great deal of sunshine for optimum growth. You may be able to let in more light by trimming adjacent trees, but there is only so much that this will achieve. If you are putting a lot of effort into incorporating vegetables in part-sun or shady garden, you will likely be very disappointed. Other conditions you will want to pay attention to are waterlogged areas or cold pockets, though you may be able to work around these problems more easily. You can create wind-blocks and crop protection for cold pockets, and you can raise beds (berms or planters) for wet spots. 


2) Shape.
First and foremost, you are going to want a general idea of the shape of the borders. It will be helpful to ask yourself questions regarding what you want to achieve with your design. Do you want a free-flowing curvy border or a contemporary straight-line? Where are you viewing the garden from? Do you need footpath access to different areas (i.e. bench, garbage cans, car, shed, etc.)? Are there views that you want to obstruct (i.e. garbage cans, nosy neighbours, unsightly utilities)? Do you need to work around immovable structures? How do you plan on accessing the areas in which you are growing your edibles?

3) Hardscaping.
The elements of your garden that are man-made are your hardscaping: think pathways, ponds, fountains, waterfalls, boulders, walls, borders, fencing, edging, etc. You will want to consider placing these in your garden after your initial plan for shape has been determined. You may want to think about any hardscaping required for accessing your edibles. Also, ask yourself if you want any spaces for containing or defining the vegetables you are growing.

4) Concealment.
Do you plan on hiding your edibles from plain view? Perhaps you have HOA restrictions regarding growing food in your front yard. Perhaps you don't want people helping themselves to your dinner ingredients. Either way, you can plan rows or patches for growing behind barriers of shrubs, annuals, perennials, or raised borders. You will need to consider your need to conceal your veggies from prying eyes in your plan from the outset.


5) Colour palate.
Strictly speaking, this has nothing to do with growing fruits and vegetables, so this is an aesthetic consideration. You may want to consult a colour wheel while planning which colour combinations that work best for your yard, your neighbourhood, and your own taste. Head over to Pinterest for inspiration on garden colour combinations.

6) Balance.
You will want to consider balancing the garden design for your yard. You will want to consider weighing the elements of your design on either side of a yard, window, door, and driveway. A combination of hardscaping and vegetation can help you achieve balance. This is not necessarily required for growing fruits and vegetables, but it can be accomplished by incorporating them.

7) Lawn or no lawn?
This is a tough one. North Americans are still attached to their lawns. We put a great deal of effort, water, and chemicals into achieving the perfect patch of green in front of (and usually behind) our houses, even though they give us nothing in return. Growing a lawn is an environmentally unfriendly practice. Have you considered alternatives? There are many options now available as alternatives to traditional grass lawns that require less maintenance and effort. West Coast Seeds has recently developed a lawn alternative called Bee Turf! How amazing is that?! You can feed the bees and still have a lawn-like carpet of vegetation. We have removed our lawn and we are excited to try out this new turf blend!

8) All -Season Interest.
In open beds and borders, in many zones you are not able to achieve vegetable grow year-round. This means that you are going to have empty patches in your garden for part (or most!) of the year. You want to plan to have things growing or providing interest all year. Evergreen trees and shrubs can help you to accomplish this. People usually think of conifers when you talk about evergreens, but there are also a variety of broadleaf evergreen shrubs which can help add year-round interest. My favourite evergreen plants are:
  • Mexican mock orange (choisya ternata) - twice a year blooms, beautiful scent!
  • Sweet box (sarcoccoca) - winter blooming, dark berries, jasmine-like scent!
  • Fatsia japonica - tropical-like large leaves
  • Butterfly bush - smaller leaves in winter season, profuse bloomer, long-bloom season, feeds butterflies/bees/hummingbirds 
  • Hellebore -  very early blooms in a variety of colours
  • Clamatis armandii - climbing vine with evergreen leaves, showy white blooms
Early blooming bulbs can add very early seasonal interest. There are also many early blooming shrubs you may consider. My favourite thing to do is to go to my local nurseries to see what is blooming every couple of weeks. This will give you an idea of what looks good and is green at that time of the year. 

9) Height.
Add vegetation to your garden by growing vertically! You can add dimension to your garden by including trellises and climbing plants. I have already created a post on climbing edibles and ways to maximize your space by growing upward. You can apply this knowledge to front yard landscaping as well. Pole beans, climbing peas, and scarlet runner beans are all particularly attractive annual vegetables. Perennial climbing fruit you might want to consider are grapes and kiwis. These varieties are not evergreen, but you can choose a beautiful trellis which can serve as year-round interest itself.

Fruit trees are another way to add height in a front yard garden. I have another post which explains a bit more about root stock and height which are worth considering when choosing a tree for your front yard; you probably want to know how big it will ultimately grow.

10) Senses.
One of the frequently overlooked elements in garden design is scent. There are countless varieties of scented annuals, perennials, and shrubs though far too often they can be an afterthought. Scented plants are, of course, not essential for an edible garden, but they do offer additional enjoyment of the space. I like to plant scented vegetation by windows, doors, and pathways so that the fragrance is easily carried to passersby. Grasses are another way to incorporate the senses of touch and sound; the fluffy seed heads and soft rustling sounds in the wind enrich the experience in your garden.

11) Pollinators.
You are going to maximize the productivity of your garden by encouraging the presence of beneficial insects. You can do this by ensuring that you have blooms which span as much of the year as possible. A true wildflower bed is a bee magnet but it is hard to pull off in the front yard. There are lots of beautiful flowers which feed the bees and look great in borders. My current favourites are:
  • Liatris. This perennial prairie flower is a no-fuss pop of colour. They are lightening rods to bees in every direction!
  • Agastache. This is another tough perennial which grows in purple spires. It is beautiful, attractive to bees, AND it's edible! It is also called 'licorice mint' for the flavor and scent of the flowers and leaves. The flowers can be used to garnish salads and beverages.
  • Artichoke. Yes, technically this plant could check two boxes in your garden. It is a vegetable, but it ALSO has magnificent purple flowers which the bees love. They are a very large thistle-like flower which is an unusual sight in a garden so it will attract a lot of attention from passersby.
  • Bee balm. I am not sure when exactly I decided to grow bee balm, but I remember the first season that I had it, that I was in love. It is a unique anemone-shaped flower in brightly coloured hues. It can sometimes be prone to powdery mildew when damp, but that's never stopped me from growing it!
  • Butterfly bush. I love butterfly bushes. Over the years, I have planted and gifted them because I love them so much. You may want to take extra care in selecting the variety to ensure that the one you choose is not invasive in your area. I've never had any of my varieties spread or self-seed, so they have remained entirely unproblematic. I love them for their scent, long bloom time, slight foliage through the winter, and their ability to attract every bee, butterfly, and hummingbird in theniehgbourhood.
  • Scarlet runner beans. This vine is one of the best kept secrets in gardening. It is a quick growing annual vine, except in some warm areas where it can overwinter. It can quickly fill a tall trellis with deep green leaves and bright red/orange flowers. Some people eat the beans depending on the stage of growth, though it is beautiful enough to be grown as a decorative plant. The bees and hummingbirds LOVE scarlet runner bean flowers.
  • Echinacea. Every garden should have echinacea. It is hard, beautiful and low maintenance. And the bees love it!
  • Calendula. This flower is grown as an annual but it is super easy to sow directly in the soil. It has an extremely long bloom time in our area and mine kept going into November!
  • Gaillardia. A perennial which thrives on neglect and attracts bees. It's the perfect low maintenance flower.
Many of these plants also attract hummingbirds. We have Anna's hummingbirds in our area year-round is they are kept fed daily and they are also a joy to have in our garden.
 
12) Garden Decor and Visual Interest. 
This is the icing on the cake. You can incorporate decorative trellises or planters into the vegetable-growing areas of your garden quite easily, though you may choose to highlight your non-edibles. Either way, you might put your decor forefront in your garden or you might tuck it away like a hidden gem, only visible from certain angles within your yard. You can get creative with your decor and use it to express your personal taste and aesthetic. Make it your own! Your garden is for your own enjoyment.

Summary
Now that we've covered all the bases, it's time for the real leg work. Grab some paper and pencils and start sketching. Measure the dimensions of your yard. Research the edible and non-edible plants that you would like to include in your landscape. Some edibles are attractive or functional enough to serve both purposes.
​

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    A zone 8a gardening enthusiast!

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