February, I hates you forEVARRRRRRRR.

To distract myself from how far away spring is, I went seed-shopping. The spoils:

* Parsley. I was surprised to learn from the package that this stuff is actually biennial, meaning last year's parsley will be back. Mom tells me, however, that it bolts in its second year - although it's okay if harvested early in the season, it still doesn't taste the same. So: new crop. At least the old stuff will be ornamental.

* Basil. Nom.

* Cilantro. Judging from the picture on the package this stuff is actually quite pretty in addition to being tasty.




* Poppies: "Paeony Scarlet" (annual), Californian Poppies (annual), and mixed oriental poppies (perennial).




* A cute ornamental grass called "Bunny's Tails", or lagurus ovatus.




* Blue fescue ornamental grass. I am going to have to do some more reading on this one, I've been warned it may be a thug. I suppose I could plant it in a container or something, anyway.




* Cerinthe "Purple Bells". An annual.




* Dianthus "Brilliancy".




* Coreopsis "Early Sunrise".




* Matthiola. This image is a lot prettier than I remember these things - to my memory they were pretty unremarkable, except for they smelled delicious (like lilacs but later in the summer). Possibly they needed more sun to actually look decent.

Another event I will have to attend: Seedy Saturday at the Ron Kolbus Lakeside Centre on March 6, 10AM to 3PM. By the time March rolls around I will no doubt have already gone totally overboard buying more seeds than I could possibly plant, but STILL. Plus it's being held practically in my backyard.

Two Experimental Farm events that are totally going on my calendar:

Rare & Unusual Plant Sale - May 9, 9AM to 1PM, at the KW Neatby building on Carling. Best Mother's Day outing conceivable, really. I will be repeating last year's strategy of showing up 10 minutes early with a wagon.

Native Plant Sale - June 5, 9:30AM to 12:30PM. I'm guessing this is probably hosted at the Fletcher Wildlife Garden, since it's their event. The Fletcher garden sounds worth checking out in and of itself, actually; their website is full of interesting tidbits.

Spriiiiiiiinnnnnnggggg how I pine for you!

So before the snow arrived in December, I got winter protection up for neither the magnolia nor the maple, and I completely forgot about a poppy I'd been meaning to plant, so it's probably all frozen and dead now. FAIL. Hopefully the shrubs at least will survive.

In better news, I can haz Vesey's catalogue! So here is the shopping list for spring 2010:

Astilbe, which I started from seed back at Jamieson and have been meaning to buy more of ever since. Shady and tall FTW.


How's this for an awesome fern? It starts out ORANGE and turns green as it matures.


"Naturalizes easily" is all too often code-speak for "mad invasive", but these mallows have caught my eye for ages.


I have been saying I should get myself some coreopsis, since I've been admiring its tall clouds of yellow flowers in other people's yards. Just to be different, I think I'll go for the one that starts out red and then turns yellow.


I feel a little silly contemplating spending $20 on a pulmonaria, but look at the flowers on this thing! Much cooler than the usual blue kind.

Since it was so gorgeous out, I zipped outside during the Zoodle's naptime to rake some leaves and do some maintenance.

I had been meaning to delay my front yard schemes for a couple years, but I had eleventy billion leaves to get rid of and a shrub to plant, so:



Last year I abandoned a heap of leaves on the lawn and ended up with a big bare patch in that spot, so I figured I should be able to get the same result if I leave the leaves there deliberately. Decorative fence and drought-tolerant plants to follow. This makes me doubly happy because now I can plant cosmos next year after all.



That strip of grass around the outside has pretty much got to go, though; it will just be straggly and annoying as it is. I should probably pave it under with a nice decorative brick something or other, although that part will have to wait, since I will totally not have time or $$$ for major garden renovations next year. A paved path could go around the outline of the new bed, actually, and go between it and the magnolia.



Eventually when I can expand the whole yard into garden I'm figuring this will make a good spot for an "entry" where more paved paths (for access and easy weeding) can start. I could even do some sort of schnazzy arbour thing. Except it would have to be all rustic and stuff to go with the fence I'm planning. Hmmm.

Meanwhile, awesomeness in the backyard:

Look, my birdbath has visitors!



A nice splash of colour from the cotoneaster (and the hydrangeas make a nice contrast, too).

Triumph! This is probably the first time I've actually gotten bulbs into the ground in reasonable time, despite there being an unprecedented frahillion of them. I also planted most of the spoils from the previous post.

Remaining Garden Chores
* move pampas grass
* move primrose to front, where it will actually be visible
* plant poppy (forgot to this afternoon, oops)
* move rose and peony when they go dormant
* cover maple and magnolia when it gets cold

The one thing I'm still pondering is where to put the burning bush. The internets tell me it has the best colour in full sun and dry conditions, which suggests I ought to stick it in the front yard. Maybe I could put it sort of in the front corner...



...and then it could be the centerpiece of that little decorative corner I was scheming there.

In other news, here's what the sun bed looks like right now:



Between the cosmos, the asters, and the gaura, this is impressively colourful for October, eh?

Less impressive:



One single, solitary, lonely sweet pea. File under Plants I Will Not Be Bothered With Next Year. This is particularly annoying because if they HAD worked out, they'd still be blooming like crazy.

Note to self: just because it has been cold and miserable outside does not mean it has been cold and miserable enough to get rid of the bugs. Try to plant bulbs or otherwise dig in the dirt, apparently, and they will come out in force.

My miscalculation on this front, however, does tell me that the patio is excellently performing the function I originally had in mind for it, i.e. creating a space to sit and look around without stirring up the ravening swarm.

Anyway. Time to deploy the mosquito hat, even if it looks dorky.