spent a bit of time getting all the chairs out, as well as cushions, for our Monday afternoon gathering…
even rigged an umbrella over an additional chair to be sure everyone had shade…
before that, I used the same umbrella to provide a bit of shade for the creeping thyme that we moved on Saturday… hoping it likes the new spot and starts to cover a bit more ground, lol…
had fun on Saturday when Hilda the Gardener came to work in the garden… I’d been thinking a bit and had a few projects in mind… it is wonderful to have her here to do the heavy lifting;-)…
the creeping Charlie was removed from one of the beds and a few plants were moved around…
while she was doing that, I mixed soil and grass seed and filled a few low spots in the grass…
the lily of the valley and Virginia creeper were removed along the house in the veggie garden… I think we are going to add some hostas in this area… I am happy that we can separate plants rather than have to run out and buy new ones…
and the Virginia creeper around the gate was trimmed up…
we always like to take before and after pictures when we are working on some of the bigger projects;-)…
not too many caterpillars, and they seem to nest on the plants closer to a wall rather than the ones nearest to the pond… maybe there is more protection from predators there… too bad for me, as pictures are easier beside the pond, lol…
the odd thing is that the plants along the edge of the pond, all with the same origin, have produced two different coloured flowers…
the usual pink/purple flowers…
and these white ones which are turning yellow…
will be interesting to see what they do next year, lol…
the current iteration of the pond is ten years old…
hard to believe that much time has passed…
this is how it looked just as it was completed…
after it was finished, they had to come back and deal with leaking and runoff…nearly all of the plants have changed over time, lol… and I have changed the slate around the edge of the pond for large river rocks…
it still loses water when the waterfall is running and this year I have left if off for a good portion of the time… I also think the fish are out and about more when it isn’t running, lol… I do have a bubbler going all the time…
this year the water lilies are extremely happy… they continue to produce blooms daily, it is both amazing and delightful…
today, I turned the waterfall on and realized that I’d been missing it, and how well it dilutes other sounds in the neighbourhood…
been trying to figure out why the irrigation system hadn’t been working properly…
no matter what I tried it kept sending water over the waterfall and nearly into the cushions on my chair…
we discovered that some of the smaller rubber tubes had been cut… possibly by bunny teeth;-)…
we were able to fix a few, but needed more tubing…
went to Lee Valley and picked up another of the systems so that it can also water the vegetable garden…
laid the main hose out in the sun to soften the curves and then stretched it out to see if it would go where I wanted it… looked like it would work fine…
we attached the new unit to the end of the main line so that it could send water to either the garden beds or the veggie section…
then the main hose was dug into the ground between the connection point and the veggie garden…
the hose was run along the back of the planters, holes were punched into it, the watering heads were added to each of the pots… another hole was made leading to the file cabinet planter and then the last bits were added…
it works perfectly and I am absolutely thrilled with the outcome;-)…
hmmm, wonder if we can figure out how to deal with the pots around the deck and in the centre of the garden🤪…
visited the cacao trees and took a few photos for my daughter, lol…
had a good time watching the koi and even got a few reasonable shots;-)…
met my buddies for lunch at Gather Craft Kitchen & Bar and it was tasty, as always… our server, Camille, had served us on Friday when we were there last and remembered me;-)… she did a great job to ensure our meal and time there went well…
after lunch I spent a bit more time with the fish;-)… and then sat and wrote this blog as the water fell in front of me;-)…
for the last few days, in the afternoon, I’ve enjoyed watching a monarch butterfly dip and flit through the garden, landing on the various milkweed plants to enjoy some nectar and maybe lay some eggs…
on Friday, before my daughter left to return home to Ottawa, we went one last time to The Leaf…
we walked through the Diversity Gardens in the daylight and were happy we went early, because the temperature was rising quickly…
we checked out the Water area and were thrilled to discover water lily blooms…
then it was on to the Tropical Biome to visit the cacao trees… while there, she provided a little education for a few visitors;-)…
some of us stayed in that spot, and the rest of us checked out the other areas… we weren’t able to see the Butterfly Garden or walk on the skywalk as they were closed for the day, but it was fun to check out both biomes…
we had an early lunch at Gather, one last visit to the cacao trees and then home to nap and finish packing for the flight…
herbiggirlpants 