Pea trellis in the flowerbed for the peas I snuck in there.

Strawberry flower.

The girls love some shade on these hot days.

White Bleeding Heart.

The Lilacs are in bloom. That means butterflies. Lots and lots of Monarchs.

Moose Tracks, I imagine.

Track and my foot.

Track and my Boyfriend's hand.

Checkered Lilies.

My White Bleeding Heart in better light. Funny thing is I did not notice my buddy cooling his belly in the soil until I looked at the pictures. I can hardly correct him since he 'dances' through my flower beds dodging every flower flawlessly. He has never dug or destroyed a flower or plant even though he constantly walks and lays through the beds.

My gardening buddy giving me a hand.

Lounging.

Violets I found on the side of the road while walking my dog. Someone or something had stepped on them and crushed the plant but the flowers were fine. I took them home to admire.

A bucket of Basil and a bouquet of Daffodils.

Hybrid Violas.

White Bleeding Hearts.

Peas like having something to climb on and are rumoured to produce more when trellised. I love our pea trellis. It looks amazing when covered with peas and adds architectural interest to the garden.

It also makes the peas super easy to pick, no bending required.

Back view.

Fall Garlic, just waiting for the Scapes.

Our strawberry bed.

Our Tulips.

Orange 'Ballerina' Tulips, Tulip Tarda, Some Siberian Squill hanging on, Hardy Grape Muscari and of course my surprise Red Tulips.

Asparagus from Seed.

Hanging out with a Swiss Giant Pansy.

The Unfurled Fronds of the Ostrich Fern.

The Ostrich Fern is the source of the edible Fiddleheads.

Although this is out of focus you can see a deep u shaped groove in the stem of the fern. This seems to be the easiest way to identify the ferns. The fiddleheads themselves are covered with a brown parchment like paper. We spent one whole day trying to find the correct ferns. After exclaiming way too many times that we thought we had found them we finally did. There was no doubt in our mind. When you see the Ostrich Fern after looking at all the other ferns it just seems obvious. They are very distinct.

You want to collect the ferns before they start to unfurl, usually at about 2-3 inches tall. The deepest, darkest green ones with less paper covering seem to be the cat's meow although when sauteed in a little ghee with sea salt I'm not about to complain about any of them.

They mostly grow by rivers, streams, brooks and damp areas however I've seen them everywhere. In the woods, on the side of the road and even in relatively dry spots. Here is Dio, my doggy, and I standing in the river cooling off his paws.

My Boy Surrounded by Ostrich Ferns.

Dinner. These are all Ostrich Ferns. Although unfurled, little treasures of Fiddleheads are still at a premium size at the base of these large fronds.

Even if I did not find a thing it would have been a great morning regardless. I love hanging out in the woods and now that I am older it seems I need to have a reason to do it. 

Native Plant Information Request.

Hi Blogger world!

I am asking you all a big favour here. I'm finding it really hard to find information on Native Plants in the area. I'm hoping to introduce some to my gardens before buying any other perrenials. If you have any information or resources on Native Plants in Nova Scotia please send to phallen14@hotmail.com

Thanks in advance!

Jessica P.

Surprise!

When we moved into our new home this flower bed already existed, although it was far from thriving. We moved 2 overgrown Lilac bushes that were not receiving enough sun and in desperate need of some major pruning from it and aside from a beautiful  orange Day Lily the rest was a tangled mess of weeds. We managed to split the Lilac bushes into about 6 seperate pieces and gave them to friends and family. My mother and I worked extensively to remove all the weeds, turn the soil, add lots of fertilizer and edge around the perimeters. Thinking I was working with a blank canvas I chose my colour schemes, that were a little unique and adventurous to begin with, and bought all my bulbs and perennials to plant. That first Spring I was so excited to see what our hard work had accomplished. Out of nowhere these Red Tulips and Hardy Grape Muscari start flourishing. Seems our care 'awakened' bulbs that the previous owners had planted. Every year there has been a new surprise, last year was a Pink Tulip and this year there are even more Tulips coming up that I am assuming will turn out pink. At first I was horrified. I had broken several gardening rules when choosing my colours to begin with and now I was having surprise multi coloured bulbs popping up everywhere. 

Somehow it all just works. I prefer the garden with the misc. bulbs more than I believe I would without. They add character with their cavalier, care free ways popping up wherever they'd like. I probably would have never picked a colour like red for Tulips amongst this bed although it looks positively smashing. 

These surprise Red Tulips are the belle of the ball. I look at these flowers as inspiration to just go with the flow, I'd never kill a flower anyway, and things may turn out better than you could have imagined.