Hope this works..here's a yahoo album of wintersowing through August..with a cicada sitting on a leaf at the end. Weird looking bugs, but I can almost hear them right now with this freaky weather. "Someone" might recognise a brugmansia flower in there as well.

Here is a link that might be useful: 2006

I did. I did see a brugmansia.

I have had to acquire a new computer. It just came this afternoon. I have not found any of my photos yet. :( I'll continue to dig though.

Syd, your place looks GREAT. Thank goodness for plant swaps, eh?

I love your pump! Cannas would look great in there!

I don't have any landscape images, but in keeping with thoughts of spring, here's a favourite photo of a visitor. I kept him safe in his chrysalis over the winter a couple of years ago, and he rewarded me with this in the spring:

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BP

Sydseeds,
That pond is really nice. We've thought of putting one in, but there's so much more to do first.

Wendy,
Nice gardens! Everything is so green!

BP,
Do tell - What's the name of your butterfly/moth? He is gorgeous!!

I got seeds of Butterfly weed a couple of years ago in a trade and winter sowed them, and this year we saw Monarchs like you wouldn't believe. Here's one which appreciated the wild flowers in the tiny meadow we have...
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About 5 Monarch caterpillars appeared on the B-Weed, but the birds got to them. This year we are prepared and will keep them sheltered so they can become butterflies. We never had any kind of butterfly here when we first moved as there were no gardens. Now we have Monarchs, White Admirals, Swallowtails, American Painted Ladies, and a couple more I haven't IDed yet.

One of my favourite spots in the gardens...
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Tiffy - it's a Black Swallowtail. They're rare in NS. Caterpillars feed on parsley, fennel, carrots, and related plants. I think it's a male, but I'm not positive on that. Females usually have more blue. Here's a female from the year before (sorry it's a bit blurry!):

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BP

I'm speechless! They are beautiful!! I'll have to plant some of the host plants you mentioned and see if we can attract those. You never know.

Like I said, we didn't have any butterflies when we moved here. Last fall, during the Monarch migration in October, we had 6 on the property one day feeding from the Butterfly Bushes which were still - thank goodness - in bloom.

I'm winter sowing more of the B Weed and Bushes this year!

They're my favourite local butterfly! The adults feed on red clover, milkweed and thistles, so make sure you've got lots of those too. And make sure you've got tons of parsley!!! They caterpillars get really big (mine got bigger than monarch caterpillars) and can eat a lot. They're green with black spots and can be hard to spot, especially when tiny, so check often. As soon as I find one I remove it to my caterpillar box and give it parsley in there. Lots of hungry birds and wasps around here!

NS is in their range, but their population is low there and they are rare - but a butterfly friendly garden is a good place to find one :-)

BP

Tiffy - nice garden shot - love the rock ledges and varying heights of plants.

BP - beautiful black swallowtail shot - how sweet of you to take care of her while she was in a vulnerable state - and what a reward come spring.

Beautiful butterfly pictures. I grew up in SW Michigan and the Swallowtail butterfly is (or used to be) quite common there. I did see several this summer in my garden, and my husband, who grew up in Northern Ont. had never seen one before.

I saw a magnificent sight this summer: while swimming in Lake Michigan, Monarch butterflies glided across the water and onto the beach. They arrived one by one but it was quite an armada nonetheless. From Wisconsin? Simply amazing.

I'm new to gardening and have just a tiny one in the city.

Cheers, Janna

Here is a link that might be useful: garden 2006

I've attached a link of some photos of my garden from last year. Not too many closeup pics though. I'm certainly itching to get back into the garden, but it's now under about an inch of snow! Winter finally arrived today.

Here's my east side bed:
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tess

Here is a link that might be useful: Garden 2006

Love the ideas being presented here. I have a bare garden now that I moved places and likewise I'm itching to do stuff.... Been trying to dream up of plans.

I've an east facing front yard now and so Tess, thanks for sharing. Now I can be certain of which plants to use.

As for butterflies -- no one mentioned using dill. Swallowtails often visit my former garden which had plenty of dill. I especially enjoyed observing cute caterpillars just munching away.

Ianna

Wow Tess! How much property do you have? Absolutely gorgeous gardens. Do you wintersow too?

Ianna..email me if you'd like some seeds to get started with.

Thanks! We only have 1 acre, rectangular with the house smack in the middle (165x265). We have really no shade so except for what the house casts on the east side and in the back we're in the hot sun. I don't wintersow, really should, but I guess I'm too lazy a gardener! :)

tess

Hello ladies. Sorry Wendy, ever since this website was taken over by ivillage, messages from this forum don't get forwarded to my email. So rather than make things complicated, I've been communicating exclusively on the forum. Thanks for the offer of seeds but I think I'll pass for now. I've yet to do any landscape work at all and need also to improve the soil It may well be late summer before I can even begin any planting at all.

Tess, lucky you. Even a 1 acre property is more than sufficient for me. Your garden is great and with a sunny location, you should be able to plant such shrubs like roses and other English cottage plants.

Ianna

Ianna,

I see in your profile you're interested in plant propagation. Have a look at "My Page" I put some information on how to do that there.

Sorry no pictures available. My garden is a mess by people standards, but the animals like :)

WOW Tess!! That's really nice! Beautiful gardens!!

Jimmyjojo,
I like messy gardens! I deem them to have that cottage look and if they attract wildlife, then they are some of the best gardens. Except for deers... They eat too much. I mean if they just picked one hosta and ate it instead of munching on every hosta as if they are taste testing, I might be OK with them.

So go ahead and post pics. Here's my chaos...

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I wouldn't call it chaos, it's beautiful! And Tess, what can I say? Perfect.

I have just started a project, here it is in the fall:

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Here is a link that might be useful: Ottawa Hortiphilia

Hi Jimmyjojo.
Thanks for the tips. Propagation is one of the first thing I learned to do as a child, so I'm not exactly a novice at it. But thanks for sharing your page. It's very informative. You are using fushia cuttings I note. In my previous garden, I propagated boxwood and hydrangeas primarily using this methodology. When I moved, I took several cuttings, dusted them with root hormone #2, bundled them together to save on space, stuck them in soilless mixes and pots and left them outside in a protected area. (Bundling cuttings together is suited for woody plants.) Ideally it should have been under a cold frame for the duration of winter, but i hadn't time for making one during the move. So, hopefully the cuttings will be viable in spring.

I like a kind of jungle type messy yard so like you, I enjoy visits from birds & butterflies (not raccoons), and really am excited about creating a new 'natural' garden.

Ianna

Looking good! I'm sick and its snowing and I'm sick of snow tooboot....but one must wait. If you need more eye candy I have a link to my album...it is very long.

Here is a link that might be useful: flora2b landscape pictures

Ianna,

Glad you liked my page. I propagate most all my plants that way. My wife came home last fall with a piece of lvy she got from somebody at work and said here can you grow this? Now we've got 4 pot's of it. That method works for most plants actually. I hope that others will give it a try it's pretty easy.

-Joe

Hi Joe,

Yes gardeners should be aware of how easy this is and what's more, how much fun it is to do, and also just how cheap it is to do so. I don't bother using heating pads or lighting systems for this. I simply take my cuttings outside but then most cuttings I choose to do are hardy. I am always thrilled and pleased when some twigs start rooting and in no time becomes a large plant. I used to regularly make new plants out of trims I get from my shrubs and give them away to friends and colleagues.

Tiffy, I thought you garden looks fanstastic especially the colour combination you chose. Was that done consciously/ Are the blue flowers catnip (nepeta) and delphiniums or possibly phlox?

Ianna

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won't be long now!!! 2 months till the spring garden will be up and running, 3 months till the rest is going...hahaha.........

Nice garden there, Syd. You've done a lot of work, and definitely have an artistic eye.

I'm looking forward to sitting out and enjoying my dahlia hedge with my many different brugmansia releasing their essence.
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The amaryllis really like the sunny side of the house.
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Maybe soon, we'll see our pet frog in the pond.
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I love the forget-me-not path down to the bush separating us ever so slightly from the river below.
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The back area here is going to get an overhaul this summer. I want to put in a mirrored trellis attached to and beside the fence to make my property appear larger. I'll have some vines growning over it as well, so the birds don't get confused.
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After digging ourselves out from the first real snowfall of this winter (extraordinary in this Zone!), I couldn't resist dreaming about spring ---- after all, it's only 19 days until the first day of spring :-)

This is our covered patio - we spend A LOT of time out here from April to November.

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Front courtyard that we built last summer.

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Can hardly wait until Spring!

Margaret

Margaret, very nice. Is that Boston Ivy growing up the front wall of your covered patio? Does it cause a problem getting into the roof? I have been toying with the idea of adding some to a neighbouring fence.

Looks like Virginia Creeper ( Parthenocissus quinquefolia) by the leaves. Boston Ivy (Parthenocissus tricuspidata) has ivy shaped leaves. they're both nice, but invasive as hell. My neighbour planted some Virginia creeper on our shared fence about five years ago and for the past two years I've been trying to get rid of it on my side - it gets into my pots in the summer and generally takes over. A place up the street had to do some extensive work around the windows and roof a few years ago because some Boston Ivy had damaged the wood and water had been getting in. I wouldn't put it anywhere near a house - just in case.

Take a look at Parthenocissus henryana, aka Silvervein Creeper. Supposedly it is not as invasive as the other two but it still has the beautiful fall colour and has nicer leaves during the summer (in my opinion anyway). It might not be hardy in an exposed location though - we're kind of at the northern end of its possible range :-(

BP

That is indeed Virginia Creeper.
It has not been invasive in our yard, although it grows like crazy and I do trim it back through the season but it stays contained quite easily.
The roof is actually a metal roof which, I'm sure, makes it difficult for the tendrls to grab on.
Margaret