I am finding there is a lot I have yet to learn about how to manage my totally cool and cool weather garden.
It isn't that the summers are short or the winters long and fierce, but that the temperature never gets above 22'C even on the hottest days. Wonderful for working out in the garden but not so great for growing tomatoes and other warmth loving plants.
Here where I live on the B.C coast on the 51st parallel the winters are mild...Not many nights below freezing. The spring and fall are long and though the days are long in the summer, temperatures don't start to warm til the end of July when the day time temperatures then start getting above 20'C and the night above 10'C.
I am learning to grow lots of greens, peas and favas and stay away from tomatoes, cucs etc at least until I get my green house up (maybe this summer!)
One of my problems is that I am away from the garden here in June when I could maybe get on top of planting veges and cosset them more.
Also I am expanding the planting area quite quickly as we landscape the property and I have limited access to nurseries in this neck of the woods. So most of the perennial plants are from seed or divisions and it takes a while for them to fill in.
But I have a not so secret weapon to help the garden look very pretty at least for the summer season, and it takes no effort at all, and I don't need to be paying attention in the spring.
Each October I take Shirley poppy seeds and scatter them on any bare ground in the flower gardens, both in the sunny beds and in beds that get a bit of shade.
Starting the following June these poppy plants start flowering and put on an incredible display til fall. One advantage of a cool summer is that the flowering seems to never end. The following October it starts all over again, though if you let the attractive poppy seed heads mature the plants will scatter their seed themselves or you can collect the fine seeds and scatter them in new places.
There are other seeds that can be scattered around in the fall but The Shirley poppies seem give the most dramatic display.
A few of the small rhododendrons here flower early and then look a bit sparse for the rest of the year.
By sprinkling poppy seeds around them the rhodos get a face lift and they help support the poppy plants...especially if they get a bit of a lean happening if they are a bit shaded.
The poppies come in all shades of reds and pinks and many have the 2 colour combo of white and pink which I especially like.
The plants are so delicate and silky looking they don't over whelm existing plantings...just fitting in where they can.
It isn't that the summers are short or the winters long and fierce, but that the temperature never gets above 22'C even on the hottest days. Wonderful for working out in the garden but not so great for growing tomatoes and other warmth loving plants.
Here where I live on the B.C coast on the 51st parallel the winters are mild...Not many nights below freezing. The spring and fall are long and though the days are long in the summer, temperatures don't start to warm til the end of July when the day time temperatures then start getting above 20'C and the night above 10'C.
I am learning to grow lots of greens, peas and favas and stay away from tomatoes, cucs etc at least until I get my green house up (maybe this summer!)
One of my problems is that I am away from the garden here in June when I could maybe get on top of planting veges and cosset them more.
Also I am expanding the planting area quite quickly as we landscape the property and I have limited access to nurseries in this neck of the woods. So most of the perennial plants are from seed or divisions and it takes a while for them to fill in.
But I have a not so secret weapon to help the garden look very pretty at least for the summer season, and it takes no effort at all, and I don't need to be paying attention in the spring.
Each October I take Shirley poppy seeds and scatter them on any bare ground in the flower gardens, both in the sunny beds and in beds that get a bit of shade.
Starting the following June these poppy plants start flowering and put on an incredible display til fall. One advantage of a cool summer is that the flowering seems to never end. The following October it starts all over again, though if you let the attractive poppy seed heads mature the plants will scatter their seed themselves or you can collect the fine seeds and scatter them in new places.
There are other seeds that can be scattered around in the fall but The Shirley poppies seem give the most dramatic display.
A few of the small rhododendrons here flower early and then look a bit sparse for the rest of the year.
By sprinkling poppy seeds around them the rhodos get a face lift and they help support the poppy plants...especially if they get a bit of a lean happening if they are a bit shaded.
The poppies come in all shades of reds and pinks and many have the 2 colour combo of white and pink which I especially like.
The plants are so delicate and silky looking they don't over whelm existing plantings...just fitting in where they can.
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