It's a bit cooler day at the farmette. Yesterday, we were sweltering in 35C heat in a heatwave that blanketed most of eastern Canada.
For today's missive, I thought I'd do a wee update on how the flowers are doing at the farmette.
To the left is a leaf on my tulip tree - which I seriously thought was a goner given the harsh winter we had.
This species is related to magnolias, so is not really supposed to grow way up here. I read that the mature tulip tree can get to 35 metres in height and one metre in width.
Good thing I put it in the middle of the farmette yard - far enough away from the big Group-of-Seven pine and the west side flower beds to have room to shoot up and spread out.
The cleome I got at the Foodland are a bit on the disappointing side. Just little wee plants with wee flowers. Still pretty, though. I love their other-worldly tentacles and soft pink tones.
Cleome is also called the spider flower for obvious reasons, and was used to treat stomach ailments. It's traditionally from the west, but migrated east. Apparently, the flower's meaning is 'I'm not so bad as I seem' - which suits me down to the ground, especially when it's early morning, and before I have my caffeine fix.
My evening primrose is taking over the west patio garden. It's a lovely but invasive little bugger. I recently found out its oil could have a dozen or more healing properties - for everything from rheumatoid arthritis to eczema, ADHD, and even wrinkles! Get me some of that stuff, now.
The Stella D'oros are looking fine this year.
These hardy, orangey-lemon coloured beauties are a standard that go very nicely with my hosta collection.
I'm especially pleased with my hanging plants this year. The begonias are particularly vibrant and fetching, and the accent plant is stunning. Can't remember what it's called and lost the tag, but it's a winner that I'll be getting next year, too.
Finally, my sunflowers are looking especially rich today. Maybe because we got nearly an inch of rain yesterday, and I didn't have to water them (for once - it's been a really dry summer so far - after that cold, wet spring).
Can hardly wait until they're towering over me and nodding with their huge, moon-shaped blossoms.
It's a more humane, less humid day out there, so I am itching to roll around and get dirty in my beds. Until next week.
