Farmette floral flourish

It's a snowy day at the farmette. Not terrible. No howling winds whipping up snow banks creating whiteouts or anything. Just kind of a snow-globe effect outside. We're at nine inches (about 23 cm) of the white stuff on the ground just now. And cold. About -13C right now, climbing to a heady -8C.

I thought I'd do a wee flashback to summer around the property. Now that the holidays are well and truly over and things have settled down to some sort of normalcy. Plus the fact that it's, you know, cold and grey.

The Japanese ivory silk lilac tree we inherited was spectacular at the end of June. It smells heavenly, too. So nice to get the pleasure of this one when all the other lilacs are done and dusted.

The hydrangea were equally prolific. So many gigantic blooms that they sagged to the ground.

The wee rose that I've had for a few years now was a great producer, too. It has a delicate scent, a bit less pungent than the lilac. During the summer, it lives on the corner of the deck. Right now, it's been cut back and the pot is buried in the dirt in the east bed, well covered in snow.

I started experimenting, again, with Asiatic lilies. My earlier attempts ended in tears as those damn red beetles (named red lily beetles, oddly enough) ate all my plants before they bloomed. Got lucky this year, with this variety, called Whistler Lily. I was so excited, I ordered a ton more bulbs of different varieties and planted them throughout my beds. Can't wait until next summer.

Even the grass was co-operative. This clump is a result of transplanting from sister Sandy's beds. I have three of them, and they all thrived in 2025.

I made more of an effort this year to do some bouquets from bits and bobs around the place. I call them "higgledy-piggledies" because I just pull together what's in bloom.

Here's a smattering through the season of my attempts.

This last one, with all the goldenrod and Queen Anne's lace, was a result of my wander through the back pasture, which is basically scrub Scots Pine, grasses and 'weeds' like these. I think they're quite lovely in their own way.

I credit my friend Jane Still with inspiring me on my bouquet journey. She and I regularly went for walks on our visits to her cottage at Sturgeon Point, bringing along secaturs and snipping whatever caught our eye along the way. Then we'd make something pretty to put on the table when we got back.

Anyhow, hope you enjoyed this wee respite from winter. I know I did. Until next week.

Gratuitous cat photo courtesy of Fred, who was my lap assistant through most of the writing of this post. He asked to be credited. (A bit blurry, cause I had to do neck gymnastics to get the shot).