Bloom Day September 15, 2009

Although the garden isn't in its full glory, there are new flowers blooming even now. I really do need some better garden planning so I can show them to advantage.


The China aster above is the only survivor of the seeds I planted this spring. I need to be more aggressive in eradicating gastropods, especially those huge nasty brown slugs. Where's that garter snake that I found in the compost last month?


Although I've been planting "Thai Silk" seeds for a few years, this is the first time that I've noticed them blooming. Planting them in a container that I see every day helps.


Although it's not too lush yet, this "Mutabilis" rose shows how it got its name. The flower buds are orangeish, then change with age to a deep pink. I had fallen in love with it at Fickle Hill Old Rose Nursery in May, but they didn't have any ready for sale. My friend Holly got one for me from her mother, who seems to have the knack for sticking a cutting in soil and getting it to root. My Mutabilis surprised and pleased me when I went out a week or two ago, and found several blossoms.

Many of the heaths and heathers are beginning to bloom. Along with the thyme-leafed fuchsia, abelia and French lavender, these offer some late season forage for the bees.


The naked lady amaryllis have had a brief reign, signaling the start of school. I think that I need to divide mine, because they just aren't blooming as wildly as in years past. The hostas are already done, and need another application of Sluggo to keep the gastropods from devouring them completely. I call hostas "snail candy".

Many flowers are fading, and I need to finish deadheading them. There was one fresh gladiolus remaining. The English lavenders are mostly done, though the bees know how to find a little more nectar from them. This week I plan to replace a couple of old rangy plants with fresh new ones. I also plan to try my hand at propagating some from slips.


The "King" apples are ripening, and I picked a basketful this weekend. Some have a condition called "watercore", but ought to be fine for juicing. Maybe it's time for applesauce, too.


It's termite flying season, and that means it's also pumpkin spider season. These orb weavers are around all spring and summer, but don't get big until about now, when the insect harvest is good. Unfortunately they are also dining on some of my honeybees, but I can't get too stingy with my helpful garden occupants. The webs of the pumpkin spiders grow as they do, and I have to walk through the garden with one hand in front of my face. Fortunately they seem to train well, and stop building across a certain space after having a web or two removed.

We had the first significant rain for the season on Sunday. A heavy mizzle last week didn't count. Maybe things will start greening up again soon, and I won't have to water so often.

White Tea

The last beautiful cup of white tea that was sent to me by Hsin-Hsin. Thank you!

Bloom Day: August 15, 2009

Overall, the garden is looking a little ratty after my 9 day absence in Montréal. So many things to deadhead. But the other flowers don't know that, and are blooming nicely.



The fuchsias, hydrangeas and roses are still going strong. I really like the fringed hydrangea shown above. Unfortunately I don't know it's name; I may have gotten it as a cutting.

The "Garnet" callas are going great guns. I'm glad that they are hearty plants. While house-sitting, my friend Jyl saw a tiny treefrog sitting in a calla cup. Sadly, there was no nearby camera. I need to stake out the calla patch in hopes of seeing one.



The lavenders are past their prime, but the honeybees and wild bees are still loving them. The bees are also working the abelia, crocosmia and gladiolus. Unfortunately, my "Starburst Panache" sunflowers are pollenless. They're pretty, but next time I'll get pollen-licious sunflowers.



I'm trying to resist pulling out all the Crocosmias. They're rather invasive but pretty, especially when poking up behind or through some other plant. I'll continue to yank up the big clumps, just to keep them from taking over the world.

The blueberries are all done. I need to plant more, and get a wider span of ripening times. The "King" apples are starting to fall, and tomatoes are getting plump. So far I've harvested about 9 pounds of potatoes from a few volunteer patches I keep in the garden. More potato tops are dying back, so I need to look again.

Honey Extracting

I finally got to harvest some honey yesterday. Two hives have gotten rather tall. The top box (#6), full of honey, is awkward and dangerous to lift. Svetlana had enough ripened honey to harvest, and I took a total of 9 frames from two of the boxes. I would have taken the tenth, but the comb was built out so far that only 9 would fit in one box.

Ekaterina has many full frames, but not enough of it was ripened & capped. Unripe honey has too much moisture and will ferment, so I'll have to wait a little longer. Besides, I need to assess how much honey all the hives have so that I can decide how much to leave for the girls' winter pantry.



Joy also had some too-tall hives, so we convened for a small extraction party. Some of us have recently bought a plastic two-frame extractor, and this was its maiden voyage. Joy's husband Steve and visiting niece Jane, plus Julia and Sheri joined in the fun. Julia and Steve were already in Joy's bee yard robbing the hives when I arrived, and the rest of us started in on my box right away. That meant I didn't get to go out and document the hot and sweaty stage of the harvest.



The extractor worked well enough for a small harvest, though we weren't able to get it spinning as fast as a four-frame or larger extractor; the balance wasn't good enough. But the remaining honey goes back to the bees, so I didn't mind too much.

It was good sticky fun, with much licking of fingers and saucy jests. Comparisons were made between the two honeys. Jane seemed determined to lick up every drop off the ground tarp. Joy thoughtfully provided snacks and beverages. All too soon we were done and cleaned up. Joy and I each got about 2 gallons of liquid gold.

The Gite du Marigot

We stayed at a B&B in Laval called the Gite du Marigot. Laval is the island just north of Montréal. Since our last stay, Laval has had three Métro stations open, which made transportation much easier. This time we walked a few minutes to the Station Cartier, rather than cross the river to Station Henri-Bourassa.



The Gite is a comfortable lodging graciously run by Chantal, who used us to improve her English and helped us with our French. One morning, there was a Parisian couple at breakfast. They and Chantal told us how challenging it can be for Québecois and the French to understand each other, rather like Americans and Englishmen.

There is a riverside park across the street, and every other evening there was a patanque league playing. Patanque is similar to the Italian bocce, though the main difference seems to be that patanque uses steel balls, and bocce uses clay. One evening, Karin and I nibbled on sandwiches and tried to figure out the subtleties of the game. I think a visit to Wikipedia is needed to complete our understanding.

About 10 minutes' walk away is a nice French restaurant. We went to dinner during Kate's visit, for an early celebration of Karin's birthday. The food was delicious, and the staff very accommodating despite the fact that their English was only slightly better than our French.

The Latin Quarter of Montréal

On Sunday the whole "family" went to Montréal's Latin Quarter to stroll a bit and have lunch. On Saturday Kate had come over from Toronto to see us, but had to return that afternoon. Kalen and Alyx returned to the Gite as soon as Kate drove away, so Karin and I were alone to better explore.

This neighborhood took its name from the Parisian Latin Quarter because of its artsy feel. It suffered a bit of a slump when one university relocated, but recovered when UQAM moved in. Square Saint-Louis lies at the heart of this neighborhood full of beautiful Québec-style older homes, and Rue Saint-Denis hosts many shops and cafes. We didn't have any adventures, but took lots of photos of houses and things that caught our artistic attention.

Chanoyu in Montréal

While planning activities for Montréal, I discovered that the Montreal Association of Chado Urasenke Tankokai offered demonstrations of Japanese Tea ceremony at the Botanical Gardens' Japanese Tea Garden. I determined to go, and made a day of it. First I visited for a couple of hours with my friend Owen, whom I had met on a previous trip. As the time for Tea neared, he escorted me to the Botanical Gardens, and then we said our farewells.

I had known there would be a small charge to attend the Tea ceremony, but hadn't expected to pay $16 just to get into the Botanical Gardens. My internet info site had indicated $11, which still seemed high for what they had. Even so, I forged ahead, determined to find some harmony in a bowl of tea.

From Chanoyu in Montréal

I arrived early to sign up for the demonstration and participation, as had been recommended. Two members of the Chado school were getting into kimono, but they graciously gave me my ticket and allowed me to chat a little with them. Then I perused the bonsai garden, which was very nice, though the examples weren't terribly varied in form. I can only hope that one day my own little bonsais will look so good.

The Tea Garden, or rather the related Tea house, is also a small museum for things Tea related. They had a wonderful lacquer exhibit - showing the progress of a bowl from wood core to finished product, and examples of different decoration techniques. There were also photos & explanations of lacquer resin gathering & processing. I hadn't known that the lacquer tree is in the same genus as poison oak and poison ivy. The lacquer collectors must develop a resistance to the irritating sap.

In another room they had some gorgeous examples of lacquerware made by members of the Japan Urushi Art and Craft Association (Nihon Shikko Kyokai). Most of the pieces were beautifully carved and simply lacquered rather than highly adorned with color or inlay. I refrained from taking photos of the displays, but now wish I had.

When Tea time came, we guests seated ourselves on folding chairs where we could look into the Tea room. There were 8 tatami mats set up to make a larger than usual Tea room, to accommodate visitors to the Tea demonstration. Usually there are 4 1/2 mats. The tokonoma, or alcove, had a scroll with "ichi go ichi e" brushed on it. This means "one time, one meeting", and reminds us that each time in the Tea room is unique. In the tokonoma there was also a vase holding a clematis vine.



The demonstration came first. One person worked behind the scenes at the mizuya, and was probably busy preparing sweets and bowls of tea for the visitors. One student explained the procedure while the host and two guests demonstrated furo usucha, one of the methods for preparing tea. The utensils were kept on a stand, which I haven't seen used at our own Tea practice. They were definitely students, and I caught a few mistakes, like using the wrong leading foot when walking across the room, placing the fan backwards, etc. The host was a bit hasty and thus not very graceful, but she did well enough.

After the demonstration, the students served sweets and bowls of tea to those of us who had paid a little extra for the experience. There were about 18 of us who came into the Tea room, and we had barely room to bow. Tea was prepared behind the scenes and brought out to us one by one. The sweets were yokan, a jellied bean paste, served on wide strips of paper serviettes (kaishi) folded simply into a V or winglike shape. Serendipitously, I had brought my clematis kaishi, which matched the flowers in the tokonoma. The tea was a bit thinner than we make at home, but was nice and smooth.

I think I was the only one familiar with Tea, and got to coach a couple of people near me who asked. A few people were very enthusiastic, and might pursue Chado. The host was pleasantly surprised when I thanked her for tea in Tea-speak. The students had so many other people asking questions after Tea was done. I didn't stick around to talk, but wandered out into the Tea garden.



I made an error in the garden by walking past a rock in the path. It was just past a small fence which marked another section of the garden. Someone else had been in that section, and I couldn't rightly remember the significance of a rope-bound rock until after I transgressed. Essentially, it's a "stay out" sign. So much for my gold star.