My echinacea had lots of visitors yesterday. i was lucky enough to capture a couple of them.
Garden
Beautiful Blooms on my New Deck
This is my hibiscus with a flower in full bloom yesterday. I just love the brilliant yellow shading into red. There are three more flowers about to open – not today, but in the next day or two.
I had to visit a nearby garden centre to pick up some potting soil. I saw this canna lily and couldn’t leave without it. The colours complement the hibiscus and make a very cheerful focus among the greenery on my deck.
My New Back Deck
This is now the view from my living room window. The back fence is gone, and half of my container garden has been discarded. There’s still a bit of finishing work to do – it’ll get done tomorrow. The finished deck is a 20′ wide x 16′ deep construction, raised above the ground an average of 8″. Now there will be space to have friends over for tea!
Coreopsis
The coreopsis in the garden bed across from my front door is in full bloom – it blooms all summer. I love these tiny delicate yellow flowers. They make me smile!
The pansies beside them have done well this year, too.
Day Lilies
We’ve got day lilies in one of the garden beds across from my town house. They’ve been blooming for the past 10 days or so. This plant is thriving this year with a gazillion blooms to come.
My Garden
I have a rhododendron in a pot which is thriving. Lots of blooms this season.
I have several Sempervivum (Hens and chicks) – this one is just starting to bloom.
I’ve been nurturing this plant all spring – I just wanted to find out what it was – the foliage suggested strawberry – but then the plant got too tall and the flowers are yellow. Turns out it’s a “rough cinquefoil” or Potentilla norvegica – a local wildflower. I’ll leave it alone for this season but pull it out in the fall. I have one other weed growing in another tub – no idea what it is – I have to wait until it flowers to figure out what species I have.
Spring on My Back Deck
Well the small rhododendron thinks spring has arrived! It’s been blooming for a week – that’s because it’s so cold, the flowers were slow to open but they last longer!
Contrast
Notice the juxtaposition of the orchid in my livingroom and the snow outside! That’s winter in Canada for you.
I have four Phaels in bloom and I was taking pictures this morning when I discovered this one – with the snow in the backrgound. Mid-February – it won’t be long before the snow begins to disappear and then soon there will be flowers in my outdoor deck garden again.
Winter Blizzard
This is the container garden on my back deck after yesterday’s blizzard. There’s going to be snow there well into spring if the temperatures remain cold.
These were a couple of pots before the snowfall – this was after the ice storm last week! Environment Canada is forecasting an unusually cold winter this year. I believe it.
Bonsai Maple
I have a volunteer maple tree in a container on my back deck. It arrived about six years ago and I decided to leave it to see if it would survive the winter in a tub. To keep it under control I have created a bonsai, trimming the branches throughout the season. Six years later it still offers a wonderful fall display.
jmn 
