Happy Canada Day

Wow what a magnificent Canada Day it is: warm,? sunny, not humid and the garden is looking magnificent.? I have a tour coming this afternoon:? it?s for a charity. They use my garden as a silent auction item and today I am expecting what sounds like a lovely couple who care about gardening. I always say:? ?If you want wine and nibblies, bring them.? And it usually turns into a treat.

Even though there are still plants to be put in the garden, here goes with what?s blooming today. Haven’t seen much of the garden this week because ?I?ve had a cold that has felled me completely. ?I spent more time in bed than out hacking away.? Sort of feel better now. Sort of.

?Clematis ?Betty Corning? is covered with the pale blue turned-up bells in several spots.? I planted way too much but who cares. The sight and scent ?are enchanting in any position. C. fargesioides isn?t far behind in the madly blooming slot but it?s not a well-behaved plant. Again, that?s fine in some places but it really needs whacking back in others and that has to be done this week.

The plant that?s astounding is an annual here:? Tibouchina urvilleana which has soft velvety silver-green leaves with brilliant blue flowers.? It is a showstopper in a container. The encyclopaedia says it will get to 10 feet tall in its native Brazil but methinks not so here. ?It’s planted with almost black calla lilies, deep purple-black Asiatics and a couple of the black grasses, Ophiopogon planescens.?

?Euphorbia ?White Diamond? has had the best press I?ve seen for any plant since Sambucus ?Black Lace? hit the market a few years ago.? The euphorbia lives up to its billing as one of the best of all the new annuals:??starry pure?white flowers that bloom all summer long. They seem to do just fine in the shade and look wonderful with my all-time favourite Plectranthus ?Mona Lavender? and one of the new ipomeas. ?And S. ‘Black Lace’ continues to be a really good plant in almost any light.??

We have a street potluck tonight and it?s terrific competitive cooking, lovely wine from the local ecological group GrassRoots Albany and a chance to yak it up with the wonderful people who live on our street.? We are really really lucky.??