One of my garden favorites. Peony’s.

Last year I didn’t get a single peony flower. We were hit with a blight/fungus that really stopped the growth and flowering of almost all of my iris and peony plants. It was such a cold wet spring. This year is more than making up for it. Here are a few of my remaining peony’s today. 

Iris ‘Edith Wolford’

A perfect birthday gift. A road trip to my favorite garden nursery.

My new birthday rose opened within the week. 

“Olivia Rose Austin”

Today we took a road trip to Dinter Nursery. It is truly my favorite nursery. I went with a list. From my wish list I found the following… I cannot wait to get planting!!!

Lupin - Salmon Star

Purple azalea

Dahlia - Cafe Au Lait

David Austin rose - Olivia Rose Austin

Foxglove - Dalmatian Peach

A mature Olivia Rose Austin rose bush from the David Austin website. 

Surprised that my favorite David Austin rose, Abraham Darby has been discontinued.

I am madly in love with Abraham Darby roses. This may not be the best staged photo ever, but I really love this photo of my precious roses in my little Waterford vase in my old house in Sidney. I now live in the Gulf Islands, and below are my first flowers up here at my new place. Next year I will definitely have lots to pick and share. I’m a happy girl. 

I feel bad that David Austin has discontinued them. So many people will be deprived of the beauty of this amazing rose. That said, I will be selecting two new varieties for my garden next year. 

Front door makeover

A couple years from now, on the renovation schedule, we will be moving the front doorway forward and putting a westcoast style beamed entry over it. This will of course include a new door and lighting. In the meantime though… we ordered a piece of safety glass and decided to turn the existing very outdated western horseshoe/English Lion knocker/bizarre carved panel combo door that created a claustrophobic and dark look to this part of the house, into a simple glass door. Win win. More light and not so oddly a 70’s, western and English style combo door. Also, the door bell didn’t work and there were wires dangling from it. All in all, it needed a bit of love. 

BEFORE

Trees on the move… and a new Japanese maple tree.

I cannot believe how much work the new garden is. But also how exciting it is. Moving a few large/mature trees is wonderful. It will give the garden a more mature look instantly. We moved a lilac tree and a Pink Lady Dwarf Apple today. 

It is the second time I have moved my favorite plants from my old garden in Sidney, in the last two years. I located another of my favorite Japanese Maple “Harvest Orange” at Dinter in Duncan and will be picking it up on Tuesday. They had a large one, so that is wonderful. I’ll take a good look around while I’m there and see if there is anything else they have that is on my list for this year. I don’t really plan on moving again any time soon, so it is fun to be setting up a garden to last for many years of enjoyment. 

My Sidney Japanese Maple “Harvest Orange” 

See why I love it so much.