Happy Monday everyone! We ended last week revisiting one of our favorite gardens, and we’re starting this week the same way. Today it’s May Kald’s beautiful garden on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. The last time we visited with May was last month (refresh your memory HERE, where you’ll find links to previous visits, too).
This time she says, “The rains have come! Looking around my garden at this time of year you can tell that our summer drought is over and fall is coming. The grass is green again, leaf and flower colours are more muted, starting to turn, with hardy fuchsias brightening up the fading hydrangea blossoms.
“Very soon the wonderful bright leaves of fall will take over the show. Rainy and misty days alternate with brilliant sunshine, which brings the late heathers into bloom and ripens the berries on pyracanthas and cotoneasters. Pampas grass sends its feathery plumes high into the sky, briefly, then is always beaten down by the first heavy downpours. Lacey, my Shetland sheepdog, can stop looking for cool shady spots to hide in and enjoy running around chasing her ball.”
My gosh, May, the FUCHSIAS!! Careful, throwing that “hardy” word around, you’ll get all us colder climate gardeners in a tizzy, thinking we can grow fuchsias like that! If only….sigh. Everything looks beautiful, May, and Lacey is adorable! Keep sending in these wonderful updates.
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Comments
may, i love seeing your garden photos and i see that you and i have many of the same plants. i now see where all my "hardy" fuchsias have gone after they disappeared here they are in fuchsia heaven at your place and Lacey has discovered the absolute BEST use for periwinkle. it's all just great
Wow! I am loving those "Hardy Fushias"! Hmmmmm.... guess I'd better try a few. What is your preference for fertilizer? Very nifty - and unique!- garden shed! Wonderful gardens; thanks for sharing again!
Everything is simply beautiful. Especially love the Hydrangea and those gorgeous fuchsias. i 'm in need of that wonderful garden shed.
just beautiful! I really love the container of grasses or sedge. Very different look.
May, it's hard to imagine that your garden went through a summer drought...is that a regular seasonal occurrence? I, like the others, am gazing enviously at your hardy fuchsia...is your definition of "hardy" the same as mine? Do you truly just let them die back and then they reappear the following year bigger and better? I'm just teasing and peppering you with questions 'cause I'm jealous. Everything looks beautiful. Fall is such a wonderful season, isn't it?!
Gotta love that garden shed with it's contemporized Dutch roof, and my favorite blackeyed susans as a welcoming beacon. The bright berries of pyracantha are so appropo for fall... I ought to plant some, I doubt deer will bother it with all its thorns. A very inviting garden, thank you, May.
I like how you use perennial plants in pots! So smart! Your hardy fuchsias are gorgeous! Thanks for sharing your garden again!
The container with the grasses and heather is to die for; the container itself and the combo. After seeing yours, I realize hardy fushias and heathers are way under used in the late season garden. Your garden is filled with originality and a very happy and cute dog!
Thanks for the kind comments! wGardens I use a blend of composted manure and fine bark mulch to spread over and around the entire garden annually. Having mostly perennials and acid-loving shrubs, I find this works well for most things. Meander1, oh yes, we are totally dry every summer, even worse this year - records were broken. Lawns go dormant, so there is no mowing, but watering everything else just to keep them going becomes a major chore! The hardy fuchsias do very well here through the summer drought and the winter wet. Most years mine do not even die back to the ground, so get taller than their listed heights. And, so far, neither deer nor rabbits have disturbed them!
I have enjoyed many a stroll through May's garden in all seasons. It is always beautiful and full of many interesting nooks and crannies . I have started buying Hardy Fuchsia after seeing how successful they are in her garden.
May, I am so envious of your fushcias! Although we can grow them here in MT in the summer, they never look that happy . . . it's too hot during the day and too cold at night. Lacey is gorgeous, too. Is that crocosmia behind her?
Wildthyme, yes, that is crocosmia behind Lacey. It is tall enough to give her shade and she can't harm the periwinkle - if she could, she'd have a new job rooting it out from everywhere it has spread! Crocosmia struggles here. I've tried it in many locations and only a few spots survive.
Cwheat000, I love that container too. It was originally a gift from a friend, already planted up, and once the original plants were done I was happy to reuse it for my own arrangements. I like to use perennials and grasses in my containers. Some I leave in their original nursery pots until I redo the container, then I plant them properly into the garden. That way their roots don't get tangled up with others. The grasses were having a "bad hair day" after some downpours, but still looked cute.
Lovely! Thanks for sharing, May!
GrannyMay,
My heart is filled with lust and envy. How I long to return to the Pacific Northwest (do my friends in Canada call it the Pacific Southwest?). Your garden is sublime.
Hardy fuschias grow well in my garden, so betimes dying g almost to the ground in bad winters but usually getting at least 3 feet tall by blooming time. I've been wanting a white one for years and haven't found d one. Could you tell me the name of the one in this lovely garden?
Hi Gordonfh, there are more and more varieties of hardy fuchsias to be found, and the names can often differ. The white flowers ones are actually a bit pinkish, and I have found them in 3 leaf colours. A plain-leafed on was called F. Hawkshead. Then, a variegated green and cream leafed on was F. magellanica var. molinae. That is the one in my photo. Another one with variegated leaves that have more yellow in the new growth was F. magellanica var. molinae "Sharpitor". Enjoy!
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