SPRING 2011

After a very long cold snowy winter, I have found my enthusiasm for my lilac garden again. Last year I spent almost no time in the garden. The lilacs suffered terribly in the spring of 2010 after a crazy freezing/thawing February. I am back on track again with great plans to rejuvinate my garden and my lilac collection. After signing up with WWOOF Canada I am hoping to have some help in doing just that.


Looking back at photos of the lilacs last fall, I see how both Miss Kim and Palabin really contribute to color in the garden late in the season. We should all plant more of these season extending lilacs.

Palabin

Miss Kim

It's almost lilac time

We have been experiencing the craziest spring that I can remember. We had some really warm weather for a week in early April and then the temperature plunged into the freezer. The lilacs that had looked so promising back then have so much dead wood. I wonder if they will recover. I'm going to wait a month and see, but I have a sinking feeling that this might be permanent damage. This is the first spring that anything like this has happened in the garden. I am blaming the April weather and the fact that we had to remove thirteen very large over-mature fir trees that were threatening to come down on our roof. The wind now comes off the river, and it seems like it never stops blowing.

A few of the hyacinthafloras are just starting to open. Excel is showing some color but is not promising its usual amazing show. This is one of my favorite lilacs. It is just so spectacular and it is one of the first to bloom in the garden. It is situated in a bit more of a sheltered spot than some of the others.

Below are pictures of it in full bloom in past years. I would definitely recommend this lilac for your collection. Its hard to surpass its loveliness.

Hulda Klager

Mr. Peabody in front of Hulda Klager

Mr. Peabody thinks he is just as beautiful as Hulda Klager! This Vulgaris lilac grows at the Culp Farm. It is a single, color class 7, Klager 1928. A very lovely dark purple lilac.
It has been growing here for many years.

Hulda Klager has been a great inspiration to us. We have visited the gardens many times over the years. If you are ever in Woodland, be sure to check it out. Go to http://www.lilacgardens.com/ to read the story and view pictures of the garden.

Owls

There is not much happening in the garden these days. The snow we received last week is finally melting and we are slogging through the mud again. I have spent a lot of time watching the hummingbird cam. Hope an egg hatches today. Last night I spent some time watching Molly the Barn Owl live and witnessed her partner McGee visit her in the nesting box. This a really cool cam and worth a look. This little Northern Saw-Whet Owl was perched in a tree by our bird feeder. There is a shadow of a branch on his face unfortunately. He didn't come back to give me another chance for a better picture. Check out Molly at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/the-owl-box/.

Baby Hummers

These baby hummers are in a nest in a branch just over our deck. Curtis Culp has been banding hummingbirds in the Robson Valley for over 10 years. We have hundreds of them that come to our feeders every season. Here is a great webcam of a nest in California that he sent. Take a look: www.phoebeallens.com
It will be a while before they show up here again.

Winter in March

In like a lion and out like a lamb? This morning it is winter again in the Robson Valley. I awoke this morning to about 6 inches of light fluffy snow covering everything. The Lilac Bercha hardly resembles the inviting space of a June day.

While I search for the appropriate photos of my first five lilacs (which somehow seem to have fled my computer!) I would like to show you a couple of pictures that were taken at the Experimental Farm in Prince George, BC. In June of 2007 we visited the farm and were given permission to take pictures and some cuttings of the lilacs that were growing there. We found several very attractive ones, but alas, not a label to be seen. We have not been able to discover any records that show what might have been planted there at one time. There was a beautiful specimen right beside the main office building. After wandering the grounds we came across a wonderful overgrown hedge. Hopefully in a few years we will have some of these flowering in our own collections.