Our Garden

So, May was crazy - in a good way.  My husband and I started birding about a year ago, and this May marked our first spring migration as *real birders*.  Bird watching happened after work, all weekend, and even before work!  Sleep, housework and yardwork were all neglected.  I don't have a single picture of a bird to share, as I have enough trouble finding them with my binoculars (let alone a camera)! My husband, who happens to be a much better birder and photographer, may eventually share some photos on his blog.

Anyway, May long weekend arrived, and I decided to abandon Point Pelee to do some much-needed gardening.  We moved to this house, with its suburban-sized backyard, about 1.5 years ago.  Since learning about native plants and wildflowers in university, I have wanted to have them in my yard.  Originally, I just wanted native wildflowers, but then we got interested in birding, and so the gardening evolved to include plants that birds are supposed to like... butterflies too.  Here's what has bloomed so far this year!

Canada Anemone
My idea for this plant is that it eventually forms a ground cover around the front of my garden. One patch is doing really well - the other 2 get full sun and are slow-growing. This has been blooming for several weeks now!

Canada Anemone Anemone canadensis

Arrowwood
I can never remember the common name for this shrub.  It is a viburnum - Viburnum dentatum, so named for the finely toothed leaves.  Birds are supposed to like the berries that it should produce later in the year. We shall see!

This lovely Nannyberry was very kindly given to us by a gardener that we met through the Naturalized Habitat Network.  It bloomed earlier in the month and I didn't get a picture. It is another viburnum that should produce berries for the local birds.

Nannyberry Viburnum lentago

This small tree continues to amaze me!  My mom gave me a chunk of creeping jenny ground cover to plant last year.  It was full of maple keys from her yard, and one took hold.  This tree has grown 5 feet tall in less than one year!!  This is supposed to be my sunny wildflower garden, and I don't really want a maple tree here, but it is doing so amazingly well that I don't have the heart to move it!  Besides, I love Silver Maples, and it will be many years before it produces any real shade (and I will have long since moved on).

Silver Maple Acer saccharinum

Here is my beautiful wild columbine.  I'm still waiting for it to attract some hummingbirds... I would probably need a much larger crop!  To date, I've seen one ruby throated hummingbird in our yard this year.  He ignored the hummingbird feeder, tried to drink from the oriole feeder, got spooked by a house sparrow and flew away :(

Columbine Aquilegia canadensis

My newest edition to the garden - wild ginger and its sexy little flower!  I have very little shade in my yard, so I'm not sure how it will do.  Hopefully, it will make a nice ground cover under the weird fancy willow-type tree that the previous homeowners planted.  Hmm, pollinated by ants or flies,  I think - I don't know too much about this one.  I believe that it is edible as a ginger substitute!

Wild Ginger Asarum canadense

Another favourite of mine - the pretty little flowers of the blue-eyed grass!  Seems to be doing well so far!

Sisyrinchium augustifolium

And finally, one that I'm not even sure is native - my evening primrose.  This is from my mother's garden, so I'm not sure if it's the native variety, but I like it anyway.

Evening Primrose ?Oenothera biennis

All in all, it looks like my garden should do well this year!  I lost track of how many native wildflowers I planted last year, but it was many!  If (when) we move, wildflowers will surely take over the yard if the new owner is not a diligent gardener, hehehe! 

For anyone interested in birds, bees, butterflies or gardening, I highly recommend planting some native plants.  Look into what plants do well in your environment and give them a try!  My prairie wildflowers are largely drought tolerant and will bloom well into the fall!

Most of my plants came from 2 awesome local businesses - Native Plants and Trees and Wheatley Woods.  Both websites have great pics and info about plants native to my area (Southwestern Ontario).

Happy gardening!