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May 8 2024 plants from Maria

BEYOND, Gardens

I had a visit to a friend’s garden this week and she sent me home with a bunch of perennial prezzies!  The garden on their property is one of the nicest you will ever see.  No grass anywhere on the property.  All mosses and thyme, pine-needle paths, and so many amazing perennials.  It was really something to see so many flowers at the beginning of May. 

Maria and Lazslo’s beautiful garden coming to life

My goal also is for less areas to mow and more pretty foliage.

She gave me the following deer resistant, shade tolerant plants:

3 Rhododendrons – planted 2 in back in an old log and 1 in front in a tree stump.

Leopards Bane – tall clump forming spreader perennial of the sunflower family likes moist soil and shade.  Will reside exactly where the chicken coop once stood.  The soil there is very rich.  I have a theory…LOL

It is getting nibbled a little, maybe by the Snowshoe Hares, but doing great generally.

Red Phlox – tall and dramatic – spreads full sun to partial shade moisture air circulate and mulch to keep cool. Planted at back of little garden where a big dirt pile and tarp and chicken wire once was. Will have to add some mulch.

Bonfire Spurge – put in with some Columbine and Corral Bells will be good to have another big splash or color outside the fence it’s great for bird photos.

Wild Ginger – not sure which variety. Spreads and currently there is a huge mess of Buttercups to replace and there was quite a bit of Bindweed when I moved in so even though it’s a little naughty it will be much better than those things.

Bee Balm – added to my front garden. I did some from seed too but not sure if they will take. I also have some weeds in another garden area that may be Bee Balm I planted last year but won’t know for a while until they bloom. Happy to have a sure thing. I’ve always had difficulty with this plant for some reason.

Angelina Sedum – have some in my little dog garden but happy to have a bit more to spread around as it’s nice to have the all year yellow foliage.

Columbine – I have quite a bit I’ve done from seed but always happy to have more and think these will be a different color.

Happy Return Daylily – along back of house where more colorful foliage was needed.

Red Daylily – put in one of my rock gardens near the deck will post pic when it blooms.

Masterwort – It prefers to be planted in part shade to full shade. Astrantia grows best in moist soil with plenty of organic material. Since masterwort plant needs moist soil, it needs to be watered frequently during times of drought, otherwise it will die. Planted it in a shady area of mosses and wildflowers. Once it’s well established I can take out the placeholder bricks and in the meantime I should really get some nice beach rocks to replace them. So much to do!

Persicaria bistorta (Knotweed) – They grow 2- 2½ ft. tall, and spread to form 3 foot wide mounds. Excellent ground cover plant, especially when planted along the edge of a pond, a stream or in boggy areas.

They are very easy to care for plants that can be grown in full sun or light shade,Knotweed should be planted in fairly rich, constantly moist but well-drained soil

Planted in area we don’t mow that is full of wild flowers and ferns and next to a small stream. Put some little Joe Pye seedlings around it but not sure they will grow I think I opened the milk jug too early and they are not strong seedlings.

Common Orange Daylily – in front of garage

Geranium  – in front of garage – replaced some European Knapweed and Dandelions. The Knapweed is very pretty and the pollinators love it, but we have way too much and it’s considered invasive so slowly taking some out. Will try to achieve some balance over time.

Pachysandra – deer resistant and tolerates drought, shade, and heavy clay soils. Excellent groundcover for weed control, as it spreads to form a dense mat that inhibits weed growth.   It can be invasive as it spreads by rhizomes but planted in the goutweed which I hope it may overcome, and will surround by rock borders as Maria did with hers.

And I decided to move my existing Hellebores over by the Coral Bells in the old chicken coop area with some of her Columbine. I brought 2 Hellebores with me from my old house. 1 died almost immediately and the other one has been struggling. But it loves it’s new home and I have high hopes for it. Will add more in time in this area if it’s successful, nothing like a winter rose!

Will update as more things bloom.

Thank you Maria!!!

Love from Milo

Barks, My Dogs

Milo is back to his old self now.

A sincere thank you to family and friends who were here when we needed you.

Now that things have settled back down, I am posting the breakdown of what happened.

Saturday morning all seemed okay, I fed Macy and Milo and left for the morning to help host a birding event in my community.  Saturday afternoon Milo got a hold of an old piece of wood in the garage and potentially ingested a small piece of it before we got it away from him.  He would not eat after that so did not have supper but was still drinking water.

Through the night he threw up several times.  With nothing in his belly, it was all grass and clear liquid.  I didn’t think much of it until the morning when his behavior changed, and he became a bit lethargic and refused to eat either meal on Sunday.  Knowing that Monday would be Victoria Day and the vets would be closed I was really hoping the situation would turn around.  I stuck close to home to keep an eye on him.  Sunday morning was the last time I saw him have a drink of water on his own, so I was spoon feeding him water.  On Monday night I asked my neighbour who is a nurse to come over to see if she could help me get a read on the situation as I was debating whether to take him to emergency.

Naturally he perked up a bit when he saw her.  He even went to his water bowl and showed her he could drink water.  We looked in his throat and didn’t see anything stuck.  His eyes were clear, his gums were pink.  We were discussing whether I could wait until the morning to take him to our own vet.  Then about 15 minutes later he vomited up a pile of horrid smelling bile that was more like poop.  She said, take him to emergency.  So off I went.

The veterinarian at Metro Emergency who saw him wanted to do x-rays and bloodwork, but I said I would rather wait to get them down in the morning at my own vet and just wanted him examined and out of danger.  He said his abdomen seemed sensitive but nothing in his throat and he was dehydrated so we gave him a subcutaneous fluid injection and I brought him home.

Tuesday morning, we went to our vet, Dr. Jessica McCarron, at the Burnside Veterinary Clinic.  We set him up with IV fluids and scheduled an Xray for him.  I left him for the day at the clinic and went home and setup a GoFundMe fundraiser as it has been a very difficult year financially in my home and I had no money to pay for any of it.  Also, wanted to be able to do whatever necessary without worrying about the cost.  Surgery is never out of the question with GI issues and blockages and tests don’t always show the whole picture. 

Tuesday afternoon I got an update from the vet that the Xray didn’t show anything of concern although it is not easy so see blockage in an Xray.  She suggested I pick him up at 730pm but leave the IV line in just in case he was no better.

He seemed a bit better but when we got home, he would neither eat nor drink water.  He ate a bit of grass, came inside, went to bed, and didn’t move once until the morning. 

Wednesday morning, he was so lethargic he could barely pick his head up.  I put him in his crate and took him back to the vet for another day of IV fluids and tests.  I ordered a 2nd Xray and a bloodwork pane.  Bloodwork all clear.  I requested something to make him feel better since he was still refusing food or water.  He was given sucralfate which treats acid in the stomach and esophagus.  The vet said the only other test that may show something would be a scope, but they did not have one at the clinic. More on that later.  An ultrasound was suggested but it would apparently not likely show anything.  The only conclusive way to know if there is blockage when tests don’t show is to surgically open the dog up which is not what anyone wants, and most things will pass in time.

And so now we wait.  And hope.

Later in the afternoon I got some good news the Xray showed the barium moving through his system and had reached his colon.  Dr. McCarron phoned to say that he was now hydrated properly so she would remove the line.  Also, he was now enthusiastically eating so her hope was he was on the mend.

I picked him up Wednesday night.  Everyone at the clinic said he was a star patient and they all loved him.  Interestingly he didn’t want to leave the day before and couldn’t wait to go back.  It’s because he knew he needed to be there.  This time he couldn’t wait to go home.  Lots of pep and energy.  Took him home he wanted to play frisbee, eat, and drink water.  Still no poop and that was the final important piece of the puzzle.

Thursday morning, he pooped!  Finally!  So, I closed donations to the GoFundMe and enjoyed Milo all day.

Thursday night he wouldn’t settle to sleep for night.  He kept appearing in the living room or downstairs.  I figured he was trying to tell me something, so I went into the bedroom.  He was on my bed at this point.  He showed me his IV-line battle wound and I acknowledged it then he put his head on me and relaxed.  He was trying to make me understand what had happened to him.  He then went to his own bed for the night and didn’t stir again.  He is such a sensitive and smart boy. Border Collie through and through.

We will never really know if the wood was the problem.  I’m told sometimes you never really know.  All evidence points to small blockage and lots of discomfort.  I will say that dehydration is very serious.  Milo has been sick before but not gotten dehydrated and it caught me off guard.  Apparently, it is difficult to replenish fluids and electrolytes, so we now have a bottle of Pedialyte in the cupboard…just in case.

I’m very grateful this turned out okay.  So scary.  I really thought I may lose him.  It was hard every step of the way to make the best decisions when talking to the vet and ordering tests. 

What I think would be very helpful and everyone feels the same is that veterinary care was the same price 24/7 and equipment was available to all clinics.  Since speaking with many people, I’ve found out it’s not uncommon to have to go to several clinics to get the treatment you need.  The trouble with that is, you choose your veterinarian because your dog loves them, and you trust them.  The stress of changing vets and clinics is not good for the dog or for anyone.

One suggestion I have is for there to be mobile equipment that can be ordered to be used at multiple locations.  So, if I could have ordered a scope and the equipment could arrive on site, that would save so much stress.

This may not be possible, but food for thought maybe a good business opportunity for someone.

I shudder to think of how many pets are unnecessarily euthanized due to finances and inconvenience that could be saved with some planning.

Of course, Nova Scotia can’t get that sorted out for humans, doubtful we will solve it for pets.  However, my hope springs eternal, always.

Love from Milo.

Bits and bobs…and moving rocks about

BEYOND, Gardens

A number of years ago I saw an ad on Kijiji for perennials really cheap like 1-2 dollars each so I drove into Halifax as fast as I could. When I arrived I met a lady who had been gardening for a really long time who had a lovely garden and at first I was surprised the pieces were so tiny but then she explained that gardening is all about moving little bits and bobs around so they will spread out where you want them. I was intrigued, and it was a life changing moment.

Seasoned gardeners will also tell you that a weed is just a plant you don’t like.

And so for a few years I’ve been moving this weed around, treating it as though it is Irish Moss, and for me honestly it works just as well. This is Pearlwort (I’m pretty sure) I just learned yesterday from a little gardening group online. To avoid digging weeds or whippersnipping, you need groundcover or moss in between stones and so I dig out grass and weeds and replace with this little moss-like plant. Voila.

This seems to have popped up in a few spots and I hadn’t noticed it before so must have come in with a perennial additions, it happens. It’s a little weedy, but I love it and I just learned that it is Thyme-leaved Speedwell. So now I have a new crack filling plant. I’ve started pulling it out of the garden and replacing grass and weeds. By the fall things will look a lot tidier and require much less maintenance, so tired of buying spool for the weed whacker…much prefer to spend it on a local brew to enjoy in the garden!

It seems like a ton of work but I have been through all this in a smaller space and about year 3 you see payoff.

Partially due to finances, and primarily because I hate to waste anything I would prefer to slow garden and move things around. I just group things together and move them out if they don’t tickle my fancy over time. I weed in stages. So I pick a demon weed every year. Once again here it is Buttercups. You need to dig deep to remove them and nothing grows where they are. Takes time, especially in an area as large as I’m dealing with now. Other stuff like Chickweed you can just pull out by hand as you go. As you go you learn each year. And usually learn the hard way not to pull every shoot that comes up because you end up chucking out things you planted.

It may be hard to believe, but by June this will be fabulous.

When I moved in 2 years ago it was just lawn and some established perennials on the edge with rail ties to separate it from the driveway.

Again, you really don’t make big progress until year 3, which for me will be this spring/summer so I expect by fall it will be pretty close to perfect and tidy.

The first year I was here I added some shrubs and started weeding and removed one of the rail ties. Last year I started adding perennial flowers and making the area bigger. I just removed a second rail tie yesterday and moved a bunch of giant rocks from other areas of the yard. This is big heavy work and doesn’t look real purdy yet but it will, I promise.

I drag the old rail ties down by my Garlic patch to create a boundary for what will become an expanded veggie garden once I figure out what I can grow other than Garlic that is deer and rabbit resistant. In the meantime that area is starting to fill up with Russian Sage and Allium until I figure it out. More flowers never hurt right?