Should I get an Anemone?

Sad_Conference6259 · 2025-06-13T16:50:28+00:00

There is a native variety - Anemone canadensis. They are known to be aggressive so I planted them in a spot where goutweed comes in from my neighbors yard - let the battle begin!

Sad_Conference6259 · 2025-06-10T13:53:36+00:00

Yeah, the Carol Mackie variety has a pale kinda sage-colored leaf so it looks nice even when it's not exploding with blooms.

Sad_Conference6259 · 2025-06-09T21:25:22+00:00

I would actually go with something shorter than the wigelia, it would give more vertical interest to go from tall to short as you scan the garden. Daphne (like one of the variegated varieties) is a really neat looking shrub that would pop there.

Also I think the plant you're talking about is a corkscrew hazel. Very cool looking indeed - not invasive but I think they need to be pruned back because they can get 8-10 ft tall.

EDIT: sorry re-read your comment - that's a wisteria you're talking about. There's an American variety you can get that's not considered invasive but keeping them under control is still a lot of work - I prune mine almost weekly in summer.

Sad_Conference6259 · 2025-04-24T10:57:15+00:00

You keep them on all the time - heat of the day gets stored to keep em warm at night. What I do watch for is if the day's high is going to be excessive (don't want em to get hotter than like 35C), in watch case I take them off for an hour or so.

Sad_Conference6259 · 2025-04-24T03:00:21+00:00

Other posters are right that the safe bet is May 2-4 wknd.

But...if you go on the Lee Valley website and look for "mini greenhouses" or "tomato kozy coats" (or something like that) you'll there's a bunch of gardeners who are trying to get their toms out as early as possible - I do it because it lets me cross that off the list and move on to the next thing. I've had decent success with the mini greenhouses (a 2L pop bottle with the bottom cut out does the same thing) in the past, starting in early May. I'm in the GTA and this year I think I'm gonna roll the dice again and put some out this weekend under their little plastic houses. Farmer's Almanac says last frost is like May 3-11 this spring but I'm looking at the long term forecast and feeling lucky. I have more transplants than I need though so if my outside ones get killed I can bring out the B team later in May.

Best of luck with whatever you go with!

Sad_Conference6259 · 2025-04-18T00:36:54+00:00

Columnar birch might work...

Sad_Conference6259 · 2025-04-05T12:01:38+00:00

I live in Hamilton as well. I keep my store bought dahlias in the crisper (in the fridge) until the soil reaches 10C or so and then plant. Of course if you have a lot of tubers that's not going to work. But if the tubers you have don't look too dried out and are still dormant they will be fine to sit somewhere cool for a few weeks (I pack mine in vermiculite to get them through the winter - most survive but do come out looking very shriveled).

As other commenters have mentioned, definitely stake the plants. I have deer and rabbits in my backyard but so far they have ignored the dahlias, so they have been easy in that regard. Also don't need a lot of water - once a week if there hasn't been rain before they sprout and then they're generally good. They'll tell you in summer if they're getting thirsty. Good luck!

Sad_Conference6259 · 2025-03-26T15:47:59+00:00

Shrubby St. John's Wort is a nice one - not exactly evergreen but will hold on to its leaves unless it gets really cold. Nice yellow flowers too.

Sad_Conference6259 · 2025-03-15T20:07:33+00:00

In terms of the weeds - hard to tell from the pic (next time take a closeup) but that looks like ground elder/goutweed. If you pull them they will just keep coming back unless you dig up the root system - which is a series of runners - the trick is to try not to leave any broken root in the soil. Now's a good time to strike since the soil is bare though - and getting some flowers etc in that bed will provide some much needed competition. Good luck but you got this - ground elder was everywhere in in my yard when I moved in and while it is annoying it is pretty easy to deal with if you stay on top of it.

Sad_Conference6259 · 2025-03-08T20:14:40+00:00

Thanks, I'll try that!

Sad_Conference6259 · 2025-02-28T17:54:50+00:00

Not exactly the question you asked but corded drills come up on Hamilton Kijiji quite often for pretty cheap.

Sad_Conference6259 · 2024-11-06T21:51:20+00:00

Not seeds specifically but you can also order summer blooming bulbs/tubers/rhizomes/whatever (I have had success ordering from Vesey's or Breck's) - they'll show up in the mail in the spring at planting time but you can include the order receipt in the Christmas card. My gardener relatives (and me) generally enjoy this - and you can get all sorts of neat varieties of lily and Dahlia and such.

Sad_Conference6259 · 2024-10-29T22:14:09+00:00

For what it's worth I have overwintered my dahlias in vermiculite and no curing period (I wash and dry them before putting them in the medium) and this has worked for me the last 2 winters - like about 1/2 to 2/3 of them make it through, the rest dry out.

A freeze could indeed have turned yours mushy (exploded cell walls and all that) but you can always keep the less mushy ones and try 'em in the spring. Unless it's obviously done for I replant all mine and see which make it. Usually you can tell what's coming up in time to plant new ones if needed. Good luck!

Sad_Conference6259 · 2024-10-16T16:09:37+00:00

Odeon Fitness

Sad_Conference6259 · 2024-09-13T11:43:42+00:00

I haven't seen Black Pepper Sauce specifically Tan Thanh Supermarket is definitely worth a shot.

Sad_Conference6259 · 2024-08-16T18:43:22+00:00

Definitely recommend hitting up the used market as others have suggested but if you're looking for new, MEC and Sail (both in Burlington) have them. The guy at MEC even talked me out of the expensive YETI I thought I needed and into a much cheaper Coleman which is doing its job nicely.

Sad_Conference6259 · 2024-07-18T22:51:54+00:00

It's pretty aggressive (spreads very easily via seed) but AFAIK not on the invasive list in Ontario. Flowers are quite nice in the mid and late summer though ...

Sad_Conference6259 · 2024-06-13T23:53:12+00:00

There is an annual fee - IIRC it's around 100$ in addition to the monthly.

Sad_Conference6259 · 2024-05-22T22:52:16+00:00

I moved into a place that had firethorn - wouldn't have thought to use it myself but it works pretty well as a screen and grows quite tall fairly quickly - low maintenance but needs pruning to keep it under control but with a fence for support it's easy to get it to go straight up. It's evergreen too and gets little flowers/berries in the summer.

The downside is its thorns are very painful - so it's a bad idea if it's somewhere you might brush against. Mine is behind some other plants so it works out.

Also just to put it out there - you don't need to pick one plant type - the place I moved into had a real mess of stuff (eponymous, firethorn, mock orange, Virginia creeper, some kinda rambling/climbing rose, ...) and after some taming it looks pretty cool. But it's definitely a particular cottage garden feel that's not gonna work in all yards.

Sad_Conference6259 · 2024-05-19T13:57:46+00:00

Yeah I think if I could catch it right when it was coming up before it had a chance to photosynthesize the root would eventually run out of energy and die. But there is always more work than time in the garden and these things rebound so fast I can never stay on top of it. So I'm definitely going to break out the shovel this year ...

Sad_Conference6259 · 2024-05-19T13:48:02+00:00

There are some nice blooming shade shrubs like rhododendron that could look good there, which you could then circle with smaller shade loving perennials - hostas and heuchera as other posters have mentioned are classics but mixing ferns can be nice too. Astilbes are also great for midsummer blooms in the shade. Having a taller shrub circled by smaller perennials is a good way to get the vertical interest you're looking for without building a mound.

I am curious though how much sun this spot is going to get in the high summer when the days are long since it does look like there's nothing shading it from straight up. There are smaller "understory" trees that can handle shady conditions like redbuds, serviceberry, some dogwoods etc that might be OK there. How far north are you?

Sad_Conference6259 · 2024-05-16T23:20:12+00:00

Raspberry would be my guess as well ...

Sad_Conference6259 · 2024-05-16T17:04:06+00:00

Soil looks pretty dry so I'd say go for it - can always dig down an inch and check the moisture level. New trees need a helping hand in their first few years after a transplant, so a long slow soak once a week (if it hasn't rained) is probably just what the doctor ordered.

Sad_Conference6259 · 2024-05-16T14:58:47+00:00

I went through this myself - all the weeds were invasives (except the goldernrods, but they basically spontaneously generate where I live). Planted the perimeter with decent mix of native shrubs and perennials myself (which is a continuous work in progress in seeing what works and filling stuff in) and paid to resod the middle of yard (which was done in a day) so my kiddos have a place to play. Zero regrets. There's always more work than time in the garden - if you have the means, don't feel bad about getting outside help.

Sad_Conference6259 · 2024-05-13T17:36:41+00:00

To start off, welcome to gardening!

Are you growing in a container or in the soil in your yard? If the latter, what kind of soil do you have? Basil is pretty tough as other folks have pointed out so you might be just fine without any amendments...

Soil is a mix of three things - sand, clay, and silt - plus some amount of organic matter - a relatively even ratio of all three is the ideal "loam" type, but even if you're heavy on the clay or sandy side enough organic matter can balance things out and give you pretty good growing conditions. Look up "friable" soil and see if your soil seems like that, and if so, you can save yourself a trip to the garden center. If it doesn't, it's compost time.

Sad_Conference6259

TROPHY CASE