Tricia's Musings

Random Thoughts about life in general, living in the big city of Toronto



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I spent a lot of time outside today … busy busy

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Chris and I had a busy day today. We took our puppy Midnight over to the Brickworks for a walk by the ponds and through the forest and while we were there we attended a walking tour of the lost rivers of Toronto. Quite interesting. I took a number of pictures too. I’ll post more about that portion of our day when I have the pictures ready to post.

When we got home we noticed that our neighbor Sofie was sitting on her porch. This was a big surprise because Sofie had a stroke back in February and was hospitalized for about three months and has been living with her youngest sons family for the last month. They brought her for a visit to her home even though there’s no way she can ever live there every again as she needs to be cared for throughout the day now. It was kind of sad, but also very good to see her.

I sat on Sofie’s porch talking with her for about two and a half hours – directly after coming back from our nature hike. I didn’t even go inside my own home to get a drink so by the time my visit with Sofie was over I was thirsty and tired. However after a brief bit of downtime (by this time it was 7 pm) Chris and I decided to go out into the garden to finish putting mulch on the garden beds.

Do you know how messy red cedar mulch is? I’ve got it in my shoes, socks, probably down my top and after washing my hands when I came back inside the bathroom fixtures and sink had a red tone to them. Yep … lots of red dye everywhere! Luckily it came off easily!

It was a busy day! We went out for our hike at about 11 am, didn’t get back until 3:30 and then I visited with Sofie until a bit after 6 pm. Then after only about half an hour of downtime we were back outside in the garden until 10:30 pm! So I guess I spent about 11 hours outside today.

Time for a rest!





Couldn’t they come up with a better name for this flower?

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It’s time for yet another Green Thumb Sunday post, yet as I was just saying on my gardening blog I had a very hard time deciding which pictures to post today.

My garden is probably at it’s high point right now and it’s just packed with blooms! So many lovely flowers to show you, yet how long can I make this post?

Why don’t I show you the peonies today?

They were blooming like crazy last weekend, but they are pretty much done now.

I’m so glad I got a chance to take some photos of them before they were finished.

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Meet Karl Rosenfield – the Peony. Normally it’s red, but as the peony ages it seems to lighten and become more of a deep rose color. I actually think I like it in it’s multicolored glory much better than when it’s just red.

Now this peony, Peony Pecher, is normally a very pale shade of pink or perhaps even coral pink when it first blooms and all it’s petals are packed tight together in an organized swirl, but like the first peony that I discussed this one changes color as it ages too.

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It’s petals loosen and get lighter until you’d swear the flower had always been bright white. I think this peonies petals look almost like a birds ruffled feathers. So pretty.

If you’re wondering what Peonies look like before they bloom they’re the ones with the buds that look like round balls. They are usually sticky with sap and covered in ants ….

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Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information. GTS participants remember to check in at As the Garden Grows each week so that we’ll know you made a new post!

Finally finished the front yard

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Chris and I were busy this evening.

It was a hot day and I’d wanted to finished planting some annuals that I bought a couple of weeks ago, but being such a hot day I didn’t garden during the day. Instead, I waited until it had cooled a bit and then went out.

It was still too hot when we went outside, but we pushed on.

We were outside from about 6:30 until 10 pm! Yeah when I garden I work until I’m finished. So now all the annuals are planted among the roses that are blooming their happy little heads off. We put mulch down too – red cedar – so the garden looks nice and tidy.

It was dark by the time I was done watering and as we put the last of the mulch on the beds so I can’t wait until tomorrow to take a look at our work.

Siberian Irises are blooming

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The White and blue Siberian Irises that I planted in our front boulevard have been blooming for close to two weeks now. The plant clumps have grown quite large and they are just full of lovely flowers like this little beauty.

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They make a gorgeous display and I hope that people walking by on the sidewalk on their way to work each morning enjoy the flowers.

In the backyard the German Irises are just about done blooming but there are still a few of these lovelies to be seen –

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There many different types of irises, but I’ve only tried growing three or four different types so far. My favorites are the Siberian iris and a tiny spring iris called Danfordiae. The last is an early spring blooming dwarf iris that’s absolutely lovely.

Do you grow irises or other spring flowers? ARe they finished blooming now?

Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information. GTS participants remember to check in at As the Garden Grows each week so that we’ll know you made a new post!

Garden awash in flowers

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My garden is alive with flowers this week. Almost all of the rose bushes are heavy with spring blooms and other flowers like my Johnson’s Blue Geranium are going wild.

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Here’s a close up of one of the tiny flowers:

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Needless to say, Chris and I are enjoying the garden this year. The plants are healthy and many are quite a bit taller than they were last year at this time thanks to the heavy winter snow coverage they got a few months ago. I’m sure that protected them and helped keep them healthy.

Even the bumble bees are enjoying the garden. Here’s a little fellow collecting pollen from a tulip.

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How is your garden doing this week? Is it full of blooms too?

Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information. GTS participants remember to check in at As the Garden Grows each week so that we’ll know you made a new post!

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