Thursday, June 03, 2010

Blackfly, the Little Blackfly...

The surviving flowers are doing their best to grown and bloom in our warm weather these past few days.
Some "Blue Diamond" double late tulips which have reached the end of their term in my garden, having miniaturized in their third blooming season:

I spent nearly all of yesterday sweating and grunting as I pried the dead shrubs and perennials out of the ground. Among the dead were the Alchemilla (lady's mantle), Penstemon ovatus, the daylilies, blue oat grass and blue fescue, Aruncus dioicus (goat's beard), lupines, spirea shrubs, Liatris spicata, Chelone (turtlehead), Pulmonaria, Brunnera, Heuchera (coral bells), Dianthus deltoides (pinks), Stachys byzantina (lamb's ears), possibly the Echinacea, and probably some others I have forgotten. As a further insult, the blackflies chewed away at my left ear as I toiled and now I have a painful and puffy red ear to remind me of why I want to move to southern BC. In, the back of my mind was the national film board video about the pesky blackfly (albeit, in northern Ontario). I think any 20+ year old Canadian is familiar with this oh-so-relevant tune from the NFB.

Here is a plant that was undeterred by winter, Saxifraga arendsii "Purple Robe":

I only noticed after I took the picture that there are some horsetail weeds growing in the foreground. Oops.
Also doing well is the Erigeron compositus, which I started from seed two years ago:

I'll bet this plant is called a weed in someone else's garden, but I find it cute and pretty and am presently enjoying it in mine.

6 comments:

Sheryl at Providence North said...

Oh! How horrible! I am sorry you lost all those great plants and flowers!

I like the daisies too and have lots of them, here and there on the property. I am considering making daily flower wine, if I have time to collect the petals.

Philosophical Karen said...

That's awful that you lost all those lovely plants. And blackflies just add insult injury. (Or is that injury to insult?) I guess some years are better than others when you practise extreme gardening the way you do.

Northern Shade said...

How disappointing to lose so many beautiful perennials over the winter. Removing a number of winter-kill plants is not the most fun spring gardening job.

The Saxifraga arendsii 'Purple Robe' have lovely flowers, especially displayed against the rock behind.

Kyna said...

'....always the Blackfly no matter where you go, I'll die with the Blackfly pickin my bones!...in North Ontar-i-o-i-oooo! In North On-tar-i-o!."

:D

I actually had to pull that one up on Youtube to show my husband. Ah, memories...

Blackflies are pretty horrendous. Our summertime sandfleas here on the coast of NC could rival those lottle buggers though, I swear.

Northern Beauty Seeker said...

Ack - such losses really hurt! Some of mine that should have been up weeks ago are just stirring now so maybe there is hope for some of them yet.

Great to hear that song again, sorry it came to mind with blackflies chewing on your ear!

Hang in there!

Faith said...

Nice!