Shishigashira - The Lion's Mane

We haven't even moved yet, and the gardening has started. Our local garden centre has it's annual 40% off sale today, and we drove over to find a Japanese Maple for the new house. We have three Japanese Maples at the current Anchovy World Headquarters, and we're really fond of all of them.

It was tough to make a decision, as there are so many fantastic varieties available. We settled on Shishigashira, the lion's head or lion's mane. It is an upright grower with dense tufts of crinkled deep green foliage on each branch, looking somewhat like the mane of a lion. It tends to be one of the latest Japanese maples to colour in the fall, when it turns golden and red.

The best cat you'll ever meet....

Jerry in his garden.

Saskatoon-berry Crumble

My saskatoon bushes are doing really well, and this year, I have loads of berries. The other day, I made a batch of saskatoon-berry crumble. It's no big deal to make.
I mixed together some flour and some quick oatmeal and some brown sugar and a little salt and a pinch of baking soda and some cinnamon and some melted butter to make the crumble. Then in a baking dish I poured a pile of ripe berries, and on top of that a layer of apple slices. I loaded the crumble topping on top and baked it for an hour.

It was seriously good. Even better, I'm sure I'm going to have enough berries for another batch.

Anchovy Gardens

Happy Canada Day!

Anchovy Gardens

Anchovy Gardens

Cottage Gardens

Homegrown Tomatoes

Well, tomatoes have been in the news. People are getting sick in America from eating tomatoes. How can that be? Is it some nasty stuff farmers are feeding the plants to increase yield? Meanwhile out in back of Anchovy World Headquarters, my tomato plants are looking mighty fine. The weather has been excellent for them and the plants are getting big and sturdy and there's going to be a lot of fruit.

I love homegrown tomatoes. Did you know that Guy Clark wrote a tune in praise of the homegrown tomato, called, you guessed it, Homegrown Tomatos. Here's Guy (sorry, it's just a snippet of the tune):

I think John Denver did a cover of this tune, didn't he?

Gardens, Anchovy World Headquarters

Rhododendrons

This rhododendron has been at Tuffy's dad's cottage for years, and has finally bloomed for the first time.

Anchovy Gardens

The back 40

There is a hidden stone patio behind the red Japanese Maple.

Anchovy World Headquarters

The front garden is starting to grow in nicely.

Garden Artifact, Anchovy World Headquarters

In the Garden

This is the rock garden and the front garden here at Anchovy World Headquarters.

The Garden is Waking Up

...at Anchovy World Headquarters....
Daffodils in the backyard
Bleeding Hearts love our garden
The Butterfly Japanese Maple is just ready to burst into leaf
Tulips in front of the front porch
The front garden is waking, bit-by-bit

Garden Clean-up Day

Time to unwrap the patio furniture, clean up old dead branches, fix the trellises....

and a few more shots....

I declare the backyard project done

Gardens are never finished, a quality that makes them delightful. Projects, however, have beginnings and ends, and the crazy landscaping project I started a couple months ago is done. Today, I added one last garden. I call this one our recycled garden, because I made it with all the leftover bricks and stones once everything else was complete. For now, I've planted some annuals, but next year, this will be a small veggie and herb patch. Next, Tuffy P and I are thinking about introducing more and more mosaics....

Rock Garden

Well, here's the rock garden I've been working on. It's going to look a lot better when all those new plants settle in, and spread around a bit - but you can get a good idea now my vision for the overall garden.