A Busy Place

I love my garden and love the idea that it’s tied to the natural space behind it (west of the Falaise St-Jacques and east of railway tracks and Meadowbrook Golf Course). Wild plants come in from the back of the property. Everything is always changing. We’ve been feeding the birds seeds for about 5 or 7 years now but more and more I’d like the garden to produce the food for them and I add plants that may do that. Trees surround the property, providing shelter and food - lilacs, red oak, silver maple, ash, Manitoba maple, apple, cedar, honeysuckle. I have planted Diervilla, clethra, elderberries, blueberries. There are raspberries. Native columbines and pink bee balm are doing well. Last year I added bunchberry and this year the cardinal flowers seem to have taken but I’m not so sure about the Canadian lilies which seemed to melt away but I hope will return next year. We also have many types of non-native perennials and some annuals. We have a shaded bird bath in the yard and a heated one on the deck. Because so many lilacs were broken or uprooted by the snow last December and April we now have a woodpile of some of the wood. A few weeks ago I saw a chipmunk here for the first time ever. I also saw a very large dragonfly I’d never seen here before. Though still from time to time, the garden is usually a busy place!