Life in Aylmer Quebec

I love tulips. They are one of the most dependable flowers and come in such a wide variety. Spring just wouldn’t be quite as lovely without them. Squirrels also have a taste for the bulbs, which really annoys some people, but there is an upside. Sometimes a tulip will come up in the oddest place, which to me is an unexpected treasure. Sometimes a busy little squirrel will forget where he buried his little feast, and come spring time it will bloom. To deter squirrels when you’re planting tulips next fall, there are a variety of things you can try. Blood meal and bone meal, which is very good for the bulbs, has a smell that will deter the little thiefs. They don’t like Narcissus (daffodils) so if you do, plants lots among the tulips! Also, if you have pets, when you brush them, don’t throw out the hair, put it on your tulip bed! If none of these work, you can place wire mesh over top as a barrier, and remove it in the spring. There are some sprays available in garden centers but I’ve never need to try them. I think the Cattery helps to deter them quite well, as does the squirrel lovin’ dog.

My water is brown today. The water coming out of my tap. The city, in its infinite wisdom, is washing the streets. They are refilling the trucks at the fire hydrants. Can someone please explain to me, in this day and age of conservation and going green and the three R’s, why they are washing the streets??? They do, at times, sweep the streets, which I can sorta see, but still think is a bit of waste, especially with gas prices and the whole emissions thing, but wasting tons and tons of water to wash the streets seems quite ludicrous. And from what I’ve seen, the streets were not that bad!! But the end result is brown water coming out of my tap. And no coffee this morning! What a pisser. And the fire hydrant is across the street from me, so every five minutes Sasha (the dog) lets me know that another truck has gone by to refill.

The long weekend is almost upon us. The ‘matrons’ will be descending! The matrons are my Mom, Todd’s Mom, and my Aunt Grethe (Mom’s sister), whom I’ve not seen in almost 5 years, since she and her husband Peter moved back to their beloved Denmark. Her daughter in Toronto had a baby a few weeks ago, so Grethe came back to see her, and will make a quick side trip to visit family and friends here in Ottawa and area. They used to live in Ottawa, and we were fairly close. Peter is a potter and Todd used to really enjoy pottery as well. And he was really really good. So overall, we were sad to see them move, but I guess you gotta do what you gotta do. Grethe was very anxious to move back to her country.

The Annual Wychwood Neighborhood garage sale is also this Saturday. I will be selling tomato plants obviously, hostas, some houseplants, and whatever else we have time to get organized and out the door. Books, lots of gardening magazines, but the main focus is the tomatoes. If you stop by because you’ve read this, please say hi and let me know! We’re on Pine st, at the end. I won’t post the exact address, but you can’t miss it! The kids are exited because they want to have a lemonade and muffin stand. I’ll have to remember to pick up some lemonade. And make some muffins! At least Mom will be here on Friday, maybe I’ll rope her into baking with the girls!

My Zigan tomatoes are looking pretty good. The smaller ones in the front (NAR) are Neves Azorean Red. They look smallish now, but once they are planted they’ll catch up quickly. I can’t wait to try them this year, they have such a good reputation as a tasty, productive tomato.

On Sunday, Meg and I went to the Rare and Unusual Plant Sale, at the Experimental Farm. I hate to admit it, but I was a bit disappointed. There wasn’t really anything extraordinary, except for some of the prices. One vendor was selling little sprigs of Rosemary for $5.00. I know how easy it is to get Rosemary to root, so I wasn’t buying it. I don’t know, maybe I’m cheap, or I just haven’t been plant shopping a lot in the last few years at the ‘hip’ places, but I’ve been to the nurseries, and I read the catalogues so I’m pretty confident I know my prices. Oh well. Such is life. I did buy to little ‘Veronica’ plants. The vendor was really nice, and I couldn’t walk away empty handed!

One for each hand!