The Dangerous Mouth of the Rose

first week of June: SUCCESS :)

2011-06-05T09:50:00.000-07:00

After a week and a half of steady rain, my vegetable garden seeds have finally popped! I can see distinct areas that were planted with veggies, perennials and annual fill-ins. The last week of May and the first week of June are fraught with fear for a Calgary gardener: was it too wet? Was it too cool? Was there a frost when i wasn't looking? Has there been enough sun? Did i plant in the right spot?????????

The hollyhocks bed that was decimated last year by scale infestation has not recovered. There are only maybe 7 plants left along the side, though the 5 left at the very front of the house are going strong, probably aiming for being 12' high again! I've thrown in lupin, pink ruffled poppy and malva seeds, hoping they will fill in.

Still nothing popping up in the planter baskets on the patio. It's been so rainy and the temperatures have been below normal for this time of the year, even for Calgary.

the wild flower garden

2011-06-05T09:32:00.000-07:00

I've wanted to have a section like this since i was a child. Somewhere in Mom's basement, there's an old home movie of the family on a woodsland walk and me at 3 years old asking, completely bewildered, "But where are all the flowers??" Every storybook showed that in the woods, there were millions of flowers blooming all the time!!! I remember it was a a beautiful sunny Autumn day, looking up at towering trees and walking along leafy strewn paths--but no flowers.....

When my parents bought the home where i spent most of my young and early teen years, Mom immediately put in a section by the back fence that was soon filled with all sorts of whatever wild blooms she found anywhere. I remember trilliums, sweet william, marsh marigold, tiny violets and know there were many more, but not sure now.

Originally i was going to dig up a section by the intertwined lilac and honeysuckle at the immediate back of the house side fence, but with the monster house now beside us, that area stays too wet and cool for most plants. The optimum spot is now at the front of the property by the sidewalk. It gets morning sun and cool breezes, is shaded from the heat in the afternoon by a very old lilac and already hosts delphiniums that have self seeded, lily of the valley, a poppy, chives. hollyhocks and lilies.

I hope these little darlings that i "thrifted" :) from a hillside by the highway in Kananaskis Country survive. The root systems were so tenacious, going down a lot further than i expected for such small beauties. I guess when water and nutrients are at a premium, survival dictates drilling far down!

This entry was actually written on this "posted" date, but i'm finishing it on the 25th of June---these small beauties have transplanted well, but not grown much. And i discovered that the wintergreen is wintergreen, and 200 metres away from the house, they grow right by the river and are 2 to 3 feet tall! Really shows how plants adapt!! I think i will put one of the small purple violets by the white ones in the front side as well, to see if they get as large as them.

Lulubelle Lightning joins the family

2011-05-24T12:29:00.000-07:00

I've always wanted a donkey, a boy donkey. I can't have one in the city however, so this, a present from my dear Greyman, will henceforth be known as Lulubelle Lightning. I love him already :) Yes, that is so a boy donkey's name.

Rather than regular plant choices from the nursery, gowdzawfully known as "pot stuffers", i decided to use some of the seeds i've been hoarding since before we moved to Calgary. I hope they are still viable! In one pot i have nemesia, silene and red cypress vine, in another nemophilla and chilean glory vine, and in a third, white cypress vine and ruffled hot pink morning glories. If they sprout and grow and bloom, the back patio will be spectacular--unless they all end up a mere scraggly one bloomed foot.........

Threw some of the sunflowers that are supposed to get to 14' in the same bed as last year, mixing them with some Hyacinth bean, which will look specTACular!

Though i actually wrote this entry on May 24/11, these photos below are from June 9, and i'm finishing this entry on the 25th of June, a strange timeline i know, but life and art have been in the forefront for most of the last month!

The veggie garden to that date:

Part of the side garden at front:

The apple tree wasn't as floriferous this year, despite better care, BUT the flowers are a lot bigger: hopefully that means the apples will be too! We worry about the lack of bees though.......

These gorgeous tulips lasted from the last week of May until just this week (the 25th of June) spectacular colour, size and shape! I just wish i'd written down the variety!!! I had forgotten i planted allium as well. In this photo they are just starting to open.

the serious stuff starts

2011-05-15T13:57:00.000-07:00

But it's fun too :)

My zonal hydrangea DID survive, spied little leaf buds today!

The side of the garage was gravelled in: it won't be nearly as blued with self seeding delphs and rover bells this year, but it also won't be a spot for wasps and mosquitos to hide. The monkshood and one icy blue delph fought their way up so they are being protected and nurtured!

And the tulips BLOOMED this year after clearing the old dead hollyhocks and garden debris away from the bulbs.

The poppies are starting to gear up. Loaded this year, they are one of my favourite escapees :)

What i "remembered" as planting as hyacinth, is actually giant allium!

The artemesia this year is being encouraged instead of ruthlessly ripped out :) Good green dyestuff!

Got Stevia in the front side garden now so the dill will shade it, and oregano by the mesclun lettuces and chives.

Managed to score some orange and yellow Ascepias roots and have thrown them in a freshly dug area back by the compost. Though it's near that, the soil is poorer there, apparently what the Butterfly weed likes. Put the Gallium (Lady's Bedstraw) and some Eryngium (White Globe Thistle) in the same bed. Until it's established, i had to mini greenhouse the area so Nessie wouldn't "helpfully" redig the area for me!

The damn strawberry roots i had bought last month succumbed, so though i doubt they'll regroup, i've potted them up with 2 small plants in a side tipped winter damaged pot by the Sea Buckthorn. They'll get lots of sun there, but be shaded from the worst time of our extremely intense Calgary summer sun. And they too are also temporarily Glassed because of Dog...

This section will also be dug up, in strips as time permits, then fenced in for another 15x9' bed for some dedicated veggie gardening.

Reloacted all the poor purple Flags. Though they bloomed profusely the first summer we were here, most of them have since rotted. The front of the house is too damp and shaded for them so i've put them in the end of the side along the house where i pulled out rotted hollyhock.

Shifted ferns around in the front as well, threw in a fiddlehead one today picked up at Canadian Tire for 3.50 (!!!!!!) and added some more delphs kindly supplied by Ninja Y.

Does anyone know what this is? A fast growing creeper, i kind of like it and decided to let most of it be. It grows everywhere and in all kinds of soil and conditions by the number of places i've found it. Not sure if it's a perennial or a self seeding indigenous annual.

I rethunked the area where i want indigenous wild things to grow. The area has to be not great soil, but not crappy, semi shaded for part of the day and sort of out of the way for bugs and butterflies.

Right by the corner where the lilac and honyeysuckle are, the shade will be helped with the addition of that freekin' monster house that took the place of the 100 year old cotttage that was there last summer....... And thank goodness, a tall wooden fence will be going up along that side so i won't have to look at it, or hear their damned noisy venting!

And this week's plans are to dig that new section of veggie and PLANT!!!!!!!!!!

everything survived!!!

2011-05-11T16:20:00.000-07:00

A fabulous surprise above! Though this False Indigo had been grown specifically for our climate, i was afraid it hadn't survived, but when i GENTLY and lovingly and praying brushed aside the mulch, there were little green leaf buds at the bottom--YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!

Below, the violets i rescued last year from the now vanished garden next door, and a bleeding heart i bought that was frozen until last week!

Above, sedum and peony.

Two kinds of Astilbe above, one pink, one purple.

Above Aquilegia and Euphorbia.

Below, 3 kinds of Hosta:

Trollius and Lady's Mantle below:

Below is what the side garden where there were only herbs and lettuce last year mixed with whatever was indigenous and went wild, looks like for this summer:

I planted the dill, a mesclun lettuce mix, 5 kinds of basil, spinach, green onion, rocket and red and green leaf lettuce today. Note to self: don't sow tiny seeds when it's extremely windy! I have a sore back, neck and elbows from contortions made to protect the handful from that air :)

It may not look exciting but it took me 2½ hours, from weeding and working the soil, deciding where to put what, the planting, the watering and the covering with fine net to keep the cats out.

Next up will be a completely new area being dug up on the other side of that fence on the right where a lot of other things will go, from potatoes and tomatoes to zukes, cukes and carrots.

Now *i* need a drink--and i don't mean water!

okay, it IS Spring in Calgary!

2011-05-02T12:29:00.000-07:00

When the ground can be dug deep enough to pull up rhubarb roots, it is Spring officially :) Oh, we may well have a couple more frosty nights and a few more dumps of that damn white stuff (a 4 letter word i will not say in May!) but for all intents and purposes it has finally arrived.
Nessie the DogFaced Girl enjoys gardening and a day spa of natural muds in Calgary.
Happier than a "Pigin" i'd say :)
The roots are hanging in a sunny, windy spot to dry. They'll be a perfect addition to the natural mordant section of the Dyeing Dungeon!

Peat pots piling up!

2011-04-30T14:26:00.000-07:00

What's a garden, especially the garden of a 100 year old house, without Shasta Daisies???

I didn't realize that the white Cypress Vine is a sister to the red one i also bought seeds for earlier(previous post here). I planned to plant these white ones where the hedge no longer is, having been pruned back severely because of "fire blight"--maybe i'll mix half of each package for that and plant the rest elsewhere. Have to throw in the clematis seeds and think the textures of the Japanese and Western with these Ipomoeas will be gorgeous! These "cypress vines" grow anywhere from 15-20 feet and are self seeding. I'll rescue some of the seeds at the appropriate time and let some fall to see if they can survive here.

I tried the Chilean Glory Vine a few years back when we lived in Burnaby (part of Vancouver, so that tells you the climate there :) ) but didn't pay attention much to starting them earlier, or more carefully, than everything else. Apparently they are quite capricious in germination, so have to keep my hoofies crossed and the peat pots in a warm and well lit spot to encourage them to sprout. I like a a bit of exoticism sprinkled in amongst the tried and true "period" flowers! They are an annual and i may just put them in a hanging basket.

Vines are my favourite in a garden. They can hide bald spots, create privacy, attract more birds and bees and usually are stunningly beautiful, in flower or leaf form. You can "topiary" them in a sense, shaping them on wire armatures, let them drape where they please or accent a natural feature like a stump, or a deliberate placement of statuary.

I remember my first garden in my late teens (London, Ontario), abundant with the glorious colours of coleus and zinnia and huge spreading masses of blue morning glory that climbed the house walls and reached over the roof to the other side--absolutely gorgeous. Alas, i have no pictures, and every year i attempt growing morning glories, hoping for something more than the stunted 2 foot 2 bloom miseries i get.............maybe this year??????

The fence is done, though we have yet to put the finishing rail on top and a proper gate attachment. Nessie is pleased she gets to go outside more often and for longer periods without me freaking out about where she is. I do wish the grass would green up faster though--she blends in right now with the Calgary brown and sometimes i can't "see" her :) I'll have to get some edging for certain areas of flower bed so she doesn't dig----definitely a favourite dog activity that will be relegated to ONE spot!

The nerines and peruvian daffodils are getting green and taller, the strawberries are struggling to break the soil, and the poor raspberry is losing leaves. Hopefully the special lights we have in the new grow area will help them all.

Now i'm off to pot more peats up!

first dirt of the season under the nails!

2011-04-23T13:01:00.000-07:00

YEAH! WOOT! WHOO HOO!!!!!!

The ground is surprisingly easy to dig though we've had a very long winter this year with more snow than usual. (Yeah, Calgary does get snow, but it usually disappears fast each time because of the Chinook winds we regularly get--not so this season......)

I had to move small patches of iris, lily and nymph glads because we are putting a new fence from the edge of the house on either side to each neighbour's fence--otherwise Nessie the Dogfaced Girl runs around the neighbourhood like a fruitbat after nectar. The front hedge didn't keep her in; she kept finding semi open spots to slurk through, and now it's gone anyways, having had to be cut right down due to fire blight. Looks SO ugly! I'll have to plant viners through it to cover while it recovers, possibly a couple of years. The western and japanese clematis seeds i collected last year will come in handy there.

I also scored some framed glass panels from the little greenhouse attached to the old house on the corner. They'll become cold frames. That poor house will be demolished just like last year's neighbouring house and some monstrosity will go up in it's place. There was no garden at all, so can't "midnight supply" anything this time! I also pried off the two old wooden trellises fronm the front, and 2 long window shutters, all destined to hold more viners up.

Can't really plant yet. That doesn't get done until at least the May long weekend here---still a danger of frost, or gawdz forfend, snow! I did pot up my nerine and peruvian daffodil bulbs, the raspberry bush and strawberries, and a couple of scaveola and flaming F me pink geraniums. The raspberry and strawberries will be put in the ground at the proper time, but for now, with them sprouting, i had to put them in something to keep them going. They'll spend time in the basement under special lighting.

Got peat pots and soil too to start seedlings in a week or two, still too soon and have to watch the available space under the lights!

I poured a goodly amount of sheep poo over the hollyhock bed and tulips popping up. Hopefully some additions to that area will strengthen enough that we don't get a repeat of the horrible infection/infestation we had there last year. Burned everything i could at the time and dug, cleaned and raked down as deep as possible!

Rats, i missed the heritage bean handout in the neighbourhood.........

Haven't unbanked the false indigo or blueberry bushes yet, though it's probably (semi) safe to.

So nice to be out in short sleeves again!

i'll MAKE it Spring!

2011-04-15T14:54:00.000-07:00

Mother Nature is as confused and impatient as i am right now: My bulbs have forced green arms above the surface, enthralled by several days of double digit temps, but this morning are cold bitten and goosebumply under another SNOW. I miss the West Coast Spring when everything EXPLODES at once.

Perhaps it's my fault: i'm forcing SUMMER:

Some of the seeds are for dye materials and ecoprinting. And Greyman has lascivious dreams of fresh strawberries, raspberries (and blueberries, planted last year--we feasted on 7 berries.....).

dy(e)ing for spring

2011-04-01T06:47:00.000-07:00

I hear the cherry blossoms are exploding in Vancouver......................my backyard and neighbourhood are morasses of muddy puddles, banks of dirty old snow and brown brown brown grass...........time to dig out the gardening books! I've been researching what dye plants could be added---our zone is hard though, a 3a with unpredictable seasons: apparently there's never been a month in Calgary when we haven't had a snowfall.

I hope my false indigo has survived the winter: bred here in an Alberta greenhouse so that it's hardy for our capricious climate, i banked it well with mulch and then snow. The calendulas will pop back as will the marigolds and hollyhocks. I have also found out that a "weed" in our garden has similar properties to Madder, a plant that won't grow here. Bedstraw (Galium family) roots yield a red dye!

I'll be planting red amaranthus, letting the artemisia grow as it does spectacularly in the herb bed, transplanting yarrow from the berm across the street, and starting yellow cosmos for the oranges :) I'm hoping i can find some Russian Sage as well (Perovskia atriplicifolia) as it's supposed to give a blue! (I'm sure i've seen it in gardens or gone wild here!) Will have to experiment with that--not sure what mordant to use, or how lasting the colour is........

Of course, there will also be the Eater's part of the garden, and the Looker's as well:)

Since our sunflowers last year that were to be 3-5' tall got to be 5 and 7', i'm wondering about that seed packet above--those ones are supposed to be 14' tall! I really hope they DON"T get bigger than that!

And are those really morning glories? The leaves are so different. Well, according to online googling, they are a member of the family, but self seed at apparently an alarming rate----which is fine for me, assuming they survive the winter here. We have good neighbours and good fencing, but it's still nice to have some cover that is natural. I plant as many vining types of plant as i can along those edges and usually just hope for the best.

For the patio--which WILL be finished this spring, right, dear Greyman????---i'll be starting these next week inside.

The "Spider Lilies" are actually Nerines, and the "Peruvian Daffodils" are Hymenocallis, both being in the Amaryllis family. I love these "exotic" tropical bulbs, showy and usually fragrant.

This year will also bring a new adventure/participant/pest to my garden: we have Nessie, the Dogfaced Girl! She dug 2 big holes in 2 separate beds last October but hopefully is looooong past that stage by the time spring does arrive!

Hollyhock heaven

2010-09-19T12:58:00.000-07:00

Last year, the side bed was like this in September, just gorgeous!

This year:

the beginning of the end of the season

2010-09-13T08:16:00.000-07:00

Anyone know what kind of bee she is? Colour co-ordinated with the sunflower!

These sunflowers were supposed to grow to 3 to 4'==ha! Most are eye level to me, and i'm 5'9", and some are over my head!

This is what was left of the hollyhocks when i cut them down:

No leaves at all......i've saved a lot of buds though for natural dyeing, having got gorgeous purples and bluey purples from the first experiment.

going to hollyhock heaven i guess

2010-08-31T08:03:00.000-07:00

I had to cut down 80% of my beautiful hollyhocks. They were covered in an infestation of scale and by the time we realized that's what it was, it was too late to spray (and yes, i go the organic route with that sort of thing)---i managed to save some seeds from each colour (did the bees cross pollinate because we have 5 colours this year, and last year there were only 3!). The stalks and all will be bagged and disposed of, instead of going in the compost, damn it. I have managed also to save a lot of blooms that had fallen, and they will be bagged for natural dyeing use at a later point.

natural dyeing

2010-08-25T16:35:00.000-07:00

Purty boring, ay? I will leave them for a month; the previous "solar dye" in the glass pickle jar was started on Aug 4, with a small piece removed today (Aug 25), and some still in to be scooped out the middle or end of September. I figure that too will be the end of our summer heat, such as it has been! Nothing to say though that one can't do the same on a warming pad or electric blanket--WITH PROPER SAFETY PRECAUTIONS, or BAZORT!!!!!!!!!!!! The notations are how many buds i used (dried), the amount of DISTILLED water, and the date and content of the fabrics. "HIB"= hibiscus, "HH"=hollyhocks. Quite quite scientific. I did manage too to differentiate the hollyhock buds as the deep almost black burgundy dry out to a, well, a deep almost black burgundy :) I have a pinker bud bucket also soaking, but you get the idea here. All of the flowers were grown in my garden with no chemical fertilizers or pesticides.

Crossposting this with the tag "natural dyeing" on albedo

Hotspots ---and HORRORS

2010-08-25T12:33:00.000-07:00

The sunflowers:

The calendulas, for dyeing naturally. Look at the colours!!!!!!!!!

And the HORROR! My poor Hollyhocks! I thought they just had a bad case of rust, something they are susceptible to and always have no matter what you do. But then i started noticing the leaves were getting more curled and dried up. Then i saw black bugs, then i saw what was under the leaves. OMG, what IS THIS??????????

I'm thankful they have already bloomed, but am wondering why this happened this year, and particularly on such a large scale. The ones by the patio have signs of it, though not as devastating (YET?), and the ones in the very front where there is more shade and cooler temps have little signs of this pest.

I hope whatever it is, we can control or destroy it by natural means, and that the ground won't be affected by whatever it is and whatever we use. Was it because this year was rainier and cooler? Was it because they hadn't been taken care of before and suddenly decided to upchuck the whole show? We love these plants and want to save them!

wild seed erratum

2010-08-22T16:51:00.000-07:00

I didn't get milkvetch (lathyrus ochroleucus)--i got wild licorice (glycyrriza lepidota)!

collecting wild seeds

2010-08-22T15:54:00.000-07:00

First of all, if you must do this, collect safely and responsibly: If there are only 1 or 2 plants in the area, DO NOT COLLECT BY ANY MEANS as there may be sexual characteristics inherent in each, do not cut everything from one plant, do not dig up if seeds are available, do not trample or hurt surrounding vegetation and make sure your clippers are CLEAN.

We went out to Kananaskis country near Elbow Falls and i collected a handful of seeds from these plants on a high ridge in an open meadow. They too will go in the wild area of our garden. Seeded this year, they will be scarified by winter and hopefully sprout in the spring and succeed in our particular mini-clime.

There are white, pink and purple cranesbills,which is a true geranium (what we call geraniums in our gardens are actually a type of pelargonium), asters, milkvetch, indian paintbrush in a deep red and a deep pink, a gaillardia, and one unknown specimen, yellow in colour and with tubular shaped flowers spaced closely and obliquely to each other along one side in a bunched area on the stem.

The vetch pods are fascinating:

OOPS! Checked my "Plants of Alberta" book and the yellow flower i couldn't identify at first is yellow rattle (rhinanthus minor)--forgot i had the book until just this minute!

Gaillardia is native to North and South America in myriad colours and "styles":

It's also a good thing that i know the difference between locoweed (oxytropis)and milkvetch (lathyrus)as they are similar--however locoweed flowers grow more upright and look more pealike--they are quite toxic!

I also collected a dried seedhead of something i will be disposing of--it could be Cow or Water Parsnip---or HEMLOCK, something i should know better about!!! I will say to myself too this time--DO NOT COLLECT IF IT"S SIMILAR TO ANYTHING TOXIC. The guidebook will be going with me from now on!

rare find

2010-08-22T15:21:00.000-07:00

This plant wasn't growing in this spot last year--or maybe it's just because this summer has been wetter, cooler and greener. On a walk yesterday with my son along the Bow river and by a footpath beside the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, i found 7 of these plants. Very healthy, in various stages of bloom and ranging from 10" to 2' tall, they are dalea purpurea or purple prairie clover.

The bud looks like the coned centre of an echinacea, until those purple bits, the true flowers and stamens) splurb out!! (bottom left side of second photo)The flowers as they develop from little budlets extend until the shape is almost 2" long. Fascinating find!

They have a long tap root and do well in full sun, almost any soil conditions and like it on the dry side. Often they are destroyed by overgrazing of cattle and sheep in prairie fields and i have NEVER seen one before or even heard of them!I've marked the spot discretely and will collect seeds in a week or so, for planting in an area of our yard that has been designated for a more wild, natural state. Next year will see if the plan works :)

garden next door gone, BUT

2010-08-17T09:03:00.000-07:00

a garden worth dyeing for

2010-08-15T16:03:00.000-07:00

There isn't a lot in there yet that is strictly for dyeing, as when the season started, i had no idea how many plants of that use would be able to be grown in our short seasoned, harsh wintered Zone 3A.

I did plant a false indigo, originally used by settlers, and now grown specifically in Alberta for this zone's eccentricities. There were a few flowers when i bought and planted it but they have since died off. It seems to have settled in though and while slow growing, is healthy and with new growth.

The above photo is from someone else's garden; mine looks like this:

It's grown about 8" since i planted it and is almost 3' tall now. I'm still not quite sure what to do with this to turn any part of it to dye, but am hoping that India Flint's "Eco Colour" book, which will arrive early September in my sweaty little hoofies, may have some clues! I'm sure too that it will be next year before i can use it as i want it really established in the garden.

Of course, i planted calendulas and marigolds:

I wonder if the different blooms give different variations of colour? The nice thing too is that both calendulas and marigolds will self seed and survive our winter climate.

My hollyhocks ARE bigger and more floriferous already than last September! The photo directly below shows the ones by the patio that are 10 feet high now!!!!

And down the side of the house:

I thought i'd try drying the finished blooms and seeing if they do anything:

Gawdz know there will be tons of them to try with!

I'm doing some solar dyeing with the spent blooms from the Hibiscus Syriacus, and drying some as well for later use. This jar has been outside since Aug 4th and is now showing a rich grey. I'm leaving it for at least another 2 weeks and possibly 4 more at the most.It has a bit of alum as a mordant, but am unusre what will happen when it's rinsed and dried. Kim Baxter Packwood has some info on shifting the Ph to get certain colours and i shall have to research that as well. The day i started it:

The day after (Aug 5th):

And today (Aug 15th):

The dried buds:

And that's this installment of dyeing in the garden :)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I found this beside the garage, one plant only. I've never seen monkshood this colour before, being used to the deep midnight blue we get at the flower mines. I'm leaving it be, will capture seeds when they are ready and try transplanting as well, as i know these winter here by themselves.

Look at the violet stripes down the middle of the interior!!!

And to prove the Power of the (Sheep)Poo:

Since Aug 2nd, they have grown 2' at least!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And thank goodness i raided the garden next door! Now the place looks like this:

There are still a few flowers left along the side; if i can get over the fence before they come back to haul everything away and in the process flatten what's left, i'm going for it!!!!!

August is b(l)ooming!

2010-08-02T14:32:00.000-07:00

We discovered that some of the bird seed we had thrown out during the winter to feed the local finches has sprouted! Below, flax and corn:

The mini roses i rescued from work are starting to bloom again. The flowers may be small, but the plant itself will get tall and be covered in blooms. Mini only refers to the bloom size! I had a pot of these in Burnaby BC that reached 6 feet!

Dug up asters, campanula, more lilies, sweet williams in pink and white and veronica from next door yesterday--instant garden bed! I did feel i was digging a grave because of the size and shape of the new bed :), but wanted to make sure it was deep enough to add a good layer of sheep poo to the bottom before i stuck these babies in.

I swear the poo works by the hour!!!!

More saved lilies from next door!

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM, mesclun lettuce mix--lettuce be glad!!!

I thought Aquilegia liked full sun, but here it is hiding behind the hollyhocks in the front bed that gets sun only in the early morning!

the benefits of the little baabaabaas poo

2010-07-30T10:48:00.000-07:00

One of my favourite lines from "Zorro the Gay Blade" .... :)

Sheep manure! Er, pardonez moi, sheep "compost" (how'd they get the wool and bones out?)AHEM. Anyways, i tried regular old cow poop and that didn't seem to do much for things, so got 3 bags of sheep. (Baa baa black poo, have you any ---oh whatever..)
Now maybe it's just a combination of things like timing, sun, increased rain and heat or maybe it's the poo, but i can see a VISIBLE difference in the garden.

Four days ago, pre-pooping:

And today, pooped:

The lilies were dug up from next door, and now i see there's a yellow one amongst the red :)

Everything is going crazy! Look at the ivy geranium and scaveola now, with the hollyhock behind:

Last year there were 2 stalks there, tall and rangy with only a few blooms! And behind that in the herbs and veggies, that hollyhock is nuts as well, again 10 times more stalks and blooms and height than last year this time!

The scarlet runner beans there are starting to pop as well. No sign of blossoms for the green beans yet.

And the Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus Syriacus) today:

Unfortunately the flowers last only one day. They also bruise and tear easily because of the size--i swear a bee flying into one left black spots, and the wind plays havoc as well. Worth it though for the sheer gigantic beauty!

garden surprises

2010-07-29T16:00:00.000-07:00

In the big corner pot on the shelf of the patio, i was peering in to deadhead when i discovered these:
A begonia of some sort!
And below,surprise amongst the petunias, verbena and geraniums, a gorgeous little burgundy impatiens that hides in the shade of its neighbours in a very hot sunny location!

THIS was a SPECTACular surprise:

ALL of the ones that had blooms open in the store were pink, so i figured i would get pink too! (Like the geranium on the right)
Also known as Rose of Sharon, i MIGHT be able to winter this over heavily mulched and protected, or bring cuttings in, or bring the whole thing in. Gardening in Zone 3 is a bitch for wintering!!!!!!
That's Greyman's hand for size comparison!

end of July show!!!!!!

2010-07-27T07:59:00.000-07:00

Though we've had a LOT more rain than usual in Calgary, my garden is finally shaping up!

Below, this is "white herb"--i liked the fragrance of the leaves, and it can be used as a tea. Most herbs have rather innocuous flowers but this one really surprised me! Since i don't think it will over-winter here, even mulched, i'll be taking slips in the fall and wintering it as a small plant.

The herb and veggie garden are a real tangle at first glance, but i've been keeping things close to improve the water retention and plucking weeds from between as soon as they happen. The only problem is that the herbs in the centre are shadowing the cucumbers! I'll have to trim down and tie back some so there's more sun in there! The beans i had planted as a twangled mess have taken off and are beginning to bloom.

Mo "helping" me:

These bluebells are a rover, quite invasive actaully and the devil to get rid of in certain areas, as they have a long taproot--if you break it, it sends up new plants! As long as i can keep them out of the veggies, they are welcome everywhere else :)

We STILL haven't got the trellises up on the patio enclosure! When B and W were here, we simply pinned up a bronze sheer for the illusion of privacy, and after they left, put up the green. We thought maybe of using a white duck canvas, but quickly realized that with the winds we get here in Calgary, and especially on this corner of the house, that they would soon be shredded. And knock everything down behind and in front! Actual open woodwork trellises are still on the menu then.......

The hollyhocks at the side of the house aren't as tall as last year, but a lot thicker and more branched, so if the trade off is less height and more blooms, i can live with it. We seem to have a new colour too--did the bees cross pollinate? All i remember from last year is a burgundy, an almost red, a pink and a pink with white, not this deep pink colour!

The verbena and lobelia on the front railing seem to love the semi shade and are blooming splendiferously! I regularly deadhead, and they just keep going!

Have yet to hide that horrible green plastic with moss, and cut off the end of the wood support--too much to do!

The Rover bluebells and the Hollyhocks share a lot of space and get along nicely:

There's fortunately a demolition hold on the old house next door, and i have been going over regularly to check on what's left. On the weekend i found these and will be moving them tomorrow to our yard. The first large poppies i had moved have sprouted again, but i planted them in too shady an area i think. The second batch was put in a sunnier corner, but i accidentally broke the taproot and they turned up their toes and croaked.

Down the side of the garage we have left it rather wild. There are pale blue delphiniums and lots of Rovers there too!

The delphiniums self seed and are surrounding the lilac in the front of the yard as well.

Next entry, the patio plants!

And into July..

2010-07-08T07:54:00.000-07:00

We've had so much rain this year, that things are still growing slowly.

The corner of the patio gets a lot of sun, but so far, my calendulas and thunbergia are quite small. The passionflower either isn't coming up or is still to pop out!

Inside is a different story, with the corner of my studio going nuts! The passionflower in the corner is going wild, with the two mandevillas catching up!

Outside on the patio too are several of the plants i rescued from work, destined for the trash because no one will buy if there are no blooms. Copious amounts of water, fertilizer and (some/enough) sun have transformed this one to a winner:

And what’s in the middle of it? The sparrow that had built the nest in one of our garden centre plants abandoned it when she realized there was just too much activity for safety and babies. I rescued that as well, such a delicate sweet little construction. Hard to believe it was feet and beak that created this!

This is the hollyhocks along the side of the house last year at the same time. They're showing stalks of bloom up high and were not as plentiful:

This year, though they are not as tall yet (more rain and less sun??), they are also stronger, fuller and many of them have more than one flower stalk. It should be an incredible show in a few weeks!

I hadn't realized that where i had planted my vegetables and herbs was where a SPRUCE had been cut down--needless to say, a lot of composting and fertilizing, with a fall application of lime coming up, has had to be done to keep anything growing in that acidic soil. A lot of my seeds just didn't come up in a lot of places, period--too cold, too wet. A real learning experience this year, so next year should be phenomenal. My neighbour said no one who lived here ever gardened or did anything with the yard, so we quite frequently get *all* of the neighbours peering over the fence to see what i'm doing :) We're building a patio enclosure for privacy and mother in law gave us her patio furniture--including a lovely lounge chair---and i have tons of baskets and pots out there of plants i've rescued from perdition at the store. They always come back for me :) I like sitting out there with my stitching, a glass of iced coffee--and the SuperSoaker to keep track of the "kids"--Mo and Missy behave for the most part, as they are older, but Slapshot keeps trying her twisted hoofies to get out of the yard--we swear she's BiPolar but we love her tiny little BB brain anyways. We joke that Mo is the dog, Missy our daughter and Slapshot the only Cat we really have!

Some of the stuff that was here already has gone bonkers because it was strongly established and because now it's being taken care of properly: our lilacs and white honeysuckle bush were phenomenal this year. The rhubarb is huge, the peonies are spectacular and the dandilions are NUTS :) Unfortunately, the freaking mosquitos are a REAL problem this year--i haven't been bitten so much since i was a kid! None of them in BC ever bothered with me!

I started buying "Gardens West" every month and have a journal where i've written down the mishaps, the successes, where i've planted things and where to mulch in the fall, to winter over stuff. As we're zone 3, it's tough finding stuff that "sticks" but the local nurseries and growers are getting better at this every year. I even planted some false indigo and maybe next year i can do some prairie dyeing with it.

I was out stitching on the patio yesterday and looked up to see this:

A true gift, a small thrill of pleasure from nature and my hand too :)

some sumsumsummertime finally!

2010-06-13T07:33:00.000-07:00

Columbine above, one bought, one "midnight supplied".

Above, herb and veggie garden turning into the "back forty".
Below, flats used to protect seeds and seedlings:

Greyman and i have been struggling to get these beams up for the trellises, the idea being that while we like our neighbours, there is no private area in our backyard where we can enjoy morning coffee or evening solace. Especially when my long time (19 years!) friend Bryoni and her beau come out from BC next week! You can see the wow in the concrete there, built so that runoff from rains and the roof goes into the grass, but a bitch to get things level on! We've resorted to shimming with tiny pieces of metal: Greyman is a workman who believes in squaring up from the start and keeping it square and straight! We have 2 more beams to get up, enclosing the corner and then can start attaching the trellis parts, a bit of an overhang for baskets of beauty and shade, and then to move the furniture in and decorate! MIL is giving us her patio set and lounge chair as she no longer can sit out in the sun--and it's so hard moving the 45" TV out there for her.......---i can't wait to sit out there and STITCH STITCH STITCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I even have a tranquil fountain to throw in there :)

Later in the afternoon, that dug corner in those above photos looks like this now:

I planted the Passionflower (in tribute to my lately departed father)here, as it gets sun all day there and the hollyhocks will share space with lilies (also dug up from next door), thunbergia,"johnny jump ups", scaveola and ivy geranium (in planter pot), calendulas and the aforesaid Passiflora. (The calendulas are slated for the dyepot after blooming!) I also have my eye on a False Indigo plant at one of the nurseries, but will have to research its placement in the garden: online it says Aboriginal peoples did use it for blue dye, but that too has to be studied! EDIT:it's grown here by Alberta nurseries so can be planted pretty much anywhere in *my* garden :)

I've also cleared away suckers and dead branches from the intertwined white honeysuckle bush ( the only one i've ever seen: everyone else in the neighbourhood has pink) and the lilac on the other side of the house. Even when the blooms are gone, i thought it would be a lovely place to sit and contemplate the Universe :) And STITCH.

The violets i had previously dug up last month have gone absolutely BONKERS and are thick and lush, lots of flowers--and seed pods!

I also dug more area in the veggie and herb section, cleared out the front long bed that is mostly shaded, planted up the front porch wrought iron railing planter, and lined up rocks for edging. I am covered in mosquito bites--WHY do the Calgary ones like me so much???? No where else have i been bitten since i was a child!!--and am getting quite tanned.(YES, there is high SPF/UVA/UVB coverage being used!)

Ignore the black plastic! Have to fix that--couldn't find any more coir at the store!

The ferns in the front bed are amazing--i'm always awestruck at how delicate they are in appearance and form, yet strong enough to survive our Southern Alberta winters. They have such a clean green smell and make me feel calm and grateful.

Three kinds of hosta now in the front bed:

Dug up more plants from the garden of the to-be-demolished house next door:

Sedum above.

The garden is in such a state of beginning that all i can do is hold on to the vision of what it will look like at the "end" of the summer! Sad in a way that we put such work into a temporal situation, but OH the satisfaction!!!!

2010-06-09T15:04:00.000-07:00

green

2010-05-31T06:20:00.000-07:00

oops forgot them on top of the microwave—have to plant them en masse now–and this morning they are 3″ taller than this!

brrrrrrrrrrrrr

2010-05-29T09:48:00.001-07:00

I'm sure my calendar says May 29th, but outside, i don't think so......You can see the crabapple is just finishing blooming, the lilacs are popping and the patio area has been cleared so we can put up the beams and trellises--well, not this weekend/yet........

I'll be putting all my started seeds that haven't been outed yet under the growlights---maybe next weekend i can get dirt under my nails again?????

At least it's much needed moisture.....

Calgary's usual unusual weather....

2010-05-28T07:49:00.000-07:00

I'm hoping my newly seeded, planted and transplanted garden survives this week's unseasonally low temps and pissing down rain--interspersed with flakes of that damn white stuff!

Though i counted a few spots on the ground where snow had stuck, i'm surprised to see how everything is soldiering on--even the red basil, cucumber and pepper plants seem to be untouched by the nippiness, as is the tender impatiens and lime potato vine on the front porch! I'm wondering if they are okay because they have already had some good weather shining on their little upturned faces? The only thing that seems to have been affected was the transplanted poppy, but maybe i *did* accidentally cut the root when i dug it up. Shall have to grab another!

The lilacs are in full bloom right now. I'm hoping to get a cutting or five from the white one down the road at a house that has pretty much been abandoned....There's no garden in it, so i can't really "midnight supply" from there :)

long weekend

2010-05-23T13:47:00.000-07:00

May long weekend (Victoria Day, Queen Victoria's birthday)in Canada,and particularly in Calgary is THE weekend to get serious about gardening. Our growing season here in "Cowtown" is short, and dryer than most.

Greyman and i have routed the hose from the washing machine into a garden hose and are letting the "grey water" be soaked up by the garden. Alberta is in its 10th year of drought conditions. Though we are not dust bowl status,it's still a concern. When i realized how many gallons of perfectly useable water was going down the drain everytime i did laundry, only to be flushed into the rivers and water tables, i knew we had to do something. Grey water for the most part is safe to use on gardens as long as you are responsible with your laundry soap choices. More info here.My Great Granny used to do this and her "kitchen garden" was miraculous. Of course those were the days of "dump the dish pan and refill from the pump":)

We have a very old apple tree in the backyard that according to our 85 year old neighbour, once had humungous apples. Last year they were small and scabby, though still delicious for the bite or two they were worth. We are hoping the blossom weight this spring is a harbinger of better things for us and it, as we have been watering (see above paragraph!)and fertilizing it since we moved in last July.

I dug some more area for my herb and veggie garden: need room for the green beans and more peppers, a row of green onions, a few carrots and some basil varieties, the mesclun lettuce and spinach. I decided to plant the zuchini and squash near the compost pile so that they are out of the way. You can see that area way behind the apple tree in the corner with the rhubarb. I planted perennial sweet peas back there too.

I haven't Gardened Hard since i was a pre-teen and had to help Mom with the vegetable garden in her backyard! The next task is to go back next door before the house gets ripped down and scoop more soil for my big pots.

We're also putting up the trellises for patio privacy and shade this weekend. Can't wait to sit out there and stitch in my lounge chair after mornings of gardening!!!

diggedy diggedy

2010-05-19T13:34:00.000-07:00

At this time of the year, the side looks like this:

UGH.

Sorted out all the flower seeds i've accumulated, and realized i have to dig some new beds. The side bed is full now, and once the hollyhocks are up to speed, anything in there that is low will disappear.
Last year in July, that side bed looked like these:

There are white daisies, "johnnyjumpups", euphorbia, irises, ferns and more hollyhocks and the ubiquitous wild bluebell-that-is-not-a-true-bluebell, just peeking up, as well as all that darn grass in these two at the front! Stuffed with debris needing to be cleaned out, i can add a few shade lovers to the one that is longer. It's the only side of our house that doesn't get full afternoon sun. I've never had a place with such optimum growing spots!
Last year in July when we moved in:

Right now, they look like this!

Some of the seeds are ones i've collected along the way--more "Midnight Supply"!--and i can't remember how old they are. If they come up, bonus; if not, well, it was worth a shot and cost me nothing.

At the front left of the yard, a VERY old lilac, and my newly transplanted poppies, another peony, delphinium and several hollyhock i moved:

Last year, my herb and veggie garden was smaller and looked this way:

Can't wait for July!

Midnight supply, part 2

2010-05-19T12:26:00.000-07:00

Scoop, score! At 845AM i was out there yesterday in the house next door's backyard, brazenly digging up what i wanted in full daylight. The house is being demolished, and i want the garden saved!
Since i don't have a wheelbarrow and Greyman was at work, i fashioned a makeshift travois from an old vinyl-lined curtain and loaded it up. Dragging it was fun but dizzying because though it's cool-ER in the morning, we still have very intense sun. (Our altitude/elevation is 1,048M/3,438FT above sea level.)I only tripped myself once, landing right side down full body after missing seeing the drainspout :)
First i dug up a mass of white violets.

I hucked skull sized river rocks over the fence into our yard, intending them for borders and braces for trellises. I nabbed lilies of two sorts (i think, they were growing at different rates in the same area), a peony that looks different from our two luscious cotton candy pink ones, a chunk of poppies, a delphinium, some chives--one can never have too many of those, an unidentified yellow budding ground cover and a monster pulsatilla (mountain anemone)!

Mountain Anemone is actually one of the wild flowers we find in our spectacular Canadian Rockies. I've seen huge areas of it when the blooms are done, and it looks like a field of streelish haired girls. I grabbed seeds at one point, but lost them. Obviously the former owners of the house had the same idea, and great luck with them!

I built a cheap fast trellis out of splitting bamboo that i rescued from the flower mines--it won't hold until next year probably, but hopefully will support my Bush Pickle Cucumber and some Chinese Long Beans, for this season. In this bed, i also planted a patio tomato, some BellBoy peppers, red basil, and my fragrant garden herbs: lavender, orange thyme, pineapple sage, mint and white herb.

I don't know that i've ever eaten these, but the plant looks gorgeous, and that's a lot of what gardening is about! The colour of the leaves alone, and the way those beans add line,,ahhhhh....And tomorrow i'll add mesclun lettuce mix, some more pepper seeds and a few carrots and green onions.
My herb and veggie section is only about 9x5' so far--need to dig up some more area on either side, for the rest of my seeds.

I'm soaking overnight the scarlet runner beans, the perennial and annual sweet peas, green beans and mixed colour morning glories.

I'm not recommending trying the things in this article about the pulsatilla, but it's an entertaining read! By the way,ANY link i give that has a "medicinal" or "lore" connotation, please do research--don't take it at face value just because it's on the web! Poison yourself, and it ain't my fault!

Midnight Supply

2010-05-18T07:10:00.000-07:00

When i was a child, the Saturday morning routine involved a trip to the local dump. Along with the trash, Mom would pack shovels and buckets, and as we cruised the backroads of Mid-western Ontario, we’d scope out the abandoned farmhouses, hoping to find remnants of old gardens. I remember digging up iris, bleeding hearts, scraggly old roses, peonies, lilacs and rhubarb and whatever else that had survived the overgrowth and neglect. Anything wild that caught her fancy would be planted in an area under the willow to go naturale: the trilliums, sweet william and daisies were manic there. She called it “the midnight supply”. I still surreptitiously eyeball certain areas where i find growth like this.

The house next to us is slated for demolition. It’s as old as ours (98 years) but isn’t “interesting ” enough or of any “Real” historical value. But there’s a garden and while it’s somewhat modernized, i am heading over there with my shovel and buckets to rescue lilies, poppies, tulips, delphiniums and whatever else i can find. It’ll just be plowed over, mashed and destroyed forever otherwise. I felt like screaming when they were tromping around cutting down the old trees and squashing the just emerging tulips. It pisses me off that these people come into a “character” area and “gentrify” it with burn and salt methods, then put up what we disdainfully call “infills”, huge cookie cutter townhouses that dwarf everything around them, use every inch of land for foundation and then BITCH about the loss of historical character value in the neighbourhood. F*****s.

Going to put my diggin’ shoes on.

renewing growth

2010-05-18T06:51:00.000-07:00

It's been a LONG while since i've been here! I am now the proud gardener of a 98 year old house right beside the Elbow river in Calgary Alberta. The adventures will begin anew with house plants and gardening outside. Stay tuned!!

So sad

2008-04-16T09:13:00.000-07:00

My DH and i just moved to a new province with a different climate. We thought we had protected the plants when we packed them, but alas. Out of 83 pots, only 14 survived, mostly cactus varieties and my Cymbidium Orchid and my Passionflower, of all things

I guess this blog will now be a space to try out new plants!

2008-01-31T14:39:00.000-08:00

Spread a bit thin right now, so you'll find me at my main blog http://arleebarr.squarespace.com

neglect!

2007-11-26T08:11:00.000-08:00

I've been neglecting this blog but hope to make amends this week :} Stay tuned!

Ruellia Makoyana

2007-07-16T07:21:00.000-07:00

I've been recommending this plant for years! I never understood why it hasn't become a popular houseplant, but in my search today, i found a lot of information, some of which may tell me why :}

I've always called it "Monkey Flower". I'm not sure where i heard the name, or why it was called that, and doing a search with it turned up a totally different species, proving again that common names can be useless often in identifying and finding plants! It did show up as "Monkey Plant" or "Trailing Velvet Plant".

Ruellia is "commonly" known everywhere else as "Mexican Wild Petunia". And the colours it comes in!! Today i found brilliant red, purple, almost a blue, pink, white and variants thereof. Mine is magenta, a Ruellia Makoyana.

This little plant apparently *is* considered a wild "desert tropical". It can be invasive and in some states is considered a pest because of its abundant growth and easily spreading cutting and seed habits.

Mine has survived dark corners, forgetful watering habits, cold and hot direct sunlight, a terrarium set-up and as a table plant and a hanging basket. I pinch it back regularly and it rewards me with plentiful branches of dark green leaves with silver veining, a purple underside and a slightly hairy leaf. It flowers often, with no set time and grows like a monster! The magenta blooms are reminiscent of a 2" long tube with five petals at the end, a trumpet of a flower! I have detected no scent, though some do have a fragrance apparently. Pruned back, it can be quite a bushy plant, or you can let it get slightly longer and it will droop and trail, though not like a classic "hanging" plant.

Care indicates it needs bright light, can take sun, will grow in the shade (but not bloom as prolifically) and will tolerate drought or wet. (My experiences! "Real" instructions in link at bottom.)You often find them in florists or indoor plant stores. I have never seen them sold as anything but a 4" tropical plant. Rarely are they in bloom in the store, probably due to care and shipping, so they often are passed by. Small and "un-interesting" unless you know what they are capable of as a bloomer! The most you should ever pay for one is CDN$4!

http://www.gardentia.net/acanth_021.htm

Speaking of roses.....

2007-07-06T09:33:00.001-07:00

Now a floral tip dears from my bosom friend (and alter ego ;]) Dame Arletta Smiggin-Botham Hymes (imagine a plummy Brit accent): "When buying roses, darlings, it is decidedly NOT necessary to squeeze their little heads to" see how fresh they are". Every time you do this, you are transferring oil and bacteria from your hands to the petals. Imagine how that rose is infested, positively infested darlings, with germs and so bruised as well, after 50 " i know roses" people have done this."

In other words, If they don't LOOK good, don't buy them!!!!!! And roses at the end of the day that they were shipped in, are still as fresh as the morning ones: they are just a little more open showing off their beauty. Stop the brutality! I say People for the Ethical Treatment of Roses should step up to the plate! The scrappy little rough edged and discoloured petals on the outside of a rose? They DO NOT mean the rose is old and "unfresh". If they are immediately removed, the flower starts opening, even in the floral cooler. Those are protector/guard petals--those "i know roses" people, take a good gander at a real rose in a real garden and tell me that they are perfect, unblemished and of movie star airbrushed quality---- a pox on you. Or better still, aphids and ants on you.

As for the care of roses, once you have brought them home? A fresh cut with a sharp knife or very sharp scissors--don't crush, cut!----and right into a prepared vase of tepid water with half a package of floral "preservative". If your home is quite warm, add ice cubes at night to prolong the life, recut at least every second day, changing the water or topping up. If any of the heads sag, it means water did not get all the way up the stem, not that they are dead! Recut the little booger and place in very warm water--you can also "float" them in a sinkful of very warm water to rehydrate.

Do not put roses, or any other floral type/arrangement near a heat source, or in a sunny spot. Yes, the blooms will open spectacularly, but it will also shorten their shelf-life. When you receive roses (or any flower) with water picks on the ends, TAKE THEM OFF!!! The same applies if the flower shop has stuck them in a small piece of oasis as a "wet towel"" They are a precaution to keep your flowers hydrated until you get them home!

Do NOT put pennies, or vodka, or sprite or anything else in the water. Better to give them plain agua if there is no floral preservative than to create bacterial breeding grounds with old wives myths! The only exception to this is a wee dash of vinegar! I asked a qualified botanist about this, as we did it with roses, gerberas and snapdragons: it breaks the molecular chain somehow, forcing the water up the stem faster. Don't pickle them, just a wee wee drops or three.

If you complain to a florist that "roses never last", you will hear about all the above things. Oft-times, the 9.99 or 19.99 dozens you buy from the corner grocery store, supermarket chain or back of a car are not handled properly to begin with. It starts with the care given before the customer gets them!!

Now go and smell your roses :}

Passionflower and introduction

2007-07-06T08:56:00.001-07:00

I am a floral arranger/designer "by day". Having worked in the plant and floral industry for 31 years, i thought i'd start a blog about my love of gardening. Everyday i'm asked questions about floral care and how to take care of plants. Stay tuned for weekly entries on tips, types and "trials"! I'm not a botanist or biology major though, so i will point you to outside information as well!

Ah, the Passionflower! A truly stellar, bizarre and engrossing bloom, easy to grow and offering many pleasures and uses! Mine, a Passiflora Caerulea, sits in my studio, in a morning lit window, getting direct sun until noon, then bright reflected light the rest of the day. I water it when the soil starts to feel dry, give it a shot once in awhile of a blooming fertilizer, and every other month, a "greens" fertilizer. It rests a little in the winter, but seems to bloom whenever it pleases :} At present there are 13 blooms along one stem! Pruning happens once a year, in the spring; whenever the tendrils start grabbing into the wall and curtain rods, i wind the vining branches back around itself, resulting in a fairly bushy plant in a gallon size pot.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passion_flower for more specific information and interesting little tidbits of history, varieties, medicinal uses and "symbolism".
Passiflora; syn. Disemma Labill.