urban thicket feb 2010

Facing north this is the right side of the garden. Those were unbleached coffee filters, i cold composted a lot on this plot because im trying to increase moisture, amount of soil and soil quality because it has all been stripped. The bottom right of the picture is dianthus. bottom left is trailing archangel, there is blue irises, herb robert, fox glove, in the majesty palm fronds is jacobs ladder, in the clay pot is a plant i cant remember the name of (i took a tiny baby out of the garden from the a and w on hasting near victoria), in the back is a plant that is similar to iris but is orange and has many flowers along the stem its another one that i knew the naem of last year but forgot over winter,  on the top left in the container is grape hyacinth, next to that is more herb robert, the vine at the top right I do not know the name of, though there is a tag next to it so i will look it up.

 

 

Still on the right side of the plot.

 

  

 

 Ive been growing snap dragons in here for years and finally this year theres a new one coming up from the seeds. It is possible that i got bored of waiting fo rthe seeds to come up and took a cutting, but this garden was starved of water last year so i dont know how likely it would be for one to have survived unless i did it around fall.

  

  

 

 

  

 

This picture make me dizzy, its over looking the balcony, its about a thirty foot drop and the thicket hangs about ten feet of it. The person who lives there is moving so i dont know if im goin gto be trimming it back or not, though it needs it as that is the undeground parkade entrance and after this year i estimate it will be dragging on the tops of cars.

 

  

I did a poor job of prunning, this is my first unsupervised pruning and ainc ei thought theat the maple tree is so vigorous it could handle something that didnt fallow guidelines. I was wrong, pruning has some clear guidelines taht can be played in. when you dont things happen, as you can see in this and the next picture the tree has a disease/fungus, i dont know what it is, the orange stuff at the badly positioned cut.

There is so many rose switches in this area becaues i was training the rose bush around the maple, i was attmepting to slow down the growth of the maple becasue it probably shouldnt be in this small contained plot with as it takes up to much resources, while also increasing smell and beauty, it does look really great when in flower.

 

This is a bit south of the last picture, it is a dangling water group of rose switches. Now its grown a lot and looks really nice, but should be removed as when the wind picks up it swings over to where the owner sits to smoke. 

This vine is reaching about 2 feet above the highest part of the maple and rose. This is the same vine that starts in the first picture. supposively it fruits but this is a north facing balcony.
 

  tulips and poppies starting in a box.

  

 

 

Ive planted herb robert along the wooden boarder.

trailing archangel on the left and spearmint on the right, didnt get much water last year so they are stunted.

My garden in febraury 2010.

The plant in the pot is feverfew, behind it is where my chocolate mint grows. My chocolate mint is meant to be temporaraly there as it doesnt get very much sun. I intentionalyldid that so it wouldnt spread as bad through out my garden while i store it there for a couple years.

The first and second teir has strawberries and at the top i planted three varieties of lettuce.There is also a couple patches of succulents growing here.

 The leaf at the top of the page is sage, i do not know the name of the variety, though commonly it is referred to as culinary sage. The photo is of the two snail shells which i almost buried when filling in the whole that i dug jerusalem artichokes out of. Keen eye to detail is a highly revered trait of a gardener, taking the time to really look at things strengthens this. Looking at the world like im looking for a photo is a way to really exercise this.

This photo is of day lillys, which i have not yet been brave enough to eat a flower but will commit myself to it this year. In the background along the base of the logs is valerian, which i harvest for its sleep benefits.

Garlic at the bottom. Rhubarb in the second tier. A variegated plant(?) around the rock. Bachelor buttons next to the rock.

This is a picture of the same space as the previous one. above the rhubarb next to the variegated plant is a teasel which i grow a few of every year.

Kale that over wintered.

This is the area that i grow calendula for food and i make extract the oil. I do not know what this is growing here, i remember removing it then learning what it was and putting it back in. It starts growing early enough and dies early enough that it doesnt interfere with anything else that i want to grow in this space, maybe find more plants with similar earlyness and fill out this area in spring.

This is a hanging basket i have at my garden that i grow lemon balm in, i like it when it blows in the wind and smells the place up but i also use it to rub inbetween my hands before i wash them or drink out of them, adds a nice flavor to the water. I do not know the flowering plant that is also in there, though last year i had figured it out, so may be i will find it in my bookmarks and update this information.

I think its a membber of the mallow family, but i dont know, another one that when itts bigger ill be able to identify.

 I do not know the name of the large plant in the front center of this picture, it has radish like flowers early summer.

Lambs ear, kale, blue irises (maybe tulips also, pictures to small to see) in the bottom right corner.

The area in the front is where i removed lambs ear from. The large plant is broccoli from last year.beneath it is lambs ear and tulips.Holly hock and a tiny tulip beside it.

 My cloning/intermediary transplant box. Spearmint dangling. Mullein. Garlic chives, kale, herb robert.

chocolate mint rhizomes, or runners that i pulled form my garden. They should be going into someone elses garden but i have no contracts.

on the left of the containers is bachelor buttons. In side is honeysuckle, there is also likely valerian and variegated feverfew and mugwort.

I do not know the name of this plant, its a nice landscaping plant. surprised it hasnt been stolen like my other nice landscaping plants and plant pots. It hasnt grown vary much because its only in full sun as long as the other plants that grow around it (usually a variety of flowers) are not there to shade it.

I grew jerusalem artichokes in a bucket last year, not very succesful but a good way to store them until i have a better place for them.

 The first fork of soil dug up to remove jerusalem artichokes from my garden. I still havent eaten jerusalem artichokes, this year i commit to it since they grow so well adn store in the ground through out the winter vary well.

 The bucket load of jerusalem artichokes or sun chokes i pulled from my plot. To remove these i had to dig about two feet down.

Some of the chokes, the larger ones. The one on the bottom left is the size of two of my fists side by side.

I do not remember what plant species this is. Im sure i will figure it out in a couple months.

 The lettuce (butter crunch (?) that survived winter. A week later it was quit a bit larger.

Vining archangel taken from my urban thicket project. I am watching it closely to make sure it doesnt spread.

This is a stray lettuce, (i believe). It is not in my plot but off to where the old weed pile was before the gardens expaned. I was there a few weeks after this photo was taken and there is also swiss chard about two feet away.

When facing south on the path this is the right side of my plot. By the bucket is where i pulled jerusalem artichokes from. There is also in the vicinity garlic chives.

This is a climbing hydrengea on the east side of the shed of cottonwood community gardens.

One final close look at the jerusalem artichokes/ sun chokes.