In the middle of the back garden is one of my best and听most imposing plants. It鈥檚 a big, fully bushy lacecap hydrangea, decades old, three metres tall and wide, full of vibrant green foliage and tight, youthful flower heads 鈥� a formative stage that I find attractive.
Lacecap hydrangea flowers, unlike the more commonly seen 鈥渕ophead鈥� style with large, rounded flower heads, are flat-topped, with a tight grouping of听small, fertile flowers at the centre surrounded by a ring of听large, sterile, blooms. The arrangement creates a lacy effect.
The flowers are showy, and fascinating to monitor, from the first-formed in June through summer and autumn as the heads enlarge and take on clear blue tones. Then, as the weather cools in October, the outer flowers do a comely droop to reveal shades of dusty rose.
The shrub, for all its lengthy showiness, is undemanding except for some watering in dry weather and a top dressing of compost in early spring. I do try to groom the plant a bit in late winter, pruning back overlong stems and trimming off some of听the old flower heads. I rarely manage to remove them all.
I notice now that astrantia plants growing by the hydrangea have pushed flower stalks up through the shrub to flower with听it.
I first came across astrantia (masterwort) in a directory of cut flowers from the Flower Council of Holland. The lacy look of the starry, pincushion-like blooms appealed to me. I found a seed source and grew the plants. Several varieties are available as transplants, too, one with variegated leaves. Heritage Perennials, a wholesale grower and supplier to local garden centres, lists听some. See them at perennials.com.
There is a dwarf form, but most varieties grow to heights in听the 60- to 70-centimetre range. The stems rise from loose clumps of deeply divided leaves. The plants bloom from June through August, with flowers in the pink, white and red range. Recommended for sun to part shade, the听plants in my garden thrive in听partly shaded places.
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Paradise and black cats. Walking into the back garden gives me the feeling of being a particularly disruptive intruder. At every footfall, a bird rises suddenly from under the shelter of bushes, noisily squawking as it catapults from its resting place. A steady whirring sound accompanies hummingbirds checking out the interloper before darting off to feast at their favourite blooms.
Seemingly more placid are the big black and yellow butterflies and gorgeous, iridescent dragonflies floating about the garden every day. Bees, busily working the garden鈥檚 flowers since late winter, are especially numerous now in the rosemary bushes and carpets of flowering thyme.
Other creatures are here too. There鈥檚 a part-time resident rabbit in the front garden, keeping a few plants nibbled down to stubs. I鈥檓 presuming it听was the bunny that kept one of听the dahlias dramatically abbreviated. Only recently did the plant begin to elongate.
Not much harm done. Lucky me. All the young vegetable plants in my next door neighbour鈥檚 small, boxed plot were rabbit-ravaged.
I think that wildlife enjoys a taste of paradise here. But there is a dark side. One morning, I听found a little pile of feathers on the front lawn. Predators prowl and watch at night.
There are owls, swift and silent rabbit hunters. Raccoons make their way around the garden nightly, foraging for food of听all sorts. I鈥檝e seen a black cat lurking under the kiwi vines, its bright eyes like searchlights seeking out prey.
All the marvelously varied plant, insect and animal life in a garden, and in nature, is a wonder. And it has its dark side, 鈥渞ed in tooth and claw.鈥� But then, perhaps paradise and peril have always lived side by side.
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GARDEN EVENT
Hanging succulents. Russell Nursery, 1370 Wain Rd. in North Saanich, is offering a Hanging Succulent Garden workshop with Faye Ford on Sunday at听1 p.m. Create a piece of living garden art to hang on a fence or outdoor wall. Cost of $50 plus GST includes cedar frame, plants, and other materials. Space is limited. Register at听听[email protected]. Please听include your phone number.
