Rhodo (and other) news

Growing up I never gave much thought to rhododendrons. In gardens past, I never grew  rhododendrons. However, when you start thinking it would be nice to have a plant that flowers situated outside the fenced-in garden, you start to think about rhododendrons a lot – because deer (generally) do not eat them.

Up until yesterday I had four rhodo bushes. Now, thanks to Rhodo Dave, I have six. Rhodo Dave doesn’t just buy and plant a lot of rhodos. He also grows rhodos from cuttings. When I was talking to him on the phone recently he mentioned that he had several grown-from-cuttings rhodos that were now ready to sell. Say no more.

I went round and chose two: a biggish one and a smallish one. I can’t remember the name of either. One of them has a mauve flower, the other has a red flower with a white stripe. I can’t remember which is which. One of them has a mild scent. I can’t remember which one. What I do remember is that the smallish one is definitely not attractive to deer, whereas the biggish one might be. This means the biggish one needs to be protected with chicken wire.

Unfortunately at the moment I don’t have enough chicken wire to surround it. But, here’s something I do know about deer: as cheeky as they are, they’ve never climbed up on the deck to eat the flowers in the window boxes. So, I figured if I repotted it into a larger container and left it on the deck, it would be safe.

In addition to the rhodo, I’ve also planted dahlias and sweetpeas. Hopefully it will all be very pretty later on.

I used the old pot for the biggish rhodo, to repot the smallish one.

So now I have something planted in the space Krys and I cleared. In case you’re wondering what else is in the pot, there is a parrot, which I believe Krys spotted in someone’s garbage in Toronto, and two little parakeets she subsequently purchased to keep the first one company. In the absence of flamingos, they’ll do for now. (They had previously been placed by a ceanothus I’d planted in the back forty. A few years later, even the most optimistic horticulturist could describe said ceanothus as anything but dead. Bereft of life, it rests in peace. It’s gone to meet its maker.)

In other rhodo news, one of the two I planted last year is doing something strange.

It looks for all the world as if it is going to produce multiple flowers from the same branch. Ordinarily I might think these were just more leaves, but they’re red and white, not green. I checked this with Rhodo Dave and he said multiple flowers are possible. Perhaps, if he sees this photo, he’ll have a better idea. If these are indeed multiple flowers, that would be pretty damn cool, as this is the rhodo that’s supposed to have a lovely scent. Fingers crossed.

Elsewhere…

Thanks to the recent rain, the herbs have had a growth spurt. The chives, oregano and mint are coming back nicely. Not so sure about one of the pots of rosemary and one of the thyme plants.

Bulbs and wildflowers are appearing in pollinator alley. Teeny tiny lettuces are starting to poke out of the soil and peas are sprouting.

If, as they predict, we are due for one more nice day before it starts to rain again, I think I’d better get more seeds in the raised bed.