Spring is my favourite time of year. It’s a time of rebirth and renewal. It’s a time to shed the heavy coats and gloves and socks and boots and dawn lighter, airier garments. It’s a time to enjoy the greenery and the burst of colour the garden has to offer.
We live in the city, and so our lot is not huge, but it’s a decent size for some interesting landscaping. Last fall, as many of you already know, we hard-scaped the back yard and removed all the grass. It never really grew well anyway. Our big huge Elm made sure of that. We also had a smaller elm removed from in front of the kitchen window. We knew the crab apple would be very happy because we did.
My friend Norma has beautiful Azaleas in her rural garden. She is even lucky enough to get deer from time to time! Our back yard faces east, so we really only get the morning sun. It’s still a little cool to sit outside, but I’m hoping that by next weekend we will be able to.
I’m finding that the garden takes turns on allowing a different variety to flourish each year; the periwinkle is flowering so much this year, more than I can recall in the past. The violets are not doing as well. Perhaps next year it will be their time again. Or the Lily of the Valley.
And so, I’ll leave you with a little surprise down by the back shed: our very own Trillium. The Trillium is Ontario’s official flower and it is illegal to pick them, or even uproot them; you can get fined if you are caught. They supposedly flower every seven years! We noticed this little gem about 5 years ago, when it flowered last (OK, so maybe Trilliums weren’t good at math). We don’t know how it got here, but we sure feel lucky that it is here! And flowering so beautifully. See you Miss Trillium, hopefully in another 5 years!
Beautiful outdoor shots. My dear friend is also a fan of hostas and trilium.
LikeLike
Thank Michael. We’ve had a real downpour of rain in the last day or so and the garden is now a jungle! I can’t believe how ridiculously fast things explode when watered!
LikeLike
It’s coming right along. Really nice blossoms.
LikeLike
Thanks Greg, not quite as summery as your garden, but then again we haven’t had the temperatures you’ve had.
LikeLike
absolutely breathtakingly beautiful
LikeLike
Thanks Jessica, I’m sure it doesn’t hold a candle to those wonderful gardens in Texas.
LikeLike
Your place is lovely, Eva! What an enchanted little realm you’ve carved out for yourselves. I can imagine spending hours beneath the tree, or beside the azaleas, reading a book and losing time gladly.
Blessings,
~ Cara
LikeLike
Thank you for visiting my blog, Cara. So nice of you to comment. We do have lovey times on our back deck with a cocktail or two and friends, always. It really is an oasis in the city!
LikeLike
Gorgeous garden Eva! Love it!
LikeLike
Thank you kindly Asmita, that is very nice of you to say.
LikeLike
So beautiful Eva! What a wonderful back yard you have and kudos on your landscaping. I love the trillium and I’ve never seen one in person. What a special gift to have something that is so remarkably beautiful and only shows itself every, ahem, 5-7 years. 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks so much Betsy, we inherited the basic landscaping but we expanded with our own lifestyle. It’s a perfect size for our life and we love it. Mind you, you have a garden like our friends Paul and T (Rock star bus) with some wild life, and I would adore that.
LikeLike
Beautiful garden!
LikeLike
Thank you kindly, Bill. It really is a city garden, just packed with everything!
LikeLike
Your garden is gorgeous Eva! And I’m just fascinated by the trillium. Such a pretty flower with a lovely name. 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks Kristy, my very first encounter with a Trillium was when I was around eight years old on a school trip. I remember because the teacher took a photo of me with it. I was quite enamored!
LikeLike
What a beautiful garden you have, Eva. You must be very excited about Trilium. I have never heard about it, but having a flowering plant which flowers so rarely sounds magic! Your last photo has just reminded me how much I love lilac’s smell…
LikeLike
Hi Sissi, yes ideed, that Trillium is a wonderful surprise. We were so excited about seeing it again in a relatively short time span. I do adore the aroma of lilacs too.
LikeLike
Ohhh, how gorgeous!!! I wish the outside of my home looked like this 😉
LikeLike
Welcome to my blog Squishy Monster. And thank you for the lovely compliment.
LikeLike
Oh, I love the sight of the trillium – that must be good luck!! What a lovely surprise indeed. You have a beautiful city lot Eva…we live downtown’ish too but our lot is not nearly as… refined as yours 😉 – I’ll blame most of that on our dog and cat munching machines! Enjoyed your ode to spring and, funnily enough, just wrote a similar intro to my next post… I guess it’s on everyone’s mind; such a gorgeous time of year! Cheers Eva.
LikeLike
Thank you kindly Kelly, that is very nice of you to say. The Trillium is indeed a good luck surprise! I look forward to reading about your summer post. This time of year is so exciting!
LikeLike
Your garden is one of my favourite places Eva. So many happy memories eating and drinking out there. Please have one (or six) for me on your deck.
LikeLike
Thanks Barb, we’ll have a drink or two together this summer. I can’t help but think about that dinner we had with you and Kevin, Paella on the BBQ! That was a warm weekend!
LikeLike
Your yard is fabulous, Eva!!! Is that bouquet from your yard? So lovely…thanks for sharing its beauty~
LikeLike
Thank you kindly, Liz, yes, that bouquet is from the lilacs and the crab apple tree. Sadly they are now past their prime, but the spirea is coming in now and the peonies shouldn’t be too far behind!
LikeLike
The blossoms are absolutely gorgeous Eva! 🙂
LikeLike
Thank you Lorraine, we did away with an old Elm that just shaded the crab apple, so I am sure it is very happy this year!
LikeLike
Ah spring! 🙂 I love this season too. I’ll admit to being a big fan of winter, but you can’t beat spring for sheer inspiration, promise, optimism and happiness. We’ve been having some warm weather here again recently so I think on the weekend we may be able to sit out and enjoy our dinners again ourselves!
Enjoy your lovely blooming garden Eva!
LikeLike
Thanks Charles, we are indeed fortunate to have such a little oasis in a big city.
LikeLike
I love your trillium and your trees are so huge and sooo pretty blossoming this spring! I never knew triullium only blossomed every 5 years.. that takes a lot of patience!! But so worth it!
LikeLike
Thank you kindly, Barbara. The trillium was a special surprise this year! I hope it comes back again next year, but somehow I think it will make me wait!
LikeLike
Thank you so much for the tour Eva. I live in an apartment and I keep telling my husband, when the time comes to move I want a house with a garden. Gardening is such a fulfilling and calming activity
LikeLike
Yes, apartment living can be a bit confining, I grew up in one, but we were fortunate to have a balcony where my Mom always had something growing (one year it was corn, until my pet rabbit ate it!). Gardening is indeed a peaceful activity.
LikeLike
So different from the pictures of the deck in the snow! Are those white lilacs on the table?
LikeLike
Hi Sharyn, yes the contrast is quite huge; I do enjoy the differences in the seasons. Yes, it is indeed a white lilac; I grew the tree from a shooter off a purple lilac but for some reason, it only gives me white blooms. I don’t mind, they are still wonderfully fragrant and beautiful.
LikeLike
Trillium are beautiful, aren’t they? It’s one of the things I appreciate about gardening, the serendipity of it all. You never really know what you’ll see in any given year. I planted 2 colors of columbine a number of years ago and now i’ve got all of the colors of the rainbow. I wouldn’t have it any other way. 🙂
LikeLike
It is lovely isn’t it. We used to have Delphiniums every year, but they haven’t been around for the last five. I’m sure something will surprise us this year!
I love columbine, they are such a pretty and delicate flower; we have wild one’s at the cottage and they are just beautiful!
LikeLike
That flower of Ontario is totally stunning. I can picture it in a cascading bridal bouquet. Unbelievable it only flowers every seven or so years. I hope yours is more prolific than that. And I hope it warms up and is sunny so you can enjoy your backyard xx
LikeLike
Thanks Charlie, sadly we would receive a healthy fine for picking the trillium. Perhaps they do it in other provinces, but I don’t know for sure! It was a wonderful weekend with high twenties on Saturday, so we did spend quite a few cocktails on the back deck!
LikeLike
The deer are daily visitors, they are still munching on many of my plants even though the forest has many goodies for them, Since you think I am “lucky” to have them visiting, I will send you some of my “luck”.
Your white trillium sure lights up the area. Quite a collection of shade plants in your beautifully thought out garden, thanks for the visit.
LikeLike
Ha ha, I would love some of your good luck, Norma. Thanks. Sorry to hear about your fig.
Yes, indeed we are fortunate to have our little trillium!
LikeLike
Happy mothers day my friend – touring your garden is like a breath of spring in every step 😀
Beautiful 🙂
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
LikeLike
That is very kind of you, CCU! Thank you.
LikeLike
You have a really charming garden, Eva! The blooms of the crab apple tree is stunning! Never knew about Trillium being Ontario’s official flower, first time I’m seeing this, they are very pretty, brightens up a room in an instant!
Happy Mother’s Day!
LikeLike
Thank you so much Kitchen Flavours. It’s our little oasis in the city!
LikeLike