Cheap ‘n Easy Container Idea – Chive Basin

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If you’re looking for a hardy herb that will produce a harvest all season-long, and can withstand just about anything you can throw at it then look no further than chives. I’ve been growing this wash basin of chives for so many years I can’t for the life of me recall where I got the tub or the plant. All I know is that it is one of the few perennial herbs that I can count on to withstand an inconsistent and sometimes bitter winter in a container and additionally be the first plant up and providing garnishes for early spring soups.

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Every spring I try and find a new way to fill in the gaps left by the plants that don’t have the fortitude of chives and give the planter a place of prominence as the first pretty thing to look at out on the rooftop deck. This particular planting received a lot of positive attention this spring so I thought I’d share it with you.

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    I use just about ever part of the plant. The early buds and fully open chive blossoms taste great in salads or steeped in vinegar to make a salad dressing.

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Cheap n’ Easy Container Idea – Strawberries and Violas

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What to do with a lone strawberry plant leftover from another soon-to-be-revealed project, a small flat of red violas ($3.50 for 16 plants!), and an old coffee canister that was thrifted as part of a 70s era fake woodgrain 4 part kitchen canister set?

Put them together!

I figure the red viola flowers will look great alongside the red strawberries and everything is edible. I poked holes in the bottom of the canister using a large, and very dangerous nail left behind by the dudes who installed new gutters on our building, filled the new “pot” with container soil, and mulched the top using shards from a terracotta pot that broke in transit — nothing is wasted! And to think I used to smirk at my grandmother’s tendancy to hourd Swiss Chalet containers and plastic bread ties — there was a lot of useful crap in those drawers!

It’s been about a week since I planted this up and I’ve already got little strawberries forming and new flowers in bloom.

Total cost about $2.

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Spring Blooms II

Now that we’ve moved into the next phase of spring — a stable phase when the threat of a random snowfall is safely behind us and temperatures are more consistently predictable — a new crop of blooms have begun to emerge. I’ve been happily carrying at least one camera around with me, capturing observations I happen upon on my routine errands.

Photo by Gayla Trail

    Hooray for forsythia! My childhood memories of springtime are very connected to puffy bushes of these bright yellow blooms bursting on every front lawn regardless of the neighborhood. Forsythia is one of those plants that the classes seem to agree on — just about anyone can afford a small bush and no one is too good for its bright and cheery flowers.

Photo by Gayla Trail

    Common Blue Violet (Viola sororia) This is the violet commonly found filling up lawns.

Photo by Gayla Trail

Elephant Ears (Bergenia cordifolia)

Photo by Gayla Trail

Glory-of-the-Snow (Chionodoxa forbesii) This is one of those pretty spring-blooming bulbs that naturalizes well. They are popping up all over the place these days and seem to last longer than some flowering bulbs that come and go with barely a chance to enjoy them.

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Spring Blooms

I took a few photos of the flowers currently in bloom while out walking the other day. Those of you in warmer climates can feel superior or at least laugh at how behind we are here in Southern Ontario. At least I can stop sending psychic S.O.S signals out into the world. Winter, you have not destroyed me yet! But very close. Very, very close.

Photo by Gayla Trail

    Crocus cultivar

Photo by Gayla Trail

    Snowdrops (Galanthus)

Photo by Gayla Trail

    Iris reticulata

Photo by Gayla Trail

    Siberian Squill (Scilla siberica) – For the superstitious this one came up as “image 666.”

Photo by Gayla Trail

    The rarely seen bush-habit-forming spring satin rose. (Rosa faux satinus)
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Gardener’s Anxiety

Sharp-lobed Hepatica (Photo by Gayla Trail)

    Sharp-Lobed Hepatica (Hepatica acutiloba)

These tiny, pretty pinkish-white flowers are one of the first blooming woodland natives to make an appearance in early spring. They are happy in partial shade with nutrient-rich soil, and can withstand very mild drought.

I was admiring this patch yesterday afternoon when the gardener saw me and stopped to chat.

Spring is finally here.
Yes, it’s such a relief. I’m bursting with excitment!
Pointing to a tidy woodland garden coated in leaf mulch: I’ve got to clean this mess.
No way! I regularly stop by your garden to see what it’s doing and it is always beautiful!

What is it with gardeners? Every single one I have ever met is quick to apologize for the “wretched” state of their garden. People, your gardens are beautiful. And if you need a reality check just take a look at my street garden and get over it already! It is completely destroyed with last year’s fence in shambles and making it’s way across the sidewalk with large dog turds and assorted random garbage peppering the space. The poor crocuses are barely visible. Am I sweating it? Well maybe a little. But a few hours on what promises to be a warm Sunday afternoon with a pair of gloves and some clippers and it will be back in action!

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