Yes Paul so true! I too am swarming with deer and all the afore mentioned critters. My love hate relationship with the deer is turning decidedly to the hatred side. They are magnificent but they do not need to eat my garden. There is plenty of food for them.

I had a bear pressing it's face against the patio door whilst my dogs were inside furiously barking - until they ran cowering when it was so aggressive.

Campanula..thanks for your nice comment..I've thoroughly enjoyed living in a "park"..I'm grouchy in the winter because I miss the tree canopy and plants so much!..it's so much fun to see everything grow back in the spring..

peren..I can't imagine seeing a bear that close to me..thank goodness it didn't hurt the dogs or you!..the deer in your picture look as if they're saying "what are YOU doing here?"..they're so destructive..you have my sympathy :-( I've had a similar level of disappointment when a branch has fallen and smashed something..a sickening feeling as you clean up the mess and see the damage..years of growth destroyed in a flash..

Recently posted this, though what the heck since it's my favorite shot of 2018 !

Never have seen a bear in my yard and hopefully never will, certainly don't want one pressing its nose up against the window and then what kind of dreams that would lead to during my sleep! You know, no one seems to be able to run very fast, if at all, while in dream and I also apparently have lost my previous powers of flight, lol! With that said, black bears are nearby, there's warning signs posted at the local park and a cougar was recently spotted a few subdivisions over .... mmm, no wonder the hairs on the back of my neck had always stood up while making those summer late evening rounds! And, yes, deer are a continuous pain that I must utilize a number tactics to keep at bay .... hopefully, that fence gets built this year!

Outstanding FrozeBudd! I do hope you get your fence up. I would love to put one up but the cost would be prohibitive.

For weeks after the bear incident I would peer all around the yard before going out to work in the garden. They are always present but normally the resident bears would not be so aggressive. The problem is twofold.

The Ministry of Natural Resources brings problem bears from the Ottawa area up into my area approx. 40 miles SW of. That year by early Aug. they had already dropped off 60 bears. These poor things have been displaced and do not know the lay of the land.

The 2nd and more disturbing to me is a neighbour who makes his living bringing in people to photograph the bears. He has dogs that "tree" them for the photo ops. I feel that bear at my door was actually after my innocent dogs. It was summer and the windows were open so it definitely heard them inside. The scariest part for me was that the night before I had fallen asleep on the couch with the patio door open. It could have pushed right through the screen!

peren..I saw your comment..then I decided to read a little about problem bears..what a sad and difficult situation :-( I don't really know but what your neighbor is doing seems illegal..wildlife is protected..stalking them as he does is cruel..I would be tempted to report this to someone..

Yes nicholsworth it does seem cruel. Hunting with dogs is allowed in Canada & the US at least in certain provinces & states so I suppose the only saving grace with my neighbour is that they are be photographed and not shot. This man is a seemingly nice fellow ( I know him slightly) and I knew his wife fairly well before she passed away. I have no problem with hunting but I think of this as harassment and cruelty. It really bothers me.

On a lighter note I have another very eccentric neighbour, a lady that drives around with a bullhorn warning the deer that the nasty hunters are out when the season starts. She harasses the hunters too. The Game Wardens told her to go inside and cease and desist or they would have to arrest her. They get a kick out of her but she has been told they are within their rights - you are not.

nicholsworth I really like the stone edging, it looks so solid and neat. I wish I had more stone! -but I guess that's another thing that you either have too much of and wish you didn't, or don't have and envy those who do.

I have a few 'sagu kaku' seedlings which will hopefully be as nice as the real thing. They color up nice, but they'll still need to get a little bigger before I can see if they inherited the red stems.

Frozebudd -as far as I'm concerned you can post that picture as many times as you want! All that color is exactly what we need to get through the cold.

How about tulip season?

and daffodils?

peren..I'm sure your neighbor thinks "it's no big deal..I'm not hurting the bears" but I disagree..letting dogs chase them is terrifying for them..I wish everyone loved animals..what a funny but sweet eccentric lady neighbor..she has a big heart but she needs to stop..she could get in trouble..

katob..thanks for the compliment!..I love our stone too..it makes walking around the lot so much nicer..it used to feel like an obstacle course..visitors didn't know the best way to go..now it's obvious..I can't wait until the plants fill in..it should look even better..I hope your Sango Kaku seedlings do well..as far as I know I haven't had any seedlings from mine..I've had a few Bloodgood seedlings but I would find the tops chewed off..none have survived..I tried marking them with rocks..I guess they needed a netted cover or wire cage??..

katob..after I hit submit I saw your spring pictures..beautiful!!..I LOVE all the colors..I have a few but NOT enough bulbs..

back again..FrozeBudd..I meant to say what a fantastic pic to share!..I love that you filled your open ground with a sea of blooms..it's wonderful..so great for the butterflies and bees..AND people..

@katob: your tulips & daffodils are so beautiful!! Thanks for posting!

Peren.all what a frightening story!! I can only imagine how that must have made you feel....and your poor dogs must have been traumatized also :(

Stay safe!!

@katob: could you please identify the plant with serrated leaves and tiny pink flowers in your first picture that’s in the middle of your tulips? The flowers look like bleeding hearts.

It's a fern leaf bleeding heart - Dicentra formosa or eximia or a hybrid between the two :-)

I had no idea dicentras bloomed so early! I’m impressed!

mazerolm D. 'Luxurient' blooms from early April (depending on how much snow I still have) until Oct. It is hardy to zone 2 or 3a and is a wonderful plant all around. I grow others but none compare to this one IME.

Ok now I have to get one!!

Katob, your spring photos are gorgeous and the shot with the hedge and tall yellow tulips just calls out, "come take a stroll" and being one I'd say is magazine worthy, love it! The wisteria is beautiful, I have 'Blue Moon', though it must be laid to the ground for winter due of the extreme cold experienced here.

Nicholsworth, thank you for your kind comments, I originally arrived to this property with chainsaw in hand, the lot being a virgin stand of forest and a overboard labor and love ever since!

Peren,all, wow, your locality really has an induced bounty of bears! I take it the region is rather heavily treed and lush. Now, with such numbers, I can't imagine one not having to keep their guard up, especially when sow is with cubs or when one's pets are looking like lunch to them! That patio door of yours, I imagine it's now always double checked and secured before deciding to catch any zzzz's on the chesterfield!

Okay, with the discussion dicentra, how has 'King of Hearts' performed for others, I know some have said these are challenging? I've had mine for about five or six years and each spring it's been an explosion of long lasting color, though plant has not much increased and needs lifting and soil replenished. I'd now want to try the even more brightly colored 'Burning Hearts'

Coming from a wildly different climate zone, this may not be all that relevant to you but here, all the fernleaf dicentras do very well. They have a very long bloom time (they like our cool summers), the foliage holds up well and they spread to become almost a groundcover. In fact, they are excellent plants for dry shade in my area but will go summer dormant in drier conditions.

I'd love to give burning hearts a try, the darker color is awesome but that grey foliage makes me think it's fussier and has alpine bleeding heart blood in there as well.

The ID on mine sounds right. A neighbor gave me one and these came up after the seeds got into the compost.

Frozebudd the wisteria was losing its flower buds to late freezes, so I actually ripped out the mother plant one day when I was annoyed. But of course anyone who grows wisteria knows it's not that easy to get rid of them so these are the suckers.

Moving on I don't have many peonies, but I do have iris! -Mostly old ones though, the newer ones fade away as soon as I let some other plant sprawl over them.

Here's that dicentra again, now covering up the yellowed tulip foliage

I bet they'll come back bigger than ever, it looks like a perfect woodsy spot and all the compost will really do the trick.

katob..I hope you're right!..I could see the red blooms from the kitchen window and they were fabulous..

Katob, the white iris and 'Tiger Eye' sumac sure do play surprisingly very well together and your variegated blue iris is a blooming fool! My eyes bounce all over the place with all the fantastic color and textures in your photos, job well done!

I have yet to try 'Valentine' dicentra, though do keep contemplating it. Now, again as for the fern leaf types, as Katob has mentioned, I believe there's a different bit of genetics going on in the background of some of these newer selections such as 'King of Heart' and 'Burning Hearts' and many folks find them fussier to grow. Years ago, I was given what I believe is 'Luxuriant' and that thing is tough as heck and spreads moderately. Now, although my winters are long and cold, summers for the most part being moderate and comfortable, but often very dry at my location due to the influence of a frustrating rain shadow.

katob..did your bleeding heart last until Halloween or so?..looks a lot like the one I saw at the estate sale..

Nicholswort, I have the white bleeding heart and while it’s true it only flowers in the spring, I feel the flowers last a decent amount of time and the foliage (which is so pretty against the more robust hosta leaves) lasts until everything starts to go to sleep in the fall.

oursteelers..thanks!..mine are short lived..flowers and foliage both die off kind of quick in my opinion..I never knew there were so many kinds..the plant world is enormous..I'll look for yours..back to show you descriptions..excuse my highlighting (not tech savvy)..#1 - Valentine #2 - came up with "dicentra white flowers"

Wish I could comment on individual pictures, but all I can say is there is a lot of garden love here! I'm wondering how many people use a serious camera and how many of these shots are simply from a phone? Whichever, the quality of the shots--mostly great, imo!

That last one was an impulse purchase from Bluestone. It's a single flower on a six-foot stalk--I believe it's in the sunflower family. It just made me smile.

Outstanding FrozeBudd!

Peren.all, I was fortunate to see Frozebudd's gardens a few years back and I can tell you that it is the most beautiful home garden I have ever visited (and I have seen many super duper gardens in my time ;)).

(I wish he would post many more pictures through the year).

@catkin: your pictures are amazing!! I love the combination of blooms and foliage. What are the small trees with white blooms?

@violetsnapdragon: thanks for posting these lovely pictures!! In your middle picture, is it an hydrangea in the background? (Pink flowers)

spirea

Bluestone and their freakin 1/2 off Friday‘s are TERRIBLE!

violetsnapdragon(6A)

Wish I could comment on individual pictures, but all I can say is there is a lot of garden love here! I'm wondering how many people use a serious camera and how many of these shots are simply from a phone? Whichever, the quality of the shots--mostly great, imo!

Violet, I use an old Motorola cell phone.

mazerolm(3a)

@catkin: your pictures are amazing!! I love the combination of blooms and foliage. What are the small trees with white blooms?

Mazerolm, they're Viburnum (plicatum f. tomentosum var.) 'Mariesii'.

rouge I do recall you visiting FrozeBudd. What a joy that must have been for both of you. What is missing from photos unfortunately are the scents and sounds that bring a garden to life. I can only imagine the beauty intensified through sensory perception!

Lovely, I too wish I could comment on every pic. I have been thoroughly enjoying every single one.

Great to see you back catkin, amazing pics as always!

Thanks, peren :~)

Following for inspiration - your gardens are all so wonderful! My goal for this year is to learn (or start to learn) the art of layering and pairing plants the way so many of you do. Keep the pics coming!

@biondaninima: Check out this page for more inspiration: https://www.gardenia.net/plant-combinations

There are so many combos I’d like to try!

Thank you mazerolm! That website is fantastic...I have found a new and dangerous way to goof off at work!

Oh I am so ready for spring to get here!!! All these pictures are pushing me to buy plants online lol

Here are a few of mine :)

Part 2

@Roxana: gorgeous pictures!! You must have one heck of a camera!

“All these pictures are pushing me to buy plants online”: tell me about it...I’ve already placed 5 orders!! lol!

Rouge and peren.all, I appreciate the kind and complementary words. I don't get around to posting as much as I would like, the place is very large and just keeps expanding! I think many others know how such goes when space permits! Otherwise, I've actually been working to reduce the size of most flowerbeds and giving them an improved overall more appealing shape and flow. The place has certainly been a labor of love and a foolish overboard driven passion!

Roxana..beautiful plants!..so colorful!..just testing myself - is that a Twist-n-Shout hydrangea?..

Wow, it's so nice to see all that green and flowers.

Roxana you have a real talent there!

@Mazerolm - Yes, I thought it everything she knows!

@Nicholsworth - The pink one is a quick fire hydrangea, the "white" ones are Lime Lights

@Katob Thank you!!

Roxana..I have those hydrangeas too!..my Quick Fire doesn't have the pretty red stems or as much pink on the blooms so I guessed yours were something else..too much shade here for mine to look like yours..