Welcome to
”THE PLACE” for
funky, fascinating and often saucy
planty goodness.
Please do not browse responsibly.
Find What You’re Looking For Here:
PLANTS
PLANTS & SeedS
These are all divisions, seeds or rooted cuttings from my own garden.
Plants are sold in my big annual sale listed here each spring, or through my Facebook page during the growing season.
Seeds are sold as they become available after I harvest and dry them-usually in 3 batches, starting in July.
SEEDS
Spring Theme
Daylilies
Photo Card Set #4
Photo Card Set #2
Fine Art Photography Cards
These cards are prints of my own photography which are then mounted on card stock. Size varies depending on original image. Envelopes are included.
Note: all orders will be printed on demand. I will have them ready within 5-7 days and will happily mail them if you are from out of town.
Copyright is reserved.
Dahlias
Poppies
Roses
Photo Card Set #1
Photo Card Set #5
Photo Card Set #3
Peonies
Irises
Plants and Shrubs for MOIST (but usually well drained) spots:
Hydrangea
Astilbe
Canna lilies
Calla lilies
Filipendula
Iris ensata
Ligularia
Maidenhair ferns
Carex grasses
Dicentra
Eupatorium
Lobelia
Persicaria
Petasites
Pulmonaria
Saxifraga
Trollius
Primulas
Weigela
Physocarpus
Thalictrum
Plants, bulbs and Shrubs for Shade:
Anemone nemorosa
Ferns of all kinds
Hostas of all kinds
Astilbe (part shade)
Hellebores (part shade)
Solomon’s Seal
Ligularia
Geranium macrrhorizum
Japanese Forest Grass
Dicentra (part shade)
Eupatorium
Heucheras with light toned or metallic leaves prefer shade
Black Mondo Grass
Hydrangea (part shade)
Pulmonaria (part shade)
Primulas
Snowdrops
Trilliums
Rhododendrons (part shade)
Aruncus
Podophyllum
Eleganus
Mahonia
Tree Ivy (NOT INVASIVE)
Lady’s Mantle
Beesia
Brunnera
Doronicum
Epimedium (part shade)
Polemonium
Persicaria
Aquilegia
Shooting Stars
Carex “Everillo”
Kerria japonica
Toxic Plants often used in gardens:
Handle with gloves
&
DONT EAT THEM-Duh!
Monkshood
Digitalis
Colchicum
Rhododendron
Daffodils
Lily of the Valley
Brugmansia
Castor Bean Plant
Hydrangea
Calla lily
Lupine
Datura
Lantana
Kalmia
English Yew
Dicentra
Anemone nemorosa
Columbine
Arums of any kind
Daphne
Queen Anne’s Lace
Delphinium
Dryopteris (ferns)
Gloriosa Lily
Hellebores
Hyacinth Bulbs
Laburnum
Privet
Peanut Butter Bush
Podophyllum
Oak leaves and acorns
Lists of Plants for you!
Plants and Shrubs for
DRY spots:
Daylily
Hosta
Eryngium
Sedum
Euphorbia
Miscanthus grass
Penstemon
Dianthus
Sempervivum
Ribes
Cistus
Sumac
Cotinus
Alchemilla
Bupleurum
Coreopsis
Digitalis
Helianthemum
Oregano
Lithodora
Shasta Daisies
Marubium
Phlomis
Lewisia
Oriental Poppy
Solomon’s Seal
Lamb’s Ears
Verbena
Verbascum
Opium/Breadseed Poppies
Nigella
Artemesia
Clay Tolerant Plants
*there must be some drainage though to prevent root rot:
Hydrangea
Ferns of all kinds
Astilbe
Hostas
Black Eyed Susan
Daylilies
Goldenrod
Eupatorium
Bee Balm
Azaleas
Geraniums
Spirea
Weigela
Snowdrops
Liatris
Sumac
Chelone
Polemonium
Mahonia
Caltha palustris
Shasta Daisies
Aquilegia canadensis
Darmera peltata
Petasites japonica
Bearded iris
Siberian Iris
Low growing sedums/stonecrop
Anthriscus
Digitalis
Kniphofia
Nepeta
Lithodora
Lychnis coronaria
Aruncus
Helenium
Maianthemum racemosum
Physocarpus
Plants and Shrubs for Dry Shade:
Keep in mind that these will need some water in the driest parts of summer, and may need a year to establish.
I highly recommend natives!
Epimedium
Sword Ferns
Geranium macrorrhizum
Hellebores
Anemone nemorosa
Hostas
Tellima grandiflora
Mahonia
Lamium -NOT yellow archangel, which is invasive
Bergenia
Lady’s Mantle
Brunnera
Solomon’s Seal
Corydalis lutea
Meconopsis cambrica
Tree Ivy (not invasive)
Aucuba japonica
Maianthemum racemosum
Ninebark
Anthriscus
Ceratostigma plumbaginoides
Vanilla Leaf
Doronicum
Golden oregano
Heucheras, particularly bright foliage and metallics
Trachystemon orientalis -can be aggressive
spring bulbs -if under deciduous trees
Wonderful Natives:
Sword Fern
Goat’s Beard
Ocean Spray
Nootka Rose
Trillium ovatum
Kinnikinnik
Pacific Dogwood
Vanilla Leaf
Cammas
Shooting Star
Dicentra formosa -native Bleeding Heart
Salal
Oregon Grape
Pearly Everlasting (can be aggressive in moist/rich soil)
Twinflower
Maianthemum racemosum
Bunchberry
Pacific Ninebark
Deer Fern
Tellima grandiflora
Adiantum pedatum -Maidenhair fern
Yarrow
Huckleberries
Ribes sanguineum
Deer Resistant Plants:
Keep in mind of course that deer are fickle. This list is HIGHLY subjective.
Ribes sanguineum
Ferns of all kinds
Grasses of all kinds
Hellebores
Daffodils
Ligularia
Geraniums
Callicarpa
Cistus
Eupatorium
Crocus
Azaleas
Opium/Breadseed Poppies
Pulmonaria
Primulas
Snowdrops
Trilliums
Alliums
Sumac
Euphorbia
Nigella
Mahonia
Tree Ivy (NOT INVASIVE)
Lady’s Mantle
Aster
Shasta Daisies
Doronicum
Artemisia
Cotoneaster
Eryngium
Marigolds
Bearded Iris
Siberian Iris
Low growing sedums/stonecrop
Anthriscus
Ajuga
Digitalis
Goldenrod
Penstemon
Helianthemum
Barberry shrubs
Gentian
Kniphofia
Colchicum
Nerines
Lavender
Nepeta
Lithodora
Lychnis coronaria
Oregano
Oriental poppy
Shirley poppy
California poppy
Saxifraga stolonifera
Lamb’s Ears
Tellima
Japanese waterfall maples
Verbascum
White Calla Lily
Cerastium tomentosum
Veronica
Maianthemum racemosum
Verbena
Hens & Chicks
Bupleurum
Physocarpus
Weigela
Sumac
Leucothoe
Armeria
Peony
Coreopsis
Blue Star Juniper
English Yew
AGGRESSIVE PLANTS
I’d avoid these plants unless you are well aware of how to contain them. Many of them are also on the BC list of Invasive Species.
English Ivy
Goutweed
Japanese Anemone
Blue bells
Drumstick Allium
Butterfly Bush
Yellow Arcangel
Burning Bush
Cyclamen hederifolium
Bamboo
Chameleon Plant
Yellow Loosestrife
Lily of the Valley
Norway Maple
Sumac
Creeping Campanula
Ribbon grass
Obedient Plant
Yellow Flag Iris
Himalayan Balsam
Arum italicum
Holly
English Laurel
Chinese Wisteria
Japanese Honeysuckle
Mint
Lemongrass
Chinese Lantern
Euphorbia myrsinites
Periwinkle
Excellent Container Plants:
Hostas
Japanese Forest Grass
Ornamental grasses
Hellebores
Heucheras
Begonias
Coleus
Dwarf Azaleas
Dwarf Weigelas
Dwarf Japanese maples
Primulas
Dwarf roses
Nasturtiums
Calla Lilies
Ornamental Oregano
Saxifraga stolonifera
Artemisia
Daylilies-shorter varieties
Veronica
Spring bulbs
Ornamental Kale
Euphorbia polychroma
Petunias
Miniature conifers
Tree Ivy (NOT INVASIVE)
Dwarf gladiolus
Dwarf Shasta Daisies
Hens and Chicks
Snapdragons
Oriental Poppies
Marigolds
Helianthemum
Lavender
Nepeta
Peonies-just choose shorter varieties
Carpet or border lilies (these are short and stout)
Dahlias
Yucca
Salvia
Dianthus
Penstemon
Tall Sedums
Beautiful Climbers:
Several of these can become aggressive, and some need strong support.
Please read about them before planting to determine if they are right for your spot!
Climbing Roses
Clematis
Virginia Creeper
Porcelain Berry
Climbing Hydrangea
Hops
Hardy Kiwi (male is more ornamental)
Trumpet Vine
Akebia
Fatshedera
Chelsea Chop: a mid season trimming of certain perennials to increase fullness and promote more flowers
When buying from a catalogue: consider that you are NOT paying what they tell you is on sale. You are paying the same price as in a nursery, plus shipping. The benefit is that you can order online, and they may have different stock. But it is not cheaper, despite them saying things are 50-75% off.
Feed rhodos, hydrangeas, camellias, pieris and azaleas in late winter when they’re about to come out of dormancy, and again after flowering to help set buds for next year. All can use the same plant food.
When buying for drought: look for plants that have white/grey foliage, furry or hairy foliage, tap roots or large rhizomes.
The larger the leaf, the more likely it likes moisture
Prune shrubs after flowering, many of them bloom on old wood, which gives them time to harden off before setting new buds.
To keep slugs at bay without traps: build a habitat suitable for their best natural predators -garter snakes. Piles of rocks with safe places for them to sleep and then sun themselves is ideal.
Reduce water loss by adding manure to your soil for water retention, and mulch to prevent evaporation
To make your soil drain better: Add organic matter of different sizes and texture. Sand is helpful as well, but you’ll need a large quantity and it offers very little benefit (aside from drainage). It is preferred for plants that like thin soil.
Potted plants are far more likely to dry out, and also freeze over the winter. Add Perlite to help retain moisture, and tuck pots next to house or under deck to mitigate these things.
Wood chips are often available for free from Arborists who will gladly dump them on your driveway if they’re in your neighbourhood. However, they must be move into place for pathways or as mulch quickly as they will mold and release a lot of spores very quickly.
Mushrooms in the garden are beneficial. Very rarely are they toxic. If you’re concerned, simply put on some rubber gloves and remove them, the mycorrhizae will still be present, but you won’t be exposed to the fruiting body of the mushroom.
Wasps are valuable as both pollinators and predatory insects to help control a variety of pests such as aphids. Please only kill them if they pose a danger to you or your kids, not just because you’ve found them.
To attract more hummingbirds: add plants with tubular shaped flowers.
To attract more butterflies, add plants with an abundance of tiny flowers.
To attract bees: add flowers that bloom later in the season when they are most active.
Avoid landscape fabric at all costs. It does not reduce weeds, but in fact acts as a lovely anchor for their roots.
Avoid netting with small openings as it can trap small birds.
GARDENING TIPS
Use plastic blinds to cut up as plant tags
Do Not prune trees in spring as their sap is running and they can become weakened. Prune them instead as they are beginning to go dormant in late Autumn.
For tender plants: to save yourself having to dig them up, put a pot into the ground where you want it, then another pot inside that so that it can be easily removed and brought inside.
Line pots with mosquito screening to keep spready plants from taking off through the holes in the bottom. This will NOT work for things like bamboo that have very intense strong roots.
Use a reciprocating saw to divide difficult plants like Pampas Grass, Siberian Iris, Miscanthus Grass, Ferns etc.
You can also use a reciprocating saw to remove the tatty foliage from ferns to save yourself a lot of work cutting by hand. Especially our native sword ferns!
Speaking of ferns, the best time to remove old foliage on Sword ferns is in late March, early April. This will refresh them and showcase the lovely curlicues as the new fronds emerge.
When using ‘belly’ pots, those that flare outward from the opening, add a plastic pot inside that comes just to the rim to make it easier to pull out and divide.
To test if something will be eaten by deer/rabbits in your yard, place a small division in a pot and leave it there for months. If it hasn’t been browsed, you are probably safe. However-young deer will often sample as they do not know better.
To deter weevils from making Swiss cheese of your shrub leaves: sprinkle around the base with diatomaceous earth. This is essentially like adding tiny shards of glass that will cut the exoskeleton of the weevils so they dehydrate and die. Diatomaceous earth is NOT harmful to humans or animals, and has the texture of corn starch.
Spiders are your friends! Truly. BUT: If you’re like me then you’ll likely let loose an unholy scream, leave your body temporarily and then hurl them across the yard if they get on you…
BUT, they are incredibly beneficial. Please don’t kill them. And if you see them eating bees-that is OKAY. Spiders eating bees is not the problem. Just have a very brief talk with the offending arachnid about boundaries and personal space and move yourself to another part of the yard.If you aren’t certain if a shrub is alive or dead, take a sharp knife and scrape a tiny bit of the bark. If it’s brown, it’s dead, if green, it’s alive! Test closer to the base as often they’ll die off at the ends and still come back strong from the base.
What’s in a Name?
Well, in terms of Plants, there is a ton!
Botanical names are in two parts
(binomial: two names).
The first name depicts the Genus of the plant such as Primula, Rhododendron, Crocus.
The second name is the species and this is the fun part because you can learn characteristics from that second name!
The species name will often convey one of the following:
-natural habitat
-fuzzy or spiky foliage
-colour of flower or leaves
-where it is endemic to
-growth habit, like whether it’s twisted or weeping, or crawling
-shapes of foliage or flowers
-texture
-whether it’s an annual/ephemeral
-whether it’s edible or has a nice scent
Cool right?
Botanical Words for Colours:
White: albus/album/alba/albo
Black: nigrescens, nigra, nigricans, niger
Grey: glaucum/glauca
Red: sanguinea/sanguineum/
rubra/rubrum/ruber
Yellow: sulphureum/sulphureus,
flavum/flavus/flava, lutea/luteum
Green: viridis
Blue: azureum, caerulea/caeruleus
Purple: purpurea/purpurescens/purpureum, violetta
Pink: rosea/roseum/
Silver: argentea/argentum
Gold: aurum/aurea/aureus
Ophiopogon planiscapus nigrescens
Centranthus ruber
COOL PLANT INFO
What the heck is a Cultivar?
A cultivar is the result of selective breeding to achieve a specific result.
They often have fun and imaginative names, sometimes they are named after a person the breeder wishes to pay homage to.
The cultivar name is usually listed between quotations.
Examples:
Primula bellarina “Nectarine”
Aquilegia vulgaris “William Guiness”
Teucrium scorodonia 'Crispum'
Viburnum plicatum
“Pink Sensation”
Caltha palustris “flore pleno”
Hosta albomarginata
I know, this bit isn’t ‘cool’ plant info, but I put it here because it’s important and I lost about 2/3 of my rather extensive collection before I got this under control in my garden.
Common Botanical Terms Translated:
-repens/reptans: crawling/creeping
-nutans: nodding
-macrorrhizum: large rooted
-macrophylla: large leafed
-phylla/phylum/follium/folia: leaf
-vulgaris: common
-hirsutus/hirsutum: hairy/fuzzy
-barbata/barbatus: having long hairs(like a beard)
-dioecious: plants have separate genders, such as kiwis
-alpinum/alpina: natural habitat is alpine
-pictum: painted
-contorta: twisted
-crispa/crispum: crinkled, often around the margins of the leaves
-strictus: upright
-dentata/dentatum: toothed
-pratense/pratensis: from open fields
-sylvestris: from the forest
-palmatum/palmatus: shaped like a hand
-marginata: edge
-striata/striatus: striped
-plicata/plicatum: pleated
-elata/elatus: growing tall
-effusa/effusum: growing in loose form
—sempervivum: living forever
-sempervirens: evergreen
-floridus: profusely flowering
-rugosa/rugosum: wrinkly
-racemosus/racemosum/racemosa:
flowers in the form of racemes
-plena/pleno: double (flowered)
-fragrans: scented
-fruticosa/frutescens: shrubby
-pinnata/pinnatus: resembling a feather
-gigas: giant
-mollis: soft
-gracilis: graceful
-lanatus: wooly
-mucosa/mucosum: slimy
-undulata: wavy
-flore/flora: flowered
-pendula: weeping
Dirty Dragon on Youtube:
This is my channel where I talk about seed starting, pruning, garden composition, plant types for different areas and a bunch of other things!
Some of you know that I am also an artist and professional photographer! This page is where I post my paintings, which I do when I am not gardening… mostly in winter.
Heritage Iris Database, great for ID’ing!
This is a paper that I have found useful, you’ll have to scroll down quite a bit for the pictures.
LINKS To explore
My Favourite Nurseries:
A wonderfully stocked playground with a very generous variety of pretty much everything, always bringing in new cultivars. Their Hydrangea, Azalea/Rhodo and Tree selections are amazing.
Located close to Whippletree Junction between Duncan and the Malahat.
Another nursery with a wide variety of everything you can imagine, including indoor plants and edibles. They have an excellent rose selection.
This nursery makes me shake like a Chihuahua, I get so excited.
It isn’t particularly well presented or organized BUT, the staff know their plants and where to find them!
They specialize in natives, rare and unusual plants, a huge variety of ferns, hellebores, aroids and cypripediums.
They are located on Saltspring Island, and well worth the trip.
Located in Nanaimo.
Really nice selection with a great variety of Japanese Maples and Roses. Many indoor plants as well.
A fun place to stop if you’re in the area.
Pricey, but excellent for seeds and bulbs in particular. They often carry plants I have not seen elsewhere, as well as some fun aquatics and carnivorous plants.
Located by the Commonwealth Pool
Affordable with a lovely variety of Hydrangeas, Trees and many of the more commonly enjoyed plants.
Located not far from the Ferries in North Saanich
This is a privately owned nursery that specializes in plants for arid conditions, promoting water saving and hardiness in our changing climate.
She is located in Central Saanich and is available by appointment.
VERY expensive.
However, they also offer the widest variety of unique and collectable plants in Canada.
This place also makes me shake with excitement.
They do offer shipping, which is actually cheaper than heading over by ferry… but reduces what you can purchase by size.
Highly recommend checking out their mail order catalogue.
My Favourite Seed Companies:
Located in England, so you’re paying exchange. But, they have a wonderfully huge variety of everything from food to perennials, grasses, trees, house plants and exotics. Their site is beautifully presented and easy to navigate.
To me, that’s important!
Also located in England.
Very similar to Chiltern. Excellent selection, and a lovely site.
Located in Illinois, USA.
They do not cater to the uber geeks as much, but they have a very nice collection of familiar plants in lovely varieties.
Located in Connecticut, USA.
Broad selection, lovely website, similar to Summerhill.
Located in Serbia, but prices are in USD.
This is a small company that used to only provide from their garden the way I do, but has recently expanded their stock to include many geeky type plants in addition to familiar options. Even with the exchange, they are very reasonable with generous portions.
I have bought from them a number of times and have always been satisfied.
