City adding flower gardens to street corners

A few years ago the City of Montreal began building wider sidewalks in this area of the city, they have also added flower beds at the end of streets. There are other flower beds, like the ones pictured below, in other areas of the neighbourhood, but this is on the next street over from us. Planted here are perennials, cone flowers, brown-eyed susans, day lilies, hydrangeas, and so. They are all perennials and should be left to winter over, no problem with that, but it occurred to be that this fall they will probably get remove all of these flowers instead of leaving them for next spring and summer. Bureaucracy likes to tidy things up, efficiency and economy is what counts. In the meantime, let me congratulate the city on this excellent addition to urban living.

Corners of Coronation Avenue and Chester Avenue

That's Gilbert Layton Park in the background, 
the grandfather of former NDP leader Jack Layton

A Canadian cottage garden in August

 A Canadian cottage garden; photographs taken on 22 August 2023.

You can feel August in the air, it's cooler, the days are shorter, the sun is not as intense as it was in July.

A garden is like an extra room in your house, but it's outside. With enough plants, flowers, a bird bath, a bench to sit on, it is comfortable and inviting. Sit down over here, have a cup of tea, behind you a sparrow just visited the bird bath, all is well in the world.

Scenes from a Canadian cottage garden

One of several videos of my Canadian cottage garden. 

The Canadian Cottage Garden, end of July 2023

 

It is just as I wanted it to be. To sit in the garden, surrounded by flowers, and on a hot summer day to have insects, wild bees, and butterflies going from flower to flower, busy with their work of pollination and collecting pollen and nectar. 

Growing hostas

It is not that I like hostas that much but they grow in the shade and this is a fairly shaded garden, that's why I have so many hostas. I have always regretted the lack of full sunlight on this garden; in fact, I've spent a fair amount of time regretting the lack of sunlight on this garden but I've also come to accept it and even think it is perfect the way it is. 

Hostas are easy to grow, they don't need much care (or any care), or any sunlight.

A Canadian Cottage Garden, late July 2023

 

Living on Belmore

We put up with--endure--a lot of cold weather for a few mild months, for a few perfect summer days, for the way we'd like to live year round.

A Canadian cottage garden in early July

 These photographs were taken in early July.

Day lilies

Phlox

Lupines

Foxglove

The sumac seeded itself a few years ago