Willows

Taking orders for Willow cuttings and rods 2012

2012-01-29T13:42:00.002-05:00

The winter - so far - has been mild with weather conditions changing almost daily. During January we had temperatures ranging from 15 degrees Celsius to -17 (+ the effect of the wind chill), sunny days, rainy days, snowy days, very windy days and a few days like today starting out looking like a dense snowstorm, then suddenly more and more blue appearing in the sky with bright sun and temperatures just above freezing. The snow probably won't stay long this time either.

These conditions have made it possible for us to start harvesting the willow already and we are now taking orders for willow cuttings and rods. Delivery can take place anytime you wish until the end of April. If you order - and receive cuttings before you are ready to plant them - don't worry, they will keep just fine wrapped in dark plastic and stored in your fridge. Prices and information about availability and kits for living willow trees can be found at the top of the page under "Cuttings and whips"!

The fairly wet snow coming down this morning blanketed and hugged the willow in the garden. Beautiful!

The smaller willow Salix eleagnos (often called rosemary willow, but it is not Salix rosemarinifolia) has narrow green leaves resembling the leaves on rosemary. Cuppiced each year the shrub grows to a height of about 75cm (under 3 feet) and I grow some as a low, natural hedge. The winter bark on S. eleagnos i very dark brown almost black with dark red bud scales.

The trunk of the woven willow trees lend themselves to some beautiful snow covered images. Salix x acutifolia is a more vigorous willow, its first growth in spring a bright wine red with almost lime coloured new leaves. Later the foliage colour gets a bit darker, but the branches stay a wine red colour during summer. As the leaves fall the colours of the bark change to a dark purple, almost black. The following year the bark on last years growth develops a bloom that gives them a whitewashed look. Older bark is black as seen on the image on left. The branches on the image to the right show winter bark on one year old shoots.

A woven or twisted tree looks especially

beautiful in this variety of willow and grown as a shrub in the garden it ads beautiful colour year round.

Salix alba 'Sericea' has intense dark orange coloured winter bark. As other alba hybrids it tends to grow with lots of side branches (even when coppiced) so it is not the best willow to grow for basketry. It is great though, to have a few bundles of rods to ad some colour variations to certain baskets. For that purpose I have to cut the side branches off for use as weavers - and I only get a few for my own use. It is far too much work!

Living willow fence in snow.

Words and photos by Lene Rasmussen,Willows.

Workshop at Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens

2012-01-26T22:16:00.000-05:00

Saturday March 3rd, 2012 I will be at the Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens for a workshop teaching a rib style basket made with willow.

We will be working on a model resembling the ones shown here - the colour of the willow bark adding accent and interest.

For more information and to register, please click here to go to Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens Programmes 2012.

Words and photos by Lene Rasmussen,Willows.

December willows

2011-12-22T17:15:00.000-05:00

Running late seems to be the thing for me in December. This week I finally made my winter planters - just have to ad some lights now.

Inspired by a customer who bought some willow globes from me for her planters, I have placed globes on top of a bed of greens in my planters at the back door. My customer has added strands of lights to her globes and it looks beautiful at night - I may just do that also, if I can find the time for it before Saturday that is.

For the front door I have used lots of curly willow and dragon willow branches for a look similar to last year.

So far this winter we have only had a couple of days with snow. When we get the snow, however, it always gets caught by the willow in the field and I end up with large, deep drifts of snow among the willows - snow that doesn't melt till long after all the other snow is gone - and I scramble to get the willow harvested before it goes out of dormancy again and the bark loosens from the rods.

This year we have put a snow fence up hoping that most of the snow - if we get a lot - won't get caught up in the willows and I will be able to harvest earlier.

I could harvest at any time now, but am waiting for some frost so that it isn't so wet and muddy in the field and we can bring out the tractor to transport the willow to the barn.

The colours of the willow in the winter always amazes me, so diverse and vibrant.

Today is the shortest day of the year - we're on our way towards spring!
Wishing all a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year.

Words and photos by Lene Rasmussen,Willows.

Basketry workshops

2011-12-06T18:00:00.001-05:00

As mentioned in my last newsletter, I am now offering my first workshops in basketry.

A beginner myself, I want to start with something simple - more rustic than refined - and a couple of people have asked me to teach them how to make the willow garden globe.

There is a bit of basic weaving on that project and it is something that beginners can participate in.

I have scheduled the workshop for Saturday January 14, 2012 - see details under "Events" at the top - and that workshop is already filled.

A second workshop will be held on Saturday January 21st, 2012.

Living willow workshops for the spring 2012 will be planned and posted on my blog in January.

Words and photos by Lene Rasmussen,Willows.

Christmas Markets

2011-12-05T20:26:00.000-05:00

Thank you to everyone who visited my booths at The HandMade Market and The Artful Treasures Christmas Show during the past two week-ends.

It was fun to participate and the positive feedback from visitors who purchased items or showed interest in future workshops has been very encouraging.

In addition to the bird feeders I had produced a few baskets, mini hanging planters, willow globes and some Christmas items such as angels, stars, "twisters" (for use in outdoor planters), Christmas trees and wreaths - and it was a pleasure to talk to people about my business.

I am looking forward to participating in future markets - in the meantime: Look out for postings about planned workshops.

Words and photos by Lene Rasmussen,Willows.

2011 Artful Treasures

2011-11-20T23:41:00.000-05:00

The 2011 Artful Treasures Christmas show and sale in Niagara on The Lake is on December 2nd and 3rd from 10 am to 4 pm

The show is at the Pumphouse and held on the same week-end as the Christmas house tour in N-O-T-L

Take a trip to beautiful Niagara on The Lake and come and see me there!

Words and photos by Lene Rasmussen,Willows.

2011 Christmas HandMade Market

2011-11-20T23:14:00.000-05:00

I have been busy preparing for the market, making
Baskets

Angels

Garden Globes

Wreaths

Stars

......and a few other things - come see me there!

Words and photos by Lene Rasmussen,Willows.

Flexible Willow Soaking Facility

2011-10-26T17:59:00.002-04:00

When I was ready to use my first harvest of willow - dried for basketry - a couple of years ago, I decided to start small and my husband made me two pipes for soaking the willow.

The pipes are resting on a wooden frame in our utility room where the temperature is always around 20 degrees Celsius so it is not a problem to soak willow during the winter months. In the summertime I sometimes move the pipes outside in the sun where the temperature gets much higher which speeds up the whole process.

The pipes have screw caps in both ends. I open one end, fill the pipe with bundles to be soaked and cap the pipe again. Each pipe has a 5cm hole for filling it with water using my garden watering can and for emptying it again siphoning with a thin hose.

This has worked well except for the fact that the pipes are too small if I want to soak willow for more than one project. I really regret that I didn't invest in larger pipes as it can be a little tricky to get the bundles in and out when I stuff as much as possible in there.

This summer my resourceful husband made me a new, very flexible soaking facility.

A wooden box that expands as needed. The sides of the box are 8 feet long and the ends are 1, 2 or 4 feet long. The height is 1 foot.

The boards are easily assembled with large bolts.

After the box is assembled, I line it with a double layer of 6 mill plastic. Then I ad just enough water to cover the bottom which makes it easy to smooth out the plastic into all the corners and I can fill it with as much water as needed.

Even though the frame is just 12 inches high, it is amazing how much willow can be soaked in the smallest box.

The willow is weighed down with a few large stones.

Several batches of willow can be soaked without changing the water. It is, however, easy to empty the container for water and afterwards the plastic can easily be cleaned outside on the lawn.

When not in use, the boards require minimal space for storage.

The Danish blog 'Piletossen' has a great, very thorough post about soaking willow. It is written in Danish, but I believe that you can use Google Translate with a decent result.

Words and photos by Lene Rasmussen,Willows.

Transplanting your potted willow tree to your garden

2011-09-28T21:54:00.000-04:00

As the summer is slowly fading, the colours change and the leaves start to fall, it is time to transplant your potted willow tree to the garden - if you haven't done so yet.

When you first made your tree at our workshop (or bought it) in the spring, the willow rods didn't have any roots yet and you had to leave it in the pot to root and start growing.
It would look like the one in the photo on the left.

When the roots have developed during the summer, you can transplant it to your garden - and by this time of the year you have to do so. First of all the roots may not make it through the winter in the pot above ground, and secondly the woven tree is really 32 willow plants in that little pot - so it really wants to get some more room for its feet.

This morning - still a bit of fog in the air - a woven tree waiting to be planted looks like this one in the photo to the right.

Words and photos by Lene Rasmussen,Willows.

Living Willow Fence - one year later.......

2011-09-23T10:21:00.000-04:00

Planting a woven Living Willow Fence has to be one of the fastest ways to create a living wall in your garden.
My woven fence was planted in the beginning of April 2010 and you can see what it looked like by the end of May that same year here.
After pruning in the fall - as I want to maintain the visibility of the shape of the fence - this is what it looked like in mid November the first year.

The following photos are from June this year, the fence being one year old.

If you are not interested in showing the weave, but would rather have a dense hedge, you can at this point weave all the long shoots into the structure.

We don't have a lot of trees on our property, but our neighbour does - and from early afternoon on the hedge is in shade. As you can see, it is doing just fine with the hours of sun that it gets daily.

On the North side of the fence, however the growth is more sparse and you can easily see the woven pattern even at this time of the year. To maintain the fence - so that it doesn't get lopsided - it is important to either prune it at least once (better twice) annually or continually weave any new growth into it.

By the end of July this second growing season the look is very full and the fence is ready for another pruning.

Words and photos by Lene Rasmussen,Willows.

Willow Bird Feeder Classes

2011-09-05T12:01:00.001-04:00

My friend Frances - who has a lot of experience working with willow and who is also the treasurer of the Southwestern Ontario Basketry Guild (SOBG) - had talked me into joining her in teaching members of the SOBG to make willow bird feeders.

At the Chatham location - The Chatham Cultural Centre - we had 7 eager members working on their feeders.

The craft room at the center is large and equipped with lots of tables, chairs and each student had lots of space - which is required for this project.

Sunday's class was held at one of the member's studio in Thorndale. A beautiful space with everything that a basket (or craft) maker can dream of and the 5 students had a great time weaving and enjoying the beautiful view of the gardens and horses in the field. Thank you Linda for hosting this - and your offerings of coffee, tea, wonderful muffins and making sure we were not hungry as we hit the road again, some of us having several hours of driving ahead of us.

I am sure that everyone will enjoy watching the birds that will be frequenting the feeders in months to come.

Words and photos by Lene Rasmussen,Willows

Additional workshop available

2011-04-06T10:04:00.000-04:00

As my planned Living Willow Workshops for Saturdays have been fully booked, I have added one more session for Sunday April 10, 2011 at 10 a.m.

If you are interested in attending, please send me a mail at salixlene@gmail.com

Words and photos by Lene Rasmussen,Willows.

Willow harvest delayed by more snow

2011-03-23T21:51:00.001-04:00

Finally last week-end most of the snow had disappeared in the field and we could begin this year's willow harvest.
We managed to harvest about 20% of the rods. Monday and Tuesday I cut a bit more, finished bundeling the rods in the field. By Tuesday the field was dry enough for me to drive the lawn tractor with my little wagon behind to pick the budles up and take them home.

Then Wednesday morning I woke up to about 10 cm of snow!! And as if that was not enough, it continued on and off all day and by night we have double of that with some drifts as deep as 40 cm - as in the driveway :-)

The next week or so will be cold but sunny and I can only wait..........till it is all gone again - and hope........that I will have time enough to harvest all the willow before it starts growing again.

The bundles look very nice in the snow though and stacked behind the barn waiting to be sorted in bundles with different sizes.

If there is anything good about the snow at this time of the year - yes, they say it is spring and we have changed to "Daylight savings time" - it is the fact that I can let the dogs out without getting two very dirty, mud dragging boys in the house. Oh well, I tried!!

Words and photos by Lene Rasmussen,Willows.

Working with living willow - workshop in Toronto at TBG

2011-03-21T23:07:00.000-04:00

Toronto Botanical Garden has a full program of lectures, certificate programs and events that are open to the public. If you are a member of TBG, you get discounted rates and some lectures are free.

On TBG's web-site you can find information about all their courses and events and you can download the current program guide.

I am very pleased to be involved in one of the adult courses offered by TBG this spring as I will teach a workshop: Working With Willow on April 16, 2011.

After a short presentation about some of all the things that willow is used for (or has been in the past) we will work on making a Twisted Tree to bring home for the garden.

To register for this event, contact the Toronto Botanical Garden. Registration information can be found here.

I would love to see you there.

Words and photos by Lene Rasmussen,Willows.

Living Willow Workshops Spring 2011

2011-03-15T15:08:00.001-04:00

.
Learn how to work with living willow rods, twisting or weaving them into potted trees that can be transplanted to your garden later this year.

At the workshops you can choose to make a tree where the trunk is twisted like a rope or woven in a "harlequin" pattern similar to the Living Willow Fence.

The trees you make at the workshop are yours to take home.

Join us at one of the scheduled workshops at Lakeshore Willows - please check under the tab "EVENTS" at the top of the page for dates, time and cost. To sign up for a workshop drop me a mail at salixlene@gmail.com.

Or you can book me for a session with a group of friends - either here at Lakeshore Willows or somewhere else - just contact me for availability etc.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Words and photos by Lene Rasmussen,Willows.

Willow Globe for the garden

2011-03-09T23:26:00.001-05:00

My friend Frances and I decided to make "Willow Globes" modelled after an image from the net and we were quite happy with the results - considering that we had never worked on structures like this before.

I imagine a few of these in different sizes could ad interest in the garden and I am going to place some among the woven willow trees I have planted in a garden bed for display along with some ornamental grasses.

This one is a big one, but smaller ones could also hang from branches under the canopy of a big tree, swaying in the wind.

If your garden is closed in you can just let a few roll around on the lawn, rolling here and there with the wind. But of course, you can also anchor them at certain desired spots on the lawn or in a flower bed.

Words and photos by Lene Rasmussen,Willows.

Garden Making with Lakeshore Willows

2011-02-28T17:28:00.000-05:00

Coming home from "2 weeks in the sun on a beach in Puerto Plata" I couldn't wait to open my spring issue of Garden Making - which was waiting for me, delivered to subscribers the day after we left home.

I subscribed to Garden Making when it was first introduced at Canada Blooms and I have loved every issue.

This time my excitement was different as I knew that Lakeshore Willows is featured in the monthly pages: Gardener's Notebook and I had to find Garden Making in the pile of mail and open it at 2 a.m. just after we arrived home.

My friend Yvonne Cunnington - "Thank you so much for writing this, helping me spread the word about working with willow"

The spring issue went on sale today.

Text and photos by Lene Rasmussen,Willows.

Willow bird feeder visited

2011-02-02T16:58:00.000-05:00

The anticipated snowstorm dumped a pile of snow here today and it has been very busy at the bird feeder.
I have feeders in three different sizes, the biggest one too big for hanging in a rope or chain. In the spring we will place a pole in a flowerbed for mounting one in addition to leaving one on the deck, mounted on a rod placed in a sturdy umbrella-foot.
For now, so that we can enjoy the birds - and they can eat - during winter, we have placed one on top of our fire pit.

Words and photos by Lene Rasmussen,Willows.

New blog: I Danmark er jeg født

2011-02-01T10:13:00.001-05:00

For those of you interested - I have just started a new blog: I Danmark er jeg født (I was born in Denmark). I is written in Danish and I intend to communicate everyday happenings and thoughts.

Words and photos by Lene Rasmussen,Willows.

Willow cuttings and dormant rods update

2011-01-20T16:28:00.003-05:00

As the season for willow cuttings and dormant, living willow rods is approaching, I have just updated the "tabs" at the top of my blog with information about willow cuttings and living dormant rods (for Living Willow Fences (Fedge), huts, arbors, tunnels etc., and of course also for Living Willow Trees planted in pots or directly in the ground) for sale here at Lakeshore Willows, Wainfleet, Ontario, Canada.

For anyone interested in Living Willow workshops there is an overview of upcoming workshops etc. under the tab "events".

Words and photos by Lene Rasmussen,Willows.

Winter Planters with Willow

2010-12-31T00:00:00.000-05:00

This year I chose to decorate my winter planters using willow as the main material.

The planters at the back door each has 10 large branches of the curly willow, Salix x 'Red Corkscrew Willow' placed in the middle.

To complement the yellow and orange colours I made wreaths of Salix dasyclados and S. sachaliensis 'Sekka' and placed them on the edges of the planters.

It was easy and I like the look - although I might have added a few, small green branches had the soil not been frozen by the time I started to work on the planters - I was lucky to get the willow rods in place before the soil was too hard.

The low, black planters at the front door are filled with branches of Salix x 'Flame', a few S. sachaliensis 'Sekka' (Japanese Fantail willow), and "sprigs" of evergreens.

As we do not have Christmas lights on the house, we decided to wrap two very large wreaths and three big stars - made with fresh rods of Salix dasyclados - with strands of clear mini lights and hung them at the front of the house over the holiday. It looked great and I will have to take photos to show next year.

Salix x acutifolia is interesting with a white bloom on the dark wine coloured stems and I used it as decoration on my advendt wreath this year - looking beautiful along with light purple ribbons. As I made a couple of Christmas decorations for the table, I also added a few stems for interest.

It is the last day of 2010 and I wish you all a Happy New Year with good health and lots of laughter.

Words and photos by Lene Rasmussen,Willows.

Salix x 'Flame' flaming in the November sun!

2010-11-29T09:33:00.001-05:00

Sometimes you just have to post repeatedly about a subject - like the colours of the willow branches, intensifying after some frosty nights, and amplified by late afternoon sun.

The colours in the field looked so inviting from the house that I decided to walk out and try to capture some of it. Above is Salix x 'Flame' on November 11, 2010 burning in the late afternoon sun.

Salix x rubens 'Hutchinsons Yellow' - true to its name somewhat more yellowish - stunning.

Salix 'Americana' had taken on a beautiful brown colour with a touch of pink.

Interesting enough Salix koriyanagi 'Rubykins' still had all green leaves, standing tall, slim, and beautiful, the rods a bright green with some rosy cheeks.

Time for harvesting has arrived - at least for some varieties.

Words and photos by Lene Rasmussen,Willows.

Weaving for the garden and the birds

2010-10-15T09:44:00.004-04:00

At the willow weaving class in June I had a chance to meet a few of the members of the Southwestern Ontario Basketry Guild and it was a wonderful opportunity for me to get to know people with an interest in willow.

One of the girls, Janice joined my friend Frances and me for a couple of days of weaving here at Lakeshore Willows, where Janice and I benefited from Frances' great experience in willow weaving.

We used entirely left over willow from the above mentioned class in June - dried, then soaked willow kept in a freezer by Frances since June - and Frances was happy to see most of the willow finally transformed into something useful.

Both Janice and Frances have added wonderful posts to their blogs about our "Basket Camp" where you can read more about the experience.

This garter snake decided to pay us a visit in the garage. I was very surprised that he actually came right into the garage where we were working on the baskets - AND both dogs were there too. Maybe because it was a very hot day, but I quickly got him outside again - I really don't like snakes, even the harmless ones, and definitely not in the house. Really, since that day I catch myself checking for any movement whenever I step into the garage from the house!

Our finished garden baskets displayed on the deck.

Frances did a great job teaching us the techniques that were a great challenge for both Janice and me - especially to scallom and insert the stakes.

My basket in use - I just harvested the last big bunch of tomatoes a couple of days ago.

Our next project were bird-feeders. Here's Janice working on the base - Frances "lending a helping hand"

Our final products.

I think they look pretty good, considering they were our first attempts, helping each outer and following written instructions.

Words and photos by Lene Rasmussen,Willows.

Pruning to renew growth, shape

2010-08-31T00:22:00.000-04:00

The Twisted Willow trees and the Harlequin trees that we made in the spring need a bit of maintenance to keep looking their best.
You want the plants to appear like a tree - with a trunk and a crown - but as the rods that we planted start to root and grow, they will naturally set shoots along the length of the rods. The shoots on the "trunks" of the trees have to be pinched off during spring and summer to keep the shape of the trees while the shoots in the top are allowed to grow. If you fail to do so, you will end up with a very bushy shrub in the pot.

Keeping the twisted trees (from left: Salix x 'Flame, S. 'Americana', S. integra 'Hakuro Nishiki', and S. x acutifolia) free from shoots on the "trunk" is fairly easy as you basically just rub your hand down the trunk while the shoots are small. As you may see on the photos, the different varieties have different habits as to how many shoots they grow and how easily they are pinched off.

The Harlequin tree takes much more work and the variety in the picture, S. koriyanagi 'Rubykins' will have a lot of shoots in the spring and early summer with fewer shoots continuing to show up during the rest of the growing season and the following years.

In the photo to the left I have removed all the shoots and the trunks look clean and smooth.

When pinching off the shoots it is important to be careful not to damage the bark on the tree. If the shoot has been left too long you may rip some of the bark off if you "rub" or pull on the shoot - risking that that particular willow rod will die. If the shoots have been allowed to grow too big, it is a good idea to pinch them off with your finger tips or cut them off with a small pruning tool.

As the plants grow, you will also like to encourage the crowns to "fill in", get bigger and fuller. This is accomplished by pruning the crown a few times during the summer - starting when the individual shoots in the crown are about 25 cm long, cutting off about 10 cm.

On the left are the trees before pruning - I was late with the first pruning this summer - and on the right the same tree after it has been pruned.

The top tree is S. x acutifolia

The bottom tree is S. koriyanagi 'Rubykins'

They look a little "stunted" right after this operation, but the plants respond by developing two or more new shoots for each tip that has been cut off and after a few weeks you will have a larger, bushier crown.

This is what my very first Harlequin tree looks like now, planted in the garden.

Rib Style Basket Making

2010-07-06T14:21:00.002-04:00

I was fortunate to attend four days of willow weaving classes last month - my first in Rib Style basket making (so for those who have followed my blog, yes it was my second willow weaving class ever) - and we were going to make four different baskets.

The classes were taught by Jo Campbell Amsler of Willow Ridge Basketry who specializes in Rib Style baskets woven with willow and other natural weaving materials. Above is a selection of some of the beautiful baskets made by Jo which she brought to the classes. For information about Willow Ridge Basketry, the accomplishments of Jo, and upcoming classes, click on the link above.

On the first day we were taught a traditional "Gypsy Melon Basket" using some of the techniques the traveling Gypsies used when traveling from community to community selling their baskets. Most of us didn't quite finish our baskets during class and as we didn't want to go home with unfinished baskets, four of us (staying at the same inn) worked on finishing it in one of our rooms that night.

My "Gypsy Melon Basket" made with rods from Salix koriyanagi 'Rubykins' from my field. I have decided that this is going to be my "tool basket". Not too big, but big enough - and very cute.

My "Wisteria Bowl" made over a rim created by twisting wisteria wines into a circle (holding it in place till it has dried). I chose to make it rather shallow, almost tray-like. The weaving material is a combination of various willow weavers and thinner wisteria wines. It was fun to "feel" the nature of the different materials as I don't have any former experience weaving with natural materials.

My favourite basket was the "Willow Ridge Herb Basket", taught on the third day. For this basket I decided to try using "fresh, frozen, thawed" willow rods for weaving. I had (naturally, with my lack of experience) never tried that, but Jo uses fresh (or fresh, frozen) willow for most of her baskets and told me that for the rib style baskets it doesn't make much of a difference and you don't have to worry about drying and soaking the rods - you always have weavers ready to go. That is, of course, if you have lots of freezer room for willows. It definitely had another feel to it.

Our last basket - the "Charm Basket" - was a smaller basket, thus much less room to work the weavers and because of that it was not - as I had expected - the easiest of the baskets to make. It is called "Charm Basket" as small charms are attached to the ends of the handle, dangling. I didn't attach any yet, but in the top collage - middle, right - you can see one of Jo's baskets with charms of tiny pieces of driftwood, willow beads, acorn "tops" etc.

Very few willow classes are offered in North America and none here in Ontario (not that I have been able to find) and am so happy that I found the Southwestern Ontario Basketry Guild who sponsored these classes with Jo Campbell Amsler. I hope that the interest in willow weaving will increase so that we will have an opportunity to attract other instructors to teach us their willow weaving techniques.

Words and photos by Lene Rasmussen,Willows.

Wickerwork and Willow - a "New Trend"?

2010-06-10T21:58:00.000-04:00

An on-line journal "The Statement" - The monthly e-zine for the professional designer - has published an article about wickerwork and willow under ideas for design, featuring an image and link to my blog.
I am always excited when some of the many uses of willow are promoted as I, obviously, believe there is a great potential, not only in traditional basket making, but also in modern art and design.

Words and photos by Lene Rasmussen,Willows.

Living Willow Fence update

2010-05-25T23:34:00.002-04:00

The Living Willow Fence was installed April 5-6, 2010 and 7 weeks later is looking fresh and green.

It looks like all rods are rooting and growing, filling in nicely. As the area where I planted it is low and moist (if not wet) unless we are in a period of drought, I haven't had to water it yet and the last couple of weeks of warm and sunny weather really got it going.

I know that as the fence grows and matures it will develop into a beautiful feature in my garden. Look for another update at the end of the summer.

Words and photos by Lene Rasmussen,Willows.

Blue Eyed Grass

2010-05-23T21:57:00.000-04:00

Last year - while weeding one of my garden beds - I noticed this grass-like "weed" and decided to leave it there. I wasn't quite sure, but hoped it might be Blue Eyed Grass.

This spring it has increased in volume and for the past week or so it has been blooming. There are several species of this Ontario native, but I believe this is the Common Blue Eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium montanum). Each flower only lasts one day, but I have been lucky that this little plant (about 20 cm tall) has produced an abundance of blooms. It belongs to the Iris family and as such - on closer inspection - has the same type of flat, pressed together leaves and when it isn't blooming, it forms a neat little blueish-green tuft.

It hope it will like it here and multiply.

Words and photos by Lene Rasmussen,Willows.

Living willow Fence + Hedge = Fedge

2010-05-10T23:00:00.004-04:00

Five weeks ago I installed a Living Willow Fence in my garden.

The British expression for this is "Fedge", but "Living Willow Fence" sounds much better in my ears. You could argue that it is a hedge - it has to be trimmed twice annually to keep the pattern visible and to maintain even growth - yet, it has some fence characteristics, as it is woven.

This living willow fence separates my hosta garden/pond area from the front part of the property and will eventually provide some shelter from the wind while forming a decorative divider.
As I like the woven pattern to remain visible, this construction will never become a "privacy fence". If you like the fence to become more dense, you could weave new growth in between the existing pattern (rather than trimming it off) - but in that case, why not just plant a traditional hedge?

When you search for information about a Living Willow Fence or Fedge, you will realize that there are many different ways of making one. Some like it to be very rustic or country like, others like it to be more refined. I am using the technique that has become popular in Denmark (they call it a Belgian fence) and that is shown in the book "Pilehegn" (Willow fences) by Jette Mellgren.

We have a lot of strong winds here, so I decided to make a "double" fence, which makes for a stronger, denser, and more beautiful fence. The same kind of living willow fence can be made with single or even triple rods if desired.

At the ends of the fence a heavier rod is required for strength and I have used a "twisted tree" like the ones we made at the workshops here in April.
If I so desire, I can leave the top to grow as a tree - or I can just trim it to the same height as the fence - how great it is to have options!
In the photo you can see how the rods are woven together and around the end rod. Over time the rods will fuse together at the points where they meet and create a very unique fence, hedge, fedge!
To hold the rods in place now, I have used cable zip ties at the crossings halfway from the ground and at the top. As the willow grows, I will cut off the ties so that they will not hurt the willows.

Different willow varieties will make fences with different appearances - although the frame will be the same - just like different kinds of trees look different - although they all have trunks and crowns. I have used Salix 'Americana' for this fence and the first shoots have been growing for the past couple of weeks. I will post an update later this summer, showing how the living willow fence develops.

A Living Willow Fence can be installed after the ground thaws and until the end of April.

Well in time for next year's planting season, I will have information posted about varieties available for living fences, kits, ordering, shipping, installation by me etc.

Words and photos by Lene Rasmussen,Willows.

Eastern Milk Snake

2010-05-04T00:10:00.001-04:00

A "snake person" I am not! But I have learned to accept their presence and understand that in many ways they are "a gardener's friend".

Most of the snakes I've seen here are Garter Snakes. You can see how we "rescued" one last winter here and here, but the first one I saw this year is this one. I have identified it as an Eastern Milk snake (but if anyone has any other suggestions, please tell me).

I didn't measure it, but my guess is that he was about 75 cm long and slender. He didn't move around much, probably because it was too cold still - although the sun was out.

Workshop fun!

2010-04-25T20:59:00.168-04:00

We had three workshops here in April and I believe that everyone - not just me - had great fun. I met some really wonderful fellow gardeners, people enthusiastic about doing something different and I have received a lot of positive feed-back.

My friend, garden writer, author Yvonne Cunnington posted about her woven willow creation on her blog. Garden writer, editor and Master Gardener, Lorraine Flanigan was spreading the word about Living Willows at a presentation at Bolton Horticultural Society. Claudette Sims, a Halton Master Gardener would like to be able to show fellow master gardeners some willow workshops next spring. Judy and Caroline are arranging a group visit here later and I have several people expressing interest for next year's workshops already.

Salix integra 'Hakuro Nishiki' (Japanese Dappled Willow) was a popular choice of variety for the twisted tree.

'Hakuro Nishiki' is a beautiful willow at all stages. The photos show (from left to right) how the foliage changes during the summer. When the new leaves start to unfold, they are a tender cream and green (sometimes a pinkish white), but then, for about 4-6 weeks in June-July, the tips of the shoots are a stunning pink. We have even had hummingbirds hoovering at the plants, thinking that they were flowers to feast on. Later in the summer the leaves are green with big splashes of creamy white and some coppery tones on some of the tips of the branches.

Salix x acutifolia - shown on these photos - was also available for the twisted tree. The bright colours on willow stems are only showing on new, one year old branches. On most willow varieties the older branches turn various colours of green or brown, but this one is quite different. The photo on the left shows the dark burgundy colour on the rods just after harvest in the spring (so they are still one year old). Soon after the new growing season starts, a white bloom is covering the stems and they stay like that for the rest of the season to turn almost black come spring. The photo on the right is a close up of the plant in summer - the new shoots bright red while the older wood on "the trunk" is white.

Salix x 'Flame' was picked for a couple of twisted trees, and Salix koriyanagi 'Rubykins' - in this photo - and Salix 'Americana' were available for both the twisted tree and the harlequin tree.

Thank you all for participating, for the great feed-back, and for your enthusiasm for "Willows". Thank you Lorraine for allowing me to use some of your photos from the workshop.

Words and photos by Lene Rasmussen,Willows.

Willow harvest and the beginning of a new season

2010-04-13T22:26:00.001-04:00

I finished harvesting a couple of weeks ago and I sorted the willow for different purposes.

The rods for drying for future weaving projects are sorted and bundled to be placed in the barn for drying over the next few months.

The large rods to be used for living willow projects - as the woven fence in the picture here and my various trees - were wrapped in black plastic and stored in the shade on the North side of the barn to prevent them from drying out and make sure they stay dormant. More to come soon about my workshops and the woven fence (also called a fedge).

Then, as I prepared for my workshops , I placed the bundles in buckets with their feet in water - still in the shade - Here are some of the Salix koriyanagi 'Rubykins', the rods up to 2.5 meters (8 feet) long, no branching and perfect for making the Harlequin tree.

As the majority of my willows were planted last spring, and most willow varieties don't grow the long, unbranched rods the first year, I had a big pile of branches that were not good for my above uses. I will play with it a bit to find use for some of it and maybe part of it will end up on a bonfire.

Spring is here and I am so pleased to see that the willow in the field is starting to show new growth. In a few weeks I will be posting photos from the field with beautiful colours. Even the very new and small shoots look quite different on the different varieties.

The potted trees that i have at the front door started to leaf out a couple of weeks ago and by now they look like this. The wine red stems of Salix x acutifolia get a greyish-white bloom during their second year and after that they turn almost black. Very interesting and beautiful variety. It is great for living willow projects, but not very good for weaving as it is not very flexible.

Words and photos by Lene Rasmussen,Willows.

Living Willow Workshop, additional date available

2010-04-08T12:08:00.000-04:00

My April 10 workshop is now full. I still have spots available for the April 17 and we have added another date, Thursday April 15 for those who prefer to attend on a week-day.

Words and photos by Lene Rasmussen,Willows.

Pussy Willows?

2010-04-06T23:36:00.000-04:00

At the end of winter/start of spring some willows are among the earliest bloomers, providing nectar for the "early bird" - or should I say the early bee and other insects hunting for food seemingly long before any flowers are around.

For many people "Pussy Willows" are a sure sign of spring and a few branches with the fuzzy little catkins are picked for a vase.

What is a "Pussy Willow"? Some sources name the North American native willow Salix discolor and Salix caprea (Goat Willow, native to Europe and parts of Asia) as being pussy willows while other sources ad other Salix species under the title. In your mind, do you think "Salix discolor" when you hear pussy willow? or just any willow, blooming with catkins?

When you grow willows for basketry and/or cuttings, you most often harvest the rods before any catkins are visible, but this winter we had lots of snow in the field, so when spring "suddenly" came a few of my willows started to show their beautiful catkins.

These are from some "wild" willows that I have, maybe one of them is Salix discolor.

Salix dasyclados

Salix 'Americana'

Salix koriyanagi 'Rubykins'

Salix sachaliensis 'Sekka'

Salix viminalis

My Salix acutifolia doesn't show any catkins, but take a look at the blogpost about them at my blogger friend Vivian (Piletossen) - they almost look unreal.

Words and photos by Lene Rasmussen,Willows.

Living Willow Weaving - Workshop

2010-03-14T14:24:00.000-04:00

Over the past couple of years I have been working with living willow creations, making "potted trees" for use in the garden, on the patio, at your front door, or anywhere you would like a small ornamental tree. After a season or two it is transplanted to the garden as it gets too "crammed" in the pot.
I am holding two workshops here for anyone who would be interested in participating, making their own tree or two. Two different "models" will be taught with choice of using different willow varieties for the trees:

A "basic" twisted tree (with variations), simple and classy. As the tree grows the 9 willow whips used to create the "twist" will - as they grow and expand - eventually grow together and look like a thick rope.

A "fancier" "Harlequin" tree. The pictures show use of a few different willow varieties as well as both summer and fall foliage of Salix koriyanagi 'Rubykins'. The willow whips in the "trunk" on this tree will also over the years fuse together as they grow.

Workshops scheduled:

Saturdays April 10 and April 17, 2010.

Start 10 a.m. Length of the workshop will depend on "model" and number of trees.

11770 Lakeshore Rd, Wainfleet

There's a $ 10 cover fee + cost of materials: Twisted tree $ 35.00, Harlequin tree $ 115.00

Bring your own lunch. Coffee, tea, and water is on me.

Please contact me by mail (find it under "Who is Salix" on left panel) to sign up or if you have any questions about the workshops.

Hope to see you there.

Words and photos by Lene Rasmussen,Willows.

Looking for willow cuttings for sale?

2010-03-11T23:15:00.000-05:00

I had a plan........
My web-site was going to be up and running long time ago and among other things it would have information about willow cuttings for sale!
..........it didn't happen.......yet.......
So, if you are looking to buy willow cuttings I want you to know that - here in a country corner of Southern Ontario, Niagara - I have some for sale.

The image is from winter/spring 2009 and I used it in my post in May about willow cuttings.

Some of the cuttings have small roots developing already - that's the small white "knobs" that are visible on some.

Not everything goes according to plan.......I also wanted to post more about my willow varieties, but only 3 posts are up: Salix alba+, Salix koriyanagi 'Rubykins', and Salix 'Americana' and Salix purpurea 'Streamco', but that doesn't mean they are the only ones that I offer cuttings from.

For now, I have to refer you to my list of varieties, posted in the left column on the blog.

My 2010 prices are as follows:

5 cuttings of a variety $ 7.50

10 cuttings of a variety $ 12.50

20 cuttings of a variety $ 20.00

Minimum order is $ 20 and the cost of shipping will be added.

If you have any questions or would like to place an order, please send me a mail (you find my e-mail address under "Who is Salix?" on the left, by my picture.

Words and photos by Lene Rasmussen,Willows.

Salix alba x for winter colour

2010-02-18T16:05:00.000-05:00

The third post in a series about my willows is about Salix alba, White Willow and some of its hybrids.
The many varieties and hybrids of Salix alba offer beautiful "sunshine" colours for the winter garden.

Salix alba 'Chermesina' click image to enlarge

Salix alba 'Chermesina', Redstem willow truly lights up in a snow filled landscape. These photos from March 2009 show plants planted from cuttings in April 2008. The bud scales are flat and yellow.

The bright yellow-orange-reddish colours are unique to the newest growth on a dormant willow plant. As I coppice (cut down to the ground) my willows every year, they will always show colour on the whole plant during winter. When the plant is left un-pruned the colours will slowly change to brown and only the newest growth will show colour during the dormant season.

Salix x 'Flame' click image to enlarge

The new growth on 'Flame' in early summer is very pretty with red stems and orangey-red tender leaves, but during the summer the plants turn rather dull with light greenish-yellow branches. As the plants prepare for dormancy, they start to take on the fiery colours.

Salix x rubens 'Hutchinson's Yellow' click image to enlarge

Salix x rubens, Hybrid Crack Willows, are hybrids between Salix alba and S. fragilis and they hybridize readily in nature.

The seasonal changes for 'Hutchinson's Yellow' are very much the same as for the above 'Flame' and they both have beautiful red bud scales on the dormant rods. Looking at the plants up close, it is difficult to tell the difference. From a distance, however, the overall winter colouring is darker, reddish for 'Flame' and more yellow, orangey for 'Hutchinson's Yellow'.

Salix x 'Red Corkscrew Willow' click image to enlarge

The corkscrew willows have become very popular for floral arrangements and are available at most floral suppliers. If you'd like to grow your own, it is very easy and you don't need to have space in your garden for a big tree. When you coppice the plant in early spring, you'll end up with 5-7' long curly branches by fall and they will develop beautiful colour when dormant. There are different varieties yielding different colours.

Some Salix alba varieties have flexible rods and are also used for basketry. The yellow colours are attractive, often used for contrast although the colours change drastically during the drying and subsequent soaking of the rods. Sometimes the rods are woven before they are completely dry and still flexible enough for weaving which often results in work keeping more of the original colours.

Words and photos by Lene Rasmussen,Willows.

Winter's Beauty

2010-01-20T21:10:00.000-05:00

One of my favourite blogs: Gardening Gone Wild has long tempted me with their monthly contest, Picture This Photo Contest. For January 2010 the theme is "Winter's Beauty" and the many photos submitted (go to the comments for their contest post) truly show that there is beauty to be found in winter. You may not like the cold, ice, snow, and dark, but admit that there is lots of beauty!
Being new to photography, I finally this month decided to participate, and here is my chosen photo:

Although the snow is not visible on the photo, it is covering the ground in a thick, soft layer and I believe it gives the photo it's special light and colours - helped by the red twigs on the dogwoods in a distance.

The longest month!

2010-01-14T19:48:00.000-05:00

31 days don't make January THE longest month of the year. Yet in my mind no other month feels nearly as long as this frosty, crispy one, dark hours (black out here in the country) out-numbering by far daylight hours so intensly wished for to replenish our bodies and souls. By mid-month I feel that Christmas must be at least three months past - and not just three weeks

The images of tree and decorations long gone from my mind and only found in my photos.

As it happens every year the tree branches, separated from the trunk, waiting to serve as protection for the strawberry patch when the snow melts - which is rapidly happening today.

The planters outside - prepared before the Holiday season - will continue to remind us, until spring comes around - or rather until I dismantle them and replace with potted spring bulbs or pansies.

In the field the willows are dormant. I didn't harvest any this season yet as some of my varieties went dormant (dropping their leaves) rather late due to the warm fall weather and after that, lots of rain made it impossible for me to work in the field.

The colored rods look beautiful with the white snow - in the picture to the left is Salix x rubens 'Huchinson's Yellow' in front of S. koriyanagi 'Rubykins' the grayish green stems visible behind the yellow ones. To the right the open, though healthy vigorous first year's growth of S. dasyclados.

The Danish song treasure is vast and loved by most Danes. I'll admit that I often - when working outside or just being alone - sing out loud (sometimes just in my head) and recently it's been one of the beautiful songs by B.S. Ingemann, "I sne står urt og busk i skjul" written in 1831. I know that I cannot translate this without losing some of the beauty - I'd just like to share the feeling - it's sweet and comforting for the longest month:

In snow shrub and herb is hid
It is so cold out there!
Though, a tiny bird singing,
on twig by frozen pane!

Give time! Give time! it sings out glad,
shaking those small wings
Give time - and every twig has leaf!
Give time - all blooms unfold!

Christmas - Jul countdown

2009-12-07T23:40:00.000-05:00

Jul, the Danish word for Christmas, is pronounced as the English word Yule and is of the same origin. But the Danish Christmas traditions and how people prepare and decorate their homes are very different from what I have seen in Canada.
The "Advendt Wreath" is typically the first sign in the home that Christmas is approaching. To me it has always been a part of my Christmas preparations and the first of four candles was lit on Sunday November 29. Yesterday we had two candles lit, three next Sunday, and all four will be burning on the last Sunday before Christmas. The tradition originated in Germany in late 1800 and it was first seen in the Southern part of Denmark around World War I. During World War II it became a new Christmas tradition in all of Denmark.
At the top are images of my wreaths from other years and this year I have made a more untraditional one.

I cut a branch off one of my Curly willows and twisted it into a wreath. Then I tied small bundles of red eucalyptus to it using a gold thread and placed it on a large platter made from pewter. I placed four block candles in the middle and I was done.

During The Second World War people began another tradition, the "Calender Candle". The first ones were "homemade" by drawing numbers 1-24 on a thick candle. In 1942 the first Calender Candles for sale by the Danish candle manufacturer Asp Holmblad were produced and today many different styles can be found. As I cannot buy the Danish candles that I like here, I use to buy a couple when I visit or have someone visiting here bring me one. This year I didn't have any, so I made it myself. It sits on the kitchen island on a plate with some homemade stars made from golden paper strips and willow.

On the kitchen island is also my cute little Danish "Christmas troll" that my Danish girlfriend sent me a couple of years ago along with some nice poinsettias in a traditional red colour.

For the livingroom I purchased a new 2009 variety Ice Punch which lights up nicely with it's white sections on the leaves.

European Beech - lasting colour

2009-11-01T22:40:00.000-05:00

A week or so ago we finally had some real fall colour around here - and now after a couple of days with high winds almost all leaves have fallen.

Fagus sylvatica

This spring I planted one of my very favourite trees, Fagus sylvatica (European beech) and although it is quite small, I enjoy looking at it every day. The leaves slowly turn from green to yellow - with a purplish tint while they transform to a final golden brown. Unlike most other decideous trees, younger trees keep most of their beautiful brown leaves all winter - finally dropping them as the new leaves unfold in spring. As the trees mature, typically only some of the lower branches will keep their leaves during winter.

Fagus sylvatica at Sunset Villa Mindepark, Puslinch

At the Mindepark (Memorial Garden) at Sunset Villa Association, Puslinch, Ontario I captured this beautiful Fagus sylvatica (the tree is from Denmark, if I am not mistaken) today as we went for a walk around the park after having indulged in delicious Danish open faced sandwiches along with one of my very favourite Danish Beers, Tuborg, at the Sunset Villa Restaurant.

I am so looking forward to my little tree getting bigger.

Salix koriyanagi 'Rubykins'

2009-10-06T23:09:00.000-04:00

This is the second post in a series about my willows.
Salix koriyanagi 'Rubykins' is at this point my favourite willow variety.

In my field, growing in very heavy - wet to moist - clay they grow to 7-9 feet in one season. The rods are slender and sway gracefully in the breeze, showcasing the beautiful colours of the leaves.

According to Christopher Newsholme in his book Willows, The Genus Salix, Salix koriyanagi is of Korean origin and is extensively grown in Japan for fine basketry. I am not sure, however, how commonly it is cultivated for basketry in North America or Europe, but I really like the plant and the dried rods are flexible and of a light grayish green colour. As I used pretty much all my harvest last year of this variety for propagation, I am looking forward to working with it next spring, both as dried material for weaving and for living willow creations. This is the variety that I used for the harlequin woven tree in "Repairing the Willow Tree". This is what it looks like today, standing in front of the barn:

In the field 'Rubykins' stands tall and healthy and this year's new planting will already at the end of this growing season deliver a few, shorter, very slender rods usable for some fine weaving.The photo is from September 1st and the plants have grown a bit since then.

Rubykins is very easy to recognize in the field with it's unique colours and appearance. The branches are glabrous pale green with leaves dark green above with an almost white mid-rib and glaucous underneath. The leaves at the tips of the branches are pinkish, copper like in colour.

From seed to bloom first season - perennials

2009-09-20T22:32:00.000-04:00

The new perennial bed is filling in with the plants that I grew from seeds this spring. It will take a couple of years until everything really has settled in and is able to block out most weeds, but I am quite happy (for now) - many of my plants have bloomed this first season:

The verbenas, poppies and daisies were the first to start blooming, already before they were transplanted to the garden.

The white poppy (papaver anomalum 'Album') is still blooming, but most of the plants are quite small and I hope that they will get stronger, larger by next summer.

Brazilian verbena (verbena bonariensis) has put up a non-stop show and I just love their colour and airy structure.
- and so do the Monarch butterflies.
Daisies have always been some of my favourite flowers - I would just wish that they had a much longer blooming time. I chose this double shasta daisy (leucanthemum maximum 'Crazy Daisy') and this first year their blooming season has been quite long, mostly because the individual plants decided to start blooming at different times.

This beautiful agastache (agastache foeniculum) also started it's purplish-blue flowers early in the summer - but ONE DAY AFTER we had this summer's heaviest rain they all died, drowned. My frantic digging of trenches didn't save these and a few more plants - darn!

Sitting right in the middle of the lowest spot and with their feet in water were the sneezeweed (helenium flexuosum) their happy little faces glowing. I'll ad some more heleniums next year to help fill in the bare spots in the bed.

Saved by the trench were the native Giant Blue Lobelia (lobelia siphilitica). A couple of them died, but most came back from their drooping state after I dug the trench.

Another native (you find it everywhere around the countryside this time of the year) the aster (aster puniceus) has bloomed and is now producing large amounts of seeds that will be spread by the wind.
Butterfly weed (asclepias tuberosa) bloomed although the plants are very, very tiny. After the butterfly larvaes have been there, there isn't much left - hopefully enough to carry the plants over till next year.
I didn't really expect any of the echinaceas to bloom this year, but the white variety Alba (echinacea purpurea 'Alba') has turned out a few blooms - although I have left them in small nursery pots to be transplanted to the garden soon. Looks like it was not just seeds from Alba in that envelope from the seed company.

With a little luck - and lots of work - I'll be able to post some beautiful images of the perennial bed next year.

Meme Award - What you don't know

2009-09-02T21:27:00.000-04:00

I was pleasantly surprised when I was tagged by Yvonne Cunnington aka Country Gardener with this blogger's meme. I have frequented Yvonne's web-site "Flower Gardening Made Easy" for a long time and when I found out about blogging (just recently), Country Gardener was my first to follow and still the one that I cannot wait to check out.

Participating in this Meme Award you have to:

Link back to the person, who gave you the award.

Reveal seven things about yourself.

Choose seven other blogs to nominate and post a link to them.

Let each of your choices know that they have been tagged by posting a comment on their blog.

When your post is up, let the tagger know.

About me:

I was born in a small town, Nykøbing Mors, in Denmark in 1953. My parents both worked in my father's meat shop, and literally, we all lived there. The ground level apartment in a small apartment building had been divided into two: the shop and the home, so even though my mother worked full time, she was always there. In that "half" apartment my parents had day beds in the living room, and the bedroom was shared by my older brother, me, and my younger sister. There was no garden, only a small paved yard at the back where we could play. Needles to say, we were all excited when my Dad bought a house with a garden by the time that I was 12.Most of my life was spent on the "sunshine" island Mors, where I lived like most small town dwellers, everyone knowing everyone.

Much later I met the most wonderful (Canadian) man, got married (again) and moved to Canada in 1992. Between the two of us we have four wonderful children, Ann, Alice, Dea, and Mark, who today live "all over the World": Ann in Denmark, Alice in England, Dea (with husband James) in Sweden, and Mark in Ontario, Canada. I cannot help but thinking of how difficult it must have been for families emigrating many years ago when there was no telephone, e-mail, skype, "cheap" flights etc, all factors to make it easier to live far apart.

Track and field was my favourite sport when I was at school. Later I started hiking and have participitated in 100 km long international hiking events in the Alps, hiking in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. We were more than 100 people from Denmark travelling together by buses and staying at a youth hostel in Switzerland joining the large group of international hikers. For 6 years I went on the Bodensee trip and over the years I found many wonderful friends hiking.

When I was 15 I had a summer job at a nursery. I started at 6 in the morning and worked till noon collecting tulip bulbs, crawling on my knees behind a tractor that was working the soil to loosen the bulbs. I stayed at my aunt and uncle that summer and I had to ride my uncle's moped for about one hour to get to the nursery. I was so proud and spent the money on a coat and winter boots made of the softest skin.

I love cooking. I never make anything, but from scratch - probably because that was how I was brought up. My mom was an excellent cook, but working full time at the meat shop didn't make time for a lot of "extra" as bred making or baking cake and cookies. Her sisters were all outstanding cooks and I watched and sometimes "helped" when I was a little girl. So to me it is nothing special to have a home cooked meal every day and I always bake my own bread. A stable is Danish rye bread which is somewhat like the German dark, dense rye bread. It is made with a sourdough, and I ad lots of rye and wheat kernels as well as pumpkin seeds. This bread is sliced very thinly, and used for open face "sandwiches" - which you may know is a Danish specialty.

As a teenager I listened to Danish as well as international pop and rock. And I was an Elvis fan! Today I enjoy classic rock, easy listening and light classical music. The radio is mostly tuned in on oldies, some easy listening, or sometimes the Danish radio (the computer is hooked up to our amplifier).

I also love dancing. When the work schedule has allowed we have been taking dance lessons over the last few years. When my parents had a party at the house, they would be dancing and that's where I learned my first steps of polka, waltz, cha-cha, etc. Music and dance just make me happy.

Now for my seven nominees:

My friend, willow grower and weaver, Frances of Weaving Willow

Steve of Willow Basketmaker, who writes the blog about Katherine Lewis and Dunbar Gardens showcasing her craft and beautiful baskets.

JW of MacGardens whos posts are always interesting and with beautiful pics.

Tyra of Tyra's Garden and Tyra's Greenhouse

Linda of Tree and Twig Farm Blog for me a local farmer advocating buying locally grown food. Her web-site: Tree and Twig

Kathy of Skibby's Vegetable Garden at Kathy (with Skibby's help) you can find any information you could ever need growing a veggie garden.

Kathy Purdy of Cold Climate Gardening - whose blog posts I always enjoy.

Pond Life

2009-08-23T23:24:00.001-04:00

We have two ponds on our property. One is out in the field and serves as water reserve in case of fire as we do not have fire hydrants out here in the country.

The other one is smaller, not as deep, and closer to the house so it is more a part of our garden.

The first couple of years we just left it alone, but the cattail (Typha latifolia) growing in a neighbouring swamp just invaded the pond. We decided to introduce some "desired" native water plants and last year we purchased the following from Acorus Restauration:

Blue-flag Iris (Iris versicolor) was one of the first plants to bloom in the pond early June this year.

The Sweet-scented White Water Lily (Nymphaea odorata, N. tuberosa) has spread beautifully with lots of lily pads floating on the water and new blooms appearing all summer.

The Pickerel Weed (Pontederia condata) didn't disappoint with lots of beautiful blue flowers attracting a variety of insects for a few weeks now.

The flowers of Arrowhead (Sagittaria latifolia) have also been a delight along with it's beautiful "arrowhead" leaves.

The leaves of the Broad leaf Water Plantain (Alisma plantago-aquatica) resemble the well known (annoying weed) plantain, just much larger, but the flowers are quite different. Tiny, white flowers on a large, very "bushy" stem. Really not that spectacular.

Around the edge of the pond there's a variety of sedges and rushes, some of which we have planted and some just appeared. And then there's the residents and visitors:

We have lots of frogs in and around the pond - green, brown and leopard frogs - but they usually jump into the pond as we get closer. A "frog" noise and a splash, but one day, when the water level was lower, I was lucky to get a glimpse of this guy.

The dragon flies are amazing. We have green, blue, yellow-ish ones in all sizes.

I would have liked to capture one of the big ones flying - they are just like tiny helicopters!

Salix 'Americana'

2009-08-11T21:44:00.001-04:00

In the spring of 2007 I decided to grow willows as I had an idea of building fences from willow-rods - and this will be the first of a series about my willows. (More about willow fences later).

Salix 'Americana' was introduced to Britain and Europe from North America where it is extensively grown for basketry and it was one of the five varieties I planted that year.

My first rows of Salix purpurea 'Streamco' and S. 'Americana'. 'Americana' is growing taller and 'Streamco' has somewhat finer rods. Both varieties are very flexible and grow long slender rods, most of which have no branching, and they are some of the willow varieties most willow weavers in North America and Europe know and use.

'Streamco' throws lots of rods from the base of the coppiced plants.

In 2008 'Streamco" produced from 10 to over 30 rods per plant - which I thought was a lot for their second year. All rods were dried as I decided not to plant new stock of that variety this year - so the coming winter I will be experimenting with some weaving.

My harvest of 'Americana' on the other hand, was all cut up for propagation and I planted 1500 new plants.
I am quite happy with the new plants in the field as most are growing well. 'Americana' is not the most vigorous variety the first year - but they are not the slowest either!
A shoot showing off the beautiful bluish, grey leaf colour of the 'Americana'.

Perennials from seed

2009-06-08T22:07:00.000-04:00

The greenhouse is bursting with plants, some of them ripe for transplanting. Actually, some have been in their pots far too long so that by now they are pot bound and need to go in the garden very soon - or some of my hard work will be wasted. The Leucanthemum maximum 'Crazy Daisy' (Double shasta daisy) are rapidly filling in and they are thirsty constantly.

Verbena bonariensis (Brazilian verbena) are just as big and compact and screaming for more room.

I transplanted the first 10 of Aruncus dioius (Goatsbeard) last week-end as one of the beds that they are going in was cleaned up and mulched.
The native Aster puniceus (Purple stemmed aster) was almost "standing still" for some time, but the last couple of weeks really got them growing.

Digitalis stewardii (Foxglove) is the best looking of my three varieties. D. furreginea and D. parviflora didn't have a high germination % and are more or less just surviving. I think that I'll get a few of each, but this one is the best so far.

Agastache foeniculum (Giant blue hyssop) have done extremely well and also need to get a new home soon. Looks to me like a couple of seeds were from the golden-leaved variety?

Some species/varieties seem to be doing well, but stay small as this Heuchera villosa (Coral Bells),

Monarda fistulosa (Bee balm), and

Thalictrum pubescens (Tall meadow rue). I wonder if they would have looked different had I transplanted them into larger pots earlier, or are they just enjoying their youth as they don't have to rush to maturity like their annual cousins? I feel that they are too small to go into the garden and I will probably have to transplant them to either larger pots or a nursery bed until the fall or next spring.

In the green house, but not shown here are also Papaver anomalum 'Album' (White poppy), Euphorbia polychroma, Lobelia siphilitica (Great blue lobelia), Helenium flexuosum (Sneeze-weed), Sanguisorba officinalis (Great burnet), Liatris 'Floristan Violet' (Blazing Star), Asclepias incarnata (Swamp milkweed), Salvia superba dwarf 'Blue Queen', Salvia nemerosa, Phlomis tuberosa, Echincea purpurea 'Primadonna', E. purpurea 'Alba', and E. purpurea 'White Swan'.

It's all been fun and very exciting - although lots of work - to see the seedlings grow and flourish.

Winter-sowing however has been disappointing. Many varieties didn't germinate, some only had very few seeds germinate, and then some germinated and disappeared again before the seedlings grew big enough for transplanting.

Winter sowed Eryngium planum (Flat sea holly) had one seedling from a packet of seeds as did Sorghastrum nutans (Indiangrass).

Eupatorium maculatum and E. purpureum (Joe Pye) both germinated with 5-8 seedlings then died for me.

Angelica (Great Alexanders), Trollius europeanus (Globe flower), and a handfull of varieties from seeds I collected didn't germinate at all (yet?).

Sunflowers, Hollyhock, a double rudbeckia, echinacea, and shepherds scabiosa germinated well and are growing, although very tiny seedlings. Also germinating, but in small numbers were Astrantia major (Great masterwort), Trollius ircuticus (orange Globe flower), Asclepias tuberosa (Butterfly weed), Leucanthemum x superbum 'Alaska' (White daisy), and Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm'

I don't plan on growing this many seedlings again, but I am quite sure that whatever I grow, I'll get my grow lamps out in the office and then raise the seedlings in the greenhouse again. It may be a little more work, but with much greater results.

Bit off more than I can chew---

2009-06-03T23:27:00.000-04:00

------hope not, but that is how I often feel these days!

After a loooong winter the grounds around here were wet, cold, and not workable until mid May by which time the weeds were far into the race to reach maximum height before the end of the month.

It is really not that I have been lazy (haven't even had time to enjoy most of my favourite blogs the past couple of weeks) - things just seem to all of a sudden to have gotten out of hand.

Think of myself as a pro-active person - at least during "normal" times - the gardening chores these days, however, have my mind and body jumping from one to the other, depending on which one appears to be most critical. It's like damage control - do I let the weeds take over totally while I get the veggie garden in order? - or do I spend my time on the jobs with the biggest impact letting my seedlings suffer as they need larger containers? - do I get my perennial beds ready for transplant of my seedlings (most of which will not bloom till next year) ignoring planning and planting the multiple containers that should be focal points on our new deck by the time we'll have about 100 guests here late July?

Happily I finished planting and sowing the veggie garden today. My tiny basil plants along with tarragon, parsley, rosemary, and the "perennials" sage, oregano, thyme, and chives in the raised bed.

The potatoes were sown 2 weeks ago and are showing some healthy leaves.

The willows in the field are doing great. Looks like almost 100% of this year's plantings are growing well and not - so far - any signs of deer stopping by for munchies.

I'll have to make some kind of "project plan": Lene's 2009 garden, step by step to stay focused (pro-active if possible) and save my sanity.

Propagating willow

2009-05-05T20:06:00.000-04:00

After harvesting my willow beds during the dormant period, I used almost all of this years rods for propagation.These are samples of cuttings from a few varieties, ready to be planted.

I made a total of 7600 cuttings that were stored in closed plastic bags (to prevent them from drying out) in our dark garden shed until it was time for me to plant in the field.

Willow bark contains a natural growth hormone making it very easy to propagate willow from hardwood cuttings which produces plants of each variety with exactly the same genes as the mother plant. It is particularly beneficial when growing willow for weaving to know what the plant's characteristics are and willow weavers around the World all have their favourites.

I have chosen to mulch the willow field for two reasons. First, the plants can't compete with weeds during the first couple of growing seasons and our soil being heavy clay, it is not possible for me to weed mechanically around their new, shallow roots. The second reason being the new plants' need for moisture until roots have developed and the plants are well established. Since I started my first willow beds, I have used different kinds of mulch. First I used a geo-textile, only to find out that it wasn't dark/thick enough to prevent weeds from growing underneath it. The weeds were growing very well, competing with the willows and by mid-summer I had to cover the textile with grass cuttings. This is a Black Maul cutting with new shoots - the competing weeds underneath the mulching geo-textile.

So last year I made a larger investment in a woven poly-cover (the kind nurseries use for ground cover in display areas) as this was recommended to me by another willow grower. Just like the geo-textile water and air were able to pass through the cover to benefit the plants. It seemed to be the perfect solution until later in the season when the faster growing varieties started to get strangled by the weave. The plants were not harmed, but after harvesting this spring I started to make cuts around each plant (about 1500) as most had a thread or even a "piece of cloth" embedded in the growth. Cutting holes in the poly-cover will allow weeds to grow around the willows. I hope however, that the plants are big enough this year to quickly produce shade to out compete the weeds.

This year I used left over material from last year and then bought a heavy plastic from a greenhouse/nursery supplier. It is common to use black plastic for this purpose, but I was afraid that with the high temperatures during summer, the new roots of the plants would get fried. The plastic is black on one side and white on the other so we put it down, white side up which will reflect the sunlight on the plants.

The cuttings are planted before, or just as they break dormancy and these were planted on April 19, 2009. In this photo from May 1st new shoots are visible on almost 100 % of the cuttings. That's exciting - it doesn't mean that they have rooted already, but they are alive and have enough energy stored to start growing and rooting.
I'll have to admit that my main reason for all this willow stuff is a plan to be able to run a willow based business with the raw material coming from my own field.
And that is a LONG-TERM commitment............
I started in the spring of 2007 and it will be at least another couple of years before I will have enough material to work with. As time goes by, those of you who are interested will be able to get more information on the web-site that I will be setting up in a few months.

Challenge: Six plants I can't live without!

2009-04-23T14:06:00.000-04:00

My favorite garden writer/blogger Country Gardener - has extended the challenge to write about the Six plants you can't live without.

You would think that would be rather easy - but it is too difficult to really narrow it down, so I have picked the following (after I stopped thinking too much about it because that kept me awake last night!):

My very favorite flowering plants provide hope and promise at the first signs of spring. All the spring flowers are beautiful, yet the Snowdrop (Galanthus) is my favorite.

The European Beech (Fagus sylvatica) is the national tree of my native Denmark and a late spring day in the forest is just like the picture - maybe with an added carpet of wild anemones. The light shining through the canopy is like a magic lamp as the leaves are stretched out in almost vertical blankets. During the summer the leaves turn a darker green and in autumn the golden brown is like nothing else. Did you know that the leaves are edible?
I believe that the Nordman fir (Abies nordmanniana) is the cadillac of Christmas trees. I love its shape - open with almost horizontal branches that on older, larger trees will curve gracefully. They have a couple of very large specimens at the Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens.

Another favourite bloomer is the Siberian Iris (Iris siberica). I have quite a few of the above blue variety and even though each flower is short lived, it blooms for awhile during late spring as the buds open along the stems. After flowering the grass-like foliage stays fresh and green all summer.
I never liked most rose bushes - I think the plant itself is ugly - but those flowers!! There are many beautiful (and also some climbers whose "frame" is good looking too), but I will choose the floribunda rose Iceberg (Rosa 'Iceberg') which was bred in Germany in 1958 and marketed under the name "Schneewittchen" which means Snow White. The buds have a light pink tint and the flower is almost completely white. It blooms all summer and the foliage is a healthy dark green. When I am ready to put in a rose garden, this one will be the first on my list.
Not much as soothing with the ability to make me feel good as my meadow (hey field) with different grasses, clover, trifoil, ox-eye daisies and more. That's not really "A plant" so the ornamental grasses will make up number six.

I can't pick just one, but here is a lovely summer pic of the early plumes of my Pampas grass (I think - but I don't know for sure) on a sunny summer day last year.

Thank you Yvonne, for challenging us - this was fun.

Garter snake release

2009-04-16T21:37:00.000-04:00

Days are getting warmer and we are having some nights without frost. Time to release "Isicle" the snake in the bucket (the bucket covered with cloth, secured with heavy elastic string - I am not a snake person, really) in the garage.
Lately "he" has been spending more and more time outside his black hiding saucer and he seems more alert, so we decided to let him out yesterday.Looks like he is really eager to explore the world again.
We released him on top of the berm - approximately where we found him in the snow in January.
Ready to go - gone! I am sure though, that I'll meet him again.

Tough Love!

2009-04-14T22:07:00.000-04:00

I can watch seedlings grow! I just love to see the new leaves unfold - to "study" how different the cotyledons and then the first leaves look. Heuchera and Helenium are so tiny. In the greenhouse we now have seedlings of:
Aruncus dioius - Goatsbeard
Euphorbia
Aster puniclus - Purple stemmed Aster
Sanguisorba officinalis - Great burnet
Salvia nemerosa
Agastache foeniculum - Giant blue hyssop
Verbena bonariensis
Helenium flexuosum
Heuchera villosa
Monarda fistulosa
Betula pendula

Two years ago we laid out my first perennial bed. I bought plants at fall nursery sales - just to see most of them die over the first winter.

Last year that bed was used as a parking spot for some shrubs for most of the spring and summer and now I really want to get the perennial bed started. The size of the bed is approximately 4-5 x 35 meters, so I need an awful lot of plants and decided to grow my own from seeds. And then, when I am at it, I might as well plan for yet another bed.

Perennials are not always as easy to grow from seeds as annuals are. I knew that I would be very busy and wanted to make my odds for success good, so I carefully picked plants that are fairly easy to germinate and grow and two weeks ago I transplanted my first seedlings from the "seed sprouting set-up" under lamps in the office to individual pots in my small and drafty hobby greenhouse.

When we (unexpectedly for me) had a couple of very cold days last week, I was afraid that the small space heater (placed in the greenhouse to keep night temperatures above freezing) wouldn't be able to keep up. What do you then do with 750 seedlings?? You put them in the back of the pick-up truck - in two layers - and park it in the frost-free garage for two days. Temps around 8-10 Celsius and very little light!
I am not sure, but I think that because of the low temperature the plants didn't seem to have any setback because of this "treatment" and are now happily growing in the greenhouse again. Getting ready for transplant are Phlomis tuberosa, Lobelia siphilitica, Papaver anomalum 'Album', Digitalis stewartii, D. parviflora, D. ferruginea and Thalictrum pubescens, Echinecea purpurea 'Alba', E. purpurea 'Primadonna'.
So far, so good - cannot wait to have the beds planted!

Repairing the willow tree!

2009-03-29T12:09:00.000-04:00

Last year I started to experiment with growing "homemade" willow trees in pots. This "Harlequin" or "Belgian" tree I made from rods of Salix koriyanagi 'Rubykins', the one year growth of which is a pale greyish-green colour. This is how it looked just after I had made it.
32 rods are woven in a harlequin pattern and the fresh willow rods will root and start to grow. As they grow all shoots appearing on the "trunk" are removed to keep the woven pattern clean.

By June most of the rods were growing and the crown of 'Rubykins' was a beautiful fresh green with coppery tips on the shoots.

Some of the rods had not rooted, but the "big picture" was still pretty during the summer.

I was prepared to replace the dead rods this spring and yesterday the tree was fixed. At a closer count it turned out that almost half of the rods had not rooted and had to be replaced. The dead rods had dried out, shrunk, and changed to black or a light straw colour. The growing ones had increased in diameter and also changed colour. Now they are multicoloured olive green and different shades of rosy-brown.
I replaced one rod at a time by carefully pulling the dead one out and weaving the new one down towards the pot. In the image to the left the new rod is almost at the bottom where it has to be pushed about 25 cm into the "soil". (As a gardener can imagine, there is not much soil left when 20+ willows are growing in one single pot). The other image shows the tree after the full operation has taken place.

Now I really hope that the new rods will be able to compete with the already established ones. Only time can tell!

January 2012:

The repaired tree looked OK most of the summer with someof the new rods growing. During the following winter though, most of the new rods died as they couldn't compete with the established rods. So, even though the planter was fairly big, if you want to make sure that your tree will stray strong and healthy you must transplant it to your garden by the end of the first growing season.

Harvest

2009-03-15T10:30:00.000-04:00

Willow rods are harvested during the plant's dormancy, between November and April during which time the bark sits tight on the rods.
When you coppice (cut off close to the ground) the willow plants they will throw long, straight rods without any branching, ideal for weaving and other willow works. Here is my first row of Salix 'Americana' with one year old rods after it's second year in the field.

I just harvested those yesterday and they delivered between 5 and 21 rods per plant, each rod being 120-180 cm in length.

When the willows are planted close together the shoots are competing for the sun and thus forced upwards. The first year after planting in the spring the number of shoots are limited and often they are quite branched too - that differs a lot depending of the variety. Over the next few years the rods will increase in both number and length and there will typically be less branching as well.

You can see the base of some of my 'Americana' here. Next year I should be able to harvest more and longer rods.

This year I cut my willows by hand with shears as I only have a small field. Now it looks like this. I'll be looking out for new shoots soon!!
More to come about my harvest soon!

The Greatest Garden Pest

2009-02-23T14:13:00.000-05:00

The garden and field seem dormant - at times covered by a blanket, or even a truck load, of snow - during the winter season, and you feel good that at least some of last year's garden pests won't make it till spring.

Almost all my garden experience is from my past urban gardens where aphids and various kinds of viruses made up my "garden enemies", ruining some of the beauty during parts of the gardening season.

I never thought that a cute little cottontail would become my enemy #1, the one that frustrates me the most.

The little Fragrant Snowball Viburnum (Viburnum x carlcephalum) grew by 30-40 cm last summer, nearly doubling it's size and I was very happy as I love this shrub with its fairly long lasting, very fragrant white/pinkish balls in spring and its season long glossy, dark green leaves. This is what it looks like now: All growth from last year, every last shoot and bud that was ready for spring GONE.
The Pink Lady quinces (Chaenomeles x superba 'Pink Lady') were not only chopped down

but the bark at the base got a good chew too. Well, at least they left some "fertilizer" behind!
Unfortunately, even during the rest of the year when there's an abundance of food in the fields and natural areas around our property the rabbits still LOVE my garden. They don't understand that it's mine!! They love munching on the tender new shoots on garden plants in spring and the veggie garden all through the seasons if I don't fence it in.
Maybe I should get a hunting license!

The good snow

2009-02-16T13:27:00.000-05:00

The very first blooms in early spring seem so tender yet unbelievably strong as they often bloom through some snow and frosty days. Mid February now and as this winter has been extremely cold (and long it seems) there's no signs in my garden of even the very tip of the first Galanthus elwesii - the snowdrops that I love. I am afraid that I'll have to wait a LONG time still!

I have a point to make about the other snow that I really don't love - though it has to be my garden friend.

The daffodil - Narcissus Martinette - decided to show it's dark green shoots already in the fall with lots of leaves. I really don't know why! Here's what they looked like on January 5 At this stage we had several extremely cold nights -20 to -30 Celsius and not until later did we get a lot more snow.

This was on January 29 and they are completely covered - just the outline of one mugo pine is visible.

Since then most of the snow has disappeared - and look at what the frost did to the Martinettes on the parts that were above the snow during the hard frost!

All those tips are dead, but everything below that snow is still green and alive. HAVE to condition myself to LOVE that snow!!!

SOOO looking forward to this sight (photo from April 30, 2008):

Winter Sowing

2009-02-08T18:50:00.000-05:00

When I first heard the term "winter sowing" my thoughts were of sowing seeds in trays, placing them under a light source inside the house, water and take care of them until it was time to bring them outside.

The thought of sowing seeds and placing them outside at a time when my - still tiny - rhododendron looks like it is more dead than alive, paralyzed by temperatures far below -20 Celsius, just didn't occur.
My curiosity took over. I studied information that I found on the net and finally decided that I would try it this winter. You might say that for me this first time winter sowing is somewhat an experiment. Like many (I'm sure) longtime gardeners I find it going against some of my instinct (?) or rather learned "seed starting ABC" that the seeds don't need my tender care and attention, but will do just fine on their own outside in the cold and snow. In fact I read that they will do much better this way! The dreaded "damping off" will not happen to the young seedlings this way and seeds that need cold stratification will get just that. You don't have to put them in your fridge or freezer for x number of weeks - sometimes even repeatedly - they get the cold treatment automatically.
There are lots of information about winter sowing to be found on the net. Trudy Davidoff, I believe, started the idea and has a very informative site, Wintersown about it. Other sites that I visited are Daves Garden , American Gardens Suite 101 , and Gardenweb has a forum called Canadian Winter Sowing.
The last few days we have had a thaw here - I think that the snow level has shrunk by 50 cm - and yesterday I did my first winter sowing. I started out by sowing seeds that I collected last summer from echinacia, rudbeckia, daisy, anemone, helenium, zinnia, pine, and spruce.

I placed the miscellaneous re-cycled plastic trays in a corner, sheltered from the harsh south-western winds and with some additional protection by a row of potted "willow trees" to that they will stay in place. They get a few rays of morning sun here and I will be checking on them.
In a few months I hope to report life in the containers and to submit photos as evidence.

Willow baskets

2009-02-01T20:34:00.000-05:00

The opportunity to make baskets, bird feeders, plant supports, and other smaller, woven items was not my main reason for growing willow.

As I did a lot of research about willow, I visited lots of Danish web-sites showcasing very beautiful, unique, and artistic works of art - most often displaying an unbelievable range of colors due to the bark on the willow. During that process and later on, after I had planted my first field, I felt that my knowledge of willow would be missing something if I didn't know how to weave a basket. I started to search for willow basket making classes in Ontario, but became very discouraged as I could not find anything - not a willow grower, not a teacher, not an interest group, no on-line willow forums.

So I decided to make a trip to Denmark to visit family and at the same time take in a two day class to make a basket.

My first weaving experience was at a week-end course with Anne Folehave who is one of Denmark's most experienced and accomplished basket makers and teachers.

The image of the oval basket is from Anne's site.

The Danish willow weavers association "Pileforenigen" has an excellent web-site with lots of links for those interested in more.

I finished the basket and brought it home as "carry on" on the plane. The sun and the rusty colour in one of my sedums are really highlighting the basket here.

Well, through my membership in the Danish willow weaver's association I contacted a member in West Virginia who referred me to a willow grower and weaver in South-western Ontario. What I could not find through the internet I was lead to through a Danish association - isn't that just wonderful!!

Monday and Tuesday last week I went to visit Frances for the second time and this time we were going to make baskets together. She is very knowledgeable and experienced in weaving baskets and she now became my second teacher.

And here is my friend Frances, busy weaving. Visit her at her blog.
These baskets are made from "wild" willow collected in nature. The rods have been dried and then soaked before use to become flexible again so they can be woven without breaking.
And here it is, my second basket. And yes, it is obvious that it is the work of a beginner - but, hey I made it.

Shirl's challenge

2009-01-22T19:10:00.000-05:00

Shirl, http://blog.shirlsgardenwatch.co.uk/2009/01/desert-island-plant-challenge.html put up the challenge: You are going to a dessert island and can bring three plants. Which ones would you pick? (There is already all kinds of veggies there, so all ornamental) Go to her blog to see all the "answers"
Here's mine.
It is really a challenge........ after lots of consideration - without looking things up in magazines and on the web - I decided that something to ad structure would be more important than beautiful flowers (which I really wouldn't want to be without either)

1. Salix integra 'Hakuro Nishiki' (dappled willow).

It is a small shrub, the young leaves variegated green, white and pink. You can create a small tree working with one year old rods:

A willow can be utilized in many ways using living or dried rods. Hedges, fences, baskets, plant supports, furniture, shelter to name a few. You can also ad some sprigs to alcohol for a nice bitter - which by the way also cures aches and pains as willow contain salicylic acid.

2. Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Karl Foerster' (feather reed grass). There are so many beautiful grasses - very difficult to pick out one - but blooming fairly early with fantastic colours and the plant's shape and beauty in winter made me pick this one. I bought one plant 4 years ago and today I have about 25 of them simply by dividing the plant every year. Now I'll let it rest to develop larger beautiful clumps.

3. Hydrangea paniculata 'Limelight'. Had to be a hydrangea and this is the one that I know the best, but there are so many gorgeous ones - I really like the blue and purple mopheads and the lacey ones, and how about the oak leafs (but unfortunately they are not as easy-going in my garden climate). The big, long lasting flower heads on 'Limelight' start out a pale lime green and the colour change on the flowers as they mature into deep pink/burgundy and look beautiful until winter.

Sorry, I didn't have any photos from the garden of number 2 and 3, but you can find them on many great websites. My favorite for information and links is: http://www.flower-gardening-made-easy.com/ Yvonne Cunnington's site has beautiful photos and great garden info. and if you are not familiar with her blog, check that out too.

Winter Harvest

2009-01-18T22:48:00.000-05:00

Freezing cold winters often with thick covers of snow doesn't seem to be the time to harvest any crop - but we actually have a few exemptions.........

Those of you who grow kale or Brussels sprouts know that these brassicas will turn sweeter, less bitter, and more aromatic after a little frost - and how nice it is to be able to pick a little "green" long after the growing season is over.

Corn - I would never have thought a farmer to harvest corn in winter. I don't know the reason, if it was planned to be or not, but a couple of weeks ago - when we had a few days without any snow - a farmer down the road from us harvested corn. I drove by this dead looking field and there he was with his big machine and a huge trailer filled with small golden-yellow kernels!

This Saturday we went to the Niagara Icewine Festival in Jordan. Yes, the shelves are made of pure ice.

Now, living close to the Niagara Wine Country, winter harvest of grapes for the production of icewine is known to more people. The first icewine (eiswein in German) was produced a couple of centuries ago when a German grape farmer was surprised by an early frost. As he didn't want to waste the grapes, he pressed the juice from the frozen grapes and the resulting wine was icewine.

Many of Niagara's wineries now produce icewine and for the past few years we have enjoyed visiting one of the Niagara Icewine Festival events: The Twenty Valley Icewine Bar in the Jordan Village. Saturday was extremely cold and the people serving samples at the bar - made of a gigantic slab of ice - were in an admirably good mood considering their frozen hands and feet.Some of them danced to keep warm - between pouring glasses full of sweet samples - to the beats from the live entertainment.

There were beautiful ice sculptures - like this table. We, as other people, used to enjoy standing at these tables, putting our glass down, enjoy some soup, or just talk; but this year it was just too cold and the tables were standing there as pretty statues.

Even the Queen was there (Winter Queen, Snow Queen, Ice Queen - what do you call her?) in her "nice and cozy chair" as she called her throne with the jester at her side.

In my own field I will be harvesting willow as soon as the snow allows me to do so.
Willow rods to be used for weaving are harvested while the plants are dormant, from November to March. The picture is taken in December and right now we have even more snow. As the rods are cut close to the ground, I have to wait till at least some of it has melted.
This will be my first harvest from the field and I am quite excited about it. Only one of my varieties will be dried to be used for weaving later on, but I'll tell you more at "harvesting time" in a separate post.

Winter days and veggie wraps

2009-01-13T12:41:00.000-05:00

I take the dogs for half-hour expeditions in our field when winter has ruled non-walking conditions on the road.

Recently fresh snow, blowing winds, and freeze-thaw cycles frequently covered up any trace from yesterday's sessions making the snow blanket new and "clean"- and on those beautiful sunny winter days the field seems sparkling with diamonds.

Hansen is not interested in that kind of nonsense, being a real westie bred for hunting he most times keeps busy sniffing around.

Here he got the scent of a mouse......

.......now circling around two mouse holes in the snow......

and finally he's at it....

Hey, didn't catch anything, but I had fun (the ball he doesn't care about)Duke on the other hand cares about nothing but the ball when we are outside........

Back at the house I find the mice have been very hungry. At least you would think so, as they (a little while back) have chewed a hole through a quite tough plastic lid on my bucket for "compost scraps" and now frequent the bucket's delicious veggie "wraps".

I wrap kitchen "stuff" for composting in newspaper for two reasons: it keeps my bucket clean and easy to empty and it ads some "brown" (carbon) content to the compost pile. As you can see from the image, the bucket or paper doesn't prevent the little critters from having dinner.

A will to grow

2009-01-09T09:46:00.000-05:00

Willow has an enormous growth power and will grow in almost any soil condition when established.

I had used some clippings from my willows for a Christmas decoration along with cuttings from a blue spruce and the beautiful seed heads from my irises. To prevent the spruce from drying out and drop it's needles, I stuck it all in wet oasis and kept it moist all the time.

The cuttings from my Dragon Willow (Salix sachaliensis 'Sekka') started to root and grow almost immediately. I kept removing the shoots until just after Christmas and then I just left it alone.

Yesterday, when I wanted to "dismantle" the decoration to throw it out, it looked like this. The willows had rooted in the oasis, had numerous shoots and even a couple of catkins.

Willows contain a natural chemical called indolebutyric acid IBA which is a natural plant growth hormone and you can actually make your own "rooting hormone liquid" from willow twigs.

Because of this, the most common method for propagating willow is by cuttings.

You just cut a piece, the size of a pencil, (preferably from a one year old shoot during the dormant time of the year) and stick it in the soil. Keep it moist and it will grow.

Amazing........

Garter snake rescue

2009-01-07T09:19:00.000-05:00

Saturday January 3rd was a beautiful day with sun and temperatures just above freezing. I decided to go outside to cut the branches off the Christmas tree so that I can use them for winter protection for the strawberries - once some of the snow has melted to reveal exactly where the plants are.

Our westie Hansen was sniffing around and suddenly started barking at something on the ground on top of a berm a few meters away from me. As I went over to check it - somehow I was thinking snake as I, many times during the summer and also late fall, had seen garter snakes there - I was surprised indeed, to find a curled up garter snake.

To help it (don't know it's sex) warm up enough to move back to the hibernation den we placed it on some black plastic close to where we had found it.

As the temperature was falling I went out to check on Icicle (thought that was a good name) and now it had moved down into deep snow and shade.

Now very stiff and the mouth full of snow there was only little signs of life. What to do?
We decided to try to artificially hibernate Icicle in our cold but frost free garage until spring. Nestled in a bucket with a small container with water and a black upside-down plant saucer with a hole at the base to hide under, we hope that he'll be fine. There is lots of life now although - as a hibernating snake should be - he is very slow.

Well, the Christmas tree is still waiting for it's second chance to serve........

New passions

2008-12-18T18:23:00.000-05:00

I took possession of my very first gaden 35 years ago. Young, working full time with lots of activities on week-ends establishing and taking care of this 1300 square meter property certainly was a challenge.......Oh, I'm not going to tell you my life's story......

I thought I knew it all after many years of gardening - and then some - until some very lush, dark glossy green, 2 meter long willow rods caught my attention during a visit to my native Denmark in 2005.

In my world willow was either the very ornamental, huge weeping kind you find everywhere around here - like the 100+ years old one on our property shown here -

or a practical row planted to act as a windbreak protecting more delicate trees and shrubs.
-

Not so....According to Christopher Newholme's book "Willows, The Genus Salix" there are some 400 species of willow and more than 200 listed hybrids consisting of trees, shrubs, and even low, spreading ground covers - and I had just discovered one.
-

The vast variety is one aspect. Research has found plants belonging to this genus are among the earliest recorded pre-Ice Age flowering plants, and for centuries humans have used willow for crafts, coracles, basketry, cricket bats, furniture, soil consolidation, windbreaks, fodder for livestock, medicinal uses, and short rotation coppice for biofuel to name just a few.
-

Personally I am fascinated by the potential for ornamental and environmental uses which you'll hear a lot about in future blogs.