Friday, July 27, 2012

Planting Trees


Stacy here, helping out with some changes at Cuddy’s this week. Everything seems much happier after a couple of nice rain showers. The Fragrant Viburnums were removed from the dry garden and were replaced by some Little Twist Flowering Cherries (Prunus incisa ‘Little Twist’.) Hopefully they will be happy in their new home.
Prunus incisa 'Little Twist'


Planting has started along the side of the Turkey Hatchery, and Lucas taught Nate and me how to properly plant and stake a tree.

Lucas teaching Nate and me to plant and stake a tree

The Northern Anemone (Anemone parviflora) is in flower this week in the rock garden.   
Anemone parviflora


The Red Admiral butterflies were enjoying a visit to Iron weed (Vernonia altissima), but were camera shy.
Vernonia altissima flower

Vernonia altissima form


The Candy Lily (Pardancanda x norrisii) is in full bloom in the perennial border.
Pardancanda x norrissii  flower

Pardancanda x norrissii form

Friday, July 20, 2012

Hey Everyone! Full time Cuddy student gardener, Nate McKim here. My summer out here tending these beautiful gardens has been amazing! And i feel i've learned so much in my short time here since my initial blog entry. I look forward to coming out here every morning and getting my hands dirty with one exciting, important task after another. The work is hard and never ending but the payoff is well worth the sweat.
This week Miranda has come out to help and the horticultural gods granted us a long overdue gift of the season. Rain! Thats right folks, the big news of the week is that the heat wave/drought was put to a hault by a full day and nights worth of rain (at least for now) and us as well as the plants couldn't be happier. Other than that, we've had our hands full weeding garden beds, dead heading roses, completeing general maintenence tasks and enjoying the occasional freash fig from the `Desert King` Ficus carica for a breaktime snack.
Here's a few pictures of some Dahlia's in full bloom who i'm sure were very thankful for the rain!

'Red Fubuki'

'Lavender Perfection'



That's all for now guys. Hope all your gardens are staying green!
Keep on keepin' on

Nate Mckim 

Friday, July 13, 2012


Hello again, Pedro reporting in from the lovely Cuddy garden. I have spent another week here and enjoyed the beautiful and quite surroundings. My week has been exciting as always! Lucas was away at the college for a couple days leaving Nate and I in charge. We have been busy turning over the large pile of compost and spreading some into areas slated to become new garden beds next year. As well as spreading out the compost, Nate and I also mulched the newly planted Taxus hedge bordering  the woodland garden. Today I was very excited about learning how to use the Walker zero turn mower! That little yellow speed demon can zip around corners and garden beds like no ones business. Lucas and I seeded the area along side the tool shed which was damaged by the construction next door.
Here are some pictures of plants in the rock garden in bloom this week!

This amazing small (2mm)flower is from Origanum x suendermannii which is in the Lamiaceae family.
Clinopodium arkansanum is another small beauitful bloom in the rock garden. Origanum and Clinopodium are in the same family!
Campanula 'Hilltop Snow' 
I really enjoy how small these flowers are, and yet you notice them from over 20 feet away! The rock garden is my favourite place here at Cuddy's. This is my final post on this blog for the summer and I really wish I could stay forever!
That's all for this week folks! Keep safe and make sure your plants get a lot of water during this drought!

Friday, July 6, 2012

July 3 - 6 2012

Hello everyone,

It's Ashly here at the A.M. Cuddy Garden. This week has been an amazing experience. Seeing all the new flowers in bloom is incredibly beautiful. The Golden Stargazer Lily (Lilium 'Golden Stargazer' is definitely worth a mention: the Lily looks picture perfect in form and colour. It is an excellent accent around the border of an already beautiful rose garden.
The weather has been unusually hot for the season, however, it has been broken up by a few thunderstorms throughout the week. We have needed to give the plants some additional water to keep them at their best in the extremely hot weather.
At the garden, we have been preparing for a wedding this weekend.  We have continued weeding the garden beds and deadheading the roses.
Crocosmia 'Lucifer' in bloom in the Dry Garden.  A striking splash of red. 

Monarda didyma 'Purple Rooster' in bloom in the Perennial Garden.  A favorite of bees and butterflies.  

The bold and beautiful, Lilium 'Golden Stargazer' in bloom on the border of the Rose Garden