Here we are at the end of the week again, it's hard to believe that the Cuddy open house and plant sale are only a week away. Although it was only a four day week we wasted no time diving back into work to get the garden looking it's best for the open house.

Prince of Burgundy Iris

On Tuesday and Wednesday Dave and I were tasked with cleaning up the Iris bed along the front of the property, this included pulling and scraping weeds from the incredibly dry clay beds.

I was then sent off to the woodland garden with Lucas and shown how to (hopefully) encourage seeds on the Paw Paw trees.

Thursday I was shipped off to the greenhouse to help organize, weed and re-label plants for the plant sale coming up next Saturday and Sunday. I found it was a great opportunity to learn the botanical names as I went along with the new labels.

Thursday and Friday was a stark contrast to the previous two days, bundled up in our program sweaters and even winter jackets, this Rhododendron hides in the woodland garden but brightened my cool day.



Umbrella Magnolia Tree




  

Rhododendron x 'Helsinki University'
Helsinki University Finnish Rhododendron



Azalea 'Northern Lights'
Northern Lights Azalea



Wisteria floribunda 'Alba'

With something new in flower everyday I encourage everyone and their fellow garden lovers to join us at the open house next Saturday and Sunday, where there will be a great selection of plants for sale, tours and expert horticulturists' on hand for any advice you might be seeking. Look forward to seeing everyone there!

It’s that magical time of the year again folks! Time for the A.M. (Mac) Cuddy Gardens Open House!

            (Running from Saturday, June 1st 10am-4pm until Sunday, June 2nd 11am-4pm!)

This week has been non-stop enthusiasm and work for all of us student gardeners all in anticipation of our favourite weekend. Edging and weeding, and mulching, oh my! We started the week off with just Dave, Lucas and I prepping the gardens and finishing off an inviting flagstone walkway that leads you into the amazing rose garden. This year we’re making it interesting and have even added a very grand water feature in the rose garden!

Wednesday we were joined by not only 3 more members of our team from the Fanshawe College grounds but also by some wide-eyed and eager high school students from Niagara. After being shown around the beautiful gardens by our very own Michael Pascoe the students were divided into groups with a student gardener as the leader and we embarked on a once in a lifetime scavenger hunt!

To bring this high-speed, high-energy week to an end the remaining Fanshawe College student gardeners joined us for two of the most intense days! The gardens here at Cuddy’s are not only flourishing but so is our team. There’s nothing like succulents and sweat to bring everyone closer together!



Red foliage on Pieris japonica



Euphoriba polychroma



What has turned into a beautiful spring week started off as finger numbimg and wet.  On Monday morning, we welcomed our colleague, Dave back from Africa with cool 1 degree weather.  Still adapting to the Canadian weather, Dave and I worked in the warmth of the greenhouse for the day, weeding the potted perenials.  



Tuesday's weather was just as unkind, hovering around 5 degrees with a slow but constant drizzle all day.  Wet and cold, we didn't let the weather slow us down.  We continued with the weeding outdoors; along the perennial border and in the English Style garden.  In the afternoon, a shipment of hanging baskets and potted flowers arrived from Fanshawe College, of which we organized and assembled in the greenhouse. Once completed, it was back to weeding in the rain.

Finally, Wednesday brought warm, sunny weather.  Fully appreciating the vitamin D we contined to weed the English style garden, trying to get a grasp on the out of control chives that had taken over the garden.     We also welcomed a new member to the Cuddy Gardens, a baby Robin who is soon to have a sibling.  Also to be welcomed shortly are

ducklings who are yet to hatch just

outside of the tool shed.         



Euphorbias and Opuntias



Thursday was grass cutting day.  Continuing to grace us with its presence, the Sun shone bright as we trimmed with the walk behind mower and string trimmer, and cut with the Kubota tractor.  With the cold weather behind us, its was time to bring the Cacti out of the house and into the gardens for the summer.  Despite the heavy pots and large thorns, we managed to get them properly placed in the English style garden.  In preperation for the open house, we lettered the sign and placed it out front for all to see.

   

With the work week almost near its end and the long weekend upon us, it is hard not to enjoy this beautiful spring Friday with so much nature coming to life.  Spending the morning watering the potted tropicals that are now outside and moving

Early blooming Iris

 the indoor plants out, we will be wrapping up our week by installing the irrigation in the hoop house, and cleaning up and organizing the gardens.    



A very pink Cercis canadensis



Have a safe, relaxing long weeked and get out to enjoy the beautiful spring that has finally arrived.



Primula vulgaris 'Arctic Red'



Primula juliae 'Wanda'



Eric Stacey here wrapping up the second week of summer work at Cuddy's. We were spoiled with such amazing weather all week leading to a soggy, but nice, morning on friday. We started off our week by helping out our neighbors, smoothing out the grounds along the driveway and overseeding the entire area to establish exceptional turf to keep up the amazing image of the beautiful blooming gardens. On Tuesday we proceeded to work on the flagstone walkway connecting the rose garden to the alpine area, moving much of the excess peastone into the dry garden and filling any low spots in the alpine.



Primula vulgaris 'Arctic Blue'



 With the weather being so cooperative and the upcoming open garden approaching, it was the perfect opportunity to get ahead on some of the weeding.  Hilary and I started with the Rose garden, periennial border and worked our way to the dry garden by the end of the day. As quickly as the weeds pop up, the grass grows and by thursday the grass was getting pretty shaggy. It was time to get the mowers out again. After we had finished cutting, more maintenence was to be done. We proceeded to aerate and fertilize the turf to give it that boost, while Lucas worked on some problematic irrigation issues. Today, we finished up with aeration around the magnolia border out to the area of the standing frog, seeding any poor areas of turf along the way. What a great week it has been!



There is so much to look at right now. The Primroses are magnificent and the magnolias are in full swing with new colours at show daily. The Gentiana augustifolia located in the alpine area are certianly a show stopper with their electrifying blue glow, a very nice accent to the Arnebia pulchra's softer yellow. Sometimes it may be hard for one to concentrate with all this beauty prevelent, there is just so much to take in and enjoy!





Arnebia pulchra



Gentiana augustifolia









Join us for this great event!

As the class of 2013 closed out the season, a new crew from the 2014 class have taken over the reins for maintaining the Cuddy Gardens. With the weather being so gorgeous out it gave the new crew an amazing opportunity to learn the new equipment. This week Eric A, Courtney, Jess R., Dylan H., Eris S., Jess. S., Dylan M., Jaimi, and myself Hilary took on the challenges of learning all the new equipment to maintain the grounds. Former student Stacey and current student Dave will join the crew shortly after they return from an educational trip to Africa.

Looking ahead to the up and coming open gardens here at Cuddy's we have started the clean up of the grounds to make everything picture perfect. The first step was lawn maintenance. After spending time on a couple of the mowers we made some time to do all the little touch ups with the trimmers. Pruning of dead limbs and organizing materials was next on the agenda.

The magnolia trees to me are the first sign of the new season and gorgeous weather. Cuddy Gardens has one of the largest magnolia collections in southern Ontario and has not disappointed. The magnolia trees are coming into full bloom. A few have taken to flower and the others are to follow very shortly. Eric S. took on the job of pruning out the dead limbs from the magnolia trees to give nothing sure of an amazing sight without any flaws.

Around the grounds many flowers have come into bloom. The woodland garden is a sea of daffodils as far as the eye can see. Primroses as well as many other types of flowers scatter the the ground adding a vibrant splash of colour. Looking very closely throughout the rock garden and the area of grass near our rare tree collection you will find a very dainty flower. The Snake's Head Fritillary although small has a very large impact.

       Snake Head Fritillary