My View … from the corner of Trafalgar + Fifth

Thank you to the Westside Collaborative Gardening group who have been gardening at Kits House for donating some of their herbs to my traffic circle garden @ 6th & Trafalgar. Please DO come by and pick.

also I’ve potted up some non-edibles – lavender, sedum and ornamental grass – it’s sitting on the manhole covers – please take. they don’t look gorgeous right now, but they’ll come back in the spring. Like sun.

It happened again! For the second time since I planted herbs – and signs – at 6th and Trafalgar asking people to pick the herbs, a friend told me how nice it was that my neighbour had done that. “It’s your thing,” she said. “Yes, it is my thing – in fact, that’s my project!”

To see the signs she’s talking about go here.

Frequently as I walk by people are visiting, walking around, occasionally pinching and sniffing.

Next up – I’m working with neighbourhood friends from Village Vancouver to create a mason bee housing development on this prime location. Stay tuned and tell your bee friends we’ll be ready for them soon.

This one’s been spreading and does *very* well: I HAVE LOTS FOR GIVING AWAY – at the co-op as well as the circle garden at 6th & Trafalgar! (the ones I bought on Hornby last year – see below – did not survive. alas!)

Sedum telephium ‘Autumn Joy’ is probably the most well known of all the larger type Sedum as it’s been promoted extensively by natural garden designers. The pale celadon green foliage, combined with salmon pink flowers that look like broccoli heads is a great contrast.

I’m the Green Streets volunteer for the traffic circle garden at 6th & Trafalgar.

August 3, 2011: I plan to build mason bee homes – and affix to the signs, but in the meantime, I’ve planted some bee, butterfly, bird – and human – friendly herbs and put signs up to make it clear that I want people to enjoy them – pinch, snip or in the case of lemon balm and lavender, cut ferociously. It’s good for the plants and also makes sure I’m in the 2′ 4″ height restriction.  Please pick the herbs. (and if you’d like any sedum plants, let me know and I can tell you which ones are available for digging up and moving to a new home.)

I’ve put some signs on the traffic circle garden at 6th and Trafalgar (Kitsilano, Vancouver, BC) wanting to share the herbs planted there. Those of you who have grown herbs know that in a sunny, dry spot, most will thrive and spread. It’s summer as I write this and many will die down in the winter (to rise again in the spring). So I *really* want people to snip and pinch and enjoy the herbs.

Some that are begging to be picked are:

lemon balm – getting way too tall. Nice for tea, or just flavouring your water bottle.

lavender – flowers are past their prime, and the stalks need to be snipped back.

chocolate mint – yum! make a tea or use as a garnish on fruit and desserts.

Most can be divided too, so if you want a plant, just ask – send a note to trafalgarmary@gmail.com

I feel like a bad mom – who could adopt babies one year and forget their names before the following season?

Anyhow, you have to admit that Heucherella isn’t as easy as “Steven” or “Jamie” to remember, right?

Anyhow the Heucherellas are doing well in the shady fairly dry area – so I might think about getting them a sibling or two.