Shao’s Garden · No. 10
August
12 moments · 7 days · 18 of 24 in bloom
One moment
Did the phase 1 work replanting the east garden. Replaced two hydrangeas with David Austin roses. Added two bags of compost to improve the soil condition in the bed. Planted more stargazer lilies beside the Pinky Winky tree, which is loaded with large conical panicles shifting from white to deep rose pink.
Preparing the east garden bed for next year June wedding.
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Harvesting some flowers for the house, bringing in tightly layered coral-pink ball dahlias, bi-color mahogany and bright yellow rudbeckia, and soft pink lisianthus with a stem of silvery eucalyptus. As the summer getting shorter and shorter, the garden itself is getting more sad. I am happy that I had a successful garden and just sad seeing it coming to an end. Enjoy it while it last.
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Love the dahlias in the garden, with their fully double, tightly layered peach-pink blooms opening alongside round green buds above deep foliage.
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I've been thinking about improving the area between the East Garden and the Southeast Garden. Right now it's just a patch of dry soil under two trees where nothing grows, and it's been bothering me lately. So today on a busy day I decided to do something about it and picked up some black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia 'Viette's Little Suzy') to plant there. I really want a pop of color in that corner so when I see it, it looks beautiful. The spot gets maybe three hours maximum of direct sunlight but gets lots of bright indirect light. These compact mounding plants in their black nursery pots have healthy green foliage and grow to about 30 to 40 cm tall and 18 inches across, which is perfect for the front border. I'm leaving the mid-border empty right now because it's even shadier and I need to think about what plant to put there. Feeling very accomplished today, and took some photos to upload.
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I always like the look of coneflowers, and this lightly fragrant one with its vivid pink ray florets and fiery orange central cone particularly adds pop in the garden. Also, purple coneflower is classic cottage garden.
Planted this back in 2024 when I first designed the west garden. Tiger lilies just have that wild flower garden look that I like, with their strongly recurved, dark-spotted orange petals and long hanging stamens flared wide open.
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Looking forward to have my own hydrangea border in a few years, with these heavy white bloom heads holding sturdy as they shift toward lime green.
Adding trellies for the celematics to climb as the tower in the back of the south garden.
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After a year I finally grew Dahlia in ground, with the soft blush and pale peach blooms opening fully now. I was told this can be a perennial in Vancouver now because we are Zone 9A.
Harvesting the dense, pale lime panicles from the Little Lime hydrangea, packed with tight chartreuse florets on stiff woody stems, and pruning it back for next year's new growth. This bouquet would look good in the house.
Shao’s Garden · No. 09
July
21 moments · 10 days · 16 of 17 in bloom
Four moments
Very excited introducing this blackeye susan. I got it as a 4 inches pot . Purely picking this up base on color and I also want it a bit different from the classic black eye Susan look.
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The rain in past few weeks have making it flopping
Really like the bouquet. The smoky amber glass vase pairing with the pale chartreuse panicles of Little Lime hydrangea. Vintage meets modern. Looks great in the house.
First year in the pot for the Puffer Fish, holding dense, puffed panicles of cream and pale lime.
The second bloom is happening, with warm apricot cupped flowers and tight red-tipped buds pushing up. I don't have an apricot rose in the garden and this one is for sure winning my heart. I also pruned the rootstock suckers as well. Learned that new word today.
Rootstock sucker will kill the plants if not pruned early.
Da Vinci is thriving with tons of cupped, deep pink rosettes. Very fast grower, just got it this season and put in the pot. Definitely needs the trellis support for these tall canes. I was expecting the flower bigger, but love the saturated pink look.
As the central head fills out into a dense dome of golden disc florets blooming in tight spirals, I cannot wait to harvest the seeds for next season!
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First year planting this sunflower, and I was instantly drawn to those rounded petals and that gold, honey-toned heart — so different from the classic sunflower shape I'm used to. For some reason, it just puts a smile on my face every time I walk by, brightening my whole day, and honestly the whole garden with it. I only planted five this season, and now I'm already wishing I'd grown more — this one's a keeper, and next year it's earning a bigger spot in the bed.
Five moments
My stunning Dizzy Oriental Lilies are putting on a spectacular show in the garden! These beautiful perennial feature large, heavily fragrant white blooms with dramatic raspberry-red stripes and matching speckles.
Mark is enjoying the garden and capturing the beauty of the lily. The lily dizzy usually last about 3 - 4 weeks in our garden and has very pleasant fragrance. Enjoy it while it last, right?!
After a week of babysitting screens and deadlines, this bed of White Swan coneflowers asked nothing of me at all — just stood there quietly elegant, cones glowing amber, petals bowed low, in no hurry to be noticed. There's something steadying about a flower that doesn't perform for attention, that simply waits to be discovered on its own patient time. I didn't grow these overnight, and I didn't rush to see them either — just a quiet moment of calm, and a small, real sense of having gotten here.
This terracotta orange has quietly become my color lately — it's in my carpet, my cabinet, maybe even my next sofa, and I still can't fully explain why it just feels warm and cozy, a little vintage, like something worn-in and familiar. Out here in the west garden, surrounded by so much green, blush pink, and soft purple, this little cluster of yarrow stands out and just makes me smile every time I pass it. No butterfly landed today, but I like to think one will find its way here eventually.
I have growth this white creamy sunflower last year, so give it a try again this year. Although I still apperaite this beauty, I like the sunflower in the back which is bit more yellow more this year. Not sure if my love about this is fading away or I just prefer the more classic sunflower look. it is still a beauty in the garden and not a lot of people have seem this color before. Perhaps I would grow this as a cutflower and gift to my friend Cameron who likes it more.
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I didn't give a lot of care this season. I did a hard prune a few weeks back all way to 12 inches above the base. Hopefully it will have better shape and more flowers in the late summer.
Heavy rain over the past couple days made this Hydrangea flop, its heavy lime and cream panicles drooping down under the water weight. Not very pleasant look in the garden right now, but it is my weekend project to tidy it up. Would need to master my pruning skills. I had a dream about this guy would grow so big and eventually could provide shade in the patios! Everyone can dream right?!
What it looks like in the second year of the stormproof hydrangea garden side, sturdy stems holding heavy bloom heads high as they shift from creamy white to lime green.
This is the third summer of the garden transformation, with tall pink-striped Oriental lilies, blushing panicle hydrangeas, coneflowers, and a carpet of purple petunias fully filling out the border.
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Dahlias looks good
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This is the south side of the garden looks like now. The fizzy lilies, Dahlia, coneflowers, roses are blooming. I really like the shape of the garden with the quick fire hydrednga tree form as the focus point. And different types of pink and white in the bed.
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Two moments
Observed Quick Fire Fab Hydrangea blooms blushing red; self-watering plant has fuller shape
Tracking bloom color change & comparing containers — self-watering gives steadier moisture and better form
Noted small flowers and aphids clustering on new tips & buds
Post-prune tender growth attracts aphids; small blooms may signal feeding/light needs — watching before treating
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My favourite lily stargazer
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Hard-pruned down to ~12" from the base
Rejuvenation prune to drive strong new basal growth and better structure
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It starts turning red. I noticed that the one in the patio in the self watering pot always bloom early and turn red early. The photo was taken by Mark.