Siberian Iris 'Blueberry Parfait'

Many of you know I am an Irisoholic.  I started out with bearded Iris, mostly the border bearded or tall bearded, but they are short-lived and high maintenance.  I still have a decent collection, but have been slowly but surely building up my collection of Siberian and Japanese Iris.  They last longer, are 1/4 or less the work and are oh! so pretty.

It's a type of Impatien??

Every time I see a handwritten ‘Plant Sale’ sign anywhere where I am driving I screech to a stop and pull in.  I doubt this urge for the potential for one more good plant will ever leave me.  I screeched last weekend and drove down a very long land (it’s an 18 acre property) to a small plant sale filled with interesting plants conducted by the owner of the property and her gardener. What I really wanted to do was buy the world-class horse in the pasture, but he wasn’t for sale and would be way past my wallet-capability.  Anyways, one of the most interesting plant was the Impatien above.  It’s perennial, its stock is almost bamboo-like and the foliage is dynamic.  It’s aggressive and needs to either be in a pot or a place where you want taller, elegant groundcover.  The colour you see below is a coleus underplanted.  Please don’t mistake it for part of the plant.

Juassic Park coleus

Speaking of coleus, they seem to be developing them in huge sizes this year! Again, I love the coleus for their foliage and always have 3-4 pots of them during the summer.

Delmara Peltata

Hopefully I have spelled this plant correctly.  This is one of those occasional plants where I only know it by its Latin name.  A piece was given to me by a great plantswoman nearby, Ali, and I now have three thriving clumps.  Again, it’s all about the foliage, and its also a little Jurassic, but with a softer feel than a Gunnera.  Behind is the dreaded, dreaded invasive pond iris in our pond.  Three seasons of wading into the mucky, gucky bottom of the pond and ripping it out by its roots and still a few plants sneak back every year.

More Plants in Pots

I am not really a pot nut, and I have enough room to plant out most new plant purchases, but I’ve been known to put new purchases into pots for the first year or two to let them grow on while I figure out the very best place for them. Like retailers, plants are all about location, location, location! Here you see a Cooper Beech tree (I know, I know it will grow into a huge tree and out of that pot in a year or two), an Acer ‘Orange Dream’ and an Acer Palmatam (sp?) all just settling in.  They are handsome in their pots and perfect for this part-shade patio.

The Long Bed on Sea Soil

Gardening is a learning experience.  Misacanthus Giganteum is meant to be, well tall.  Same with the Nineback ‘Diablo’.  But maybe they shouldn’t be THIS big.  When this long bed was built four years ago, I thought, why not? I’ll splurge and use sea soil as the soil for the entire bed.  Don’t get me wrong…..like most gardeners….I will always be a solid fan of Sea Soil for soil augmentation, light mulching, etc. But here’s what happens if you use it for the main soil in the bed.  Most plant material has grown far past usual capability and in all this four years, apart from a bit of organic fertilizer for new introductions, I still haven’t added any more organic material.  Maybe this year.  Ever seen such a huge Nepeta ‘Dropmore Blue’?

Beautiful Japanese Iris

Enough said! In addition to my growing Siberian Iris collection, I am starting to add Japanese Iris.  I love their structure and wider foliage. This white one has been divided twice and is now scattered throughout the garden.

Can you see them?

Three bachelor ducks visit the pond every day.  There are two fallen logs across the pond (they both fell in high winds one year apart) and we left them there for the rustic look.  Those boys LOVE sitting on the log and falling off, flapping around to clean their wings, eating bugs and slugs (we love them for that) and they particularly like swimming through the plankton (aerator type top of water stuff) leaving paths and eating it.  They are totally undisturbed by the dogs, who mostly ignore them but they provide me with hours of entertainment.  Occasionally a lady duck accompanies them, and in previous years ducklings have had swimming lessons in our pond, but not this year.

Beautiful, lacey Elderberry

Not the very best picture, but this is a rather magnificent Elderberry (I think maybe Black Lace or Sambuca). The area its planted in was formally known as ‘the hospital’ which was a spot where ailing plants were put to either recover and improve or move on to the next life.  This plant chose to LIVE and its a beautiful airy addition to the area.

Next week is dedicated to hostas.  Its been a great year – with the cool spring and all that rain – for hostas and we’ve got quite a collection.  Hope you enjoy your garden half as much as I enjoy mine!

I posted something similar last year, but to kick off a little tour around my garden, here is the pride and joy of the garden at this time of year every year, R ‘Pride & Joy’. Just a spectacular variety……

The magnificent Rhododendron 'Pride & Joy'

We had the wettest, coolest long spring in the history of man (at least it seemed like that) and on the wet coast of Canada most plant development is about 3-4 weeks behind.  But, lots of plants which love cooler temperatures and lots of water are thriving.  Everywhere our hostas are busting out:

Hosta 'Great Expectations' (I think)

Here are the driveway plots.  We are hosting the Cowichan Valley Rhododendron Society next Wednesday night (May 25th), hosting the Mill Bay Garden Club for their AGM/Picnic on June 28th (my swan song as President of the Club) and Gardens West is featuring us in their magazine this year.  Awaiting when the photographer is coming – I will have to weed right through the night, I think!  We are very, very flattered.

Driveway plots

We went with the Cowichan Valley Rhododendron Society on a tour to some Lower Mainland gardens the past weekend.  We also stopped and had a BIG shop at Brian Minter’s nursery in Chilliwack and Cedar Rim Nursery in Langley.  At one of the private gardens in Surrey belonging to the Dodd’s  – a spectacular garden in every respect – they have a beautiful collection of Acers – both Japanese and otherwise.  Check this one out -

Acer 'Bellissima' or 'Brilliantima'

Well, I want one! (so did a few other tour members).  The caption on the picture is wrong. I’ve just learned (thanks Sharon) it is an Acer Pseudoplantanus ‘Brilliantissimum’ Any reader who knows where I could get one for my garden?  Minter’s will have it next year, Cedar Rim hadn’t heard about it, and the Outback Nursery heard about it, but don’t have any.

The iris bed - fingers crossed

Regular readers on the blog last year saw this bed in full bloom when we were included on Cowichan Family Life’s garden tour June 4.  Well, let’s pray that there are iris blooms at Finnerty Gardens at the University of Victoria, at Government House in Victoria, at Royal Roads/Hatley Castle in Colwood and at Glendale Gardens in Langford as there are huge Iris plantings there to be judged at the American Iris Society’s annual convention.  This is only the second time the convention has been held in Canada and this cold spring hasn’t provided ideal Iris growing conditions.  I am the Host Garden coordinator of the convention and many devoted individuals have kept the beds weeded, watered, fertilized, and loved for over two years.  I pray this upcoming week has some heat and sun in the forcast!

I love Brunnera

Brunnera seem to come in so many colour combos. This one almost looks like a hosta.  We have them here, there, and everywhere in the garden!

Bleeding Hearts LOVED this cold, wet spring

For me, a bleeding heart is just about the most durable, attractive, and long-loved perennials available.  This was originally purchased at the Mill Bay Garden Club Plant Sale for $10 5-6 years ago.  It has spread, never failed to bloom and is underplanted with four leaf clover groundcover.  Hey, I know some latin names, but not all.  Bleeding heart is Dicentra spectabilis.

Yup, this is Ivy and yes, its still challenging to garden with a corgi

Readers last year may remember my blog post ‘Gardening with a Corgi’.  Ivy still plunks that ball in front of me just when I am getting into my weeding stride………..and I still love her.

Went on an excellent Rhododendron Garden tour in #Nanaimo today and saw a particularly spectacular garden filled with specialty plants.  Next post I will show you pictures and hope you can help me identify a few.  Happy Gardening!

Music By The Sea Newsletter — January 14th, 2011
Music by the Sea Valentines Eve Special!

MBTS will present
Nicola Cavendish
in a minimalist version of
S h I r l e y   V a l e n t i n e
at the Union Club in Victoria on
Sunday February 13th at 6:00 PM
as a benefit performance for MBTS.  Call:
250-888-7772
to reserve tickets

Nicola Cavendish is one of Canada’s most distinguished and beloved actresses. She first played the role of
Shirley Valentine at the Vancouver Playhouse in 1989 and has since performed it more than 600 times across Canada, winning both the Jessie Richardson Award (Vancouver) and Dora Mavor Moore Award (Toronto) for best actress in the role. For our audience in Bamfield to get to hear and see this actress perform this role in a such an intimate and informal setting,  is a once-in-a-life-time opportunity — for anyone.

This will be a riotous evening.  A truly hilarious and moving performance of Shirley Valentine by such a treasured actress as Nicola Cavendish! — in an intimate setting with a sit-down 3-course dinner at the Union Club in Victoria. Our own host drink  (MBTS Royale) poured upon arrival and wine poured with dinner. Tickets are $250 and an issue of a $100 tax receipt is available.

This keeps me pretty busy and I don’t get around to as many blog posts as I would like about my garden, my travels, my dogs, and the occasional book review.  I am taking 2 WordPress courses in January in Victoria (for more details on this if you wish to attend yourself, go to WordPress Word Camp Victoria ) to try and do a better job with both blogs by using more features.  The Retail Blog has a more sophisticated set-up – it’s actually a website – so I don’t get this nifty overview.  I guess they figure if you have the more sophisticated model you can figure out the statistics yourself!

Thanks very much to all readers for your comments, for passing on the coordinates for the blog and for helping me to build a vertical gardening, foodie, dog-loving, travel-loving community in my part of the world!  I promise to be more diligent with posts and updates in 2011 and look forward to learning and enjoying by reading your blogs!

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 2,800 times in 2010. That’s about 7 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 32 new posts, not bad for the first year! There were 142 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 499mb. That’s about 3 pictures per week.

The busiest day of the year was June 7th with 73 views. The most popular post that day was Over 550 people enjoyed the Garden Tour.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were blotanical.com, networkedblogs.com, ht.ly, digg.com, and en.wordpress.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for outback nursery courtenay, organic fertilizer recipe, oak leaf identification, i love hostas, and outback nursery courtenay bc.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

Over 550 people enjoyed the Garden Tour June 2010
6 comments

Secret organic fertilizer recipe + epsom salts March 2010
2 comments

Never garden with a Corgi! May 2010
2 comments

Preparing a garden for a garden show February 2010

Climbing Roses, Cranesbill + Fashion for Gardeners March 2010
2 comments

Picking up the baby, February 15, 2003

On Tuesday, December 21, Holly the chocolate lab will be 7.  She is ‘Holly’ because she was born so close to Christmas.  She was nearly Blitzen and I’m very glad I abandoned that ridiculous idea.  I still remember clearly the day we went to go and get her at White Robin Kennels in Princeton.  These guys are excellent breeders and we were keen to have a puppy from Maximillan and Chocolate Sundae because our very good friends had a puppy from the same combination from the previous year and their pup, Maggie, is a wonderful dog.

When we went into Cindy, the breeder’s,  kitchen there were two chocolate lab puppies in a big Tupperware sort of container.  Both were females and we could choose one or the other.  Holly just looked at me and I was hooked.  I’m sure the other pup is the light of someone else’s life, but I knew Holly was my pup at first sight.

We knew we had a special dog when we drove with her in my lap all the way from Princeton to Cobble Hill on Vancouver Island with only one stop for a pee.  We did stop in North Van so my parents could meet the new additon.  Did I tell you my family are dog nuts? Holly just snuggled in on my lap, slept most of the way or looked out the window in contentment.

Mom welcoming Holly to the family.

From that first day to this, that dog has been a joy and a delight.  Think I’m crazy? Honest, there is nothing that dog wouldn’t do to make us happy and I am genuinely delighted to come downstairs every morning and see her wagging her tail off glad to see me for one more day.

Like all Labs, she took to water like a duck.  She was only 12 weeks old when we went to visit a friend who lives on Shawnigan Lake.  It was March and it was cold but when the friend’s much bigger and shaggier dog jumped off the dock to get a ball, Holly went right in after her!  She was just a little pup when she had her first canoe ride.  Sat down (we did bring a chewie with us) and didn’t rock the boat once.  She’s since had thousands of canoe and power boat rides and she’s calm and loves it.

Canoeing on Shawnigan Lake

Am I gorgeous, or what?

From the moment we got Holly, she embraced every aspect of our semi-rural life.  We life on just under 2 acres and she knows every square inch.  A fairly large stream runs through the property and she patrols for anything interesting constantly.  We also have a man made pond which isn’t the greatest swimming hole, but she goes in if her ball goes in.

Well, she is a ‘retriever’ after all.  Even as a very small pup and right up to this day, if you will throw it, she’ll go and get it.  She’s had a few surgeries for cruciate problems so she can’t last as long as she used to, but if you throw a stick or a ball, she’s all over it.

I call her my $10,000 dog, but I don’t regret one cent.  Holly is one of those dogs who fusses if her skin is a little itchy, will get something in her eye, or her ear at the drop of a hat, and if there is an opportunity to scratch her ears off, she’ll do it.  Throughout it all, though, she is calm and patient, and so what if I have a pharmacy in my desk drawer for all of Holly’s little ailments?

Close to Holly’s second birthday we surprised her with a companion.  It came in the form of a Pembroke Welsh Corgi and poor Holly’s life has never been the same.  Ivy (well, it had to be Ivy, didn’t it?) Holly and Ivy…..get it??  took one look at Holly upon arriving and was in permanent love.  I imagine she thought Holly was her mother or sister.  Holly rolled her eyes and really has been doing ever since.  The two breeds are dramatically different.  Corgis are inquisitive, bold, high-energy and love to herd.  Labs apparently put up with all of that.

Always provide labs with something to chew...

Ivy terrorizing Holly.....but Holly never bites back.

Not only has Holly never once harmed Ivy (although from time to time she puts a much bigger paw on her to stop her from too much rough-housing), she has endured her tail being chewed and constantly herding.  This involves Ivy nipping at Holly’s heels plus occasionally trying a big run at her to direct her in another direction.  Still, Holly remains steady and kind.  Holly does, however, not permit any messing with her food and whatever she said to Ivy on the first day must have been effective because Ivy defers to Holly completely in terms of food distribution!

To be honest, I have never, ever seen Holly bare her teeth.  Ever.  We walk every day, often on trails where we don’t encounter anyone, but often when we meet several dogs along the way.  Holly mostly ignores them all and she never really becomes engaged in the exchange or bum sniffs unless she suspects Ivy may need help.  Having said that, Holly thinks Ivy is OK, Ivy loves Holly.  It isn’t a perfect balance.

But Holly loves Maggie.  Maggie’s owner and I have debated this endlessly, but I seriously doubt the dogs know that they are sisters, much less the same breed.  But, they are genuinely happy to see one another, are pleased to sprawl all over one another in front of the fire, and are happy to share everything…even food (with some exceptions).

See how alike they are?

Holly on the left, Maggie on the right

Both are best described as mild-mannered dogs.  They get to see each other fairly regularly as we switch off looking after each other’s dogs when we go on vacation.  Its not an even switch as I have two dogs and she has one, but it seems to work out and the dogs love it fine.

Like just about everyone else on the planet, I read Marley and Me a few years ago.  It’s an excellent book that isn’t just about a dog and I surely loved the book much better than the movie.  In the biggest stretch of my imagination I wouldn’t have seen either empty-headed Jennifer Aniston or suicidal Owen Wilson as the lead characters, but that’s Hollywood, I guess.

After finishing the book, however, I had a great urge to write the author, John Grogan, and patiently and urgently explain that his Lab was a freak.  The type of dog that pulls cement tables over, chews insulation and takes food off the counter has NOTHING to do with my Holly and, I expect, most of the Labs in the world.  Holly wouldn’t even dream of doing any of the above.  We had to discipline her a little about chewing things up – although we provide chewy things so she doesn’t do it anymore – and a bit about food.  Which brings me close to the end of this love letter to Holly……………..

Just to remind you, Holly is a Lab.  She will eat anything.  Dirt’s good, cardboard, plastic, ah well………….anything.  I have hundreds of stories about Holly and her food obsession.  Here are two of the best……

Last year, in her sixth year, Holly’s best dream came true.  We were hosting an intimate dinner party to honour my Mom and Dad’s 60th wedding anniversary in early August.  We kind of went all out.  A very special table setting, 18 guests, fancy flowers and steaks for everyone.  (Dad’s favourite meal by a long shot is steak) We have a beautiful outside patio we call the Parthenon and we set it up complete with music from the speakers………..you get the picture.

My husband is a great cook.  It’s a hobby, not his profession, but he’s known far and wide for his cooking skills.  He had carefully seasoned the steaks and set them on the barbecue ledge.  He was in the kitchen working on other parts of the meal and I was ensuring everyone had a drink (I know, role reversal, another topic for another day).  Somehow no one noticed that the shelf on the barbecue was exactly Lab nose high.

To make a long story short, we were one steak short when it came time to do the cooking.  We were certain it had been taken when the T-bone bone was found on the lawn.  My husband and I chastised Holly and called her a ‘bad dog’.  She looked at us with a big grin on her face as much to say ‘I’ve waited six years for this and if you are stupid enough to put steaks at my level, I’m going to eat at least one!. ‘  We all laughed and refer to it often.

The second best only happened this month.  We returned from Maui and I had purchased some dried starfish to decorate our Christmas table a la the seashore that we all love so much.  I took the starfish out of their package and set a few of  them around to compliment the Christmas balls and greenery.

While I was sitting at my computer doing my day job (I’m a social media recruiting consultant for retailers) I heard a crunching sound and was barely able to save the third starfish from Holly.  She had eaten two others………..sigh.  Over the years we have snuck leftovers off the edge of the kitchen table, eaten shells on the beach, rolled in a dead seal and then eaten………whew, enough information!

Holly in the forest at 4 years old

Holly, like every dog on the planet with the possible exception of Paris Hilton’s purse dog, loves to go walking.  She passed as head of her class in a set of beginner, medium and advanced obedience classes and is entirely reliable when you walk her on the lead or call her to come.  Except, of course, if there is something edible or gross on the path and then we will risk all ends of disapproval to either eat or investigate.

Like every dog owner – whether you own a hunting dog or a purse dog – I love my dogs excessively.  On rare occasions I worry about my state of mind when they pass.  But today, this blog is for Holly.  For her lovely loving nature, her patience, her sense of fun, and her steadfast companionship.  (Holly pines when I leave on a business trip or vacation, the corgi couldn’t give a hoot). I’ve often heard ‘there is nothing quite like a Lab’.  Well, the corgi may dispute that, but I’d be inclined to agree.

Two labs and a corgi waiting for apres walk biskie

My beautiful Holly

I have not been paid for any of these recommendations.  In fact many of the places I recommend won’t know I’ve done this till they receive a copy of the blog.  All opinions are strictly my own and not exclusive.  What I mean is that if I am recommending a certain restaurant, that’s not to say there aren’t equal others out there.

It seems the first group of suggestions/tips are female-oriented but hang in there, guys.  I have some eating tips, places to go for the best snorkeling, happy hour times, and so on as we progress.

Everyone’s vacation is different according to tastes, financial situations, time available, etc. etc.  Here, without further ado, are some of my favourite things on Maui:

View out our unit window at the pool at Maui Hill

In no particular order…………….

1.  The best pedicure in the world is in Maui.  I have been fortunate to have had thousands of pedicures around the world and the ones available from Stranz by either Michelle or her boss are entirely the best.  They have huge, fancy chairs with massage elements, each pedicure includes a mask, a scrub, a massage, hot stones, and first class, careful pedicure treatment from these personable ladies.  If you wish, see below, you can have a flower (mine’s a Hibiscus) or not, you can choose from every paint colour under the sun, and your feet – after all that sand, sun, sandals, and barefoot walking, feel like heaven.  The price is ridiculously reasonable at $45 for basic and $60 for the ‘deluxe’.  Stranz is in the Rainbow Mall, 2439 S. Kihei Road and reservations are really, really recommended.  Oh yes, they do excellent hair as well.

ChiChi toes, eh?

2.  The lights at the Grand Wailea Hotel. I am definitely going to have include a few pictures here because even the finest writer can’t describe this beautiful spectacle in words.  The Grand Wailea is a grand hotel.  Everything is large scale and beautiful and designed for the well heeled.  They have several pools, one with sand for the kids, a glorious spa, several restaurants, and a water feature area that I always wanted to sneak into so I could go whizzing down the slides.  On Thanksgiving or Black Friday they turn on the lights!  Their driveway is graced with huge and glorious Monkey Pod trees and a waterfall. They wind lights around the branches and trunk of each tree and hit the switch.  The result, in the black, black evening that occurs every evening on Maui is beyond magical.  Its mystical and worth a drive from Napili or Kapalua just to drive around those lights!  Its sort of like a romantic Lord of the Rings look.

The lights at the Grand Wailea

Sorry, words and pictures just don't capture it

3.  Hawaii’s Kukui Moisturizing Cream by Oils of Aloha – This isn’t a brand new revelation, in fact I was told this years ago by a friend who discovered it years earlier through her friend…..and so on.  I wish I could win the lotto for the simple reason of being able to finance bringing this cream into Canada for distribution.  Every Hawaiian women uses it and its the only thing effective to relieve sun burning, prevent sun burning, heal skin burnt by fire, keep skin smooth and supple and prolonging a tan.  They make a cream and a lotion but in my opinion the cream is far superior.  I have only ever found it at Long’s Drugs, and for years it has been $11.99 per 4 fl oz jar.  It comes in two fragrances and one fragrance-free version – all are just spectacular.  They bill it as a mixture of Kukui oil (from the Kukui nut), Macadamian oil, and Vitamin E and apparently its also good for Eczema and Psoriasis.  Every year I buy 12 jars and bring them home for the year.  If you have a spare million or so, could you give it to me so I can hook up with the Oils of Aloha people and start importing this stuff  into Canada?

4.  The Face Place – If you ever indulge in either facials or massage, this is the only place to go on Maui.  There are several excellent and expansive and lush spas at all the high end hotels, and that’s where Jeannie Pereira, Owner/Esthetician got her training and experience.  She opened The Face Place in 2000 and still is filled with enthusiasm for providing the best facial on the planet.  An hour (or better yet, and hour and a half) with Jeannie is face heaven.  She is hugely knowledgeable, personable, humourous and right up to date on the latest in products, treatments, etc.  She also breeds chocolate labs so she and I talk our heads off about woman-owned businesses, labs, and her marvelous technique.  She works with some of the best Licensed Massage Therapists (I always ask for Robin) and both the facial and massage services are more economical than the big hotels.  Did I mention the Face Place rooms are glorious and relaxing? Or that her receptionist,  is about the best customer service gal I’ve ever encountered?  Check out their website at Maui Face Place.  Call 808 875 1000 or email to info@mauifaceplace.com for a reservation.  This place is always busy.

5.  Ever heard of Jams World clothes?  Below is a picture of me in my Jams World capris.  You can see all their offerings at Jams World.  What’s really spectacular about these clothes is the fabulous fabrics.  They are just the most amazing and unique colours and designs.

Mom and I rockin' the Teralani cruise

This tip isn’t really about Jams World clothes, though.  Full price Jams World clothing is fairly pricey.  No complaint, its unique and lovely.  But, if you want off-price Jams World, the only place I’ve discovered is the Outlet Centre for the Maui Clothing Company at the intersection of the Piilani Highway (takes you from Sugar Beach out to far Makena) and Ohukai Street.

Maui Clothing Company is throughout Maui and their stores have a fabulous selection of bathing suits and beachwear, etc. and the outlet store has some great bargains.  The stores may be the only place to buy Jam’s World, but certainly the outlet certain is the only place to find off-price Jam’s World.  The main floor has full-price, this year’s styles and fashions.  Go upstairs against the wall away from the POS machine and voila! last year’s but gorgeous Jam’s World stuff is many sizes for some pretty nice reductions.  You heard it here first!

6.  I spent much of my childhood and teens riding horses.  I owned the illustrious Donahue and Cherry Royal.   I jumped, did Pony Club, was a polo hotwalker, and loved every minute.  But that was um, well over 30 years ago.  I’ve ridden a few times in between and you never totally forget, but let’s just say I’m not the junior jump champion any more.  So, when a friend said let’s go riding in Makawao, I was lukewarm.

But I’ll go back again and again after an hour ride at the Piiholo Ranch.  Its easy to find close to downtown Makawao, but after navigating the long and winding driveway to the ranch, its a different world.

They view horse riding rentals in a different way than most establishments.  The horses are well fed, well handled and trained, and everything is professionally arranged.  When you book they need to know your height and weight and they have a pretty extensive discussion with you regarding your horseriding abilities.  I must have overemphasized that I hadn’t ridden consistently for decades because I got Blackjack.

Heeeeere's Blackjack! The calmest horse on the planet

They give BlackJack to bigger people (sheesh!) because he’s part Clydesdale and I imagine they also give him to people who have never ridden before.  He is dead calm – bomb-proof we used to call them when I was a kid.  I was a little chagrined that I couldn’t convince Blackjack to leave the group, trot a little or veer off into the sunset, but I guess that’s a good thing as many customers to Piiholo are beginners.

But the ride was glorious.  We were escorted by a fabulous gal who kept a very close eye on all of us.  The vistas are panoramic, you actually ride through huge fields and eucalyptus forests and we even saw Hawaii’s state bird, the Nene Goose (who is shy and elusive) having a great bath in one of the ponds in the field.  One of my fellow riders was a gal with my dream job (she’s a personal shopper at Nordstrom’s) and between great retail conversation, the absolutely obedient horses and the scenery, it was a wonderful time.   The Piiholo Ranch is a section of the gigantic Baldwin Ranch that has been sectioned off and there are cattle on the land and roping cows.  You can safely go if you’ve never ridden a horse but have a hidden John Wayne gene.

7.  Buy an exfoliating bar of soap to use while you are in Maui and one to take home to use for the month after you return. Island Bath & Body makes an excellent exfoliating bar and their products are available most places.  Maui residents will tell you that not only does an exfoliating bar get out any fine sand from ocean swimming and snorkelling, but it also helps to retain your tan by keeping the tanned skin clear of dead cells.

8.  There are hundreds AND HUNDREDS of sunset cruises, dinner cruises, snorkelling cruises, what watching cruises and more available on Maui and available from everything to the concierge at your hotel (if you’ve got one) to guys selling tickets on the street.  After 27 years, the best are the Teralani Sailing Adventures Their boats are big, comfortable, exciting catamarans, the crew is always hugely helpful and fun, and darned if they seem to be the first ones to know where the whales or the dolphins or both are.  We recently took a sunset cruise (in November) and not only saw a big school of spinner dolphins (see below), but also two whales!  Whales don’t usually show up until at least mid December.  The puupuus are great, drinks are great and responsibly served – I just love these guys.  You need to travel to Kaanapali and get on off the beach.

9.  Eating at golf clubs anywhere is often a good bet.  There are some spectacular, fancy PGA golf courses in Maui but to ensure that their dining room remains viable and busy during all seasons, often the happy hour and luncheon pricing can be fabulous.  Gannon’s at the 3rd course (next driveway past the blue course) which used to be SeaWatch, has the most outstanding views out over Molokini and Red Hill and happy hour specials that include beer, wine and other cocktails under $5.00 with the bar menu including ribs, hamburgers, and crab cakes at under $10.  Its from 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Spinner dolphins near Lanaii off the Teralani II

Way over below the Iao Valley north of Wailuku is the very famous King Kamehameha Golf Club.  There is one for the public and one designed by Frank Lloyd Wright that is so exclusive it seems no one is ever there!  But the public course and clubhouse are uber nice themselves and the Friday night all-you-can-eat Prime Rib and Seafood for $29.99 is the best value for quality available inland.

The incomparable, mystic, unique mountains of the Iao Valley

10. Speaking of golf clubs, this tip represents the best night we had in Maui on our recent holiday.  Some of my family plays golf and favours the reasonable, public golf course at Pukalani which is right off the Haleakala Highway onto Pukalani Road and drive to the end.  The clubhouse at the Pukalani Golf Course burned down a few years ago and a bunch of nonesense and litigation (don’t know the story, don’t ask) have had the Club using a Trailer for their clubhouse ever since.  It’s a big trailer mind you.  On Tuesday nights, the local ukulele club come out to the trailer and play.  There isn’t much room, you HAVE to book in advance, but its the best authentic Hawaiian time you’ll have.  The players are all ages, sizes, and nationalities.  They are all superior ukulele players and singers and periodically one of the women gets up and demonstrates the very beautiful coconut dance.  The food is great, the music is just superior, and a very good time was had by all!  P.S. The Ukulele Players, which are called Honey Buns and the Coconuts, don’t play for tips – they much prefer a wine donation!

The coconut dancer with ukulele players behind her. You gotta go.

11.  I don’t know what it is about vacations, but I’m always up for a full breakfast.  At home I have a banana or maybe an apple and coffee, but on vacation you’d think I woke up starved every morning.  There are some fabulous breakfast spots on Maui, here are three – one for every price range:

The Breakfast Buffet at the Makena Beach and Golf Resort. (formerly The Prince Hotel). When this property was The Prince, it seemed way, way,WAY out from Wailea, but there has been so much development it doesn’t seem like that anymore.  It had some financial troubles, was in bank protection for awhile and apparently now has new owners, although I surely don’t know the details.  The bottom line is that there is much to recommend the place, particularly the breakfast brunch.  The setting is just fabulous, see the picture, and the food is fresh, extremely varied and the French waiter who has been there for years is just excellent.  There is an ingenious waffle making machine, eggs benny, every type of fruit, pastries, etc. etc. ETC.  Its $25.00 per person, but its worth it at least once.  (we went twice this time)

The downstairs 'dining room' for breakfast brunch at the Makena Resort and Golf Club.

PS – Upstairs at the gift shop, Lamont’s, there must live an aggressive retailer.  Serious markdowns on really nice island and holiday wear.

Next breakfast spot is  Ruby’s Diner at Queen Ka’ahumanu Center Mall in Kahului.

Except to attend the Swap Meet on Saturdays we don’t travel to Kahului too often during vacation.  Kahului is the ‘capital’ of Maui, its where the major retail and businesses are, the biggest mall, and the airport.  The only major hospital is there, just up the hill in Wailuku.  But, its a 45 minute drive from Kihei, more from Kaanapali and except for the cruise ship port, its oh so far from the ocean!

But, if you are in Kahului heading home or checking out the big Mall (Its anchored by Sears and Macy’s) or perhaps attending the excellent Swap Meet or a performance at the Maui Cultural Centre and its breakfast time, go to Ruby’s Diner. I think its a chain and the website link is above.  Without question, however, you have to order the following – cut and pasted from the menu:

Can't you just taste them? And they serve them with macadamia nut syrup. Piggie Piggie

The last breakfast place is the

Kihei Cafe is on South Kihei Road, across from the big cement whale (very well known local tourist attraction) at Kalama Park about 1/2 way between Wailea and Sugar Beach.  Click on the link and you’ll see that this is neither elegant like the Makena Resort nor part of a chain like Ruby’s Diner. It’s 100% authentic and its own place.  You grab a table that looks right over the road and send one of your party in to order.  Often there’s a lineup.  The guy(s) who take your order have been there forever and they are so hilarious its worth the price of the breakfast before you eat it.  Once you’ve ordered and paid, they bring it out to you.  They have a breakfast selection like you’ll never see again – (see menu in the link above) and every single thing is delicious (with the possible exception of some of the Hawaiian food which is delicious to a Hawaiian, but not all of us. Fried eggs with rice and spam – yuck!)  The value is outstanding, the people watching is superb.  Again, you should go.

12.  The Swap Meet on Saturday Mornings in Kahului. The Swap Meet moved its location about 3 years ago and some returning visitors went to the old location and went crazy finding the new location.  To avoid causing further confusion, type in Swap Meet on Maui into Google and a very good map will come up that will show you that the new location is close to the port for Cruise Ships, and the mall.  Try this link:

Maui Swap Meet location

The great thing about the Maui Swap Meet is that you’ll find many of the same items that you will in the boutique and craft stores in Kihei, Lahaina and Wailea for a lot less money. If you’re looking for souvenirs of your visit to Maui you’ll find t-shirts, necklaces, leis, and handmade crafts often sold directly by the artist.

You’ll find lots of fresh Hawaiian flowers and wonderful fresh fruits, homemade baked goods and vegetables grown on Maui. It’s a perfect stop for folks staying in a condominium to stock up on fresh produce for their stay. You’ll also find lots of Hawaiian fabric at great prices.

If you’re lucky you may also find some Hawaiiana dating back to the 30′s and 40′s.  My sister patrols all the stalls every year trying to duplicate this cheesy little palm tree table centre that is in our timeshare unit.  Not successful so far………..

Most of the vendors accept major credit cards, but they also appreciate cash, so bring lots of dollar bills!

The fabulous Kahului Swap Meet

PS – very cool costume jewelry plus a nice 15 minute massage.  Everything well below store prices.

13.  Snorkelling locations – my family and I are avid snorkelers.   Every vacation includes a snorkel at least every second day and often every day.  We pay to go on snorkeling excursions and we go to snorkeling spots ourselves.  We are more advanced and OK with tougher entries, deep water, and some surge.  My sister and I, who both wear glasses, have snorkel masks custom made with our eyeglass prescription in them.  Did I tell you we are keen snorkelers?

This isn’t meant as an exhaustive overview of where to snorkel in Maui.  All of the Hawaiian Islands have incomparable snorkel conditions that include clear and warm water, often very little surge, reefs close to the surface, both sea turtles and tropical fish and usually easy entry.  But here are two spots in the Wailea/Makena area that are currently just wonderful.  I say currently because the tropical fish on these beautiful reefs are often hunted by the native Hawaiians for food, by people in the pet store trade who scoop them up to sell them to you in Michigan or Illinois or Texas or Alberta and varying weather conditions can affect how much fish are available for viewing.  Even at these two beautiful spots, there are far, far fewer fish than there used to be when I began coming to Maui 25 years ago.  And the reefs themselves are slowly returning, but they were nearly destroyed by divers and tourists ripping off coral to take home.  I was furious and disappointed to run into a man this trip with some coral and two cowrie shells who told me they were ‘dead’.  They absolutely weren’t and he stole them.

While I’m on this rant and before I reveal these two lovely, easy snorkeling spots, if nothing else happens from this blog, I hope I reach one or two more tourists to Maui and inform them of the rules regarding viewing the beautiful sea turtles that are all around the Islands.  It is totally illegal to get anywhere near a sea turtle should you be fortunate enough to see one while snorkeling.  They are elegant and lovely and seeing them swim through the water is a great experience.  But, they are disturbed if you hover over them, get too close to them (the law says stay at least 25 feet away from them) or touch them at all.  You can hire unscrupulous ‘guides’ who will take you too close to them so you can have a picture taken with a turtle.  Shame on the guide, and shame on you.  OK, end of diatribe.  Turtles are delighted to see you from a distance and they are truly lovely to watch, but leave them alone!

One of the least populated beaches close in on Wailea is the 7 Graves Beach.  Its unspoiled, picturesque and is bracketed with two shallow reefs.  On almost any day you can see turtles, lots of fish close in, more varieties a little further out and it seems the sea is always calm, warm and very clear.  You reach the 7 Graves Beach by driving along the main Wailea highway, past the Kea Lani Hotel, and turn right.  Head toward the water and turn left onto a road with glorious private homes that front on the road and back onto the beach.  At a point, the homes end and there is a small opening which is public (all beaches in Hawaii are public, irrespective of what house or hotel is situated on them).  The beach isn’t as ‘groomed’ as the sections in front of the big hotels, but its just lovely.  There isn’t a foot wash there or a public washroom, but so what?  The snorkelling is ideal.  Not sure of the history behind the ’7 Graves’ name, but you can often visit the beach early in the morning and be the only one there.  I hope this little, modest post doesn’t turn the beach into a tsumani of tourists.

Me at 7 Graves. See the clear water and soft sand?

Beautiful 7 Graves Beach

Ok, the second good but easy and great place to snorkel is at the beach outside the Makena Beach Resort and Golf Club. (formerly The Prince Hotel).  You’ll remember we talked earlier of the great breakfast buffet there.  Well, after all those years of visiting Maui we had never been to the beach in front of the hotel.  To get there you need to drive past the hotel and then take the next right (its quite a ways, maybe nearly a mile) and then double back on a good road.  You’ll go by a lovely piece of land on the water that is selling lots for a mere $4.5 million dollars (that’s just the lot, you have to build the house after that), and you’ll see a public parking lot next to an unfinished building under construction.  That building will be the spectacular Golf Club House for the Makena Golf Course.  The construction was suspended until the new owner bought in but its underway now.  An easy walk to the beach shows you there are public washrooms, foot wash places, all the amenities.

Its yet another beautiful beach -  (so is Polo Beach, Keawakapu Beach, the beach in front of the Four Seasons and the Grand Wailea) – pretty much all beaches on Maui.  All have decent snorkeling, white sand, clear water, easy entry, etc.  But the Makena Hotel beach seems to have a real diversity of tropical fish types and twice we put on our masks and flippers went out about 10 feet heading further and saw two turtles right away!

One last suggestion – when visiting the Shops at Wailea (may as well go just to look. You’d have to put a second mortgage on your house to actually buy merchandise in some of the stores) check out the Tommy Bahamas Shop.  Tres chic and the prices reflect that, but every year I ‘splurge’ and buy one of their fabulous scented candles.  They come in scents like Coconut Mango and Pineapple Cilantro and are expensive.  But, they last and the glorious tropical scents give you at least a month’s worth of reminder, while sitting at the computer looking out at the snow coming down, of the lovely Island of Maui.

I guess I can finish as I began with a picture of our beloved Maui Hill Resort

Everyone has a special place in Maui, and ours is here.  Owners and timeshare owners are blessed with possibly the best General Manager on Maui in the person of Dennis Costa.  Dennis makes the difference.  The grounds are immaculate, the units are constantly upgraded and refreshed and we boast the biggest and more beautiful pool in the whole Kihei area.  Wherever your ‘home’ on Maui is, I hope these tips are helpful.  Please ‘comment’ on the blog with other questions, I’m happy to help.

Beautiful Maui Hill

Here’s some pictures from the garden taken today

The fabulous Annabelle Hydrangea with clematis and misacanthus behind

Here's that Thalictrum that everyone asked about on the garden tour. Its REALLY big now and requires a lot of water!

You can see what a ‘mixed’ gardener I am with just this one shot.  There are Siberian Iris, Hydrangea, canna lilies, Japanese Maple, Lavender, roses, clematic, lilac, petunias, heucheras, and a cardoon all in one shot!

I tweeted that I was pruning spirea and someone asked how I did it. The one of the left has been'pruned' and the one on the right has not. I just trim it sort of like heather, cutting off the blooms. Some people may use little electric trimmers, I just use my little secaturs. Maybe I should spend more time ironing my clothes than gardening. I look a little wrinkled here!

Lab waiting for me to sit down in the lounger and enjoy the garden. I LOVE the Aralia tree in the facing plot.... adds great structure to the whole area.

Like most of you, I have different sorts of lilies everywhere. I love them for the garden and cut flowers. Still waiting for 'Casablanca'

Petunias are always so cheerful! this little wagon of them with a hosta and some bacopa brighten up the riverside rhodo plot

My beautiful and beloved 'Mme Julia Correvan' clematis. I brought her over with me from our Deep Cove house 6 years ago in a pot and every year she puts out this beautiful display that lasts most of the summer. A super plant. If I ever moved again, I'd dig her up and bring her along!

My cutting garden - rows of gladiolas and dahlias with some blueberries, clematis and lilies thrown in for good measure. About 3 more weeks for blooms to arrive here on Southern Vancouver Island.

Hope everyone is enjoying a wonderful time in their gardens this summer.  I’m off for a little sunning, boating, and swimming at Osoyoos in the Okanagan soon.  Even the most enthusiastic gardener needs a little break!  Don’t worry, neighbours and underground sprinkling system will ensure the garden is fine.

In prep for the garden tour, very GOOD friends came over and helped rhodo deadhead, weed, trim up, etc. a few days before the tour.  Sandy Campbell was among this blessed group.  And, she was wearing Muck Boots.  And highly singing their praises. To be honest, they ain’t much to look at: you can check them out here and you can see me model them further down

muckboots-scrubboot

The next time I was at Buckerfield’s there was a big display with Muck Boots and a one week 20% off.  That’s all I needed and my life has been permanently improved for the better.  They are every thing a gardener needs in a boot (haven’t put them to the cozy test yet – its still summer), but I sense they are going to excel at cozy.  Every once in awhile, a better mousetrap comes along.  Do yourself a favour and buy some muck boots – your feet will thank you.  (Oh, by the way, I don’t know a darned soul at Muck Boots, they haven’t asked for an endorsement nor sent me a big shipment of free ones)

Not stylish - but Oh, so good at their job!

8 different varieties of climbers and floribundas

My apologies for the amount of time between this blog post and the last one.  After the garden tour concluded, we had our 63rd Annual Flower and Garden Show and are that wrapped up we (this is the Mill Bay Garden Club I’m referring to!) we had our Potluck Picnic and Annual General Meeting.  That was last Tuesday and apart from some member-only garden tours of each other’s gardens over the summer, that’s it for me as President until September.  One more year as President then I’m going to take it easy!

This leaves me with some time to actually do my paid work – imagine! – and to head back out to the garden to enjoy the summer.

We’ve had a wet spring and with that always comes that darned black spot on roses as well as other disgusting little chews and disease.  Roses like regular waterings but they don’t like rainy springs.

I do love roses – like I love Iris, hostas, and too many etc. to count! – but roses are fussy things.  They need to be pruned just so, they need a bit of lime and a bit of alfalfa meal or pellets and good watering, but not on the leaves, and some need bending and staking and in general they can be a pain in the backside.  But, Oh, how I love them.  I love them all!  This year my favourites are Abraham Darby (the scent is marvelous) and always and continual favourite is Gertrude Jekyll, I love Julio Iglesias, (striped red and white with a glorious scent), Westerland, Winchester Cathedral,

Royal Sunset - my new climbing rose covered in blooms her first year

and particularly Diana, Princess of Wales.  I have 26 rose bushes (not counting several Bonica-type shrub roses) and despite all their Diva-like and demanding qualities, I love each one.

Clematis and 'Evelyn' - I love peach roses

The beautiful, disease-free, highly scented, heavy blooming and just lovely 'Gertrude Jekyll'

I could go on and on.  Ok, just a few more…….this year ‘James Galway’ is just spectacular.  It took three years to have him reliably climb up one of the posts for the Parthenon, but it was worth it.  Don Juan is a new addition to our garden, but he’s blooming and starting to climb and is such a deep, rich red it takes my breath away.  My new Grimm Brother’s Fairy Tale Floribunda rose settled right in to spectacular blooms.

For what its worth, I bought most of these roses at Select Roses in Langley, BC.  Brad Jalbert and his father do an amazing job at producing a huge variety of healthy roses.  (no, I’m not related to Brad nor am I getting paid in free roses, ha!).

One sad note.  The only rose that has really suffered from this wet spring was my favourite floribunda – ‘Julia Child’.  This is the most wonderful of many-petaled, fragrant roses and I’ve sung her praises for years and years.  Julia has just had a bad year this year with all sorts of afflictions and petal drop, etc.  She won’t die, she’s a tough old gal and did manage a few blooms.  But you know she isn’t at the top of her game when this yellow rose blooms almost red!  She is mostly pruned back now, will recover over the hotter summer, I hope, and will rise to a better year next year.

Two beauties we saw on a Garden Tour today