Garden Visitors

My garden is always full of surprises from year to year. Sometimes it's a plant that thrives particularly well. Other times it's the disappointment of a plant that fails. And occasionally it's a magical occurrence like the visits by dozens and dozens of painted lady butterflies the past several weeks.

We had an unusually mild September and early October in the Montreal region. Apparently those warm temperatures enticed painted lady butterflies (Vanessa cardui) on their migratory path to descend and stay a while. It was written about in a local newspaper.

When I would go out the back door into the garden, there would momentarily be a small cloud of butterflies in the air as they left the flowers they were on and then went to others. I wish I had been able to capture an image of their numbers!

I first noticed them on my sedum spectabile plants.

Then I found them on my echinacea.

They really liked my zinnias.

They really, REALLY liked my zinnias! If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen my video of a very happy painted lady butterfly flitting about on my zinnias.

And what do you do when blessed by such beautiful garden visitors? Why you paint one of course!

I found one on the ground (poor thing) and was able to bring it into my studio to use as my model.
Here is my watercolor painting in its early stages and, underneath, in its final form.

When you look at a painted lady butterfly, the markings look kind of random and splotchy. It was only through close observation that I realized how intricate some of the markings were. In my painting, I tried to honour the details while still keeping a painterly feeling.

I love how it turned out and now have both prints and note cards available in my shop. I really hope you like them!

If you haven't visited my shop in a while, I hope you will have a peek. I've been busy adding new prints and cards. 🦋

A Morning Glory Painting

The morning glories in my garden inspired me to do a little watercolour. I have a stack of paintings from the past few months that I hope to convert into prints in the weeks ahead and this will be one of them.

My garden is shifting towards autumn. I want to paint it all but I don't have the time these days. I'm trying to take lots of photographs to use as references and inspiration during the long winter months ahead. I bought some pots of chrysanthemums yesterday, a sure sign that the seasons are changing.

I sometimes wish you could freeze moments in the garden and get things to slow down and linger a little bit longer. It goes too fast. The morning glories are looking absolutely glorious at the moment. I truly understand where their name comes from. I took this photo this morning. They look like the light is coming from within them.

This is a tangle of flowers that are growing near the morning glories: gaillardia and verbena bonariensis. If you asked me to list my favourite colours in the garden, red wouldn't be one of them. However, I absolutely adore this combination of red and light violet. I have to tell you something else. I have the worst mental block for 'gaillardia'. I have to look it up, every single year.

I always have to remind myself that as we are approaching autumn here, that my friends in the southern hemisphere are enjoying spring! In the north, we are dealing with the wistfulness of knowing that our gardens will soon be going to sleep and you are experiencing the joy of spring flowers! For the moment though, in the Montreal region we are experiencing unseasonably warm weather.

I'll leave you with one final photo of my morning glory painting. I hope you are enjoying nature wherever you are and whatever the season.

🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸

Back to Earth

I am finally back gardening! It was hard to set aside so many cherished activities the past couple of months as I waited for my neck to get better. The good news is that it is improving with physiotherapy. The bad news is that the reason it was vulnerable in the first place is that I have osteoarthritis in my neck. That was hard to accept (especially when I got the diagnosis a day before my birthday) but I suppose finding that out is a good thing as I am learning to be kinder to my neck and not to take it for granted. 

Back in April, I started a big project: revamping the shady garden at the side of our house. The pathway was already there. I created it myself six years ago (paver by paver and wheelbarrow-full of gravel at a time). I still love the pathway but I wasn't happy with the garden. It was especially hard not to like it as it's the view from our dining room window. This is what it looked like in early April.

I completely removed the not-so-great grass that bordered the narrow flower beds. It was a big job but Meeko helped (sort of).

I loved this photo of Meeko so much and the way he was looking at me over his back that I painted him in late April. Cutie pie.

Once the sod was removed, I added good soil, divided the perennials that were already there (bleeding hearts, astilbe, lady's mantle, masterwort, turtlehead, sidalcea, hostas) and rearranged things. I also removed a huge shrub that was past its prime. When I was doing all of this work in April and early May, I was kind of feeling like Superwoman. Well, guess what? I'm not. I'm human after all. An aging human, my neck reminded me in a not very subtle way. The garden waited for me while I adjusted my pride and learned to treat my neck better through improved posture and daily exercises. 

In the past two weeks, I was finally able to finish my garden project. I weeded, added a few new perennials (coral bells and a shasta daisy) and planted an annual passionfruit vine in a pretty obelisk that my husband Jocelyn gave me for my birthday. Some of the new additions need to fill out a little but now I absolutely love looking at this part of the garden! It feels peaceful and serene.

I am happy to announce that I have reopened my shop after having it closed for a month. Yay! I look forward to gardening and painting more in the weeks ahead and sharing my efforts here and on Instagram. Thanks so much for being here!

🌿 🌿 🌿 🌿 🌿

Not As Busy As A Bee

The bees are absolutely in love with the salvia in my garden. I don't remember planting this particular salvia where it is. Tall salvia at the very front of a flower bed? Hmmm. I constructed a Dr. Seuss-type rhyme it in my head.

I did not plant them there at all. 

I'd never plant something there so tall.

But the salvia is there and the bees loves it and that makes me happy.

So the bees have been busy but I haven't, at least not in a normal way. The past month has been a bit odd.

In mid-May, I injured my neck while pruning the sides of the tall cedars that surround our garden. It seemed like a normal strain at first but then, a week later, I woke up with neck spasms which I had never experienced before and don't wish on anyone. If I needed a reminder of the neck's function, I had it. It's involved in most every movement. I couldn't drink a glass of water, look down to to gauge my steps on the stairs or do pretty much anything else without triggering a painful spasm. Within a two-hour period, I had forty spasms. I saw a doctor and after two days of medication, the spasms disappeared. Unfortunately, the ongoing stiffness and occasional pain didn't.

In late May, Chloé was sick for over a week with a bad virus. That was worrisome. She missed a week of school and two final exams. We were very relieved when she finally started to feel better.

The week after Chloé was sick, I had to have an unexpected biopsy. I am happy to say that the biopsy results came back negative although my brain has taken several days to regain its focus. Oh stress, you are powerful!

My neck? Well, it's much better than it was but still not normal. It makes me feel grumpy and frustrated. I am going to see a physical therapist on Monday. I realize how much I took it for granted as now I am very conscious of its movement.

I didn't paint for four weeks. I've been on social media only in a sporadic way. Partly because of my neck. Partly because I had lost my focus with everything else going on. I've done bits of things. Bits of gardening. Bits of computer work. Bits of admin work on my shop. I've missed things. I'm sorry.

Yesterday, I realized that this whole not painting thing was not going to solve itself. I just had to start painting again--maybe in shorter sessions. Then I couldn't decide what to paint. It's amazing how not painting for a while can do a number on your head, or at least mine. I start to feel like I can't paint. So I decided to work on an unfinished painting of irises that had been waiting in my drawer. It felt really good to have a paintbrush in my hand again. I've always loved irises so this is the perfect subject to ease me back into my painting routine. And guess what? I still can paint!

All of this is not to complain, just to explain and share. I look forward to painting, posting and participating more in the weeks ahead! Here's a little poem in honour of my busy garden friends.

The Bee

by Arthur Guiterman

Little chemic-artisan,
Doing work no other can,
Deep in dewy nectaries,
Petal-walled refectories- 
Apple-blossom, columbine,
Rose and lily, all are thine,
Yet, though oft thy weight they bear,
Dost thou know how they are fair?
Thine are sun and Summer breeze- 
Hast thou aught of joy in these?

Pollen-yellow dumbledore,
Leave thy clovers tumbled o'er!
What's a lily? What's a rose?
Down the golden lane he goes,
Drowsing forth a prosy song,
'Honey! Honey!' all day long,
Wasting life's diviner sweet,
Hiving food for drones to eat.
Oh, thou silly, silly bee!
Idle here and learn of me! 

🐝  🐝  🐝  🐝  🐝

A Snow Bunting and a Squirrel Problem

Here is the painting I have been working on the past few days. I think it's finished now. This sweet bird visited our backyard a few years ago. I didn't even know what kind of bird it was at the time. It looked to me like a cross between a large sparrow and a bunny. So fluffy! I looked it up and found that it was a snow bunting. I'm glad it stayed long enough for me to take a few photos of him.

I did a previous painting of him but I like this one much more. I hope to have prints and cards available with this image in my shop in the next week or so.

I love birds and have always fed them in our backyard. Having a garden that welcomes wildlife is important to me. I also wanted Emma and Chloé to learn about nature through our garden. From when they were toddlers, I kept bird, caterpillar and butterfly guides near our back door so we could identify our garden visitors. Among the birds that have visited our yard are sparrows (many, many sparrows), chickadees, cardinals, blue jays, juncos, robins, swallows, mourning doves, cedar waxwings, hummingbirds, house finches, goldfinches and woodpeckers. We've had rare visits by a kingfisher, a hawk and a ruffed grouse. Plus the sweet snow bunting.

We have been in our current house for over 16 years. It was a new neighbourhood when we moved in so there were very few trees initially, which also meant that there weren't any squirrels. But there are now! The trees have matured. Now my bird seed isn't just attracting my feathered friends, it is attracting squirrels as well...which would be fine except for Meeko. Meeko is calm and accepting when birds are at our feeders. But squirrels? Oh my. He gets riled up, wants to chase them and he barks...a lot. I try to keep him quiet for the sake of our neighbours and our own sanity but it's hard to do. Last week, Chloé was studying for exams and Meeko was barking incessantly at the squirrels. She suggested that maybe I need to stop feeding the birds or to find another place for the feeder that is not visible from the house. That is such a hard thought for me although she may be right. I'm trying to think of alternate solutions. I thought of placing food on the ground somewhere to divert the squirrels' attention. I've even thought of placing paper at Meeko's eye level on the back door so he can't see them from inside. If you have a brilliant idea, let me know!

*  *  *  *  *

On another topic, I have a few of my prints on sale currently! You can have a look at them here. I've been working on my shop a lot these past few weeks. I now have my art organized by category and theme. I hope it makes browsing more efficient and interesting. 

A Green Christmas

I think we are heading for a green Christmas. It's so unusual in Montreal not to have at least a bit of snow on the ground at Christmas. It's what everyone is talking about here. The skating rink boards were installed weeks ago in the park across the street but there isn't a snowflake or a sliver of ice in sight.

There's not really anything one can do so, while dreaming of snow, we are going about our days and getting ready for the holidays. Today it is colder but the forecast for the week ahead is for mild, rainy days.

The photo above is of tiny rain-soaked crabapples in my garden. While I was taking this photo and others on one of the rainiest days of the past week, a patient, slightly soggy Meeko waited for me on the back porch. Such a good boy.

I have been painting. If you follow me on Instagram, you will have seen my progress photos of a watercolour I just finished of a small winterberry branch. This is my favourite kind of painting to do--a study of a natural object. I have another step to do as this will be a special print, actually one that was suggested to me by a lovely customer.

When I was purchasing the winterberry branches to use as my painting references at a local garden centre, the sales clerk told me that their spring bulbs were 80% off. I already planted over 350 bulbs in November but the ground still isn't frozen and the price was hard to resist. So I purchased some more spring bulbs and added them to my garden this past week! Planting spring bulbs in the garden in mid-December! The silver lining of this odd weather.

Hydrangea Love

When the seasons change, I'm always a little sad about what I need to say goodbye to, but what awaits me often makes up for it. Like autumn and hydrangeas. Yes.

If I were to list my favourite autumn flowers, hydrangeas would be at the top. There are others (Japanese anemones and Turtleheads come to mind) but it's hard not to love those gorgeous billowy flowerheads with their delicate tones of pink and green. I have four types of hydrangeas in my garden: Hydrangea paniculata grandiflora, Hydrangea paniculata 'Unique', oakleaf hydrangea and Hydrangea macrophylla. The two that do best in my garden are Hydrangea paniculata grandiflora (PeeGee) and Hydrangea paniculata 'Unique'. Although the PeeGee blooms are beautiful (they're in the photo at the top), the Unique blooms are my favourite. There's more space between the flowers so you can appreciate their individual, graceful shapes.

Hydrangea paniculata 'Unique' and asters on my painting table

It was still in progress at this point.

I started a painting last autumn of some of the Unique blooms. It was almost finished and then, for some reason, I put it away in my painting drawer. I can't really remember why. I got it out again last week and with fresh hydrangeas from the garden put the finishing touches on the painting. It just needed a little more depth in places and a few more details.

Here's the final result. I tried to convey the frothy softness of the flowerhead while also capturing some of the delicate details. I hope to have it available as a print in the next few weeks.

I need to get out into the garden as much as possible in the days ahead. The nights have been very cold the past few days so things are going to change dramatically. This weekend, I plan to bring the last tomatoes in and cut some herbs for drying. And more hydrangeas!

♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥

Drying tip: I like to dry the hydrangeas and enjoy them throughout the winter months. I read a tip years ago by a favourite gardening writer, Lois Hole, on her preferred way of doing it. She suggested placing the cut hydrangeas in a vase in about an inch of water and letting it evaporate. She said that the flowers retain more colour this way than if they are air-dried. This is the way I always do it now.

Ladybugs, Gardening, HTML and Change

I feel a bit like this ladybug right now--about to spread my wings and take flight. I have been working very hard the past week on my own website. I opened a shop on Big Cartel in January. It was nice but it felt limited. I decided recently to move to Shopify. I have been able build a website there that is much more dynamic and beautiful and I can't wait to show it to you!

I am feeling positively nerdy with my newfound HTML skills. The internet is wonderful. You get stuck and a google search can help you out. Stubbornness helps. Curiosity is a motivator. For particularly puzzling problems, I turned to my two savvy daughters and a talented friend. Figuring out how to make HTML work for you is the closest thing I can think of to reading a mystery novel. The answer is there somewhere. You just have to find it.

For now, the shop links to the right will take you to a page letting you know that my website is under construction. I will post here and on Instagram and Facebook when I open it up. It will be sometime in the next few days.

I have been freshening my products listings for my new website so have been going through my very disorganized photo files this weekend (on my hard drive, memory cards and external drives). I found this fabulous photo today of a ladybug on my paint palette. It was taken two summers ago when I was painting outside at my parents' house in Muskoka. My mom and dad are in the process of moving from their year-round lakeside residence of almost twenty years (and the family cottage of about 35 years) to a new home in town. Lots of changes.

A couple of weeks ago, I took some new photos of my ladybug print. I did the original painting over 20 years ago and it is still one of my favourite watercolours. I have held on to the original. The print looks so much like it!

This gardening season, I have commited to redoing some of my product photography when the corresponding flowers are available in the garden. I love the combination of my paintings and prints with their real-life inspiration. 

Ladybugs, gardening, HTML and change. What my June is made of.

Ladybug art print ©Kathleen Maunder (Trowel and Paintbrush)

❤  ❤  ❤  ❤  ❤

A Little (Lotta) Lilac Love

It's that beautiful time of year when the air is heavy with the sweet fragrance of lilacs. I have four common lilac shrubs (Syringa vulgaris). They are planted around the corner of our house where there are no windows. Their tantalizing scent draws us out of the house and around the corner to visit them. I bury my nose in in the blossoms whenever I pass by. I am sensitive to many fragrances but I have no trouble at all with the scent of lilacs. Thankfully.

I did the watercolour painting below in 2012. I think it's one of the originals that I will always hang onto. I offer both prints and cards with this image and they continue to be among my most popular products. I often use my Lilacs image on the little thank you cards that I include with orders. Maybe you've received one from me.

My original 'Lilacs' watercolour painting

Set of 5 Lilac note cards

My dwarf Palibin lilac is gearing up to bloom just as the others fade.

I did my 'Lilac Sprig' watercolour in 2013. That original has sold but I offer the image as a print and note cards. I took advantage of the lilacs being in bloom to take this new photo on my 'Lilac Sprig' print this past week. It's a sweet 5" x 7" print that looks very pretty framed.

I don't cut lilacs often for bouquets. I find that they don't last very long in a vase. I couldn't resist cutting a few though recently and they were drooping by the next day. Does anyone have a trick for making cut lilacs last? I would love to hear it!

And to close, a little music sung by Jeff Buckley. Because lilacs!

❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤

Update: My friend, Margie, of Resurrection Fern has given me a tip for making cut lilacs last longer. She suggests smashing the woody stems with a mallet or meat tenderizer. I will give this a try!