Changing Garden Zones and Unexpected Discoveries

It seems at this time of year I tend to review the goings on of the previous year and ponder how things have changed.  This year I've been thinking a lot about the least year and a half.  The time since we moved to Prince Edward Island from British Columbia. 

We attempted to be cautious when we moved across country.  We made several trips to PEI before we committed to actually moving.  We looked into housing, jobs, weather, community.  But there's only so many questions you think to ask and inevitably things will be missed.  How many people would question the volume of mosquitos a place has before they move there? Let this be a warning, if you're considering moving, ask about bugs.

It also never occurred to me to ask about natural disasters.  British Columbia has wind storms and earthquakes and I thought I was leaving all that behind.  But when we arrived on the east coast we were dumbfounded to find that a hurricane was headed our way.  I never learned about hurricanes in school.  Do you get under your desk and wait for it to stop shaking?  wrong answer.  Perhaps we should have reconsidered dismantling our emergency kit when we left the west coast.

Today when I look out my window I see a very different scene from a 18 months ago.  My view used to be encompassed by trees.

Today, it's sunny and open with a few trees just around the periphery.

I no longer need to search out plants that like the shade.  Instead I'm looking for plants that will create some shade!

The large trees and warmer climate in our former home attracted different birds than what I see today.  A pair of ravens, bald eagles, and turkey vultures were all common sights in my last garden.  Dark eyed juncos paraded around the yard, turning up the bark and needles looking for bugs.

** My apologies!!  Gardeningbren pointed out this isn't a junco at all!  Hubby mentioned the other day that we never see juncos anymore and I thought 'oh yes, I need to find a picture of those'.  Unfortunately I chose the wrong photo.  This photo is actually of a western spotted towhee.  Also not found in PEI!

Juncos can be found in PEI but I haven't yet seen any in our yard (western spotted Towhee)


I dearly miss the sweet Grey Jays but these birds require a mountain environment to live in and alas, Prince Edward Island, is somewhat short on mountains.

Grey jays can be VERY interactive if you have food around

East coasters are familiar with the bright blues and whites of the Blue Jay.  Before moving east I had never seen anything like it except in picture books.  Such a bright bright bird.  Now in the mornings I look for them in our birch trees.  I love seeing those flashes of blue.

The bird I was familiar with in BC was a Stellar's Jay.  We called them blue jays as well but to those who have seen an eastern jay the Stellar's doesn't appear so much blue as black.

I miss these jays.  Even their voices are different.  The Stellar's that used to visit our back porch would call out something reminiscent of 'beer beer beer'.  The eastern jays are much sweeter sounding.

Gardening in a new zone means I've had to change some of my practices. 


Garnet Penstemon survives only to zone 7

The most obvious change is that there are plants I can no longer have in my garden.  My garden in British Columbia was a zone 8b.  I lived in a temperate rain forest where freezing and snow were rare occurrences and plants grew large in warm temperatures and plenty of rain.  In PEI I'm now a zone 5b where freezing temperatures and snow are a commonplace occurrence and my plants need to be much hardier than before. 


Red huckleberries grew wild in our former yard

With all that snow comes preparation.  I've been known to plant fall bulbs in January in other years but if I can find ground this January it'll likely be frozen solid.  So I've had to be vigilant about buying bulbs and planting them in the fall.


Mulch has always been something I've believed was necessary but never more so than now.  While it helps to keep soil moist and plant roots cozy it also helps to regulate the temperature of the soil.  When there are quick freezes and thaws mulch will help keep the soil temperature even and prevent plant roots from being heaved out of the soil.  With that in mind all of my newly planted trees and flowers this year got plenty of mulch to keep them safe.  Something I might have thought about doing in other years but if I didn't get around to it I wouldn't have worried too much.

I think the biggest change I'm noticing over this last year is the definite changing of seasons.  The temperatures shift significantly, the leaves change colour, the snow blankets the ground.  No time for doddling and thinking about chores to be done.  The garden must be cared for before the season shifts again and it becomes entirely impossible to get outside. 

It's not a bad thing though.  When I lived out west I had never in my life seen this before. 

I sometimes miss the west coast but red maple leaves in fall is a sight I now treasure.
Happy New Year everyone.