Daffodils around the old apple tree

One of the great old features of the Garden takes on this beautiful look every spring. The apple tree is in blossom, the daffodils are blooming… And yes, the sign is right: there are strawberries planted here too!

The Knot Garden showing off its new look

The new design for the Knot Garden, put in place during last season, is really coming into its own.

A magnolia against deep blue sky at the entrance to Kingsbrae Garden

It’s opening week at Kingsbrae Garden, and we’re excited to show off all the beautiful new growth. Opening day is Friday, and all this week we’ll be showing you the things you can expect to see.

A world of colour and variety awaits you at the Kingsbrae Garden Plant Centre

With opening weekend only a little over a week away, the workers are back at Kingsbrae Garden getting the Garden cleaned up and ready for visitors.

The Kingsbrae Garden Plant Centre is already open for the season and stocked with hard-to-find perennials and lots of annual hanging baskets that are already full of colour. Come check out this season’s selection of perennials, seeds and pick up a hanging basket for your mom. The overnight and morning temperatures have still been quite cool but we will soon be stocked with annuals ready for planting as well. The Kingsbrae Garden Plant Centre is open from 9:30am to 5pm seven days a week!

The Garden came through the winter gloriously! It was so refreshing to see everything coming back to life. The magnolia trees are in various stages of bloom. Don’t worry—there will be some in full beautiful flower for visitors to see and smell on opening day which falls on May 18 this year.

It is going to be a busy and beautiful season at the garden. This year we have the ARTrageous Festival, Kingsbrae’s Annual Sculpture Competition, Beaverbrook Art Gallery’s Whirligigs: Going with the Wind, and the Folk Art Festival all opening on June 14. Mark that date on your calendar and be sure to schedule a visit to the garden during these events to see all they have to offer. If you are on Facebook you can keep up with all that is happening at the garden this season by joining our Facebook page.

We also have some new additions to come and see! Maggie and Madeleine are our new miniature donkeys and we have Auguri, the baby alpaca born during the winter. Of course we still have the peacocks, rabbits, ducks and goats as well. There is a lot to see and do at the Garden this season!

They say when the forsythia blooms that it is time to plant your peas and prune your roses! Depending on where you are in Charlotte County the forsythias are either in full bloom or just finishing up. Grab your seeds and pruners and get back into gardening because the season has arrived!

Jennifer Ukrainetz is a friend of Kingsbrae Garden and a frequent contributor.

Daffodils under the old apple tree in the orchard

A tantalizing treat this week: instead of looking backward, let’s look at now! A beautiful sunny day led to a walk around the Garden, and oh! The things we found!

See the full slideshow on YouTube.

Witch Hazel in bloom

With record-breaking temperatures reaching the upper twenties, spring has arrived like never before! I had to be reminded that it was still March, and snow could still show up in the forecast. I am sure I am not the only one who forgot what month it was because with weather like we have been having it feels more like June or even July!

I spent Wednesday in the garden. There was not a cloud in sight—in fact nothing but sunshine throughout the entire Maritimes! The native honey bees were out in full force seeking the first flowers of the season, and they found some.

The first blossoms I saw were on the Witch Hazel Tree (Hammamelis mollis) in the Gravel Garden. This tree smelled beautiful and looked gorgeous! Then I saw that our hazel nut tree  (Corylus Webb’s Prize)had both the male and female blossoms out and the bees were  working their magic pollinating them. This is great because that means that there will be nuts! I found some of these nuts attached to a branch that had fallen off a passing Gator one year in the maintenance area. I cracked them open with a hammer and they were the best-tasting hazel nuts that I had ever come across!

The last blossoms I found were on Erica carnea commonly known as Heather. The varieties in bloom were ‘R.B. Cooke’ and ‘Springwood White’. The bees just loved these! I saw way too many honey bees to count and even a bumble bee!

They say “March will break your heart” and so it would seem with cooler temperatures and the possibility of snow in the forecast for next week. There may be plenty of broken hearts in our future.

Jennifer Ukrainetz is a friend of Kingsbrae Garden and a frequent contributor.

On the Front Lawn, with magnolia in bloom. Picture taken May 13, 2011

While spring has not officially sprung yet it is definitely in the air! I was in the garden briefly last week while it is still mostly covered in snow and ice; I could tell the Magnolias are getting ready to bloom.

To celebrate Spring’s impending arrival my husband and I took our son to Sugarbush Weekend at Kings Landing. This event will go again this coming weekend (March 24 and 25). I encourage anyone who would like to enjoy the sweet taste of spring to check it out, but wear your rubber boots as the spring thaw has the grounds pretty muddy!

I will be spending some time in the garden this spring as I am assisting with training the new Propagator. I loved my position at the garden, but I also love being a mother and returning to work even on a part time basis is not possible for me at this time. Even though I am expecting a new baby in the first week of June I will continue to contribute to the website as often as time allows. I look forward to seeing the first blooms of spring, and I hope to share them with you all as they pop up!

I would like to thank everyone who has ever commented on any of my previous posts. The past two years have been busy at home, and I neglected my work e-mail. When I finally sorted it out I was very pleased to see compliments on how informative my post are. I post as often as I can, but sometimes I am just too tired to at the end of the day to write a quality post. I have lots of ideas, and I will continue to share my knowledge and experiences with you all as I have time in the future.

I came across an interesting article recently on the internet that I would like to share because I think it is fantastic that this sort of thing is going on just across the border in Maine. It is called Securing Food One Greenhouse at a Time. If something like this can be built in Maine then there is no reason why it could not be built here in our region. I am planning on building some sort of greenhouse at my house in the future. One like this is probably out of my budget range, but anyone considering a build should check it out.

I am hoping to spend more time in the Greenhouse at Kingsbrae this week getting some of our ornamental trees ready for this summer. I hope to also go hunting through the garden for some Pasque Flowers. I don’t think I could ever walk away from the Garden completely because it was really through Kingsbrae Garden that my love for all things that grow truly blossomed. I feel that I owe it to the Garden to continue to contribute any way that I can!

Jennifer Ukrainetz is a friend of Kingsbrae Garden and a frequent contributor.

The author (5 months pregnant!) wearing the cowl her favourite way to keep her ears and neck warm.

Knitting is such a great hobby—I think everyone should give it a try! Especially if you have ever thought “Knitting… I would like to try that, but I don’t have the time.” The truth is you probably have some time you could be knitting and don’t realize it! Maybe you made a New Year’s resolution to lose weight, quit smoking, or just try something new. Knitting can help!

Knitting, or crocheting for that matter, is a great hobby because it can turn unproductive time into productive time. If you take the bus, watch TV, or wait in line, then you could be knitting! I cannot count the times I have got stuck waiting for something and wished I had something to do instead of just trying to be patient. Well, now that I am a knitter, I keep a small easy project in my purse. If I have to sit and wait then I am at least accomplishing something.

Snacking while watching TV or because you are bored will cease if you start knitting because you can’t snack while you are knitting and it really is not boring. If you are trying to quit smoking and need something to do while you drink your morning coffee try knitting; it keeps your hands busy and you can see the progress you are making as you work! Pick up a set of needles or a hook and see how productively addicting it is!

Creating your own accessories and eventually garments allows you to showcase your talent and personal style. I have long fingers and finding well-fitting mittens was always a problem. Now I just make my own and add a couple of extra rows.

Knitting is not hard—we are talking sticks and string. To get started, all you need to know are a few simple things: cast on, knit, purl, and bind off.  All of that you can learn these days on YouTube. If you would rather learn from a person or have a question that the internet cannot answer, it is as easy as finding your local yarn shop.  If you went to any yarn store in the world I am sure the person working would be more than happy to get you started.

This year I am going to try and get more projects accomplished so that when the holidays come I am ready with handmade gifts to present to my friends and family that will not only keep them warm but also warm their hearts. Giving a hand-knit item means so much more than anything that could come from a store. Not only did you spend your time and money picking out the perfect pattern and yarn but you also spent your own personal time crafting it.

You could get started on a knitting habit with this fashionable Twisted Cowl designed by Michelle Porter of Fondle Patterns using Kingsbrae’s Own Alpaca Yarn. This is a quick easy knit perfect for a beginner. The pattern is available for free download by following the link above. We have a small amount of yarn left over from last season that will be available in our gift shop when Kingsbrae Gardens opens for the season this May.

Jennifer Ukrainetz is a friend of Kingsbrae Garden and a frequent contributor.

A scarf knit from alpaca yarn

The first year we had our alpacas sheared and their fleece processed into yarn. That yarn was all sold before it was even sent back from the mill. We had only four animals then, and the demand for their fibre amongst our staff and friends of the Garden was more than the animals produced. I, like many others, had to wait until the next season to get a skein of the coveted yarn for myself.

Now that the initial craving to have this beautiful yarn has worn off, it can be found in our Gift Shop usually by mid August. We do not have our fibre dyed, so it comes in the colours of our alpacas. Last year it was available in two different weights and three different colours. Alpaca is a very strong, light-weight fibre that is luxuriously soft and provides substantial warmth. Unfortunately it does not seem to have much memory, so we have ours blended with 15% bamboo. This gives it much-needed structure and makes it easier and more versatile to work with. Alpacas do not produce lanolin like sheep do; many people who cannot wear wool due to allergies may be able to wear alpaca without a problem.

Like many other knitters out there I buy yarn more often than I have time to knit with it. Once I acquired some of our yarn it sat in my stash for a couple of years waiting for the right project or pattern to come along to complement it. This Christmas my brother was home for a visit, and I wanted to knit him something. Once he decided that he could use a scarf I pulled out my yarn stash and we began looking for something he liked. We went through most of my wool with no luck. Since I am a woman, most of my wool was not suited to him. At last I pulled out my Kingsbrae alpaca yarn. I had two colours: a manly shade of brown and a creamy off white. I said “how about this? I could make you a brown scarf with some stripes at the ends.” He thought that he would like that, so the project began.

I decided to use some 5.5mm needles so that it would knit up quickly. Even though the yarn was only a double knitting weight it was very fuzzy and I believed that it would make a nice, light-weight, airy sort of scarf that would keep the chill off. Since my brother lives on Vancouver Island this would be perfect for his needs since the climate there is milder than here on the east coast.

I would not call myself a novice knitter, more of an experienced beginner. Nonetheless I did not think that I needed a pattern to make something as simple as a scarf. Once I determined how thick the scarf should be, I simply started knitting in a stocking stitch. After a couple of rows I could tell that the scarf was going to curl around the edges, and I wanted a nice flat scarf. I pulled it out and tried a couple of other things, but it kept on curling!

Luckily for me, my fix was only a phone call away! I called up my Aunt Michelle of Fondle Patterns for some advice. She told me that in order for a scarf not to curl at the edges it needs to have approximately the same amount of knit and purl stitches on both sides. She suggested a garter stitch or a simple ribbed scarf, but then added “But you are past that. Why don’t you try moss or seed stitch something a bit more intermediate?”

I got out my most versatile knitting book and looked up the stitches she recommended. I settled on seed stitch since it was easy and each row would be the same and give the scarf a nice texture and a manly look. A seed stitch is a simple one-row pattern as long as you are working with an odd number of stitches. You knit the first stitch then purl the second then knit the third and so on until the end of the row. Then you would do the same thing on the next row and so on until finished. If you have an even number of stitches your second row would be the opposite of your first. You are essentially going to purl the stitches you knit of the first row and knit the stitches you purled, creating an interesting texture.

I cast on 27 stitches which made the scarf a little over 6 inches wide. After knitting for an inch I changed colours for an inch to make the first stripe. I changed back to the main colour for an inch then switched again. I did this three times to create three stripes. I continued on in the main colour until I figured the scarf was long enough then added matching stripes at the end. My finished scarf measured 54 inches unblocked or steamed.

For anyone that does not knit, this post was probably uninteresting. But maybe it sparked some interest which is why you kept reading. I encourage anyone who has never picked up a set of needles to give it a try because it is a very rewarding hobby—much like growing things! In my next post I am going to go off the topic of gardening and share some tips I have learned through my experience with knitting. Also I am going to give some reasons why knitting is such a wonderful hobby!

Auguri, Kingsbrae Garden's latest alpaca

We first introduced alpacas to Kingsbrae Garden in the fall of 2006 and our herd has been growing ever since.

The goat barn and yard were expanded to accommodate more animals during the 2006 season. Once all the improvements were finished our first alpacas arrived. Then the small herd consisted of two females and two males one of which was capable of breeding.

Kingsbrae’s first baby alpaca was born in early July 2009 the next the following year in July of 2010. Alpacas have an eleven month gestation period. We keep the males and females in separate areas except during planned breeding times to ensure that young are born during the summer months.

This system worked great until we introduced some new females into the herd in 2010. Albert eventually found a weak spot in the fence and was able to breach it and breed with one of the new females. As a result we had a new year’s baby born January 2. The fence has since been reinforced!

Once the weather turned cold and we knew the baby would arrive soon, the expectant mother was moved to a heated barn close by where she eventually gave birth to a healthy boy that was named Auguri. The nursing mother and new baby will be kept in the heated barn until the weather warms up in the spring.

Alpacas are well suited to the climate here in New Brunswick. The animals are members of the Camelid families and resemble small lamas. They are clean, intelligent animals that are safe around children.  Our alpacas are sheared in June and their fleece is available for purchase in our gift shop usually by the end of August.

For more information on alpacas in Canada check out the Alpaca Canada website and for more information on Kingsbrae’s Own Alpaca fleece read my next post!