26 Feb 2007: on not letting the underwear show

The day began with a miserable cold wind blasting us while we planted those single pink orphaned roses on the berm in Long Beach.  I wondered if I would be able to stand more than an hour of it.  Onward we went to cut back the grasses in the small popouts, and by the time we were midway into that the day was warmer.  In looping around town to get espresso, I was reminded that the pond by the Bolstadt light needed fern pruning; got   Allan did the brave part: going out on the dangerous promontory without falling in….in full view of the Heron Cam. 

before and after; would be embarrassing to fall in on camera

I bought a few violas to add (‘Sorbet Lemon Chiffon’, ‘Sorbet Coconut Duet’, ‘Sorbet Plum Velvet’, ‘Sorbet Blueberry Cream’), but they hardly show yet..  Originally, this garden was planted only with natives, and to me and to the parks manager was rather drab.  We added some more colourful plants: Armeria, Oregano ‘Hopley’s Purple, a bright pink Cistus, narcissi and species tulips.  At a peace vigil in March of 2001, a local native plant enthusiast complained to me that the native theme of that garden had been compromised by SOMEONE.  “That would be me!” I said mildly and with humour, as one does not want to have an argy bargy about plants at a peace vigil!

One of my pet peeves in when the “underwear”, i.e. the liner, shows in a pond.  Constrast the area where the liner is loopily visible, yet I dare not trim it for fear some part would leak, with the much more attractive look of an area where no liner shows:

Onward we went, no longer suffering from cold, to a complex of cottages inhabited by people in transition; on this, our first visit of the year, we predictably cut back the ornamental grasses and sword ferns, but I also planted some free plants: Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ of bright red blooms, and a double orange daylily (not together) and more of the pink rugosa rose (also not with the orange!).  Not the most unusual of plants, but the price fit the garden’s budget.  The designer of the planting scheme had created such a tasteful and subdued garden with evergreen shrubs, plain green ornamental grasses, shore pines, beach strawberry, and somber bronze Phormiums, with the only bright colour coming from a dark pink rugosa rose and a few asters and two plants of Osteospermum. Money had been spent, not on good mulch to improve the sand, but on a coating of bark.  (Our motto: “Just say no to barkscapes!”) In fact, last spring we put Mount St Helen’s pea gravel of subtly multicoloured hues over some landscape fabric at entry areas, after scraping off the bark which was blowing away revealing MUCH underwear.  Today I was glad to see that only in two small spots had the gravel been kicked away to reveal the fabric.  But back to the planting scheme: I want to liven it up; if I were a bit sad, I would want to come home to a garden of vibrancy and vivacity.  Last fall, we did put in some bright yellow assorted narcissi and a few swathes of tall tulips and a few species tulips.  (The foliage of Greiggii tulips is up and looking pleasingly checkered with its unusual pattern.)   Had I known how well within the yearly budget we would fall, I would have done some sweeps of early crocus, too….  Next year….Meanwhile, I will be on the lookout for happy plants to add joy to that garden.

[2012 note: We eventually quit that job because the sprinkler system never worked, there was no budget to improve the soil, thus only the drabbest native landscape prevailed and I got bored with it. Also, and more importantly, the residents did not seem moved by garden improvements,]