19 April: busy day off part two: clam festival

Saturday 19 April 2014

After the beach clean up and a drive to Long Beach in the pouring rain, we parked in the east parking lots and as we got out of our vehicle, the rain stopped.  A half a block walk took us to the Fifth Street Park frying pan and clam sculpture and there we found the Cosmic Bombshells posing bravely in the chilly air.

Cosmic Bombshells

The streets were crowded with tourists and locals, many looking damp from the downpour that had just ended.  Most were converging upon the park for the dedication of the World’s Largest Spitting Clam sculpture, now working again after years of not spitting.  For probably the last time, I have to post the poignant letter that my dear friend Montana Mary wrote after a visit to Long Beach in 1997.

Mary’s letter in the Chinook Observer

and today…the clam will squirt again.

Our flower bed closest to the clam had retained some bright colours through the storm.

windblown tulips

Cosmic Bombshells warming up.

little dogs in the audience

the crowd awaits

The Bombshells hold the ribbon, and crew member Rick Fitzgerald waits to activate the clam.

The Mayor made a speech and then asked young Avery to help cut the ribbon.

Avery about to cut the ribbon

And it is done.

Some folks had a jolly time putting quarters in the brand new machine and making the clam squirt for photo opportunities.

Across the street, people enjoyed the northwest quadrant of the park.

After a little while, we walked a block north toward Veterans Field to see a clam fritter fry-up in one of the town’s giant frying pans.

I found some dead narcissi flowers despite all our efforts to achieve perfection yesterday.  Fortunately, I had clippers in my pocket (which I had already used to deadhead some wind-shattered tulips in Fifth Street Park). Many, but not all, flowers had held up well.

Tulips Princess Irene and China Town

Tulip viridiflora ‘China Town’

From Van Engelen’s catalog:  “Highly awarded, China Town opens pale pinkish-white with bold green feathering and striking white-edged, blue-green foliage. As its long-lasting flowers mature, they deepen in color to rich phlox-pink with carmine-rose edges and somewhat less prominent green feathering. It is a bit short for a late blooming Tulip, growing to just 12″ tall, so it is perfect for border clusters where you can take advantage of its amazing flower and foliage show.

In our eyes, China Town has the best marginated foliage of all Tulips with the thickest, most highly contrasted edging. (Did you know that the phenomena of marginated foliage occurs due to a lack of or insufficient pigmentation and chlorophyll in the plant cells on the outer petal edges?)”

the very sturdy and long blooming Princess Irene

From Van Engelen catalog:  “Princess Irene:  An exotic blend of soft orange, flushed warm purple, this 1949 award-winner is absolutely breathtaking and quite fragrant.”

The Long Beach carousel

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

a lily flowering tulip in a street planter

At Veterans Field, the same tireless city crew member worked on getting the propane flames going on the giant frying pan.  The wind made the task difficult.

It was not an easy task.

The Cosmic Bombshells posed with more attendees.

This beautiful dog had just returned from being a therapy dog for people in the Oso landslide.

stage and food tent

On the stage, the new North Jetty Brewing Company’s beer concession.

The tulips by the stage showed the effects of the weather.

I found our friend Bill of The Boreas Inn at the Lost Roo Restaurant food booth.

Allan bought us some tasty pulled pork sandwiches and the beer was very tasty as well.  I ordered a “half”, which seemed to mystify the vendor, although it would be common in the UK.  More than half a glass and I would have run out of energy to take photos.

yummy with coleslaw

From the stage, you can see how very small our Veterans Field garden actually is, around the flag pole area.

The crowd grew thicker around the frying pan tent.  Of course, the garden is very significant to us.

‘Flaming Parrot tulip’

The Resolectrics took to the stage next to the beer concession.

Resolectrics, Allan’s photo

The crowds closed in thickly around the frying pan tent where culinary students from Ilwaco High School competed in a clam fritter contest.

 

I’d wait till someone moved, then weasel in to get a photo.

audience members

Del (Delvis) Murry, city councilman, interviews one of the students.

culinary students

City crewman Rick Fitzgerald poised to deal with any propane problems.

And the adjusting of the flame continued because of the gusty wind.

Three celebrity chefs from Tom Douglas restaurants came from Seattle to judge the clam fritter competition:  Brock Johnson of The Dahlia Lounge, Liam Spence from Lola, and Desi Bonow of the Palace Kitchen.

 

judges

At last the pan was hot enough.

 

 

 

preparing a plate of samples for the audience

tasty little bites

Sadly, I was preoccupied taking photos and forget to taste a sample.  They were well received.

a rave review (Allan’s photo)

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

One of the judges observes closely (Allan’s photo)

 

From outside the ropes, I couldn’t get a photo of the clams cooking like this fellow could…

So I handed my camera to city councilman Delvis who got me this photo.

The fritters look small in the big pan.  I’m wondering if there will ever be a fry-up of the world’s LARGEST clam fritter.

It was done in 1940!

A member of the city crew had constructed the world’s smallest clam gun.

The celebrity chef judges considering the entries…

very seriously

(Allan’s photo)

We did not stay to the end of the fritter competition; by leaving at 3:30 we were able to get to Ilwaco’s Olde Towne Café for dessert before they closed at 4:00.

A cream cheese cappucino bar is exactly what I had.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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19 April: busy day off part one: beach clean up

Saturday, 19 April 2014

At 8 AM (far too soon considering I rarely manage to sleep before 2 AM), I woke to wind battering the house, torrential rain, and a chill in the air that required the very unusual move of turning on the furnace early.  I left Allan a note on the bathroom counter to avoid waking him up with the news:

I really did not feel well and had been recently exposed to a friend’s cold.

However, at 10:30 I woke up again and looked at the Facebook profile of Shelly Pollock, the organizer of the GrassRoots Garbage Gang beach clean ups.  She wrote something so optimistic (as the storm raged with winds over 30 mph) that I felt a pang of guilt and got up, waking Allan from a sound sleep.  I feel attached to the Garbage Gang because I helped them make their Facebook page and because Shelly is such a good person.

By 11:30, with rain still pouring down, we were parked on 30th Street in Seaview….

by this pretty garden…

…ready to begin our walk to the beach.

west end of 30th

On the way, I dropped off a bag of scilla bulbs at a friend’s cottage (having warned her that they are rampant).

And the rain stopped!

at the end of the block, a house with clematis on the porch lattice…

and a serious deer fence.

the end of the driving road

30th is not an official beach clean up check-in point, so we brought our own bags.

Holman Creek, along the path to the beach

path, also a fire lane

wild beach pea

where the Discovery Trail crosses Holman Creek

wild strawberries in the dune grass

Allan pauses on the path to pick up our first trash find, some beer bottles.

Tiny coloured bits of plastic are tedious to pick.

Picking up dozens of little bits of plastic delays the satisfaction of filling a bag.  However, it is important because these tiny fragments are hazardous to beach birds, who mistake them for food.

The wind was still fierce and our large garbage bags whipped about with vigor.

We were glad when one of the event’s volunteer drivers, Handy Dave, stopped so we could get some of the smaller bags.  He told us he had been planning to work today but had seen that they were short on drivers so had volunteered after all.

He had an interesting find in the back of his truck.

possibly from Japan.

Allan likes to look for trash right along the edge of the dunes.

 

one perfectly good boot

the hauling away of a trashed tractor tire

Other than Dave and the people hauling that tire away, we saw no other beach cleaners, and there was more trash left for us than usual.  We tend to get to the clean up half an hour after its usual 9:30 AM start, and for this one I had been sure we would be on time for once as it started at 10:30 due to an early clam digging tide.  The weather made us an hour late anyway, but I don’t think anyone had been down that stretch of beach other than us and some people who were there for other reasons.

clammers

and surf fishing

There is a warning on for later this weekend.

We found four good sized bags of trash.  A lot of it was buried by the strong wind, as was this pile of kelp.

We worked our way south, then turned back after an hour and a half of picking in order to get to the exciting afternoon events in Long Beach town.  As we walked back, and cars drove by, I reflected on how I rarely go to this beach recreationally because I so dislike being passed by vehicles in such a natural, would be peaceful environment.

trucks and cars all over the place

Maybe there should be beach driving permits for disabled people.  That seems to be the big heartfelt argument brought up in support of beach driving (along with “It’s always been this way.”)  And maybe an exception for clamming weekend….It would be felt that too many of the poor clams would escape the clam gun if folks could not drive to get them.  Other than that, other than the support drivers who pick of trash bags on beach clean up days, I wish that no matter what people are up to out here, they would park and walk in.  In my 21 years here, I have had occasion to read comments in guestbooks of various hotels, and disappointment at finding vehicles on the beach is a strong theme.  I’ve also had at several of my women friends tell me it is creepy and scary to be alone on the beach and have a car drive by.  Sometimes it does not feel safe.

Opposition to beach driving  is not a popular opinion for a local to have and when a newcomer writes a letter to the editor on the topic, much pro-beach driving responses ensue.

In summer, a stretch of beach from Seaview to Long Beach is closed.  It is not the prettiest stretch of beach.  (That’s down by Beard’s Hollow, in my opinion.)  The beaches at Cape Disappointment State Park are non-driving beaches but harder to get to than the beaches by our string of beach towns.

From Trip Advisor:  “You can drive on the beach here which is nuts but very very fun.”   There you go.

Sea birds may or may not agree with me.

Along the stretch of beach that we had already thoroughly cleaned, I found a bit of trash thrown from one of the vehicles that passed me.  I chased it down, the powerful wind blowing it just out of reach like a comedy routine.

sigh…

We had been free of the rain the whole time we picked up trash.  As we began to walk east along the Holman Creek trail, the rain returned in force.

walking east

rain pelting the creek

leaning alders

elderberry in bloom

My calves ached from beach walking.  I hustled as fast as I could to get back to the van so that we would make it to the Clam Festival in time.  On the way north to Long Beach, I wondered if the festivities would be seriously dampened by the weather.

Pacific Highway near the Long Beach welcome sign

What hope for the clam festival??

We had already heard that the heavy morning wind had destroyed two Saturday Market tents at the Port of Ilwaco and blown another up and over the shops and that the market (meant to be a stop on the Clam Festival Treasure Map) had been cancelled.  Would the same fate await the outdoor events in Long Beach?

I hope anyone who came looking for the market found their way into Don Nisbett’s Art Gallery.

No matter what happened with the weather, we were determined to see the mayor cut the ribbon on the World’s Largest Spitting Clam and we knew that at least a few hardy souls would show up.

 

 

 

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18 April: festival preparations

Friday, 18 April 2014

at home:

dogwood out the rather foggy kitchen window (one of the few shrubs that was here when we moved in)

groundcover dogwood (Cornus canadensis) from my friend Mary Fluaitt

Ilwaco

We started our day by deadheading the Ilwaco planters for what I plan to be the second to last time (see yesterday for why we have chosen to not make a proposal to the city to keep the job) and then did a tiny bit of planting and weeding at the boatyard.

It will feel a bit odd at first to not take care of the planters just north of the boatyard, but I will adjust.

photo shows three out of four of the planters on that intersection

The horsetail is already popping back up in the boatyard garden.

Next, we planted two Wilma Goldcrest cypress at Time Enough Books to replace two horrid, monstrously huge phormiums that were recently removed by backhoe.

Time Enough Books

planted far enough back to never block the sign.

In the Time Enough boat, Strong Gold tulips

We wanted to get the curbside gardens looking great because tomorrow, the port is having a limited edition early opening of the Ilwaco Saturday Market in conjunction with Long Beach’s Razor Clam Festival.  After weeding Time Enough’s curbside garden and the one next to the old Harbor Lights Motel (still empty) to the west, we made a quick stop at Olde Towne Café to switch compost buckets and then headed north toward Long Beach.

at Olde Towne, a photo of Luanne’s very old and beloved dog.

Seaview

Allan remembered to stop at the Depot in order to deadhead tulips and narcissi, and I just now remembered to remark upon the amazing fact that the weather today was perfect: clear, sunny, little wind, not too hot.

tulips and narcissi in the Depot garden

a faded viridiflora tulip

Long Beach

I remembered that we needed to deadhead the welcome sign, where a few tulips are hanging on.  I fear there is going to be a gap of three weeks between the end of the tulips and time to plant annuals.

welcome sign: cool on the back, hot on the front

And finally, downtown Long Beach.  Allan planted some more violas and a Black Lace elderberry and did some touch up in the Fifth Street Parks while I walked four blocks worth of street trees and planters, weeding and deadheading.

The signs have been unveiled for tomorrow’s dedication of the spitting clam.

Fifth Street Park

Darmera peltata loves the damp soil by the pond.

Now walk with me while I care for the trees and planters…

parrot Tulip ‘Rococo’

The only finger blight that I saw downtown other than some random tulip picking was at the planter in front of the smoke shop; someone had pulled up five tulip ‘Rococo’, bulb and all, in full bloom, and then left them lying there.  Perhaps it was an interrupted theft.

Tulip ‘Fringed Elegance’

curly parsley used as an ornamental

Dutch Iris

I do love Dutch Iris even though ends of its foliage brown off before the flower even blooms, and the flowering is brief.

Tulip ‘China Town’

Tulip ‘Strong Gold’

Tulip ‘Virichic’

narcissi and Dutch iris

and back to Fifth Street Park

I’m pleased that there will still be colour from tulips right next to the clam dedication tomorrow.

We then checked the big planter in Lewis and Clark Square and did one last check on the Veterans Field garden.

One tulip ‘Flaming Parrot’ opened up for tomorrow’s giant clam fritter fry-up…

and here’s the giant frying pan that will be used.

Allan and I went together to deadhead and weed the two northernmost blocks of planters.  In front of NIVA green is one of a very few quite expensive narcissi ‘Sinopel’.  In the catalog, it looks like this:

in the catalog at vanengelen.com, bulbs about $2 each

The catalog description explains why it’s not that colour in real life:  “Fragrant, it has a perfect 3″ ivory-white perianth and a bowl-shaped, greenish white cup edged in yellow. Circa 1974 and a bit like a mood ring, its dainty cup is more yellow in cool temperatures and more green when basking in warm temperatures (cherish its greenness indoors in a bud vase).”

in real life…more yellow than green….dang it.

I think next year I might try to grow some on my sun porch, or in the greenhouse.

The sun was low in the sky as we attended to the planters on both of the beach approach roads.  I was appalled to find some finger blight that completely shattered my resolve to be calm and philosophical.  When I saw this big hole (left of lamp post) where someone stole a big clump of lilies out of the Lisa Bonney memorial planter, my language was saltier than the sea air.

The lilies were planted not by me but by a friend or relative of Lisa’s.  As most locals know, Lisa was killed by an estranged boyfriend just a few feet away from this planter.  The thief, who was skilled in plant removal, bulbs and all,  and who removed a large clump of soil with the lilies, could surely read this sign:

It took a quarter bag of potting soil to fill the empty hole.

So is someone’s mother or other loved one getting a nice pot of lilies for Easter?

Sedums had been lifted out of the corner of the planter, as well.

Further down the approach, I saw two adult women having three small children stand right on the plants in another planter to have their photo taken.  Each planter has a nice bench to sit or stand on.  “Really?” said I fairly quietly to the women.  “I’m the one who takes care of these, and really?!! I find this very upsetting!”  They mumbled and walked on.  One of these days I fear I will read online that a tourist just hated Long Beach because of being chastised by a mean and heartless gardener.

A bit later, while deadheading narcissi at City Hall, I was cheered by the pretty sight of fallen rhododendron flowers.

rhodo flower carpet

By the time we got to the end of the Sid Snyder Drive beach approach road, the pleasant warm evening had me back in a good mood.

just past the westernmost planter, tourists head to the beach

Port of Ilwaco

With the sun still poised above the hills of Cape Disappointment, we returned to the Port of Ilwaco to check on the Port Office garden.  A very few tents had been erected for Saturday’s small market day.  The Clam Festival has a scavenger hunt that included a stop at the Saturday Market, and my theory is that the organizers did not realize the market would not be there in April…so the port came through by setting up a small market with some of the local vendors.  That’s my story.

Tents for a few vendors were set up…

Port Office garden

There is something odd about that tulip!

Just the way I found it. I could get rich if I could propagate this tulip that makes easter eggs.

just south, across Waterfront Walkway, from the port office

evening light on the marina

Saturday we will have off and yet it will be a very busy day as it starts with the second Grass Roots Garbage Gang beach clean up of the year.

Fortunately, beach clean up is midmorning!

I am thrilled it starts at ten thirty rather than the usual nine thirty.  As a night owl, having to be anywhere by 9:30 AM just about kills me.  (“Oh, there are two nine o’ clocks in the day?” said Tallulah Bankhead.) Yesterday the weather forecast called for 44 degrees, rain, and thirty mile an hour winds.  I had decided if that were the case, we would skip it and go out to beach clean some other day.  We have simply reached the breaking point on working (or picking up trash) in horrid weather.  Now the forecast has improved and I have hope that the Razor Clam Festival and Saturday Market might get some passable weather.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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17 April: tough day

Thursday, 17 April 2014

It was a tough workday while it lasted.
Despite waking to rain (and waking too early on a rainy day because I was worrying over something), we decided to finish getting the Veterans Field garden ready for Saturday’s Razor Clam Festival.

We headed up Sandridge Road to The Basket Case…

When we got there, I thought optimistically that the sky looked bright around the edges.

We picked up two flats of violas and I was thrilled to learn they also have Sambucus ‘Black Lace’ (“black” cut leaf elderberry). That will be good for the Fifth Street Park spot where we eliminated a Phormium earlier this week. As you can see, plenty of nice plants remain:

We’d been stormed out of our chance to spend a much needed all day weeding session at Andersen’s RV Park. At least we could go deadhead the narcissi.

They are almost gone from the west side garden.

By the office, wandering deer have left the tulips alone. Wind bowed the ones closest to the driveway.

With some frustration over lack of weeding time, we departed and headed down Pacific Highway to Long Beach.

The drizzle dramatically increased as we arrived at Veterans Field, where the city crew readied tents and chairs for Saturday.

It’s too early to add annuals to the red white and blue garden bed and most perennials are not yet blooming. Some blue and white violas and two red Geums livened up the show.

Sideways rain and the cracking sounds of the flags whipping overhead made the job unenjoyable. With the task done, we decided other violas and the elderberry could wait to be planted tomorrow. Perhaps if the weather improved, we could go weed at the Port. That’s another concern: the port gardens should look good for this Saturday’s early, clam related market opening. (Saturday market begins officially the first Saturday in May.). As we pulled up to our garage, the rain showed no sign up abating.

Indoors, I looked at our pleasant garden views while brewing some Cream Earl Grey tea.

Allan and I came to a decision about the thing I had been worrying over. The city of Ilwaco is putting various gardening projects out for “proposals” including the street trees and planters we’ve been caring for since 2005. After a couple of days of pondering the paper work involved and of thinking how backbreaking and all consuming the job is, we have decided to let it go. The city and the port are separate entities so this decision will not affect our gardens at the boatyard and Howerton Way.

The all consuming part of the job, which we’ve done since 2005 (when we volunteered to help plant the street trees), is that the planters are small and need regular watering. So if we leave for a four day gardening weekend trip, I fret intensely over how dry they will get. We look at the planters every day as we drive through town and feel compelled to stop to remove any speck of trash (often beer bottles) or dead blossom. Even when I walk to Olde Towne Cafe or the Satirday Market, I pause to groom each planter, plucking a tiny weed or a dead leaf. The backbreaking part is the watering, three times a week with eighteen to twenty buckets of water. We had a water pump trailer but even with a powerful battery, watering that way took too long . Letting a job go is not easy but we think it is time, as we are both hovering around 60 years of age and as we have more work than we can keep up with.

But…. The planters looked like this under our care:

Perhaps they will transition to a simpler, very drought tolerant scheme and there would be nothing wrong with that. (I just hope the new person does not plant cute baby phormiums.) For us, it is going to be an enormous treat to not have to dump 20 five gallon buckets of water on the trees and planters two to three times a week from mid May through September, always in the evening when we are tired. That burden has, in the last two years, fallen mostly to Allan. He seems quite pleased by our decision.

Relieved to have decided, I read some mystery short stories and a Nick Hornby novella (Not a Star,) enjoyed tea and orange ginger tea biscuits, and am about to finish The Science of Fear, a book I heartily recommend. It seemed easiest to recline and make a phone blog for today’s entry. The rain continues so there will be no weeding at the port today.

I found a quotation in the Hornby novella which may explain why my new favorite song, Luckiest Man Alive, repeatedly brings me to tears.

And from The Science of Fear by Daniel Gardner, some cheering words about human nature:

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16 April: overseas

Wednesday, 16 April 2014

Overseas is not as exciting as it sounds.  That’s local old-timer slang for crossing the Columbia River.  The  rainy day that made it possible for us to go to Costco to refresh our larder with coffee and other staples in bulk also gave us a dull view from the bridge.

looking west

Here is the same view taken by our friend Christl at dusk on the beautiful Sunday earlier this week.

looking east upriver, photo by Christl Mack

looking west to the ocean, photo by Christl Mack

I am so relaxed going over the bridge in our van compared to how I felt in the low-to-the-ground car that we used to have.

to the top

We turn right toward Seaside.

We made a slight detour before point B to stop at Petco for some cat supplies.

a critter there

And then: our favourite north Oregon coast nursery and one of our favourite collector’s nurseries, Back Alley Gardens in Gearhart.  The shopkeeper in the Natural Nook shop (which is the other part of the business) told us they miss seeing us shopping with our old, small, two door car and then trying to squeeze all the plants into it.

Back Alley Gardens

poppies

the special table of Xera plants. I got the new to me Omeiana ‘Ice Storm’, left.  (Already have the hardy geranium.)

Back Alley Gardens

a batch of succulents (check out the one to the right!)

from this nursery

Back Alley Gardens shed

Every time we visit Back Alley, I admire the gazebo of doors in the front garden of the next door antique store.

On our way back to the highway, I stopped for some blog fodder: photos of Neacoxie Creek as it meanders through the town of Gearhart.

Neacoxie Creek

and this Gearhart house and garden.

In Seaside, we digressed, as we always do, to look at Pam Fleming’s curbside gardens, and as always I just took photos from the vehicle instead of getting out on the always crowded sidewalks.

a gold splash of Heucheras

one of three big stands of camassia that I saw

a lush seating area

white narcissi

a large pocket garden

and a tidily clipped garden

We swung round the turnaround…

saw a quick semicircle of beach…

and headed back to the highway past more pocket gardens.

South of Seaside, just before highway 26 goes east toward Portland, sits the large  7 Dees garden center.

7 Dees garden center, south of Seaside

Heucheras at 7 Dees

I loved these chairs, but they were $117 each!

We made an uncharacteristically small haul. The irresistible little conifer is Chamaecyparis ‘Treasure Island’…to 30 inches tall.

On the way back north, Allan remembered The Stand, a delicious and authentic Mexican restaurant that we used to dine at each time we nursery shopped in Seaside.

The Stand

inside The Stand

simple and scrumptious food

The rest of the day consisted of two long stretches of grocery shopping.

Now I just hope the rain, which continues at 9:45 PM as I write this, stops tomorrow.  Much as I would love a rainy reading day, we still have a bit of work to do to prepare Long Beach parks for the Razor Clam Festival and Port of Ilwaco gardens for an unusual April session of the Ilwaco Saturday Market.

 

 

 

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15 April: more Long Beach

Tuesday, 15 April 2014

What a difference it makes to have no wind!  The temperature at midmorning was about the same 50F as yesterday but without wind, making for pleasant work weather.  Monday’s wind had worn me out so much that I was still deeply asleep at 10:15 AM.

We had plants still loaded from yesterday so did not have to linger in the driveway loading the van.  I still was struck by the beauty of two of my narcissi:

I think this is N. Avalon.

and…maybe…Stainless

from Van Engelen catalog….I do not like..

I have so many different narcissi that I lose track of the names.  Two kinds you will rarely or never see in any of my gardens:  double (rarely) or split cup (NEVER!) narcissi.  I find the split cup ones just repulsive.

I never even used to plant the large trumpet types until my client Lorna of Andersen’s RV Park ordered a selection of them and I fell in love with the big showy apricot and peachy trumpets that she had picked.

It is considered in very poor taste to plant large trumpets anywhere naturalistic so I still avoid that garden faux pas.  Here’s a great article on the topic.  I’m afraid I’ve been losing my claim to good taste by planting more of those large trumpets.

I was having a terrible time waking up.  A stop at Olde Towne Café for a double mocha helped a great deal.

At Olde Towne Café

And then, back to Fifth Street Park in Long Beach for some more weeding by the restroom building.  The very last Phormium that we had cut back earlier this year, only because it was too big to pull out, had not sprouted any new leaves.  To my delight, it was loose and a bit rotted and an experimental swing with the pick showed that it would come out with little trouble despite its size.

Goodbye to our last Phormium in Long Beach! Oh wait, there are still two on the parking lots berms.

The thrill of seeing that empty space is almost indescribable.

That was a ridiculous spot for a plant with big poky leaves, right by where people lean over the drinking fountain.  I am happy to say it was the landscape architect, not I, who placed it there.

I also removed, with the pick, a nasty pampas grass that made it hard for the meter reader to get back to read the electrical meter.  The same landscape architect once upon a time decided that pampas grass would be a great idea for all around the narrow side and back of the restroom building.  Several years ago I completely rebelled against weeding back there because A) we had taken on the LB planters and did not have extra time and B) those huge grasses are just too silly and should be removed by someone far stronger than me.

I took a quick lopsided snapshot of the spitting clam across the street as folks were gathered by it and someone with a big microphone was doing an interview.

Our mission in Long Beach is to ready the three most pertinent parks for the Razor Clam Festival this weekend.  At 2 PM on Saturday, there will be a dedication ceremony for the now functional clam.  You know what this means; I must post, yet again, the letter Montana Mary wrote some years ago:

Mary’s letter in the Chinook Observer

You can bet we make every effort to be there for the dedication, even though it is also beach clean up day.

Fortunately, beach clean up is midmorning!

Speaking of phormiums, there are three more in town in the entry garden to Veterans Field.  They also show no signs of reviving.  However, they are SEP (someone else’s problem) because even though this looks like a city garden, it is a business’s property.  We hear a building expansion is happening here, and if it does, I will be so happy to see these phormiums go away.

goodbye, I hope. And also goodbye to that invasive stripy grass, I do hope!

I have to admit I planted that horrible stripey grass as it was given to me, by a nursery owner, as a Good Thing.  And I also have to admit that Mike and I planted those damnable phormium back in the day when we thought they were so structural and grand, not knowing they each would get to the size of a small hut.  When the business took over the property, I no longer had the authority to hoik them out!

Allan and I weeded and deadheaded the two blocks of planters that we had not gotten to late last week.

Here, I’m in the process of removing much of a running, brief-blooming blue hardy geranium once planted by a volunteer. This year, I WILL prevail.

Tulip ‘Virichic’

I experienced deep irritation at Fish Alley where I found TWO tulips in one whiskey barrel, and THREE in the other, where there should have been five each.

FINGER BLIGHT!!!!  The missing five had been clearly PICKED.

I’m determined to only mildly fume about the inevitable finger blight this year.  It helps to let off steam in the blog.

With the planters and trees well cared for, we drove north of downtown to plant some perennials in Erin’s garden.

boat of narcissi still blooming wonderfully

in the boat

more in the boat

and still more…all in the boat. The yellow and apricot one might be Altruist.

In Erin’s cottage garden. I do love the tiny cups the best.

I also love the windswept look…(but not the rampant oxalis groundcover)

Polyganatum in the cottage garden

Thalia, one of my favourite narcissi

After Erin, we drove just a bit further north to The Anchorage Cottages to plant three Nicotiana langsdorfii, two Viola ‘Etain’, two Viola ‘Bowles Black’, and a few other treasures. Allan planted, I deadheaded and weeded.  Slowly, our van was being emptied of plants.

The trillium are fading to pink and mauve.

pale apricot cups

Merlin? Edna Earl?

Altruist

The scilla (bluebells) in the courtyard garden are the bane of the Anchorage job; however, right now I bet the guests think correctly that they look just lovely.

a haze of blue

It does not hurt to pull the foliage out as soon as the blue flower is gone.  You cannot make this bulb go away.

tulips in the courtyard; the rain was hard on them

Finally, we went to Coulter Park to weed by the Long Beach Depot building.  By then, wind had returned and rain began, and I was sore and tired and wanted to be home with a nice cuppa tea.  Coulter had to be done as there is a very special clam festival event there this Saturday and the weather might worsen later in the week.

 

We got the park ready for the Queen’s event and ended up back at Fifth Street Park just to apply a few more buckets of mulch that we’d picked up at the city works yard.  The local Super 8 often has an inspirational sign.  Today’s reminded me why we are out there in the rain gardening.

 

 

 

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14 April: Fifth Street Park

Monday, 14 April 2014

This weekend will be a big event in Long Beach, the newly revived Razor Clam Festival; this year one of the giant frying pans will be used to create clam fritters.  So we have to get the parks where the events will take place to look just spiffing.

We started with the quadrant of parks on Fifth Street.

before: in front of Captain Bob’s Chowder

The garden in front of Captain Bob’s Chowder consumed a lot of my time; it has the very annoying wild garlic (some sort of maddeningly horrid Allium with dull flowers, that reseeds like mad), and old bulb foliage, and horsetail, and the dead foliage tips of the good alliums.  Oddly, the bad allium loves this park and the good ones don’t do all that well in here.  In the center, a big Phlomis fruticosa (Jerusalem sage) died to the ground and is struggling to return, so it’s all very sad looking right now.  Next month, the Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ and the Nepeta (catmint) and other perennials will make it  lovely…too late for clam fest!

after a long struggle…better

Just a few narcissi still bloom in that bed.

The day was one of those thoroughly miserable early spring VERY cold and strong north wind days.  I was not a happy worker.  The nicest part of the day was when we planted (well, I placed and Allan planted) some new perennials in the bed in the frying pan quadrant of the park.  The building next to it sheltered us from the north wind.

I hope some of the tulips are still blooming for Saturday’s festivities.  In the foreground, that blue star juniper (YAWN) would not be my first choice.

Allan worked on the quadrant with the pond and waterfall, removing lots of leaves and a few weeds from the L shaped border.

Darmera peltata

The gunnera to the right of the pond is very slow to start this year.

In my own garden I would have left the leaves, as I think they are good for the soil.  Parks seem to need to be all tidy.

This center bed is very hard to weed as it is so rooty.

Allan did a good job and we added some mulch from the city works yard, after dumping large amounts of debris.

I dealt with much of the horsetail in the restroom quadrant of the park.

a mess with some good plants including Thalictrum ‘Illuminator’ with gold foliage and some (new this year) Camassia

oh so much better

We quit at around five, chilled and fed up with the wind.  At home, I happily examined something exciting that had come in the mail:

Bill Dale, to whom I had emailed a fervent fan letter about his perfectly great song, Luckiest Man Alive, sent me two demo CDs.  I am planning to track down the bluegrass, country, or folk DJ from the local public radio and see if I can introduce them to my favourite song.  I am still obsessed with it.

I settled down in my comfy chair to read….and yet even though the book was an intensely interesting one, I felt too tired to concentrate.  Fortunately, the movie we watched in the later evening was gripping enough to fully keep my attention, although I have one complaint:  If the film maker makes a point at the beginning that there is no sound in space, why have schlocky orchestral music playing to increase the suspense?  I think that no musical soundtrack would have been much more effective.

I heartily recommend this book.

and this film

 

 

 

 

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13 April, all Port of Ilwaco

Sunday, 13 April 2014

Just as predicted, the weather was sunny with no wind. Although I would like to have stayed home, I knew that a windless day would be a good one to weed the very exposed boatyard garden.

Narcissus ‘Pheasant’s Eye’ at home, with Nora’s house in background

Narcissus ‘Misty Glen’ at home

Akebia in bloom by our garage

and then…weeding at the boatyard

We chatted through the fence with Amanda, a young woman who was working on the Pura Vida.  She had a sweet dog named Toes.  We learned that it is a salmon and halibut fishing boat that was rebuilt (not their word) from a sailboat.

Lots and lots of horsetail needed pulling.  That, a bit of shotweed, and some areas of creeping sorrel were the only problem weeds. The horsetail is uneradicable.

looking north

looking south

The temperature got to 70.5 F.  I was downright dizzy and am apparently very hard to please about the weather.  I took a break on the viewing bench to eat half a sandwich.

the bench beckons

south view from the bench

and west view. This is where the boats are hoisted up.

Euphorbia characias wulfenii

pretty well weeded

Will have to be weeded again, probably, before the annual children’s parade goes by here on May 3rd.

The boatyard santolinas are all looking good.

Planted five Gaura ‘Whirling Butterfly’. one Jackman’s Blue rue, and an Agastache ‘Sangria’.

Because the weather had cooled slightly, we decided to weed the garden at the east end of Howerton Way.

before: 4:20 PM

6:03 PM

I think I was too tired to untilt the photos.

We rewarded ourselves for a long hot day with dinner at Pelicano Restaurant.

from our cozy corner table

window view

Calamari salad

cod, potatoes, lemon garlic cream

 

 

 

 

 

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12 April: Allan’s day

Saturday, 12 April 2014

kayaking in Skamokawa (name origin: Smoke on the Water)

Price Island tour by Columbia River Kayaking

$65, half day   approximately 3 miles

Price Island is part of the Julia Butler Hansen National Wildlife Refuge, and is located right at the mouth of Skamokawa Creek. We will paddle up protected Steamboat Slough, leaving from our dock at the old steamboat landing and general store building and into the Wildlife Refuge. Osprey nests are perched in the top of Sitka Spruce trees that are up to 400 years old. Beaver and river otter are often seen here.

If the river is calm and paddlers are willing, we will return to Skamokawa on the outside of the island, using the main channel of the Columbia River. Cormorants and Bald Eagles are often seen on this side of the island, along with a sweeping westward view downriver. This is a great introductory tour for beginning kayakers.

what to bring:

June-September: 

One quart plastic water bottle (full)

Lunch for full day events, snacks 

Sunscreen and lip protection 

Sunglasses with strap 

Hat for rain and sun 

Paddling jacket or rain jacket 

Non-cotton shirts (2) for layering (wool, pile, polypro, other synthetic) 

Non-cotton pants (nylon, wool, spandex, fleece) 

Eyeglass strap 

noseplugs (optional) 

Sandals with heel strap or neoprene booties, or tennies that can get wet 

Wool or fleece socks 

Swimsuit (optional, but makes a quick-drying under-layer) 

Towel 

Change of clothes for the trip home 

Wetsuit if you have one 

Gloves for blister protection (optional) 

Drybag if you have one 

Camera, film, binoculars 

The Other Months: 

Drysuit if you have one 

More and warmer non-cotton layers 

Shatterproof thermos with hot drink 

Warm paddling gloves or pogies 

Evening and Moonlight Paddles: 

Flashlight or headlamp 

Warm non-cotton clothes 

Wetsuit, paddling jacket, and pogies available

At Columbia River Kayaking & their fleet of nice kayaks with another couple & instructor Mark Whitaker

The 14 foot boat I got to use. I looked it up and it retails for $1399, & the paddle was a couple hundred more. Quite a deal to use such nice equipment, have a guide, the trip planned and not have buy or to store the boat later.

heading up the shore side of Price Island

The tandem kayak the other couple got to use. These sell for over 2 grand and are very stable and fast.

A barge that is used to ferry cattle that had broken loose and drifted aground

Cormorants on the river side of the island on the pilings.

Skamokawa Gardens Nursery

Old Megler Mansion

At a site down 8 miles of gravel road OR easily accessed from the river. An old 100 foot apple tree & leveled areas, lots of sword ferns and my kayak instructor had spotted daffodils.

Duffy’s Irish Pub 

  The little tower building is across the street.  The garden belongs to the pub.  Duffy’s in Gray’s River is a place where I like to stop for a lunch when I go on an excursion upriver.

And on the way home, an old ivy covered house.  Old is relative compared to the age of ruins in Mr. Tootlepedal’s blog set in the Scottish borders!

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12 April: Ilwaco antiquing cash mob

Saturday, 12 April 2014

If you are just starting the blog here, let me explain that a cash mob is when a group of people converge on a business to make small purchases and boost the local economy. I’m not sure how busy today’s mob actually was. There weren’t as many photos taken as usual because Allan was off kayaking.

I began the event at Olde Towne Café by taking Luanne a bouquet of spring flowers.

flowers from my garden

Jenna (Queen La De Da) had helped with a beautiful sign outside of Olde Towne Café…

and café owner Luanne had filled a cart with forget me nots.

I did not linger at the café but instead walked two blocks to Robert’s Antique Gallery. Robert and Larry, gardening clients of ours, own two antique stores in town. On the way, I stepped into Penny Treat’s new art gallery, halfway between our featured shops of the day; I’d suggested that folks might stop by and say hello, and Jenna had done just that.

Jenna and Penny

At Robert’s shop, I heard a familiar voice in one of the several rooms. Imagine my delight when dear Patt appeared; she had driven all the way from her new home inland for the cash mob, due, I am sure, to love for her old home-from-home, Olde Towne Café.

Patt and her friend Esther from Astoria

Our client Cheri was there.

Shop dog Freckles looked especially droll.

I occupied myself taking photos for the store’s Facebook page. These things especially caught my eye:

for train buffs

little fishing floats

I like the top part but not the bottom of this fishing lamp.

I find this almost irresistible.

Our friend Joe Chasse would incorporate the old metal spice tins into the little trailers (caravans) that he makes out of ham tins.

Jenna found the word “hope” to add to her word collection, and is also holding a cute “leave a note” thingie.

From there, I walked to Larry’s Antique Gallery Too!, two blocks away (around the corner).

Larry’s shop. Both shops are mutually owned but it’s tradition that Larry is the shopkeeper in this one.

fishing lamps

I wish I had wall space for this strange cat. I might have to go back for it.

Larry and another shop dog, Sophie.

a lovely painting

one of three

Back at Olde Towne, the coffee klatschers and a few more cash mobbers converged.

Our Judy, Birdie, Jamie, Patt

Shelly of Grass Roots Garbage Gang sat next to me with Jenna. I used a jolly photo for the event’s Facebook page, but I love this more pensive one.

Shelly and Jenna

I took my leave from the cafe as I needed to try to get some more photos at the antique shops. After another look into Robert’s shop (he said he’d had all of 9 people and now there was a lull), I walked home along Lake Street. I felt rather low as I was not sure if cash mob had been much of a success. Next year, I will run it from October to March. By April, the high school and college spring break season has tipped us into tourist season. There had been 160th year anniversary festivities in Oysterville today as well. I’d heard that some of the regulars might come to cash mob later in the day. My own garden called to me so I did not wait to see.

Larry and Robert’s garden on my way home

and then Our Judy and Tom’s garden, with all the Japanese maples leafing out

Our Judy’s tulips

Just next door to Judy and Tom’s garden, New Judy’s new yard showed signs of digging. I should have taken a before photo!

approaching my garden

Tulip ‘Green Star’

I did not feel as much like weeding as I’d anticipated. The wind kicked up and after working in it for two days, the idea of weeding in a chilly wind at home did not strongly appeal. I was glad when Jamie popped by to visit (by my earlier invitation) and we could sit on the patio, sheltered against the south wall of the house. We conversed for well over an hour on some deep and interesting topics. During that time, Garden Tour Nancy texted me a photo of her day. She had gotten to tour the Huson garden in Oysterville after attending the anniversary there.

I am envious as have wanted to get in to see this garden for, well, years! photo by Nancy Allen

Jamie left at about 4:30 and I decided to simply force myself to pull one oyster basket full of horsetail and shotweed.

I excepted to get into the rhythm of gardening and forget about the wind but I did not. I saw a dead Euphorbia and a dead shrub or two that had suffered too much last winter. The idea of digging them out appealed slightly, but not quite enough. After half a basket of weeds, I gave up and went into the nice cozy house.

From the south window: looks deceptively warm and sunny.

All three big beds need much weeding.

And look, Allan got home from kayaking (there will be photos later) and went out to use the strimmer.

telephoto from my window

When I got online, I saw an enthusiastic Facebook comment from the owner of Heidi’s Inn Ilwaco about there being lots of happy people walking back and forth in downtown today. That gave me encouragement that the cash mob event got more crowded as the day went on.

I looked at the bouquet I’d picked for my table before Jamie’s visit. It had certainly reflected my blue mood.

I do hope I get my gardening drive back soon. Sunday should be warm weather with only a little wind. How I would love to spend it weeding at home and yet I feel that we should weed the boatyard garden as rain is due to return later this week.

Tomorrow, I might stick some yellow tulips right in the middle of that somber bouquet.

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