Monday, 9 June 2014
Back to work. We had several quick stops to make on our way to Marilyn’s garden, one of our two main features of the day.
Andersen’s RV Park
First, we stopped at Andersen’s RV Park just to add a chocolate flower (Berlandiera lyrata) to one of the office planters. The picket fence garden is almost at its mid-spring peak right now:
Golden Sands Assisted Living
I had just a few plants to pop in at Golden Sands.
I had two extra irises (an ensata and a siberica ‘Contraband Girl’) that were extras from divisions Todd had sent from North Carolina. (Clumps that had had two rooted pieces so I had one to share.) Golden Sands is a job with a low budget for plants, so it got the extras.
Klipsan Beach Cottages
Not only did I want to make sure that Mary of KBC had a fragrant chocolate flower for her garden, but I was eager to see if her Cardiocrinum had bloomed, and it had! Snails got every leaf but not the flowers.
I was in awe. The fragrance is sublime. Mary says her brother, in his expansive garden, has many. I have tried to grow them but the slugs always win, and Mary has tried several times and failed until now.
Marilyn’s garden
I had told Marilyn’s daughter Nancy, co owner of the Depot, that we would work at Marilyn’s today, and here’s why:
I did not see the deer, as it was midday (although sometimes they will be around at any time of the day). However, I was inspired to photograph the flowers that are blooming even with deer living right in the garden.
So, as you can see, you can have flowers and deer. Allan caught a glimpse of another creature in the garden:
lunch and an errand
We had found that Marilyn’s garden needed less work than anticipated so we hoped to have a quick lunch at the Great Day Café, just a few blocks away. Monday turned out to be their closed day. Then we tried the Full Circle in Ocean Park. Also closed. So our choice was Jack’s Country Store.
Next: some gravel and some Soil Energy mulch from Peninsula Landscape Supply.
We did a quick Long Beach job: switching the perennials from the planter at the end, now packed with pink petunias by Back Country Horse Rides, to the planter north of the kite museum.
I had a pleasant talk with the new folks at Back Country who did not know the planter volunteer program had ended. They are going to care for and deadhead those petunias and geraniums.
I found a mystery in the planter:
I did not turn the rock over, so it was not until the next day that this mystery got solved with a most poignant story.
Larry and Robert’s garden
Back in Ilwaco in the early evening, we revealed the gravel…
I was most pleased because I wanted it done as a nice surprise for Larry when he gets home from a trip a day later.
Port of Ilwaco
And we had time to address the one unweeded segment of the Howerton Way gardens down at the Port.
home
Allan went to water the garden down at Larry and Robert’s while I started to unload the rest of the mulch (had used a bit on Larry’s new west side garden area). Before adding the mulch to the west side fence garden bed, I had to move more of the debris to the back corner.
Allan returned and helped me finish. I had had plenty of energy until moving some of the gravel at Larry’s! I was too tired to spread the mulch out nicely.
Now I will have room for some new plants. There is also room for something tall in the center of the west bed.
No matter how tired I am, I still look covetously at the back yard of my late neighbor Nora’s house, and wonder if we could afford to buy it if the house goes up for sale.
Allan checked out the latest on the controlled burn site.
It must be lovely to return to a garden and see the flowering results of all your hard work.
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There were some surpassingly pretty flowers on this post. Thank you.
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As always, thank you for reading!
Sent from my iPhone
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Do tell the story of the painted heart.
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It is in the June 10 entry and is a poignant one.
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Yes! You must let us in on the story of the painted heart stone 🙂 I did love all the lovely colours of the lillies and I’m a huge fan of all that you and Allan do. You inspire little old lazy bum me!
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Aw thanks. You may have read the rest of the heart stone story by now. So poignant.
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The flowers along the picket fence ARE so cheerful….and I enjoyed seeing how deer & plants co-exist so peacefully. I’m WITH the others – waiting for the “rest of the story” ♥…
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Thanks, Rebecca!
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