6 May: planting at Jo’s

Wednesday, 6 May 2015

Annuals planting time probably could have started full force by now because of an early spring…although I am wary of planting tender annuals when the nights are still chilly.

On the way, I added some Agastaches to the Ilwaco post office garden.

There, we saw our neighbour Jessika of Starvation Alley Farms and got their attractive new postcards,

I had one lavender to plant (for balance) in the Ilwaco boatyard.

at the boatyard, Stipa gigantea in bloom

lavender and lupines at the boatyard

Still on the way to Jo’s, we did some planting in Veterans Field in Long Beach:

added some more eryngiums

At last, we arrived at Jo’s at about one thirty.

Jo’s garden

I wish I had thought to take a photo of all the flats of annuals lined up when we arrived.  I moved them because we needed to start planting in that area.

The flats had covered the soil on both sides of the entryway.

flats of impatiens (on the bench) and godetia (lower left)

before (Allan’s photo)

more impatiens

and more

and flats of mixed annuals for the windowboxes…

Allan’s photo: his project of planting geraniums edged with white alyssum

Allan’s photo: me sorting plants for the windowboxes

Allan’s photo: his first project done

We had one lovely little break:  Ed Strange, who had been mowing just north of us at the Boreas Inn, came by with his new puppy, whom we had first met on April 23rd..

me and Jackson; how he has grown!

Ed and Jackson

finding a place for Jackson to piddle

Allan’s photo: planting impatiens

Allan’s photo: after

Allan’s photo: north sunporch wall, before

after

About five hours after we began:

I did all the but one of window boxes (here, on west side of guest cottage)

overflow geraniums and diascia in pots

Allan has to stand on a bucket to plant geraniums in this windowbox.

impatiens under a rhodo

impatiens by the middle gate

Allan planted the impatiens down the north side in the area we’d cleared of Bad Aster and Geranium ‘AT Johnson’ (the too rampant pink one) last fall.

Allan waters in some new perennials we had brought with us to also plant.  All the geraniums are in along the entry.

Alliums and perennials

all planted up. Jo’s magic makes her geraniums bloom all summer in heavy shade.

pink rose in bloom and empty space waiting for cosmos (next week)

Here’s what Jo’s looks like in midsummer, whether or not it is on a garden tour.

Other than puppy love, we had some good entertainment at the end of the evening when the neighbour’s girlfriend rode up on her horse.

Allan’s photo

I thought, wouldn’t it be great to be young again and have a girlfriend who comes to visit on a horse?  After awhile, they all left with the young woman sitting in the back of the truck with the horse, whose name was Goose, placidly following on a lead.

Very very Long Beachy (Allan’s photo)

Just as we were finally packed up (and utterly tired), Fred and Nancy from the Basket Case drove by to say hi.  They had just had dinner at the Depot’s burger night and knew (from Fred’s morning delivery of the plants) that we would be unable to join them.  They were impressed that we had gotten it all done in five hours.

I’d begun the day with a fantasy that we could also get a messy planter in Long Beach completely redone.  How silly to think we’d have had time for that.

On the way home we had a look at the hotel at the port that is being restored.

Hotel on Howerton Avenue by the Port: We were thrilled to see the dark grey paint job covering the red.

Many buildings around here are painting the same “beach red”.  The story may be apocryphal, but I heard that once years ago there was a big sale on red paint….

Next: annuals planting time continues….