18 April: some easier jobs

Tuesday, 18 April 2017

We were revived by our day off but were not ready to face the rest of the beach approach project. Today would be a day of smaller, easier jobs.

Next to the driveway as we left for work:

tulips

Narcissus ‘Chinita’

Port of Ilwaco

An event this Thursday at a port business inspired us to deadhead narcissi all along the Howerton Way gardens.  We won’t be attending but we expect it to draw a crowd.

We want to make sure the gardens look nice for this business that watches out for flower jackers. (A few weeks ago, Allan got asked from the Freedom Market’s upstairs window what he was doing digging up plants in the garden. We appreciate that vigilance.)

We worked our way from east to west.

east end, looking west

The marina is across the east end parking lot.

 

nautical trash

The scrimmy little horsetails are not my mission today.

CoHo Charters lavascape

deadheads by the old Portside Café (Allan’s photo)

by the Fort George Brewery office

The old Shorebank building (now empty)

kinnikinnick looking really quite nice and making one big buzzing bee happy

Wax myrtle and arbutus that got the full windstorm blast from across the Shorebank parking lot…

Another storm blasted wax myrtle

We will trim up those shrubs before the May 6th Children’s Parade and opening day of Saturday Market.  No time for that today.

Allan went on to deadhead the west end while I weeded between Shorebank and the Port Office, including the little garden on the south side of the port office building.  The tide was low…

looking west

Little brown birds scavenging the muddy rocks

Looking east, with lots of interesting driftwood

In the wheelie bin enclosure, I found a salvage piece which will be great to add to our fence.  Its little doors will provide a peekaboo effect.

This went home with us.

 Interlude at home

As we parked in front of our fence, I thought about how interested I would be to see our garden as a passerby.

I’d be looking over the fence for a better view.

I remembered a few gardens in Seattle into which I used to peer through and over fences.

The cats had something to say about how we should stay home for the rest of the day.

Smokey

Skooter appears

Frosty

Calvin, being not especially outdoorsy, doesn’t much care whether we stay home or not.

Calvin woken from his usual daylong nap

The garden looked extra fine and tempting.

tulips and cardoon

Japanese maple (Allan’s photo)

golden bleeding heart

Tulip ‘Green Star’

Ribes speciosum still in full flower

Ribes speciosum and tulips

patio tulips

a lavishly fringed tulip (and Frosty saying, “Do stay!”)

tempting

I have pretty good willpower about going to work (necessary for longterm self employment).  Off we went.

Allan photographed this good old dog when we stopped at the bank to put a cheque in.

The Anchorage Cottages

Beth and Mitzu (Allan’s photo)

We expected to just deadhead and weed.  However, Beth needed help with the climbing hydrangea which had fallen over in the recent big windstorm.

They got it pushed back and well tied to the new trellis.

The wind was hard on a lot of the tulips in containers, especially in the office courtyard.  They fared better in the more protected center courtyard.

center courtyard; an array of pots is just to the right

some courtyard containers

purple fringed tulips

pink fringed tulip

window boxes with tiny species flowers

narcissi and unfurling sword fern

Long Beach

Next, we picked up from the city works yard as much Soil Energy Mulch as today’s buckets would carry.

our mulch stash, with plants that were removed from a defunct planter

Our first mission was to mulch the corner bed at Veterans Field.  Some sort of Veterans walk is beginning there later this week so we want it to look fluffy.

Allan’s photos, before….

during; an annoying and constant wind made the day cold.

after

With that done, I went on a deadheading walkabout of the city planters and street tree gardens, while Allan went to weed and add some mulch in two areas of Fifth Street Park.

He found this big lily bulb…

a bright orange tulip

and some annoyingly persistent horsetail

My photos while walking the planters:

Tulip ‘Flaming Spring Green’

foreground: parrot Tulip ‘Rococo’ in bud

Tulip bakeri  ‘Lilac Wonder’

bench sitter

Reminder to self: Put “dig out planter ivy” on the work board so I will remember it.

horrible variegated ivy.  I blame myself from many years ago.

exciting bud on Asphodeline

orange tulips

and a painted rock placed by California poppies that might be orange later on!

pink fringed tulip, and progress on defunct planter (the lamp post has now been removed)

some big tulips, windblown, chomped by deer, broken, or picked

In the same planter, Tulip bakeri ‘Lilac Wonder’ have been blooming for weeks.

Note to self: plant many more ‘Lilac Wonder’.  They are my favourite species tulip and they do so well here.

Tulip bakeri ‘Lilac Wonder’

I was awfully tired for the last two blocks of deadheading and figured as soon as we got home, I would sit down.

at home

At home, I took four buckets of deadheads out to the compost bins while Allan (almost always a man of boundless evening energy) set to mowing the lawn.

The compost bins inspired some compost turning.  A day of varied jobs is much less exhausting than an all day, same place weeding project.

I had gotten all excited when seeing the bottom of bin B:

It looked like it might be siftable!

It wasn’t.  But soon will be if I keep turning frequently.

bins after today’s turning

I need more green stuff before flipping another layer.

While Allan also mowed the next door lawn for our next door neighbour, I checked the hydrangeas over at the J’s garden for signs of life.  The twigs are green when snapped but still no leaves, not even at the base.

good looking sword ferns at the J’s

Back at home, a stunning narcissus with a deep green center (and tiny spider):

I got a bit of a start when I thought each leaf of my Davidia tree had a snail in it.  No, those are flowers buds

Not like the horrible snails everywhere in my garden due to lack of time to properly police them.

Allan’s photo

Tomorrow, yet another storm is due.  I look forward to reading a book.