16 May: preparation, celebration

Tuesday, 16 May 2017

After a morning of rain and wind, as predicted, we had a brief break in the weather.  Allan decided to mow the thin, tall lawn over at Mary N’s house.  Even though we aren’t really a mowing business, we have taken on a couple of such jobs on our own block.

Meanwhile, the light on our garden suddenly became gorgeous.

Allan’s garden, from the front porch

My hardy begonia (from Windcliff) has spread thoroughly in this box.

the back garden

I love the splash of white Miscanthus.

We’d had this much rain since yesterday.

Suddenly, the sky darkened and hail pelted down.

Skooter was taken aback.

I felt bad for Allan, mowing two doors down.

Allan’s photos at his mowing job nearby:

We had just taken this on.  It won’t be allowed to get this long again.

before

It took two passes, at a high and then medium setting.

the storm! from undercover

after

Those barberries are for the chop sooner than you might think.

Meanwhile, I had decided to be practical and propose that we pick up some plants today instead of immersing myself in a good book from the library…

Allan agreed with my productive plan, so off we went to

The Planter Box.

a hardy begonia which I think I must acquire

ferns

You may recall that a couple of days ago, I was touting the great gardening tool called the Zen Digger, Ho Mi, Korean Hand Plow, and E-Z Digger.  Planter Box has it.

Allan’s photo

Teresa totals up (Allan’s photo)

On the way home, after buying a pin for his boat rudder at Dennis Company, Allan took a photo of a beautiful scene in Coulter Park.  The loss of that pin on our recent Black Lake rally day had turned his sailing afternoon into a rowing afternoon.

the old Clamshell Railroad depot at Coulter Park

Ilwaco

We drove by the Ilwaco boatyard garden.  I was thrilled to see that the horsetail had not made a big comeback, so weeding was not urgent.

boatyard visual check up (without getting out of the van)

At home, I sorted plants in the garage.

Allan was inspired to go back to Mary’s garden to begin the removal of three mean barberries.

Barberries make weeding the quackgrass in this bed just miserable.

welding gloves

Now just the stumps remain to be dealt with.  Hydrangeas are the goal.

One of the main inspirations for this big chop is that this week, we had room in our wheelie bin for the debris.

wheelbie bin full of mean stuff

[pickled fish] restaurant

In the evening, we joined Dave and Melissa (Sea Star Gardening) for a special weekly garden meeting to celebrate Melissa’s birthday.

I was impressed and kind of jealous of the planters as we entered the Adrift Hotel.  They are stuffed full of cool plants, some of which are hard to find for purchase around here.

Adrift Hotel (Allan’s photo)

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

This one made me especially jealous; I think that is Ribes brocklebankii.

good use of a Phormium.  Phormiums don’t make me jealous, though.

more common, still interesting

They have the budget to switch out their planters frequently.  Our local nurseries are good, and yet there is not the audience for cool collectors’ plants to support that sort of plant availability here.  I’ve noticed when ultra cool plants appear at our local shops, they often just sit until I buy them.

drinks menu at the [pickled fish]; I had the starvation alley ginger cosmo.

Melissa and Dave arrive (Allan’s photo)

birthday girl (Allan’s photo)

cranberry lemonade (Allan’s photo)

ginger cosmo (Allan’s photo)

The memory of this scrumptuous Moroccan chick pea stew makes my mouth water.

Allan’s clam chowder

Melissa’s starter salad

a place for tasty pizzas: margherita

fennel sausage pizza

the view

skillet cookie dessert

For Melissa’s birthday:

a birthday card by Don Nisbett

And a t shirt made from Don’s Crabby Gardener design:

The Crabby Gardener by Don Nisbett (T shirt was personalized with an M on the seed packet)

And this excellent gardening book:

I think we may be the only gardeners on the peninsula who actually do genuine hellstrip, curbside gardens (at the Port, and the beach approach).  However, the book is excellent in suggesting ideas and plants for droughty areas, and the photos are a treat.

We are now due for several days of dry weather.  Let the planting begin, while the soil is still damp!