Saturday, 24 February 2018
The forecast called for terrible weather. I woke to sunshine, followed by the sound of a battering wind and then some torrential window-lashing rain. And then the sky cleared and I said that surely we could at the least get the yellow flag iris dug out from its shady non-blooming spot at the Shelburne. It’s not so windy in that sheltered garden.
When we went outside, the temperature was much warmer than previous days (mid forties) so we dug up some cool plants to add to the Shelburne garden: Anthriscus ‘Ravenswing’, Scrophularia (variegated figwort sounds much more attractive), two kinds of sanguisorba, two kinds of Geranium macrorrhizum, one Tetrapanax ‘Steroidal Giant’ (well rooted start, to be planted off to one side where it won’t block the view of the building, I hope.)
The Shelburne Hotel
By the time we got to the Shelburne, I decided the weather was nice enough for Allan to get the last yard of mulch. First, he tackled the yellow flags in the shady south corner and pruned the old, badly hacked trunks of the forsythia.
Note to self: There is some salmonberry in that corner that must be dealt with later.
As Allan finished the south garden corner, I called Peninsula Landscape Supply to make sure they still had Soil Energy. Mike told me they were down to just a yard or two. I implored him to hold a yard for us as Allan would be there in twenty minutes.
While Allan was gone, I weeded some more in the south corner, trying to get as much as possible of the truly horrible Aegopodium podagraria (bishops weed) which had infested this part of the garden since way back when we worked here before. It is still in there, of course. On a garden tour in Portland, we once saw a large area dug down 18 inches deep and asked if the gardeners were putting in a pond. No, they were trying to get rid of bishops weed by digging it that deep, spraying it with round up, and waiting a year to spray it every time it tried to come back. At least it is edible, so the hotel restaurant could use leaves as garnish on a plate. It tastes rather like cilantro.
I moved on to the north end corner of the garden, trying to get it weeded before Allan returned with mulch. I then turned to the mess of orange montbretia on the inner side of the paver path, all the while fretting about whether or not Allan would find a yard of mulch left.
When he got there, there was this much:
From my montbretia digging task, I was thrilled to see Allan arrive with mulch.
I kept after the orange montbretia patch, till it segued into Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’. I decided to keep a line of Lucifers along the building (with space behind for air circulation). I do remind myself that people like them very much.
We were going to leave the weeding of the paving stone path for someone else to do. Then my OCD had kicked in and I had started weeding it when we were here on Thursday and, with the montbretia edited, went after the path again today. Allan helped finish till we had almost all of it done.
Any rock that dares to roll around gets put in a bucket and moved to the edge of the little garden outside the north end of the picket fence. My goal is to move a lot of these river rocks out over time, just because they are hard for an old lady to step over to get into the garden to weed. I didn’t put ’em there. Some can stay, but not all.
I went into the back garden to prune a deadhead that I had noticed on a hydrangea. It had been bugging me to think of it. I do not remember this stairway being there before. Perhaps it was added sometime in the past decade (mind boggling to think it has been almost a decade since we worked in this garden).
Yes, the stairs are new. Because I have a photo of the garden along the pub deck the way it used to be.
It was stuffed with Agapanthus. I had stuck some allium seedheads in there.
Now it is all fennel and crocosmia. Where were the agapanthus? I was thrilled to find some in a mound next to the stairs, still growing. For their tenacity, they were rewarded with a better home in the front garden. In the upper right of the photo above, you can see hops growing on the pub railing. I am sure the hops roots are still in this area. They are perfect for twining on a pub fence; the diners loved them way back when.
There will be an L shaped border in the back garden on the west and south side inside the tall fence, where now montbretia grows. Happily for us, someone else will be delegated to dig it all out and then we will plant edible flowers and herbs for the kitchen.
Although I had been eager to clip the epimedium on the north wall, today I decided to leave it for awhile longer so it will look attractive when the pub opens. I was not sure when that will be. I want to pick the right moment just before the flower stalks (hidden under the leaves) come out.
At a little after five, with rain just starting, we were able to call this project done.
Here are some befores and afters of the progress of four work days.
When we got home, I saw on Facebook this exciting news:
Whew, with mulch not available again till Tuesday, we got the garden done JUST IN TIME!
We look forward to dining there, especially on the dining deck in summer.
When my wasband, Robert, and I first visited the Long Beach Peninsula in 1991 and were trying to decided whether we dared take the chance and leave Seattle to move here, the bartender at the time told us that he had moved here with only $100 and had lived in a shacky home with a leaky roof and cold water only for the first year. And had never regretted it. (We later learned his mom had lived in a converted garage apartment right across the street and that he could go there for a hot shower. It’s still a good story.) So the pub figured large in our moving here. When we were on vacation, we had Laphroaig to drink. After we moved, our tipple was something much, much less expensive.
At home, I was able to take the Shelburne off the spring clean up list. I look forward to planting many cool plants there. In the meantime, we have neglected all other jobs for a week and must get back to them.
Nice work, Skyler and Allan! That is a cute looking pub. We will have to stop in there on a visit to the area.
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Good idea!
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Is salmonberry a weed?
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In my opinion, it’s a weed in the refined garden because it spreads so fast. I have an area of it in the rough part of my garden though because it’s the first food for hummingbirds (or so I’ve read) and, well, I can’t get rid of it.
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That is what I meant. We do not have it here, but we have plenty of other related brambles. The worst is the nasty Siberian (exotic) bramble. The natives are not as bad, and although they are annoying, I tend to leave them. The Siberian bramble is too nasty to ignore. I actually planted something known as salmonberry which is grown as an ornamental. I sort of want the berries from it. The problem is that I put it into an unrefined garden where it could naturalize. My Pa told me I should not have done that. I may move it to a more refined garden where it can be contained.
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Maybe in a really big pot!!
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I bought one called Olympic Double, recommended ages ago in a lecture by Dan Hinkley, and gave that one away to Todd Wiegardt after I realized I did not want any kind of salmonberry.
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Now I am worried again. If I am going to move it this year, this is the time to do it. They are starting to grow.
I have not planted any blackberries yet, and have only planted two raspberries. The raspberries are rather weak, and I will move them just so that I can take better care of them. They are one of those varieties with golden fruit that I do not like much anyway. I just got them because my neighbor thought the variety of color would be nice in fruit salad (which is really just mixed berries with a few bits of other chopped fruit in it). Blackberries will only get planted in my home garden where I can contain them. That is probably where the salmonberry will end up too. It is pretty anyway, so really deserves to be where someone can see it instead of out in the woods.
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Gardening is full of worries! I have so many regrets about things I have planted. And things I liked but killed.
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I planted a white stemmed “ghost bramble”, recommended by various garden writers and speakers. Regretted it.
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That one probably takes a lot of work. You know, the red twig dogwood layers like the brambles, and needs to be cut back aggressively annually. I would not want to do do that with something with thorns. I only do it for the cane berries that actually make berries, and because some of the garden varieties are more tame. Salmon berry is definitely giving me some doubts now.
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Just an amazing transformation of The Shelburne Garden in such a short amount of time. And in less than ideal conditions. I enjoyed seeing those beautiful windows from inside. I am sure the garden will be a grand asset for the grand opening and a satisfying project for you all season.
Thx for the book recommend..I will order it straightaway!
I hope the Shelburne will have a library and also a guest book for their guests.
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I will suggest a guest book. It used to have a small library room, but I saw the old books (nothing really wonderful as I recall) being packed up, possibly to make way for fresh new books.
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I hope it has room journals. Oh please please please.
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Perhaps Tiffany could read about your stay where the room journals were such a joy during your stay. Great idea! Maybe folks could contribute a book or two and they would have a nice selection in no time.
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Great ideas!
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As I read through this blog post, at ease in my chair with a cup of tea at my elbow, I felt a bit like the quote from Dorothy Sayers’ Five Red Herrings:
“Nothing I like better myself,” said Wimsey, “than to hang around while another fellow does a spot of work.”
The garden is going to be lovely. And doesn’t that pub look nice!
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That reminds me of the great poem by Rudyard Kipling, “Gardens are not made by saying oh how beautiful and sitting in the shade.” The whole poem is wonderful, about the workers who actually did the work in the gardens.
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Also, you made me smile.
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You seem to have a full program ahead of you. I hope that the weather is kind.
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Thanks, Mr T!
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I think I would like to get some slate laid down in our own walkway between the garage and the house. The pallet of rocks gave me some ideas. 🙂
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That would look good!
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