10 May: thwarted

Tuesday, 10 May 2022

Long Beach

We took some of Long Beach’s plants with us to work, tough plants like diascias, thinking we would plant them. Then I realized I had forgotten a flat. Then I realized how windy it was. Then I thought about the 39 mph wind forecast for Thursday and realized I could not take the risk of freshly planted plants…especially the uprights (uppies!) like salvias…getting damaged. I felt frustrated, cold, and buffeted by wind. So we did some planter weeding.

We got some mulch, the mulch barn being a pleasant spot in cold weather, and went back downtown to add some more to Fifth Street Park. No wonder the plants in the new-ish bed is just sitting there, not growing much. When we planted it in autumn 2020 as the last thing before we retired from Long Beach, I didn’t put much in as I was leaving it for the new gardener to express her own creativity. So it’s still pretty drab.

And, from our local newspaper:

Washington shivered through its third coldest and 10th wettest April in the past 128 years, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration reported May 9.

Average temperatures were 4.4 degrees lower than normal. Since 1895, only April 1955 and April 2011 were colder. The cold, rain, snow and wind impacted pollinators, plants and people.

Colder than normal temperatures have persisted into May in places. A frost advisory was issued for midnight through 8 a.m. on May 9 extending down to sea level in Pacific County — which is virtually unprecedented.

Looking for some way to get ahead at work, we weeded the west side of the park. I felt discouraged by how much the weeds had taken hold so strongly last year. The quadrant by the rest room is a sheet of dwarf fireweed seedlings. Next week, I will bury the ones I missed with mulch!

Weed seedlings

Allan weeded the northwest quadrant. It was cheering that the sweet peas are, while not plentiful, doing well.

Nectroscordum siculum and camassia

We went home in the mid afternoon since we couldn’t plant.

At home

Shortly after I started weeding the center back garden bed, Tony and Scott and an out of town friend dropped by.

We toured the new area of the garden, the cultivated willow grove.

Then I finished weeding half of the center bed, so horrifically weedy that it took a shovel to loosen clumps of grass. No photos, I didn’t want to admit how bad it was. With all the rain and wind and the delayed planting time at work, I don’t think my garden will look very great for our plant sale/garden open, last weekend in May. I will try but…the time to weed at home is hard to find.

Finally, a beautiful guest photo by Tony of the view from the Beards Hollow Overlook.

Photo by Tony Hofer, Beards Hollow Overlook, Ilwaco.