16 June: beach approach, day two

Thursday, 16 June 2022

Long Beach

We needed to check all the planters, but…hallelujah!…not to water them. We started near the south end, skipping three because of lack of parking, and a bench sitter.

the ugly hebe got some clipping inside, was still pretty ugly

Bloom on Geranium ’Rozanne’, Allium cristophii

The veronica is already going over in the planter by Fifth Street Park. Its flowers don’t last long and again I’m wishing I’d dug out this planter.

The adjacent park looks great where we weeded Monday.

Broken in a park …and blurry with my tears (not really)

Lavender ’Sat-upon’

Third Street Park has more dead rhododendron mingled with salmonberry. It’s the kind of thing I might once have tackled, but now I just send photos to the city crew.

Dying shrub, salmonberry

With two blocks and three skipped planters left to go, we went out to weed some more on the beach approach, getting another section done and mulched and the end cap of the next section weeded. We are not pulling every grass and clover, just editing. Today’s section has thicker roses, was thornier and more frustrating. Allan called it a “brutal” job. I’m still…somewhat..enthusiastic.

Mitzu!

We saw the cutest and tiniest tree frog we’ve ever seen, resting on a rose. The bees and such were into the rugosa roses, not the clover.

I contemplated a section for the next work day: How much meadowy look to leave. I researched later. The tiny yellow clover has the adorable name of Trifolium dubium and is from Europe. The upright yellow plant is Parentucelia viscosa and is on the invasive weed list for Humboldt County, Oregon. So I could clear those out for sure. The clover will be a brown dead mat soon, would be already were it not for all the rain. Of course, I like plants from around the world, so I don’t judge worth on the basis of origin unless a plant is on the invasive list.

Speaking of which, Iris pseudacorus, on the noxious weed list here, is trying to establish itself in a vernal bog by the road.

After weeding and mulching, we deadheaded at City Hall….

…then returned to the planter checkups (and the wee bed at Coulter Park) and finished them, ending our Long Beach day.

Ilwaco

We checked up our two volunteer gardens, the post office…

…and the fire station.

I’ve added the beach approach to the work board. I used to call it thirteen sections. But when we last weeded it two years ago in early spring, I figured out that dividing it into 26 sections (since each section is divided by a rock or piece of big driftwood) makes the work board more satisfying.

This morning:

Tonight:

I’m pretty obsessed with the beach approach job at the moment. For a short while I thought that it or the parking lot berms could be my new hellstrip gardens. Hellstrip, AKA droughty, xeric curbside or parking strip gardens between street and sidewalk, are my favorite thing, and the ONLY place on the peninsula that has them is the Port of Ilwaco, which is one reason I stuck with that job through some difficult times, till our breaking point on Monday. Our streets just do not have parking strips. But those Long Beach areas do not have any access to water, and that is too hellstrippy even for me.

My obsession (which has taken me by surprise) could lead me to work on the approach every day till it’s done. Allan is not onboard for that, so we are taking three days off.