Cannon Beach Cottage Tour ’17: Ecola Creek Lodge

Saturday, 9 September 2017

Cannon Beach Cottage Tour

a benefit for the Cannon Beach History Center and Museum

We attended one of our favourite annual events, the tour of homes in Cannon Beach, this time in a neighbourhood north of the estuary where I had never walked around.

We saw homes between Ecola Creek estuary and Chapman Point.  The starting point was Les Shirley Park by E 5th Street.

satellite view

Here we go.

The queue for maps at Les Shirley Park. We had purchased our tickets online a month ago; one exchanges one’s ticket for the tour map.

While walking to our first destination, we noticed a tiny creek running toward the estuary.

Impatiens capensis, the native orange jewelweed. (Allan’s photo)

Bindweed appreciation (Allan’s photo)

Ecola Creek Lodge

NW corner of the lodge

I was pleased to realize that the little tower was going to be part of our tour.

Inside, we found an essay on this history.  It helps to know that “A remittance man is a historic term for an emigrant, often from Britain to a colony, supported by regular payments from home, on the expectation that he stay away.”   Cannon Beach was quite a repository for them back in the day.

Inside Room #8:

the corner room

We strolled all around the grounds.

south side deck

koi pond, surrounded by shrubbery (very safe for guests)

I liked the weathered rusticity of the buildings.

Looking again at the pond garden…

A sign explained the best viewing point.

The deck provided a clear view of fish.

Looking down from the deck, as instructed, we saw a wealth of fish.

And an enormous koi.

I found on the lodge website a photo showing the koi pond earlier in the year.

courtesy Ecola Creek Lodge

We walked around the north side of the resort again.

Allan’s photo, the SW corner tower

just east of the room we had toured

Peacock window. I’d like to see what it looks like from the inside.

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

 

coming around the east side

Allan’s photo

Oh! The entrance is on the east side.

by the office

Next: a cottage with a tiny cottage garden

Read Full Post »

8 Sept: Slow Drag and the Gardens

Friday, 8 September 2017

I enjoy the Slow Drag event that takes place every September at the port, and have posted our photos in two enormous albums (The Vehicles and The Race) on the Discover Ilwaco Facebook page.  Here, I have a different focus: How the event relates to the port gardens.

For those who wonder what a slow drag even is, Allan photographed the rules.

The race takes place down Howerton Avenue past our curbside gardens, and, to return to the finish line, the vehicles slowly promenade down Waterfront Way.

Curbside gardens run from east to west all along the landward side of the buildings.

I can’t resist adding photos of a view vehicles that I find particularly charming.  And some dogs.

Allan’s photo

First, I took photos of the parade of contestants down Waterfront Way.

purple!

The Church Ladies, always a favourite

The Who Bus, driven by Travis Matling, always our favourite to root for.

Someone called this bug “the condiment car” because of its colour scheme.

We love Salt Pub.

Clowns are scary. But it’s neat the way this car drives backwards.

My favourite truck

the old Shorebank building, now for sale, where we used to take care of the landscape

purple! and the condor sculpture

wings of the condor

condor reflected in purple

a passenger

my favourite bug with luggage rack

and the nice driver

port office baskets

our favourite local realtor, Char Wolters, in front of Don Nisbett gallery

Better call Char if you want to move to the beach!

a bug full of fairies

by Salt Pub, greens

The charming beach buggy driver comes every year.

It is always important to me to get red vehicles with red Jessie’s Fish Co.

People push to save on petrol and to avoid overheating.

Now we are turning the corner by Jessie’s and Englund Marine to the starting line of the race course.

The Who Bus

Travis

white, small and big

Is that our friend Don Nisbett?

Church Ladies near the starting line

 

Allan’s photo, starting line

 

starting line flagger, and our westernmost garden

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

a luau in the Salt courtyard

Salt curbside garden

Allan’s photo

Allan saw our friend Scott and Tony’s dog, Rudy, seeming to indicate which car he liked best:

Allan, Dave, and Melissa

Allan’s photo

another cute dog (Allan’s photo)

Allan’s photo

the announcer

Onlookers behaved well in staying off most of the gardens, except for the one right by the finish line, where they parked their chairs.  However, because we are not allowed to hook up our hose and water that one, I no longer plant special plants there.

One exception to the garden respect was this person in my favourite garden bed.

When I passed again , I saw that this individual was moving all around the garden.

I couldn’t help it; I gently said, “Oh dear, I have some very precious plants in that garden bed,” and got the “Are you crazy lady?” look, followed by turning away and more shuffling around in the bed.  I walked away.  Such incidents are always futile, but I never can resist just one attempt, especially when there were plenty of other places to stand, and when this person was the only one trompling around in a garden.

Back to the race:

finish line, with a car just over the line; you can see lots of sitters and chairs in the finish line garden.

clown car trying to slow down

Travis and the Who Bus had gotten eliminated, to my sorrow.  Now I was rooting for the truck, below.  It was doing well.

another round one

Astoria clowns again

cute car tries to make it over the line

They’re out! Note folks all over the garden in the background.

another dramatic moment

Finally came the last lap, and my favourite (after the Who Bus, that is) won!

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

the winners

Tomorrow: The Cannon Beach Cottage tour, one of our favourite events of the year.

 

Read Full Post »

Long Beach Planters reference post, 9-7-17

a reference post showing the Pacific Way Long Beach planters on 7 September 2017

As much plant life as possible has been left along the edge, even when tatty, to discourage sitters during the Rod Run event (Sept 9-11).  The planters get watered only twice a week except for some spill over water when the baskets above some of them get watered daily by city crew.  The plants are sourced from local nurseries Basket Case Greenhouse and The Planter Box.

I have found when I plant ornamental grasses and other more sophisticated plants in these planters, even people I know comment that they “look like weeds”.

west side south to north

block one west: 

First Place Mall

empty lot (very windy, full of a running hardy geranium from volunteer days)

credit union

block two west:

cottages and Streetside Taco

Herb N Legend Smoke Shop

Fifth Street Park SW (way too much veronica with too short a bloom time)

block three west:

Fifth Street Park NW (full of annoying crocosmia and a running teucrium)

Sweet Phees (shady, lost a couple of cool hardy geraniums last winter)

Hungry Harbor

Third Street Park SW

block four west:

Third Street Park NW  (boring and pushy Geranium ‘Johnson’s Blue’ from volunteer days, re-doing soon)

Stormin’ Norman

Wind World Kites (shopkeeper loves Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’)

Bolstad and Pacific, SW corner

block five west:

Scoopers south (used to be the most vandalized, now seems like it could be made better. Vandal maybe moved away or grew up!)

Scoopers north (full sized escallonias (‘Pink Princess’) left over from volunteer days). The escallonias would be eight feet tall and wide if not clipped.

block six west:

Dennis Co south

Dennis Co north

east side south to north:

block one east:

Powell and Seillor accounting

Paws by the Sea Pet shop  (full size escallonias (Pink Princess) and barberry and euonymus planted in volunteer days, too big to remove)

empty lot (has Gladiolus papilio which I might spread around to others)

block two east:

Coastal Inn (only one with nasturtiums; they swallow other plants)

tattoo shop

Fifth Street Park SE (has way too much variegated vinca)

block three east:

Fifth Street Park NE (hebe, roses, lavenders left from volunteer days)

carousel

souvenir shop (azaleas and junipers and mint from volunteer days, pretty boring except in spring)

Lewis and Clark Square

block four east:

police station, recovering from vandalism earlier in summer

Funland

Cottage Bakery

Long Beach Pharmacy (very windy)

Block Five east:

NIVA green

Elks Lodge

Block Six east:

Dennis Co storage lot (full sized barbarries and euonymus from volunteer days)

lawyer’s office (left side was dug out for plumbing problems, thus smaller Geranium ‘Rozanne’ this year)

 

 

 

 

Read Full Post »

7-8 Sept: Rod Run begins

Thursday, 7 September 2017

The prediction of “less than an eighth of an inch of rain” would not stop us from watering the Long Beach and Ilwaco planters.  They are so thick with foliage now that rain has to be substantial to penetrate into the soil.

I got to pet local dog Frosty at the post office on the way to work.

Long Beach

At the welcome sign, I pruned down a lot of the silly cosmos that were tall with no buds.  Why do some of them do this, when they are all the same sort (Sensation mix)?

front

from the sidewalk

back

bucket o’ prunings

We split up to water the Long Beach planters.

Lavender and the Herb N Legend Smoke Shop

Even though Rod Run does not officially begin till tomorrow, downtown Long Beach was full of fancy vehicles going round and round or parked to show off.

Folks were already sitting and watching the vehicles.

Allan’s photo

my own agastache admiration

Allan’s photo

Agastache labeled as ‘Acapulco Salmon and Pink’, that came back from last year.

same planter, new Agastache labeled as ‘Acapulco Salmon and Pink’. Huh.

Rod Run window at NIVA green

triple batch of cuteness

another trio (Allan’s photo)

sweet pea success (Allan’s photo)

A City Hall VIP walked by and said to me, “The planters look beautiful.  I am so sorry a bunch of asshats will be sitting on them this weekend.”  (That is why it felt urgent to get photos today.)  She added, because she is one who used to do a volunteer planter, “I used to cry after every Rod Run.”

The planter damage is not as bad as when the Run used to be an official parade through Long Beach for hours on Saturday afternoon, coinciding with Labor Day.  The last time that happened, maybe fifteen years ago, the crowds were so chaotic that the local law enforcement said they would no longer police the event unless it was moved to the weekend after Labor Day and no longer had a parade up one side and down the other of the Peninsula.  It’s not the shiny car folks who caused the chaos.  They don’t want to get their vehicles scratched or smudged.  It was a certain element of heavy drinking audience; the other problem was that gridlock stopped emergency access.

Despite Rod Runner’s disappointment with the change, and their loss of a three day weekend, the new schedule has worked out well in extending the tourist season for one more week and has been a great boon to our planters.

Verbena bonariensis and Melianthus major, Fifth Street Park (Allan’s photo)

We paused after watering, followed by tidying Fifth Street Park, for a coffee and cookie break at Abbracci.

Abbracci Coffee Bar

a nice big batch of coffee grounds for our compost bins (Allan’s photo)

I got to pet darling Sophie.

car spotting (Allan’s photo)

and so it begins (Allan’s photo)

We had an amusing chat with this pleasant fellow, who said he was looking carefully before stepping and that his wife would kill him if he stepped on a plant.  Others over the weekend may be less cautious.

Twice I had seen a most interesting truck drive by.  After coffee, while clipping rugosa roses by the police station, I saw it park across the street.  I dropped my clippers into the roses and toddled over there as fast as possible to photograph it, and later I could not find my clippers.  They will turn up next time we prune the roses down low (probably October!)

I see it and rush to catch it!

saw-topped truck

old vs. new

I do hope this truck shows up at Slow Drag tomorrow night.

Gaura lindheimeri ‘Whirling Butterflies’ in Veterans Field

Vet Field flower admirer (Allan’s photo)

Figs behind Lewis and Clark Square (Allan’s photo)

a “rat rod” (Allan’s photo)

Allan’s photo

We watered the planters on Sid Snyder Drive.  A couch sits there, having recently appeared.  It would be more useful downtown for viewing Rod Run.

Waterlogue

I got to pet this darling dog, who has a tremendously soft coat.

my new friend Buddy

Ilwaco

I watered and weeded at the boatyard while Allan watered the street trees and planters.

This frog hitched a ride from home on Allan’s water trailer, to where it gets filled up at the boatyard.  Allan caught him in a jar and took him back home again.

It was four o clock when we got started in Ilwaco, and, as a passerby pointed out, the four o clocks were open.

Mirabilis jalapa ‘Salmon Sunset’

Helenium (sneezeweed)

The watering started well, because the long hose for the south end was available.  (When we arrive after the staff departs, the end of it is locked into a shed).

Then I walked further along the fence and found the two middle hoses going up into boats.

hose going into the Tlingit Princess

and into the Sea-Jac

But, oh joy, the long northernmost hose was available today!

Joy and rejoicing!

Between that and our own long hose hooked up to the faucet by the sanican, the watering was easy.

Our local paper recently had a good article about stories from the boatyard this past summer.  This red boat was painted in the favourite colour of the boat owner’s wife, who had died of breast cancer not long ago.

in memory of Mary Lou

Author Luke Whittaker: “The boat had been sitting in Sitka, Alaska since 1989 awaiting a buyer, when 82-year-old Astoria fishermen Roger Marshall, became the unlikely owner last fall. Marshall was simply one fisherman who just wasn’t ready to retire. In October, Marshall bought the boat and nearly died during a desperate 800-mile journey home.

“Coming down I ran into terrible southeast winds all the way,” Marshall said. “I ran into some bum weather coming out of Candle River and I thought I bought the farm.”

Fortunately, Marshall made it home, after all — he had a promise to keep to his late wife Mary Lou.

“I told her when she was dying I would paint it red,” Marshall said. “It was her favorite color.” Mary Lou died from breast cancer in March. In August, Marshall fulfilled his promise with help from Fred Wiest. The bottom is burgundy with white sides and a bold, red stripe stretching bow to stern.”

 

sweet peas reaching the top of the fence

Someone keeps messing with my elephant garlic. Now every single one has been pulled, and a few left behind.

When I see a plant pulled and dropped, I wonder if a driver passing by yelled at the plant thief to stop.

north end of boatyard

Seashells cosmos

looking north

Solidago ‘Fireworks’, a nicely clumping goldenrod

seen while watering planters (Allan’s photo)

one of the Ilwaco planters with Erysimum ‘Bowles Mauve’ and diascias (Allan’s photo)

planter with Acidanthera (Allan’s photo)

Allan finished the planters and rejoined me.  I had had plenty of time to do some weeding and deadheading, too.  I’d been pondering the decision about whether to water the easternmost curbside garden.  Because of Slow Drag visitors tomorrow, we decided it must be done as only a slight drizzle of rain had arrived.  Allan went to accomplish that after dropping me at home.

He passed by our Jenna (Queen La De Da) who was setting up for Slow Drag.

fog rolling in and the shaved ice booth (Allan’s photo)

Gaura ‘Whirling Butterflies’ (Allan’s photo)

Home again, Allan watched Skooter go fishing.

Soon after, rain began and continued for hours.  That was both pleasing and, because of our boatyard and curbside watering today, mildly annoying.

Friday, 8 September 2017

pre-Slow Drag

I spent the early afternoon catching up on writing this blog, because with two big events coming up, we will have much to share.  Slow Drag happens tonight, Cannon Beach Cottage Tour tomorrow (and the blog will then be more like fifteen days behind Real Time).

Rain had filled most of the rain barrels.

This one, from the shed, is the slowest to fill.

official rain gauge

right: a recent clematis tragedy despite semi-diligent watering

puddle in street with ugly new big-citified yellow lines

on the front window (Allan’s photo)

I am looking forward to the Slow Drag and the Cottage Tour, two of my favourite events, and am also fervently looking forward to afterward, when we have no events for quite some time.

Thursday, despite flat light, we did take photos of all the Long Beach planters.  Tonight, I am publishing a bonus post of the planters for my reference.  It will be on interest only to the most dedicated planter fan.

Read Full Post »

6 Sept: garden and music visitors

Wednesday, 6 September 2017

We took the morning off to receive guests Jay and Diane, all the way from Florida!  I’ve been Facebook friends with Jay since he first visited our garden in 2014.  On that occasion, I was smitten with his insightful questions.  For example, he wanted to know who had been my greatest gardening influence.  When I said my grandmother, he asked to know her name “because it is important to say people’s names.”  He was here visiting his Long Beach sister, along with his good friend, Diane.

Jay and Diane arrive

Jay gave Allan and I each a t shirt of this delightful design from a place called Barberville Pioneer Settlement.

We walked out into the garden.

It’s looking rather autumnal.

I took note of what they noticed.

honeysuckle

honeysuckle berries

honeysuckle flowers

 

wild impatiens (touch me not, my small and controlled patch of noxious weeds)

Everyone jumps when the seed pods pop.

an odd dandelion seedhead with a topknot

Diane said the Leycesteria (Himalayan honeysuckle) reminded her of shrimp plant.  She ate a creme brulee tasting berry.

fence decor

We sat around the fire circle for awhile (where we are not having fires lately because of dry conditions).

Diane wanted to visit the willow woods outside the south gate.

the swale between us and the port parking lots

the willow woods (Not many people ask to come this far into the depths of the property)

followed by Skooter and Smokey

We all smelled the fizzy leaves of the Stachys ‘Hidalgo’ (7 Up Plant).

Diane noticed my carniverous sarracenia.

Jay went with Allan to the workshop to look at two autoharps that he is borrowing for the week of his visit.  Diane and I walked around some more, and I noticed what she noticed:

Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’

Helenium ‘Carnival’

Pink phlox (left) and escallonia (right)

this hardy fuchsia

my mom’s red velvet rose

By now, Jay and Allan had repaired to the house to look at more of Allan’s old musical instruments.

a dual player dulcimer that Allan built back in the 1970s.

Jay and Diane left, with Jay carrying two autoharps.  Two more plants were especially noticed:

a white passion flower

and of course, they had to smell the peanut butter leaves of Melianthus major. (Tetrapanax in the foreground.)

Melianthus major

Allan and I waited for a couple of hours before going to water at the port; he was typing away at a boating blog post while I read the ever-disturbing news (hurricanes, Dreamers in jeopardy, fires, flooding).

Had a greenhouse tomato for lunch: Black Krim, very mild.

Then we were off to do a couple of hours of watering and weeding at the port.

hooking our hose up to the hose at Time Enough Books

watering the Time Enough Books curbside garden

the westernmost bed

I am not cutting plants back right now.  More plant life will help keep people from standing in the garden during Slow Drag on Friday (I hope).

west end of Waterfront Way

Foghorns out on the river have been a constant for the last couple of days.

The river is out past the marina, which is entered through a rather narrow channel.

I had intended to do the boatyard garden as well today.  Our working drive was weak.  Allan wanted to get back to typing, and I was not averse to going home and postponing the rest of the work till tomorrow or Friday.

I took another walk around the garden, noticing things.

Everywhere I stepped, Frosty was underfoot, as he had been with our visitors today.

Rudbeckia ‘Cherry Brandy’

a table of ladies in waiting

I managed to get just one plant planted:

Melianthus ‘Purple Haze’ from Xera Plants

back garden…not quite sure, a varieated lonicera maybe?

very autumnal with Darmera peltata and astilbe

I long for a campfire. The fire danger is excessive right now.

Even well watered astilbe is crisping up.

I am giving up on hostas as soon as I find the strength to dig these out!

I couldn’t get a GOOD photo of my favourite bird, the common flicker.

Have been completely lax at deadheading my own cosmos.

fragrant Sinningia tubiflora from Xera Plants.

Salvia patens backed with Roscoea purpurea ‘Spice Island’

Am pleased with this basket I made with ‘Lemon Slice’ calibrachoa, black eyed Susan vine, and Tradescantia ‘Sweet Kate’.

That was an excellent day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read Full Post »

5 Sept: Wednesday jobs on Tuesday

Tuesday, 5 Sept 2017

The grim and hateful news that protection is in jeopardy for young Dreamers (children of undocumented immigrants, teenagers and young adults who grew up here, knowing no other country) cast a pall over the day even though it was expected.  We hope this gets sorted out in the next six months.  We are proud of our state of Washington, which is resisting this decision. As President Obama said today, “This is about whether we are a people who kick hopeful young strivers out of America, or whether we treat them the way we’d want our own kids to be treated. It’s about who we are as a people — and who we want to be.”

Allan and I have already helped pay the rent, as did other concerned locals, for a local family with children, whose breadwinner (a well respected community-minded man with no criminal record) was arrested by immigration authorities, and we will continue to help in that way as much as we can.

Today we did the job routine that has become our Wednesday rounds, in order to get as much if not all work polished off before Rod Run Friday. I like to have that day free to mentally rev up for photographing the Slow Drag at the Port of Ilwaco.

ash on a spider web from wildfires way upriver (Allan’s photo)

The Depot Restaurant

the usual watering and deadheading and weeding…

north side of Depot deck

Cornus ‘Hedgerows Gold’ and Eryngium

The Red Barn Arena

also the usual watering and deadheading and weeding…

near the garden (Allan’s photo)

Diane’s garden

The usual weeding and deadheading and a bit of supplemental watering….

I was pleased that the new planting from last week had made it through the heat. (Allan’s photo)

belly rub for Misty

a different angle on the garden

My good friend Misty.

These, or at least some of them, are going onto the new septic raised garden soon.  Even in this shady corner, they were rich with bees.

Holly was on the front porch (Allan’s photo)

roadside garden

Cosmos (‘Daydream’, maybe)

Long Beach intermission

We drove west again to Long Beach to buy a chrysanthemum at Dennis Company (Basket Case is closed Tuesdays), pick up our check, and make a bank deposit.

Yesterday, I photographed almost all of the Long Beach planters after the sun disappeared behind a smoke haze and a lot of flowers had closed up.  Today, I photographed this one to compare in bright light.

yesterday, flowers closed because of dim light

today

City Hall north side. Allan picked the yellow leaves off of the rhododendron.

Basket Case Greenhouse baskets.

I am flummoxed by a new lens spot that is not responding to cleaning.  It is sort of funny how many pocket cams we own, each with some sort of flaw.

The Anchorage Cottages

We learned from the housekeeper, while doing the usual weeding and deadheading (but not watering)  that the most asked about plant right now is Leycesteria formosa.  She wanted an ID.  I gave her the common name and the info that the berries are edible and taste like burnt caramel, but with a bitter aftertaste.

Leycesteria formosa (Himalayan honeysuckle)

Leycesteria formosa

I also showed her how the Melianthus major in the center courtyard smells like peanut butter.

center courtyard

Melianthus major

And I showed her that the petals of yellow tuberous begonias taste like lemon.

tuberous begonia

The chocolate cosmos is already a regular feature at the Anchorage, and I promised that next year I would try to add a 7 Up plant (Stachys ‘Hidalgo’) to the array.

In deadheading the sweet peas, I saw this:

It was suggested that this might be the frog who lives in the key box (where guests are no longer allowed to drop their keys) but no, I looked…

key box frog is still there

Fuchsia ‘Hawkshead’

window box from indoors (Allan’s photo)

Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ seeds mimicking the rope in the sign

I asked Allan to take the tatty old painted sage out of a pot and replace them with a chrysanthemum.

Allan’s photos

 Because I said sage and not sages, he left the white one in.  I pulled it, leaving the chrysanth off center.  Oh well!

Klipsan Beach Cottages

When we arrived at KBC, a guest had just checked in for a brief stay and introduced herself as a blog reader!  She was Dawn, sister of Debbie W who comments regularly, and although I had met both of them while touring recently near Menlo, my face blindness kept me from recognizing her.  It was a delight to see her at KBC (which she had read about on the blog, and had visited years ago).

me and Dawn: Hi, Debbie!

Allan and I did the usual deadheading and grooming and weeding, with no need to water (We love that!)

looking in the east gate

the bird bath view

After yesterday’s daytime scorching heat and evening wind, lots of leaves and fir needles had fallen into the garden.

Mary raking the paths

in the fenced garden

one of Mary’s roses

All summer I pull Japanese anemones, and then I love them when they bloom.

Podophyllum (Allan’s photo)

Bella on the lawn (Allan’s photo)

Bella in the basement as we left (Allan’s photo)

Port of Ilwaco

We decided to get a head start on tomorrow’s work by watering and weeding along Howerton Avenue at the Port, starting at the east end.

When we arrived home to pick up another hose, we found a shocking sight.  Our quiet, bucolic, country-feeling street had been painted with bright lines.  I do not like it.  Allan thinks it is going to speed up traffic instead of making it safer.

the way it used to be

now

Since the double yellow line means no passing, a traffic cop could write tickets all day three blocks west at the post office, where passing and U turns are frequent.  When I kvetched about it on Facebook, I learned that other residents (just some that I know) are also not thrilled.  We wished we had been asked or notified. It is what it is now.  (We learned the next day that the Department of Transportation done-it.) There is not enough paint remover to take us back in time.

It cheered me up to pet Rudder from next door.

At the east end of Howerton Avenue, I made the radical decision to simply skip watering the easternmost bed.  Some rain is predicted for later this week—not much, but enough to help this quite drought tolerant bed.  I think my snap decision was influenced by feeling disgruntled about the street painting job.

east end bed

Yesterday’s heat scorched even the armeria (sea thrift); watering today will not fix that.

If we get no rain, we will have to break down and water this garden on Friday.  It is the most difficult and requires the longest hose length.

We found a rock in a garden bed further west:

As I walked along weeding, I made mental note of plants I want to move in the fall, like this Miscanthus ‘Gold Bar’ that is languishing in the bed by the Fort George Brewery office.

sad Miscanthus ‘Gold Bar’

Further down the street, in my favourite bed, the same grass is doing much better.

by the Ilwaco pavilion, more sheltered from wind

a happier Miscanthus ‘Gold Bar’

I am not doing much clipping back today.  I want as much plant growth as possible in all the beds to keep people from standing upon them during Friday evening’s Slow Drag.

The drive-over garden has knit together again.

Port Office garden

low tide with haze, possibly from wildfire smoke upriver mixed with fog

can’t see the hills to the east at all

Howerton Ave: smoke or fog? We could smell smoke, faintly. (Allan’s photo)

Our friends in Portland and Olympia are experiencing heavy smoke and falling ash from the fire east of Portland in the beloved wilderness area of the Columbia River Gorge.  Some photos: here, and here (before) and here.

We left off at Time Enough books and will do the rest of the watering tomorrow afternoon and evening.

 

 

Read Full Post »

4 Sept: ridiculously hot

Monday, 4 September 2017

Labor Day

I had debated whether or not to water Long Beach today during the holiday crowds and had decided it would be better to water on Labor Day Monday than on Rod Run Friday, when people will already be sitting on the planters to see the cars drive in to town.  I figured if we went to work at around two o clock, some folks would already be heading home from the three day weekend, especially with school starting tomorrow.

The weather changed that plan.

Noonish: “Feels like 98” is considered “Warm”???

1 PM: Finally admitting it was HOT.

2: 41 PM: Feels like 106?????!!!!!  It definitely did.  I’d never felt anything like it.

I moved to the beach to avoid the 80 degree days we used to have in summer in Seattle.  Today’s weather was bizarre and yet, with the hot days we have had this summer, it is starting to feel like the new normal.

I decided we had to postpone work till 5 PM and then get as much watering done as we could in three hours.  Meanwhile, I worked on our blog about Evan’s garden and Castle Rock parks.

my assistant

sleeping on the job

The only way I could see to get both Ilwaco and Long Beach watered in the evening was for me to do all 37 of the Long Beach planters (and the four Fish Alley barrels), while Allan watered Ilwaco trees and planters and then came to LB to water as many street tree gardens  (18 in all) as he could.  He went to the boatyard in the afternoon to fill the water trailer; that would cut half an hour off the time later on.

He dropped me off at 5:15 in Long Beach.

While watering in Ilwaco, Allan saw:

The sun was orange because of smoke from a terrible fire way up the Columbia Gorge.

Meanwhile in Long Beach, I remembered that I wanted to get photos of all the planters before they get sat upon.  This plan did not entirely work out, as you will see.  It did turn out to be a pretty good tour of the town.

The photo project while watering started out ok.

This is one of several planters that were planted with ridiculously would-be huge shrubs back in the days when each planter was done by a volunteer.

Also from volunteer days, this one has a running cranesbill geranium that hogs the space.

a couple of the more interesting street tree gardens…they only get watered once a week.

As the sun went behind a haze of wildfire smoke, I realized that a lot of the flowers, especially California poppies, were closing up and were no longer photogenic.

hazy orange sun

The biggest cause of today’s smoke was a fire caused by kids playing with fireworks in the wilderness.

The flower colours were disappearing as some annuals hid their faces.

After years of careful pruning, I impatiently overpruned my right side santolina this past spring….oops.  Unbalanced planter now.

I would trim the heat-crisped Geranium ‘Rozanne’, except that I need as many plants as possible to discourage folks from plopping their behinds into the planters this coming weekend.

This is my only planter with nasturtiums (reseeding every year) because they tend to take over all other plants.

The watering marks are kind of distracting.  This was because I was criss crossing back and forth across the streets as I worked my way north.  The project would work better if I did the town in a loop so as to avoid photographing recently watered planters.

kind of boring now that the lavenders are done blooming

Herb ‘N Legend smoke shop

smoke shop staff member Tam coming to say hello

sun getting oranger

Fifth Street Park. Once blooming veronicas along the edge need replacing with something better.  Also trying to get all columbines out of this one.

The hanging baskets that are low (restroom, gazebo, police station, city hall) still look great. The high up ones are battered by wind and heat.

Fifth Street Park with California poppies closed. As the flag shows, it had become quite windy.

OOPS, focused on the foreground. That hebe (from volunteer days) is big and boring and this one also has annoying running once blooming roses.

another old one with azaleas, only pretty for a brief time in spring, and….mint!

a boring one, used to be all English ivy. Now too much golden oregano with no one to blame but myself.  And why do I never remember to dig out that boring fern?

Hungry Harbor with poppies closed. This has become more just a tour of the town.

Now instead of crisscrossing, I am walking the last three blocks up one side and down the other.

not trimming the Geranium ‘Rozanne’ till after Rod Run.

going to do a total dig out of this boring geranium planter after Rod Run.

police station baskets

I see lots of photos being taken by this basket.

Wind World Kites owner likes the Crocosmia to be left alone till after Rod Run so people do not smash the fuchsias and lavenders.

Stormin’ Norman’s

another focus problem

This one is dull because it used to be the most vandalized. Now it is not, I have recently realized, so could be made better.

This one has two would be eight feet tall escallonias, is infested with creeping red clover, and gets hit very hard by wind.

I cannot remove the monster shrubs because their roots go too deep into the works of the planter.

My favourite; a few years ago was almost solid volunteer-planted vinca.

northernmost one on west side, time for me to cross and head south again

I was getting worried about time, as the sun was setting, and I was not sure where Allan was with the tree watering by now.

northernmost east side

I found a painted rock!  And forgot to photograph the planter across the street.

Getting dark, poppies closed. I lightened the exposure.

I forgot to photograph the planter by NIVA green because I was getting stressed about time, and by the next one, it was clearly getting too dark:

Allan and I crossed paths; I wondered if we would get done in time for a dinner reservation that I had made for half an hour after dark. He headed north to water the two northernmost trees.  I watered a couple of trees while heading south to help him catch up.  They are much harder to do than the planters because you have to find the hose connection inside a hole in the ground.

He looked west while heading north. The sun had set.

Allan’s photo

tire track in a tree garden (Allan’s photo)

still watering…

We met up at Fifth Street Park while I watered my last planter.

My last one. It is that giant hebe with ugly old dead flowers. I wish I could dig it out but it is soooo big.  Pruning the flowers leaves ugly stubs.  Sigh.

getting dark, too dark to see….and we are done.

I was amazed.  I was sure we would not get done and would have to leave some trees or planters for tomorrow.

We repaired to the Depot Restaurant for their traditional Labor Day Ribs Special.

Asian salad

Allan’s clam chowder

ribs special, delicious but not especially photogenic

Allan prefers the delectable Steak Killian with green scallion sauce.

We were the last diners.  When we left, I thanked the staff for letting us sit while they finished their evening tasks.  I was touched and pleased when we were told, “You’re part of the crew!”  I consider that an honor.

Smokey orange moon over the Depot garden

At home, while putting away the water trailer, Allan saw two deer strolling right down the middle of the street in front of our house.

I have one more chance (Thursday) to photograph the planters before the weekend of the great Sitting Upon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read Full Post »