Hardy Plant Study Weekend 2018: Cascadia Art Museum

Saturday, 23 June 2018

Hardy Plant Society Study Weekend

presented by the Northwest Perennial Alliance

Unlike the first night at the hotel, I had only gotten about four hours of sleep.  We had to rise at the shocking hour of 7 AM for the morning lectures.  (The lecture notes will appear all together, later.)  Today, Alison of the Bonney Lassie blog drove again in her car with its superior satnav system.  Unlike yesterday’s cool grey weather (great for photos), today was hot and bright.

The garden I was most excited to see was our first stop.

Cascadia Art Museum/Salish Crossing

I am such a fan of Withey and Price, having heard wonderful lectures by them in the past, going way back to when they had a garden at the home of one of their mothers.  And, of course, public gardening is my life so this garden would be of special interest.

Just feast your eyes on all this.

Alison happy to see and smell a floriferous garden

embothrium, which I recently acquired thanks to Steve and John of the bayside garden

I can get a free start of Tiger Eyes sumac at KBC and will put it somewhere in Long Beach!

cars included for scale

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

like a lace curtain over the roses

I was in heaven.

Allan’s photo

I later learned that this is Alstroemeria ‘Rock and Roll’.

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

The garden goes around a corner to a restaurant courtyard where the wall is this high. (Allan’s photo)

Allan saw a gardener working on the plants and talked to him for a bit, not realizing he was either Withey or Price.  I was intrigued and found where he was working, with a couple of people talking to him, but I got an attack of the shys and walked away.

Withey…or Price (Allan’s photo)

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

Little did Allan know he was chatting with one of my idols.

I followed Alison across the parking lot to what must be the Salish Crossing gardens.

 

I felt inferior but inspired.

You can view Alison’s exquisite photos of flowers in the Hampton garden and this garden right here.

This, and a garden that we will see tomorrow, were my two favourites of the tour.

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16 March: 2 tasks

Thursday, 16 March 2017

At the post office, on our way to work, Allan found a note in our box asking him to talk to the postmaster.  A postal patron had urgently needed to know the identification of a plant “that looks like a coleus”.

Here it is: a greigii tulip.

The foliage is as great as the flower to come.

I realized it was time to apply some sluggo.

Ilwaco City Hall ready for St Patrick’s Day

Long Beach

We hoped to accomplish two tasks on the project list today.  The first was pruning and weeding the five roses in the back of Coulter Park.  They are exceedingly difficult because of weeds, including salmonberry, coming under the fence.  The neighbouring house has but a tiny strip between house and fence that would be almost impossible for the homeowner to maintain, and in that strip dwell salmonberries, blackberries, and birds-foot trefoil that long to join up with the roses.

the dreaded rose bed, before

south side of park with pieris

Pieris and Ribes (flowering currant)

There was another ribes in that gap that turned up its toes a few years ago, as ribes are wont to do.

Allan trimmed up in the garden next to the old train depot.

before

after trimming sword fern

rose bed; line cut with half moon edger (Allan’s photo)

I was inspired to do two lines of half moon edging.

after

a pretty patch of primroses

One dead rhododendron (azalea) has thrown this old threesome off balance.

one of the two good rhodos (Allan’s photo)

We had two cold and windy squalls of heavy rain pass through; we sat them out in the van to avoid getting drenched and miserable.  (During the second one, we went to the Great Escape espresso drive through for invigorating sustenance.)

To add to our load of debris, we decided to do a bit of pruning on an escallonia at city hall.

city hall, west side

before (Allan’s photos)

and after

city hall hellebore

telephoto through the arch (Allan’s photo)

We dumped our debris at city works and filled up all our buckets with Soil Energy mulch.  (The crew had got us a pile from Peninsula Landscape Supply.)

a pile of riches

first load 

On the Bolstad approach, we filled up the lower spots in the planters.

before

after

looking east

not a good day for a picnic

And we added some mulch to city hall west side garden.

city hall after pruning, lily bulb planting, weeding, mulching

The last five buckets went into Fifth Street Park.  Yesterday, drenched from rain, we had left behind a messy patch of sorrel:

yesterday

today

mulched

A lily bulb had worked its way to the top of the soil.  This is just one third of how big it was, after I divided it:

Allan’s photo

We followed our first load of mulching with a break for delicious crab rolls at Captain Bob’s Chowder.

Captain Bob’s crab rolls

Back we went to city works to get another load of mulch.  Jackpot! I saw two good pallets on the pile.

Thank you, Allan.

Now I need just two more for my triple compost bin.

A red wing blackbird serenaded us.  (Allan’s photo)

Allan’s photo

Full load of mulch buckets (Allan’s photo)

This load went to the big welcome sign garden.  It had gotten low after pulling out last year’s annuals and absorbs a large amount of soil.

before

We found loads of shotweed to pull.

mulching carefully around bulbs

after

back side

after

I am sorry to report that deer are eating the tulips along the east end of the front side.  I hope they don’t eat them all.  One of these years, we may have to give up on tulips here.

well chomped

So glad deer do not eat narcissi, my favourite flower

On the way home, we stopped briefly at the Depot Restaurant to pour some water on the two sheltered window boxes, and there we discovered a sad situation.

a flattie!

The spare is weirdly located under the front seats.  Everything there had to be moved and the t-bar thingie assembled to loosen a bolt in the floor that holds the spare tire in place.

complicated!

underneath

the culprit

Fortunately, Allan had all the tools (even two jacks for extra safety).

Despite having to look at the instruction book, Allan got the tire changed in 40 minutes and we were back on our way home.  But tomorrow will be devoted to getting a the good (fairly new, now punctured) tire repaired.

one more big  task on the workboard

When the boatyard spring clean up is done (I hope by Sunday evening), the board will be gloriously blank for a moment and will then fill up with the beach approach clean up and more.

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15 March: roses at last

Wednesday, 15 March 2017

Two nights of poor sleep from assorted aches and pains did not dissuade me from willingness to work in a light drizzle.  I couldn’t stand not having the Fifth Street Park roses pruned. My usual goal is to have roses all pruned between Presidents Day and March 1.  This year, the weather has not been conducive.

Fifth Street Park

tree garden nearby with primroses

I pruned by the restroom entrance, with fish bicycle rack…before

working from the Wiegel Cottage side. The restroom building also looks cottagey.

This fence has a double line of fence boards, making for a dead zone of rose canes inside.  Un-gettatable.

The drizzle stopped soon into the job and we had pleasant weather until increasingly hard rain in the last half hour.

after….the rose is ‘Super Dorothy’

Meanwhile, Allan removed a messy patch of hesperantha (formerly schizostylis).  They will come back, no doubt.

before

after

before and after

He then pruned the Super Dorothy roses on the south fence.

before

after

That white fence was erected by the hotel next door.  I predict it is going to get weedy between tall white fence and low concrete wall and that neither the hotel staff nor us will be able to get at said weeds.

I had turned my attention to weeding in the northwest quadrant of the park, where wildly invasive alliums are a problem.  For last year’s first clean up, in early 2016, Melissa and Dave had helped us.  She had gone after those alliums with much more determination to get every bulb.  I had been curious if her effort would pay off.  No, there were just as many as always.

northwest quadrant, before

damnable thread like alliums have fairly inconsequential flowers in summer.

Full disclosure: I may have planted a few clumps many years ago.  Sorry now, if so.

a nice clump of ‘Ice Follies’ or some such

after (but not done)

My former spouse had come by on his bike while I was weeding.  We’d had a good time commiserating about politics.

I had gotten my hopes up about having time to also tidy the roses in Coulter Park…till the rain came.

We were fairly well drenched.

While dumping debris at city works (where Allan did all the hard work), I was thrilled to see that the city now has a pile of mulch for us.  Perhaps if we have good weather tomorrow, we will do some mulching in Long Beach.

 

Ilwaco

On the way home, we scouted for pallets at a spot that sometimes has free ones.  We scored two.  Allan did all the heavy lifting.  The scavenging spot also had an unusual offering: a pile of driftwood, maybe cleaned off the shore bank at the marina.

Got some good decorative pieces.

We did not try for the wood in two big bins.

A block from home:

Ocean Thunder and Ocean Lightning parked on Lake Street

home with a good haul.  Have enough pallets now for the first bin. Need four more to make three bins.

I had planted a few lilies in Fifth Street Park and planted more at home.  The weather had gotten fine again.

lily time

planted with a bit of bulb food

It has been windy.

bogsy wood (Allan’s photo)

work board tonight with just three pressing things

It won’t take long to re-fill the board when those last three spring clean up tasks are done.

 

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Hardy Plant Weekend: Roses & Sebright Nursery

Sunday, 26 June 2016

Hardy Plant Study Weekend in Salem, Oregon

Grand Hotel, Salem

from the Grand Hotel: goodbye to our view of Salem

a plaza with hanging baskets

and sculptures

in the distance: train tracks and a mysterious globe

kudos to the hotel for a good room design with a divider between sleeping and sitting areas.

At breakfast, we overheard another Hardy Planter saying that the fourth garden of the list of eight on today’s tour was south, and all the others were north.  We saved considerable driving time by going to the Salem garden first (even though it meant a late arrival to the plant sales at the first official stop of the day).

garden 20: Laveryne’s Garden

The front garden was indeed a show-stopper.

I do love a boardwalk anywhere in a garden.

Allan’s photo

bountiful arrays of clematis

into the back garden

Allan’s photo

a hedge of clematis

Just over this privacy hedge was a vast ballfield.

Allan’s photo

clematis embracing lilies

dahlias and the ballfield

salvias and conifers

looking back at the garden

Allan’s photo. Allan says: According to http://www.tractordata.com the Bolens 800 garden tractor was only built from 1963 to 1965, over fifty years ago.

We couldn’t linger because of wanting to get to the plant sales while the pickings were still good, so on we drove to…

garden 17: Sebright Nursery

After we parked in a grassy field, I made a beeline to the vendors.  It was hot, by the way, in the upper 80s.

I don’t think there were ten vendors…maybe five…unless I missed some.

Allan’s photo

the famous and affable Roger Gossler.

Dan Hinkley and a hardy planter

This is when I succumbed to Hacquetia ‘Thor’, and a hardy begonia.  Dan said I had a good eye and had made two excellent choices.  I said he must say that to everyone, but he said not so.  😉

amusing Dan Hinkley tag, photographed at Dancing Oaks the previous evening.

Allan with my acquisitions from Windcliff and from Secret Garden Growers.

While I was browsing the Secret Garden Growers table, I overheard one of the owners quote a garden lecturer as having spoken of planting in “generous drifts of one”…what Ann Lovejoy calls the “onesies” of the plant collector.  Or ones-sie-ing, which is impossible to spell.

Allan’s photo

Hardy planters admiring a cool acquisiton. (Allan’s photo)

Having spent another small fortune, we walked down a long road to the Sebright display garden and nursery.

display gardens

Arisaema candidissima

Allan’s photo

welcome shade

It was so hot that I must admit I did not walk over to the gazebo.

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo: He liked the way this dierama had space to show off its form.

Allan’s photo

hostas, Sebright’s specialty

My three hostas at home are all pathetic, snail-chewed things.  At garden after garden on the hardy plant tour, I had seen gorgeous, perfect hostas, all probably from this renowned nursery.

Hardy Planters, including Lucy Hardiman (in purple top) and Nancy Goldman (right).

how so perfect? how?

cardiocrinum (center); the snails always get mine before they barely start.

the nursery

I did acquire a choice Sanguisorba ‘Lilac Squirrel’ and wish I could have acquired more plants.  I was daunted by having to carry them up the hill, and because Allan’s back was still “out”, I could not load him down like a pack pony.

a small purchase (Allan’s photo)

On the way out, Allan photographed this amazing flower; I had to ask on Facebook for an identification:

Caesalpinia gilliesii . Bob Nold said probably easy from seed and is hardy in Denver.

Next: an iris nursery and owner’s personal garden

 

 

 

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Hardy Plant Weekend: Mediterranean Garden

Friday, 24 June 2016

Hardly Plant Society Study Weekend in Salem, Oregon

garden four: Mediterranean style

I recall this garden was in a gated community and that as we drove past vast front lawns, I felt none too sure….

approaching Tom and Judy’s garden

The front garden looked promising.

Allium schubertii (Allan’s photo)

As soon as we entered the tile topped gate, I was thrilled.  This was one of my favourite gardens on the tour. The owners did all the preparation for the tour themselves except for some help with the hedge trimming.

entering the walled garden

Allan took this picture of an aerial photo that was on display:

I like when gardens have photo albums of the progress of their creations.  Unfortunately, when there are nine gardens to view in one day, I don’t feel I can take the time to look!

satellite view for orientation in this complex garden

I like that the mulch is dark and rich looking.

large, handsome Rosa rubrifolia/Rosa glauca

I do so admire a good boxwood edge.  Where I live, at the coast, it seems they often turn amber in winter because of the wind unless in a protected spot.

Allan’s photo

Agapanthus (Allan’s photo)

I do love a stucco house.

rose garden

Allan’s photo

Hardy Planters

well done!

white garden

Hardy Planters (Allan’s photo)

Allan’s photo

a lower level

Allan’s photo

I found it too hard to go down the few railing-less steps to get a close look at the sitting room.  I should have asked Allan to get me a few closeups of it.

looking back toward the house, Allan chatting with the garden owner

bee coming in for a drink (Allan’s photo)

all sorts of good plants incorporated into the formal framework

wish I had the skill to line things up so perfectly. My garden tried (without the hedging) but is a little or a lot off kilter!

berries (Allan’s photo).  I think this fenced garden might be set off to one side of the house; I didn’t see this.

Allan’s photo

coming around the other side of the house

The Northwestern style front garden doesn’t hint at the walled garden paradise in back.

returning to the front of the house

Allan’s photo

the front

a last look

Sometimes I see a garden that clearly was made with a lot of money and I just feel annoyed at the ostentation.  Not here.  This garden is clearly made with love, vision, plant knowledge, and skill on the part of the garden owners and it will be one that I think about for a long time.

 

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Oregon Garden, part two

Thursday, 23 June 2016

Oregon Garden, Silverton

Having toured the entire Oregon Garden by tram and then walked through the Amazing Water Garden, the Bosque, and the Conifer Garden (where I lost Allan), I continued on alone through the rest of the garden.  Allan took a different route, and for awhile he wondered where the Oregon Garden Resort was (where we were staying).  That’s how big the garden is.

annuals mixed with perennials as I continue my garden exploration

The Drought Tolerant Garden (on a sunny slope)

unclipped santolina; this is why I clip them hard in early spring.

the demonstration Fire Resistant House

fascinating stuff

rock instead of plants next to the house

Below the Fire Resistant House: The Pet Friendly Garden.

Pet Friendly Garden

Although I have a curmudgeonly aversion to statues of children, this one has a cool feature of water dripping out of the flat bowls.

watering and cooling off station

Both the Oregon Garden and the Oregon Garden Resort are dog friendly.

The Pet Friendly Garden

Good dog.

Love him!

The Pet Friendly Garden has a naturalistic stream.

It is a built water feature; you can see a glimpse of the underwear (liner). I like this very much and wish I had the energy and know-how to make a feature like this.

useful tips throughout the garden

 in the Pet Friendly Garden

I next came upon the rose garden.  Even when riding by earlier on the tram, I had seen that most of the roses were nibbled by deer, which led me to wonder how much other damage deer do in the 80 acre garden.

nibbled roses

not enough fence to keep the deer out

looking back toward the rose garden

Have fallen back in love with threadleaf coreopsis, hope I can find a start at a job (KBC) where the garden owner has gone off it and keeps pulling it out!

I found the Tropical House.

inside, warm

the Pavilion

a stunning metallic coloured hydrangea

across the road; We’d had a lot of rain.

Allan looked down from above upon the sunflowers but never did find the pavilion or tropical house.

I do very much like a metal building.

On the same level, a bit further along; I followed the sound of the waterfall.

splashy and loud

I think this waterfall was descending from the wetlands that provide water for the gardens.

classic bedding out: octopus and starfish

Some easy stairs to climb.

I wanted to be up there.

The air had an intense sweet fragrance here.

lilies (Allan’s photo)

Kniphofia ‘Little Maid’ (Allan’s photo)

Allan’s photo

Punica granatum ‘Nana’ (dwarf pomegranate) (Allan’s photo)

Eryngium venustum (Allan’s photo)

down the slope (Allan’s photo)

Nearby were some small “garden rooms” created by different landscapers.

wish I had big rocks in my garden but…no way to get them in.

Walking down a path….

on the left, compost demonstration garden

another view to the right

composters of all sorts

down on the rose garden level again

Past the rose garden, we had seen, from the tram, an old oak woods descending down the hill.  I did not walk there as it was outside of the designed garden.  Now, passing the fire resistant house again, I looked for a way up to the rest of the landscaped terrain.

 

 

 

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21-22 June: all the regular jobs

We had to cram all the jobs into the early part of this week because of leaving on Thursday (June 23) for the Hardy Plant Study Weekend.  I was hoping and fretting about rain; it was in the forecast for Thursday but I couldn’t count on that, so watering had to be done as well.

There is very little left on the work board because of yesterday’s accomplishments.

next week….we might finally get the center parking lot berm in Long Beach done. The mulching is ongoing.

Tuesday, 21 June 2016

Ilwaco post office garden

I hope to find some good plants for along the front of the post office garden at the Hardy Plant weekend, especially since two fabulous nurseries will be part of the touring.

Now that the poppies are mostly done, the front is blah.

The Depot Restaurant

success: ornamental grasses enclosing both the east and south side of the dining deck

looking south from the front…we watered…

front plantings by Basket Case Nancy Aust

The Red Barn Arena

garden was dry…so we watered (Allan’s photo)

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

Diane’s Garden

my good friend Misty…we watered and fertilized

Misty went under the porch during watering. (Allan’s photo)

Marilyn’s Garden

from the street

looking southwest; thank goodness we do not have to water here.

looking south

looking west from back porch

looking north

cosmos, lilies, alliums, poppies

poppy

This year, the deer are eating down the Persicaria ‘Firetail’; in previous years, they have left it pretty much alone.

Klipsan Beach Cottages

through the gate

birdbath view.  Mary and Denny water here, so glad!

Dierama

Rose ‘Bow Bells’

Towering Thalictrum ‘Elin’

daylily

helenium

lilies

rose

hydrangea

The Anchorage Cottages

My good friend Mitzu

Allan’s photo

office planters; that’s manager Beth on the left, watering!

office planter

mouthwatering Calibrachoa ‘Lemon Slice’

window boxes

more window boxes

cottage roof (Allan’s photo)

As we drove away, we saw this cute truck being utilized by a woman who was doing some pruning nearby.

1946 Ford

Long Beach

added to the tiny popout an ornamental grass I’ve had in a pot waiting for a home

weeded along the front of the big popout and trimmed the roses that were poking out

While I weeded the popout, I sent Allan a block north to city hall as on Monday, I was sure I’d seen a weed when we drove by.  He took these photos:

Can you see the weed that I saw from our van while riding by?

Allan pulled it.

a big dandelion!

Port of Ilwaco

We watered all along the port, at least 3/4 of the garden beds.

Eryngium ‘Sapphire Blue’ by Ilwaco Pavilion (Allan’s photo)

Eryngium, santolina, achillea (Allan’s photo)

watering east end garden (Allan’s photo)

Eryngium ‘Sapphire Blue’ and Nasella tenuissima and lavender (Allan’s photo)

Yay, another eremerus!

at Time Enough Books

view across from port office garden, south side

north side of port office

(irritating lens spot today) Eryngium ‘Sapphire Blue’ and lavender

Santolina at Salt Hotel (Allan’s photo)

(Allan’s photo)

not a round ball anymore (Allan’s photo)

looking east from the west end

Salt Pub

We had our weekly dinner early this week at the Salt Pub.

Allan, Melissa, and Dave (Sea Star Gardening)

view

delicious potato soup

smoked tuna melt, always scrumptious

nachos for Allan

Wednesday, 22 June 2016

Ilwaco

Yesterday, I had forgotten about doing Mayor Mike’s garden so we started there.

Mike’s garden

…Followed by some fussing over the post office garden.

our volunteer garden at the post office

snails picked from lilies, got rehomed

Long Beach

watered along the edges of the welcome sign

welcome sign: turned up the soaker hose pressure

We watered the street trees and planters (fertilized the planters), splitting up and going in different directions.

Fifth Street Park, Super Dorothy rose, basket by Nancy Aust

agastache, Calif. poppy, lavender

agastache and cosmos

smoke shop planter

Fish Alley sand castle (Allan’s photo). The sponsor was the RV park where we used to garden (til our good friend and RV Park owner Lorna retired).

Fish Alley, sandcastles every weekend (Allan’s photo)

by Dennis Co (Allan’s photo)

reseeded eryngium (Allan’s photo)

preachers in Lewis and Clark Square (Allan’s photo)

The tree gardens are just not as good as the planters. They get watered less and….I keep meaning to do better. (Allan’s photo)

The only sad planter thing was that one little lavender we’d planted to replace a tatty old lavender had gotten crispy and sad looking.  No photo.  I am hoping no one notices till I can get a better one.

Veterans Field: Salvia patens, Phygelius ‘Cherry Ripe’, Salvia ‘Hot Lips’, Salvia ‘May Night’

Ilwaco

Allan watered the planters and street trees with the water trailer.

Ilwaco planter (Allan’s photo) with sneaky chickweed.  Chickweed got cocky during week of rain when we did not have to water.

Allan’s view of the boatyard garden while watering planters and trees.

downtown (Allan’s photo)

Ilwaco city hall (Allan’s photo).  Deer are nibbling the nasturtiums.

Despite predicted rain tonight, I watered the boatyard garden.  I can’t count on the rain and we won’t be watering again till Monday.  It was one of the hardest boatyard waterings ever due to lots of noise (welding, compressors), a bigger than usual obstacle course of tools and gear behind the boats and fewer hoses available.  I persevered and got it done.

lots of scrimmy horsetail

Thorough weeding will have to wait till next week, to get it pretty near perfect for the big Fourth of July festivities (fireworks in Ilwaco on Saturday, July 2nd).

most poppies are looking tatty but can’t pull them till they reseed somewhat

I long for time to make an edge along the back.

Poppies are no longer a blaze of red.

I long to pull them and reveal the shapes of the perennials.

a deer grazing in the boatyard

an unusual name for a boat

Finally home, I started running the sprinklers around the garden.  After three of six post-mounted sprinklers had run for half an hour each, a rain started that seemed strong enough so I could stop the watering.  I hope it continues all night and into tomorrow because that will hold the various city planters, so susceptible to drying out, until Monday.

And that, in two days, was all the jobs we still do, except for our occasional check up in Jo’s garden in Long Beach.

Because the blog is running a week late, by the time you read this, we will have returned from Hardy Plant (fate willing).

To give me time to catch up on work next week before beginning the Hardy Plant garden tour posts, tomorrow’s post will be from my mother’s garden diaries, June ’97 and ’98, including some non-gardening entries that I haven’t shared in the daily entries.

And then….a wealth of tour garden posts should appear.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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7 April: HOT at the beach

Thursday, 7 April 2016

I was so determined to finish the beach approach today that I scheduled nothing else beforehand. We went straight out to the Bolstad beach approach garden except for one brief stop to get photos of the welcome sign garden (in case something bad happened to the tulips before the next day, like a browsing deer or a human standing in there to get a photo taken.)

Tulip ‘Torch Song’ mix from Colorblends, with some Tulip ‘Formosa’ added

Tulip “Torch Song’ mix

front and back

Tulip ‘Much Niceness’ mix from Colorblends

“Much Niceness” mix

.  I knew from the start that the unusual heat…82.9!…would make it challenging out on the beach approach.  Just this once, I hoped for some wind (not too much).

where we left off yesterday

11:17 AM: From where we left off yesterday, my goal was to make it to the buoy.  That would be most of this section, to the planter…

…and this section from the planter to the end.

before (Allan’s photo)

before (Allan’s photo)

a couple of cute dogs that I got to pet.  They whined like crazy when their “mom” walked to the restroom.

It was SOO hot that I thought I was gonna plotz.  I put a cold bandanna around my neck, a cold bandanna peasant style over my head, and a cold bandanna on each wrist (soaked in cold water).

Then I poured cold water over my head from a jug every now and then.

me and my neighbour’s dog Yarrow

Our neighbour Jessika of Starvation Alley organic cranberry farm walked by with her dogs. (Allan’s photo)

Yarrow (Allan’s photo)

Jessika grew up in Tennessee and thinks we are very dramatic about “hot” weather here.  When she walked back, there I was dramatically pouring cold water over my head again.

debris clean up in progress on the first section (Allan’s photo)

The passersby were frequent today because of spring break, with the oft repeated comment “You can come to my garden next”.  One fellow offered us $20 an hour to drive all the way to Chehalis to weed his garden, not realizing that the going rate for private garden work here is $25 per person and up.

The “my garden next” comment is so common that I ran across it in a book about the Lost Garden of Heligan in Cornwall:  “[Garden visitors] stand and stare and comment on our dedication to the job, how our backs must be aching and how we can help in their garden when we’re finished with our own.” from Heligan: A Portrait of the Lost Garden.

Today, I got a good compliment; a fellow said that the gardens make his visits to Long Beach “intriguing and enjoyable”.  That is exactly what I wish to achieve.

starting the second section at two thirty (Allan’s photo)

At four thirty, I could not bear weeding in the section of plain roses anymore.  I was in despair over the quick passage of time so asked Allan to finish that area while I went on to the end, where some Juniper conferta, some wild lupins and some armeria (sea thrift) gave some variety to the weeding.

By then, I was in a panic about getting done; I just wanted so much to finish today.

weeding and chatting with a Long Beach resident who used to be a landscaper (Allan’s photo)

It was also pleasant to visit with blog reader MaryBeth although I barely looked up.

I deliberately left some shaped sections of clover for the bees.  When it is done blooming, we may remove it.

Allan got the boring area done all on his own, by 6:30.

From 6:30 to 7:00, I was wielding the pick in a frenzy and yelling at the last section of weeds, “You will not defeat me! I WILL FINISH YOU!”  I was willing to be late to dinner to get done.  I had been thinking for two hours about calling the Cove and texting Melissa to delay dinner from 7 PM till 7:30, yet the idea of stopping to deal with calling and texting was just too exhausting.  Allan was raking and sweeping the sidewalk and roadside while I did the very last weeding.

cleaned up (Allan’s photo)

after…7:10, late for dinner!

Allan doing the last of the sweeping.

Days ago, we started way way back at the arch.

the final section, done

THE END!

a huge accomplishment

all the way to the end!

As Melissa says, HUMANS WIN!  At least temporarily.  Next week, we’ll plant some poppy seeds in the occasional area where no roses grow.

The Cove Restaurant

tulips outside the Cove (Allan’s photo)

We arrived at our weekly dinner and meeting of the North Beach Garden Gang 20 minutes late.  Melissa and Dave (Sea Star Gardening) totally understood.

the joy of having the beach approach done (Allan’s photo)

strawberry salad

Dave’s fish and chips

fish tacos

Chef Jason sent us some prawns in butter sauce…out of this world.

the work board…beach approach erased…at long long long last.

Ginger’s Garden Diaries

from my mother’s garden diaries of two decades ago 

1997 (age 72):

April 7: Took Tabby to vets for booster shots.  I got the Advantage flea killer stuff—supposed to kill fleas in 24 hours and last for a month.  $8.00+.

I cleaned out a lot of branches and cones from patio bed so now I have another pile.  There’s still a lot to clean up in driveway and front flower beds.

1998 (age 73):

April 7:  1:00-3:00  It was cold enough to wear a jacket but warm enough to sweat.    I only worked two hours when I felt sick probably still tired from yesterday and only 4 hours sleep.  I managed to weed some in patio and moved most of the pots of perennials up to the picnic table  I gave up and came in and went to bed from 3:00 to 6:00.

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6 April: town and beach approach

Wednesday, 6 April 2016

As I was preparing to go to work, I saw a bunch of shifty looking characters hanging over the front fence looking at the garden.  Oh!  It was our friends Steve and John! and Betsy Millard, director of the Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum, and other members of the Community Historian group, heading down the street to look at the historic Colbert House.

with Tetrapanax ‘Steroidal Giant’ in foreground

John and Steve

I waylaid Steve and John and dragged them into the garden, with continual apologies regarding how far behind they had fallen on the historic walk.

Smokey says hi.

I apologize to Betsy for interrupting the tour and I do hope Steve and John did not miss too much of it.

The historic Colbert House at Lake Street and Quaker Avenue.

Long Beach

The annual Clam Festival takes place this weekend.  Therefore, we deadheaded and groomed some street trees and planters.

Allan’s photo of a narcissi coming up through a “plant washer”…a washer someone had dropped in a planter.

Allan weeded in Veterans Field, the main location for the outdoor part of the Clam Festival.

Allan’s photo, Vet Field garden

Allan’s photo, anemones

While grooming the nearby garden by Kabob Cottage, Allan found this froggie.

planter by the police station (Allan’s photo)

While Allan weeded, I checked on another block of planters.

There was the usual amount of annoying Spring Break finger blight.

here, a blossom…

and further on, a stem…

…of what would have been a beautiful Dutch Iris.

This is deer, not human, damage, with tulips nipped off…

and even pulled right out.

Beautiful Tulip ‘Rococo’ on one side of a planter.

smashed flat by standing? or sitting? on the other side of the planter.  Damn it!

Me, to a male tourist by Funland: “Sir, I have to work on these planters, would you please not spit in them?”  He apologized, abashed.  Why, why, why, must some of the menfolk spit?

Some good things:

a glorious fringed tulip

Tulip bakeri ‘Lilac Wonder’

Tulips ‘Virichic’ and ‘Exotic Emperor’

Tulip ‘Exotic Emperor’

Erysimum ‘Bowles Mauve’ and ‘Exotic Emperor’

Tulip ‘Formosa’, which USED to always bloom in May.

Tulip ‘Rococo’, also used to bloom in May, but has been early last year and this year.

Tulip ‘Rococo’

beach approach

Where we left off last time before being interrupted by bad weather:

I had been optimistic about having finished 2/3 of our more recent section.  Nope.  We’d done more like 1/2  before getting rained out on Sunday.

before (Allan’s photo)

before

before

Allan’s photo

passersby (long telephoto by Allan)

after, including the short end cap that we did weeks ago.

sidewalk tile by Renee O’Connor

lots of passersby today (and some Santolina ‘Lemon Fizz’ added to a planter (Allan’s photo)

I got to pet a four month old puppy and to admire a gorgeous Weimaraner.  Allan saw a funny doggie sight:

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

after (Allan’s photo)

Allan’s photo

We deliberately left some shaped clumps of clover, for the bees.  I heard a passerby say to her child as I weeded, “They’re taking all that clover out.”  Not quite all, and I do wonder if people will view it as just weedy.

We got done with the section left over from Sunday and were able to embark upon just a bit of the penultimate section.

Yay, we are about to cross the driveway!

section 11 of 12.5 (The .5 is already done.)  Before (Allan’s photo)

The buoy is our goal.  (Allan’s photo)

digging with the ho-mi (Korean hand plow)

I said we would stop at six.  At six, I wanted to continue, and felt happy when Allan kept weeding.  I said “I could go till seven”.  Then I stopped for just a moment and all of a sudden I could quite simply do no more.

We got this far:

Allan’s photo

an early (6:30 PM) end to the day due to my running out of steam.

At least that is a head start on tomorrow, when I hope, oh so fervently hope that we can get this section done to the planter and the next section done to the end.  That will be a challenge.

We have this far to go.

We have come this far since we began at the arch days ago.

What remains might be impossible in one day. (Allan’s photo)

I can dream.

We are this far.

Using a scarf to haul my locked-straight knee into the van.  Dang, that hurts.

I long to erase “beach approach” tomorrow.

Ginger’s Garden Diaries

from my mother’s garden diaries of two decades ago

1995 (age 70):

April 6:  Bruce took down the two 3-tier baskets.  I added more plants from the Floralight [3 shelf plant gro light table].

1998 (age 73):

April 6: Again I was determined to finish the strawberries and I did.  I have 24 flats of plants and each one must have about 50 plants.  I even dug up the 1 1/2 rows that I had interplanted with new plants.  They needed dividing so I took them up.  Now the entire garden can be filled on Sat.  I also pulled the multiplier onions and put them on a flat.

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3 April: racing the rain

Sunday, 3 April 2016

Ilwaco

Before work, I took a quick set of photos in the front garden.

Acanthus ‘Hollard Gold’..wonderful every day.

front garden, east bed, with white mix narcissi

Tulip ‘Fringed Elegance’

White Dutch Iris and Ribes speciosum

front path looking northeast

Melianthus major ‘Antenow’s Blue’ backed with cardoon

Sometimes I imagine walking by and what I would see over the fence.

I would be intrigued.

Dutch Iris

looking west

looking in

Smokey wished it could be a day off, but that was not to be.

It took me till midnight to realize he had slipped his BirdsBeSafe collar.  Fortunately, we have extras.

We had only one small thing to do on the way on the way to work, plant a few more plants in one of the Ilwaco planters.

This particular planter had everything in it mysteriously die last year.  It has good drainage, and we added new soil, so fingers crossed.  It might have been vandalism of some sort.

Long Beach

I had such an intense desire and hope that we could get to the parking lot driveway today on the beach approach garden.

Yesterday, with Todd’s help, we got one and a half of the 12.5 sections done and got to here:

where we ended yesterday

Each section is the area between a planter and one of the sidewalk cut throughs, and there are two little “end cap” sections that we have already done.  We have been working west from the arch to the red buoy.  Today I wanted so much to get to here:

This was workday seven in a row for me and ten in a row for Allan (who put in one rainy partial work day that I skipped.)  We weren’t just going to bed sore; we were waking up sore.

The weather cooperated as we began work, although rain was predicted after 5 PM, with a rainy windy day forecast for Monday.  I had another round of doctor visits at the beginning of the week in further attempts to improve my health.  I’m hoping for another set of good results.  However, because I am a hypochondriac of sorts, I always expect the worst which is another reason I very much wanted to get as far as that driveway today, leaving Allan with only two more sections to do!

The beach approach was busy with pedestrians today.  All the photos are Allan’s except for a couple of the befores and afters.

The buoy is at the end of the westernmost section of the garden.

our first area for today

My goal: that planter with the banner

We worked like crazy although I did take one short break when our dear friend Lorna, former owner of Andersen’s RV Park (a longtime job of ours till she sold it and began to live full time in Seattle), came to visit and have a chat.  We have not seen her for months.  Then…back to the grind.

I think here Allan wishes to capture the difference between vacationers and workers. I am sure he would prefer to be riding his own MotoGuzzi motorcycle or boating on these sunny days. He commented that his kayak is getting dusty.

With one section ended, we began the next.  

before

before…section number ten of 12.5 (with the .5 already done)

The gardens end at the red buoy…two more sections past the parking lot driveway.

Yesterday, while Todd was helping us, we had talked about the big patches of clover in the next section, and how clover is good for bees and the soil.  I find it hard, in a garden with nothing much but the roses (and poppy seeds that I hoped to plant today), to justify pulling out everything just to avoid someone pointing at clover and saying “That’s a weed.”  Todd agreed that it might be good to leave a couple of patches of clover, well defined, so I decided to do so in order to get to the end of the section.  Maybe if I had time, I would go back and make the clover patches smaller and even more deliberate looking.

Allan found this.  What the heck?

It turns out to be a June Bug larvae.

Our last section  of the day turned out to have a lot of rush (which I have nicknamed Tube Grass).

the battle continues

Juinperus conferta does well in sandy conditions.

another prostrate juniper

The rush has long roots that are deep and run vigorously.

It grows all over in the rough lawn by the dunes.  I think it jumped under the sidewalk to get into the garden, or else its roots were there, down deep, just waiting.  Like the horsetail in my own garden.

Earlier than predicted, an annoying wind came up.

I felt the sky darkening in an ominous way and clipped the rest of the roses poking out at the street side. I suggested to Allan he clean up while I try to get more areas done that were just little weedy grasses.

Drat and blast! The rain arrived at about 3:45 PM.  

A LOT of cold, driving, windy rain 

Allan had the debris only half cleaned up when the drenching rain came.  I kept desperately weeding.  A fellow who had walked his darling pug dog toward the beach not long before came walking back, so I got to pet the dog twice.

Looking back.  I do like the clover patches just fine; we shaped them to look ornamental.  (Allan’s photo)

I found it maddening not to finish.

So close…if only the rain had held off till five.

not done!

We have come a long way from the arch (between the two tall buildings).

We need at least two more days to reach the buoy.

So frustrating!!

We only got this far.

I must admit that despite my angst about not getting done, it was nice to get home to a warm house and dry clothes.  We won’t be able to get back to this project till Wednesday at the earliest, and I find that maddening when we are soooo close.  The strong wind and rain kept me from planting poppy seeds.

2.3 sections left…and the three long sections of parking lot berms.  

The next day, Allan posted this to my Facebook to soothe the sting of not getting done…

Ginger’s Garden Diaries

from my mother’s garden diaries of two decades ago

1995 (age 70):

April 3:

Received the Dutch Gardens spring bulbs.  Unpacked and sorted them.  Made some labels.  I was very surprised to find I had ordered 2# each of red and yellow onion seeds.  Where to put them?

1998 (age 74):

April 3: ??

 

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