Saturday, 29 February 2020
Guest photo: Rosemary Saunders Hickman shared with us this photo of the daffodil display in Ocean Park, in front of our former gardening job, the Wiegardt Gallery.
Port of Ilwaco
I began the day by picking a bouquet for an event at Don Nisbett’s Art Gallery. I have to confess it did not get there till almost noon. Allan and I were both exhausted and slept late. Allan delivered the bouquet.
The gardens at the port have grouped displays of small and delicate narcissi.
The bouquet was pleasing to Don and Jenna. I wish I had remembered to include some red twig dogwood stems
At the marina just across the lawn from the gallery, boats floated in a silvery late winter light.
After bouquet delivery, Allan went to the library where a Carol Klein cottage gardening book awaited me. A sock drive will provide some warm coziness to the feet of local homeless folk.
At home
While picking the bouquet, I had been drenched with a sudden rainstorm and thought oh good! A reading day! Yet when the rain stopped and a weak sun emerged, I had to start moving a big pile of compost by the Nora House driveway.
Allan had the idea that sword fern leaves could be chopped with the lawnmower. He pulled them from the pile and from a tarp in which they’d been burrito-ed and kicked them around on the lawn next door…
…and successfully mowed them.
So exciting was this that I pulled a quantity of ferns off the top of one of the compost bins and he mowed those, too, in an area that I had recently thought about graveling someday to extend the patio, till I remembered that it made a perfect leaf mowing area.
He trimmed the side bits off the bamboo that we had gleaned at our Depot Restaurant garden and was able to mow them…
…rather to my surprise.
Lots of chopped greens got mixed into the compost bins to provide a dose of nitrogen.
He helped me place a concrete vault, one that I had been lucky enough to get from the Long Beach City works yard, at a corner of the front gravel garden…
…all ready for cool small plants. I added some pipes and chimney pot thingies to the very front of the garden…
…and was amused to realize this was very Derek Jarman.
(I started his memoir, Modern Nature, last night.)
Allan helped me with a couple of biggish rocks that came from the works yard.
Someday when we no longer have the Long Beach job, I will miss all the salvage and compost materials that I get from there.
One more little brainstorm that Allan helped with was to make small wood toppers for the shorter lengths of rebar that I have stuck in along one gravel path, to avoid eye poking. This also reminded me of Derek Jarman.
With the fun decorating done, I applied myself to moving the biggest pile of compost. I had a lazy and rather bored audience, one of whom fell asleep during the show.
I used The Toy to chop the tall grasses into three lengths for quicker composting.
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Although I frequently thought that I was too tired, too cold and would stop, I persisted and got the pile pretty much done.
The compost bins are piled so high that they are almost toppling. I will be interested to see how soon the level will fall.
Tomorrow I hope to get even more accomplished in my garden.
