20 April: easy work

Thursday, 20 April 2017

Pouring rain almost put an end to the idea of work.

We’d had this much rain overnight.

And then it stopped by midmorning.

I scheduled an easy day, which included a visit to THE Oysterville garden.  That self -guided tour will be our next post.

At home before work

Azara microphylla ‘Variegata’ and Skooter (Allan’s photo)

Erythronium (dog tooth violet)

Allan digging a Tetrapanax sprout, too close to the maple

Acer campestre ‘Carnival’

Acer campestre ‘Carnival, acquired from Dancing Oaks last year

Our post office garden looks unexciting so far.  I planted some bachelor button seeds.

The Depot Restaurant

I planted the wee sprout of tetrapanax in the garden on the south side of the dining deck…my second attempt to get one started there. Light weeding and deadheading ensued.

north side of deck

Tulip ‘Akebono’ (Allan’s photo)

the barrel by the east window

Tulip ‘Virichic’

Long Beach

A stop at city hall to pick up our cheque led to some deadheading and weeding.

the ramp garden

north side: pulmonaria still blooming

north side

signs of finger blight

city hall west side

Basket Case Greenhouse

I’m collecting plants for the upcoming Planting Time, so far just perennials.  I consider it too early for annuals, and yet, as always, I am concerned that folks who plant (too) early will get all the good stuff before I’m ready for annuals (round about Mother’s Day).

Darrel waters the many tempting plants in the annuals house.

Me and Roxanne with Geranium ‘Rozanne’ and some Erysumum ‘Bowles Mauve’

Buddy behind the desk

YOU, yes you (those who live here), should snap these callistemon.  It’s rare to see them for sale on the Peninsula!

heucheras

and more heucheras

Buddy woke up.

We left the Basket Case and took ourselves to Oysterville to tour its premier garden, one of the top two gardens on the Peninsula (the other being Steve and John’s bayside garden).  If there are better gardens here, I have not seen them. That will be tomorrow’s post.

Driving south from Oysterville, we saw Todd gardening at a Nahcotta bed and breakfast.

in front of the Charles Nelson Guest House

Todd Wiegardt at work

Allan’s photo

Klipsan Beach Cottages

We spent a pleasant two hours at Klipsan Beach Cottages. In a preview of Planting Time, Allan planted four Nicotiana langsdorfii, one Erysimum ‘Bowles Mauve’, and an Agastache ‘Acapulco Salmon and Pink’.

Sarah

driveway garden

Tulip bakeri ‘Lilac Wonder’ has been going strong in this spot for years.

looking in the east gate of the fenced garden

Allan planting

He found a furtive dandelion.

tulips (Flaming Spring Green and a parrot in bud)

the burgeoning garden

Tulip ‘White Parrot’

blue inside

Tulip ‘Artist’ hiding under rhubarb

Tulip ‘Artist’

tree peony in bud

fringed pink tulip

Thalictrum ‘Elin’ will get about 7 feet tall.

“pink” narcissi

more narcissi

Fritillaria meleagris, in the lawn bed that I note needs mulching.

double hellebore

white narcissi

Podophyllum (Allan’s photo)

Mary, her friend Katie, Bella, and Katie’s dog Libby, back from the beach (Allan’s photo)

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photos: a hard to reach blackberry sprout across the pond

He got it.

Ilwaco

We drove around by the port on the way home, just to see how lively the 4-20 event was at the Freedom Market pot shop. (Their outdoor barbecue looked well attended.)

garden boat at Time Enough Books (PV=Plant Vessel instead of FV for Fishing Vessel).  Allan’s photo

Tulip ‘Akebono’

While Allan mowed at the J’s (across the street), I planted some poppy and bachelor button seeds in the back garden.  The weeded spots in the east and west bed have seeds, and the unweeded spots will let me know where I can put new plants (after more weeding).

a seeded spot

At the J’s (Allan’s photo)

Next, our tour of the Oysterville garden.

And we really do have to get back to the beach approach weeding!

 

 

 

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29 March: boatyard, sweet peas, Salt

Tuesday, 29 March 2016

I had the strongest urge to get another beach approach section done.  However, the boatyard garden was the plan for the day and I decided to stick to that.  Both are jobs that are hellish in rain or wind.  We planted some seeds at the Community Building garden first, after Allan cut back an ailing shrub hard.

Allan’s photo, before, with salal in front.  

after.  I can’t get in there, too much climbing, or I would have said “Ah, just cut it to the ground.”

boatyard garden

looking south along the two block long garden, 11:49 AM

boat coming in

We overheard some boat guys talking, while two sat and watched one work.  “How old is Steve?”  “Oh, he’s 60 or 61.”  “Still young then!”

weeding like mad

As we were finishing the long section north of the gate, I saw a woman bent over at the far end.  I had been just about to sit in the van, eat my sandwich and rest my knee.  Allan went to see what she was doing and I followed as fast as I could hobble.  This middle aged woman, also hobbling, was digging up poppy plants and bulbs out of the boat yard garden and she also had flowering bulbs she had dug up out of the Howerton Avenue gardens around the corner! By the time I limped up, Allan had told her to replant the poppies.  I pointed to the flowers in her bag and she said “Those are mine.”  That was a complete crock because I knew they were the flowers of Muscari ‘Ocean Magic’, which is growing around the corner, mail ordered and planted by us. When she lied to my face I was simply speechless and let her walk away.

I so understand plant lust.  I also remember years of poverty in my 20s, and again one year of paying off medical bills in my late 40s, when my plant budget for the entire year was $20.00.  Yes, $20.00.  And did I go swiping plants out of public gardens?  I did NOT.  The worse things I ever did was take a cutting off of a rosemary plant growing in someone’s parking strip, when I was 25!  Sometimes I get the argument “But it’s a public garden!”  And how does that translate into stealing plants for one’s own PRIVATE garden?  I have a feeling this person is local and may be a continuing problem this year, as other individuals who have moved on have been plant thief problems in past years.

I volunteered a lot of time to create the boatyard garden years ago, before it became a paid job, and nowadays we volunteer our time and expenses at the post office garden.  Public gardens are not there as a supply source for people’s owns gardens, as most of us know.

That is OUR Muscari and Erysimum ‘Bowles Mauve’ in her bag, and a firework,  of all things!

Allan googled the firework because he thought it was a shovel handle for more efficient plant thievery.

Ironically, she had been filching plants in the area right by this sign.

I found more muscari bulbs dug up and ready to snitch in the area where her depredations had been interrupted, and that entire stretch of garden was pretty much denuded of small seedlings, so this may not have been her first foray into improving her garden.  I fear she will dig up not just poppies but something precious of which I may only have one.  I also wonder every year why, when I plant dozens of narcissi bulbs along here, I get so few flowers.  Hmmm.  Sometimes I feel sorry for people when they get busted by us, but not when they lie.

We continued weeding till we reached the south end.

Nora J coming in

looking south, after, 3:06 PM, as I began to plant sweet peas.

Our weeding job was pretty good but not perfect.  The big horsetail are sprouting up so it will need another go-over soon.  Last year, I planted a few sweet peas just as a lark when I had leftover seeds.  To my surprise, some did well, so I planted more this year, mostly Streamers mix.

boatyard sweet peas last year

While Allan dumped debris, I sat at home for ten minutes.  My mission was to make some fertilizer mix for planting.  My knee had plagued me so much at the end of the boatyard stint that I had to use my scarf to drag it into the van, like an old dead thing, so Allan had to make the fertilizer mix when he returned.

Next, we replaced some of the old tatty Erysimum ‘Bowles Mauve’ in five of the planters, and counted how many more Erysimums we needed.

“yellow hoop petticoat” narcissi in a planter.

We had time to drive north to plant sweet peas at the Anchorage, passing the Long Beach welcome sign on the way.

welcome sign, front, with tulips just coming on

both sides

‘

welcome sign, back

Flowers made me forget the Finger Blight incident until Allan brought it up later.

The Anchorage Cottages

Mitzu greets us (Allan’s photo)

near the office

Allan’s photo: He pruned the viburnum so it won’t hide the window box

trilliums

trilliums

Fritillaria meleagris (Guinea Hen flower)

Tulup sylvestris still going strong, and miniature narcissus

Tulip ‘Green Star’

Tulip ‘Green Star’

Tulip ‘Virichic’

Tulip viridiflora, not sure which one!

maybe older Virichic come back from last year?

a fringed tulip from a few years back

fringed tulip

Tulip ‘Gavota’

Tulip ‘Strong Gold’

flowering currant

On the way back to Ilwaco, we paused at a planter so Allan could take a couple of photos for me.

Tulip bakeri ‘Lilac Wonder’ spread into a large patch

Tulip bakeri ‘Lilac Wonder’

The sign goes back to volunteer days.

The four planters I did as a volunteer almost 20 years ago caught the attention of then-city manager Nabiel Shawa (“Magnificent!” he said), who suggested we be hired as city gardeners.

Allan and I decided to have dinner out, again…and along Howerton Ave, I photographed my special Muscari that had been getting filched from earlier today.

Muscari ‘Ocean Magic’

If several passersby each decided to dig up a bulb, there’d be none left.  Fortunately, most don’t.

We soothed our nerves at

Salt Hotel Pub.

Salt

our view

more view

evening light, Saddle Mountain way across the Columbia River

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

delicious tuna melt

One fun thing about the Salt sandwiches is that you get three “halves”.

The work board is getting back to focusing on the beach approach.

One of these days we have to get to the back corner of Coulter Park.

There are no entries from my mom’s old garden diaries to correspond with today.

The thought that tonight is the premiere of the new Deadliest Catch season kept me going through some painful moments today, and now it is time to watch!

from a Deadliest Catch ad by Peter Jaworowski: makes our job look easy

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8 and 9 March: stormy weekend

Saturday, 8 March 2014

Was I thrilled that the rain had returned?  Absolutely.  Another day of guilt-free reading.  I made it through the fascinating In the Plex and concluded that Google’s founders try to live up to their motto of “Don’t Be Evil.”

Outside, a storm raged with winds at the beach (a mile away) of 60 mph.

Ilwaco:  We are close to storm action from ocean and bay.

wet west view

east window, wonderful rain and wind

(Just to the left of the lamp post, under the pink tree, is that small red Edgeworthia that simply cannot stay there due to the colour clash.)

Sunday, 9 March 2014

more lovely rain

The day started with equal promise of rain and I started a new book, The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman.  I had some hesitation as the story took place in a carny atmosphere.  I am not drawn to books about circuses or carnivals (have never managed to even want to read that water for elephants book even though everyone loves it).  I gave it a try because I do adore Alice Hoffman and was immediately enraptured.

And then…woe!…the rain stopped and I had to go outside and garden at home; I feel stifled and breathless if I stay in on a workable day when there are tasks to do.  The chilly air might have been an excuse to skive off, but I had that Edgeworthia project.  The pink ornamental plum and the red Edgeworthia could not be so closely associated.

It could not be borne.

I dug up the white one and the red one, both two gallon size, and Allan helped me re-situate the white one when it fell over and started losing some blossoms.

The white Edgeworthia was here.

and now it is here…

and Edgeworthia ‘Rubra’ is here…

where its reddish flowers pop against the bright green house.

That done, I felt I had to do some weeding.  I did not especially want to but told myself I would get two bushel baskets of weeds or debris out of the front garden before returning to my book.

lots of annoying weeds…here, the foul smelling one we call “stinkmint”.

The very cool Barberry that I got from Cistus some years ago is spreading (too much, perhaps) and blooming with its tiny fuchsia like flowers.

That berberis from Cistus Nursery…whose name I forget.

wish I could remember the name!

Close to the ground, one of my favourite spring flowers bloomed, the checkered lily, the guinea hen flower.

precisely patterned Fritillaria mileagris

My joy abounded to see that my Tetrapanax papyrifer ‘Steroidal Giant’ survived the cold harsh winter.

Why is it “papyrifer” and the Edgerworthia is “papyrifera”? Why?

I could see one tiny new sprout at the base of the Melianthus major.

There’s hope. Now if only I could find a Melianthus ‘Antenow’s Blue’.

After I did indeed weed two orange oyster baskets full, I went for a damp stroll into the back garden.

The crocus display had been beaten down…

fat lily buds!

Back by the bogsy woods, water stood over the lawn.

looking north from the southeast part of the garden

bogsy indeed, southeast corner

bridge to south gate

I do wish the water stayed like this all year.  I miss the fresh smell of the natural pond and miniature waterfall (dribble) in my old garden.

outside the south gate; our property goes to somewhere in this big ditch.

the willow arch

looking north

back inside the gate, in the midst of the bogsy wood

the big plant table (Thank you, George Schenck)

looking north

By now my shoes and socks were wet and I felt fully justified in returning to my book.  While I read, Allan took his little boat down to Black Lake and in the hour and a half before dark he paddled around.  (Unlike Saturday’s gale, the still air of Sunday provided absolutely nothing for trying out the sail.)  Getting it there (he had to dismantle the back posts of our work trailer) took as long as the boating, I think.  We love daylight saving time.  Not being morning people makes us feel an hour of daylight has been added to our lives.

Allan’s boat on Black Lake

We watched adventuresome telly in the evening (The Coast Guard: Cape Disappointment show and The Amazing Race) and I stayed up late to finish the Alice Hoffman book because I knew that several days of nice weather would call for a return of dedication to working and blogging.

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our garden this week

I think that unless I get a weekday off, I will start saving the week’s photos (before and after work) of our garden for a Sunday update.  That may change if I start taking a different (or no) day off.

3 April

I found, on a real estate site, a photo of our house when it was for sale in 2010.  (I was checking comparable values and oddly, even though it is manufactured and thus depreciates, our house is holding more value than some historic houses on the street!)

early summer 2010

I want to use this as the basis of a series of photos of the garden progress, but already had forgotten the photo angle to use when I took this:

3 April 2013

front garden

front garden

tulips and cardoon

a stunning yellow tulip

6 April

First, a bunch of photos from right by where we park our car when we go to and from work.

the first Dutch iris

Narcissi ‘Merlin’

I love the very small cupped narcissi.  I also have realized this week that I love the apricot coloured cups on the ones that Nancy and Lorna picked out for their gardens.  I did not think I would.  Some of them are the ones that are supposed to be pink.  Next year I am going to order lots of them.

an Erysimum

This Erythronium is precious to me because it came from my mother’s garden.

Erythronium (dogtooth violet)

Fritillaria meleagris (checkered lily, guinea hen flower)

I am going to give a clump of the fritillaries to Judy.

In the back garden, the boat is coming on with tulips.  I put up a sweet pea tee pee around which I planted the ‘Alan Titchmarsh’ sweet peas that my friend Sheila kindly shared with me.  The wind has blown it over, but more wind is predicted for tonight so I will put it upright later.  I remember the optimistic moment when I put it in place earlier this week and thought “I don’t need to lash this to the boat because the big winds are over.”  No.

garden boat

Later, that view would have included the two red gale warning flags flying over the Port Office.

My favourite ornamental grass, Stipa gigantea, is already putting out some fronds.  I have more than nine of them in the back garden.

Stipa gigantea backed with clean debris heap and crab pots

Today

The day began with rain, so I started reading Mr. Tootlepedal’s Blog (April 2011).  Then out came the sun and I began to feel guilty, so after finishing the month of April in the borders (UK), I went outside with the intention of pulling one bucket of weeds, just one.  I soon came back in and started reading May, because my hands got so cold.  The sun peeked out again, and guilt drove me back outside, and then the rain came and I came back in to my reading.  Here’s what I saw in our garden today:

view from front porch while I pondered weather

Hmm, Allan had a measuring tape next to his garden bed.

What is he up to?

He is planning to make a new grid on which to record his plants (on paper) and has driven in screws a foot apart for future reference.

Allan’s tidy garden

I found a tragedy in my front garden bed:  a very precious and expensive Allium bud rotted off (and the one on the right looks iffy, like it might be rotting):

allium disaster

I love the emerging spears of Baptisia australis:

Baptisia (false indigo)

and white bleeding heart:

Dicentra spectabilis alba

And the new leaves on Pieris:

Pieris (My grandmother called it Andromeda)

One of my favourite tulips, ‘Leo’, is coming back and a good thing too because I did not get any more of it.

two favourites:  (left) Tulip sylvestris on the way out, (right) Tulip ‘Leo’ on the way in

I like all the different cultivars of Muscari and try to add new ones every year.

Muscari latifolium

But I was horrifed to see Geranium ‘A.T. Johnson’ making its way into the garden…and this photo is after I yanked half of it out.  I used to love it, but its extreme vigor has worn out its welcome.

that pesky hardy geranium

But the rains came so I got back to my reading.  My achievement:  only 7/8 of a five gallon bucket of weeds pulled.

Speaking of wearing out one’s welcome, which I felt I was doing by stopping daily by Olde Towne café to photograph their progress in reopening in a new location, I am pleased to say that the news is that they are opening on Tuesday.  So the heart of Ilwaco is almost back.

Postscript:  Food

Reading the Tootlepedal blog often makes me crave tea and biscuits, and Mr. T. often writes of his friend Dropscone, a former baker who makes a delicacy called Drop Scones.  (Oddly enough.)   I forwarded the recipe to Allan (via email to the next room in the house) and he did try to make them.  They are similar to pancakes and did not look quite like Dropscone’s results but were tasty anyway.

first attempt at dropscones, served with Rose’s lime marmalade

The next night, he made scones which turned out looking better, and tasted good, but the drop scones were just delicious.

Allan’s scones

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Klipsan Beach Cottages: February-April 2012

Looking back on the year at KBC

Because I also administrate the KBC Facebook page (because the owners are dear friends, and because I think it is the best place to stay on the Peninsula, and because it is still my favourite job),  I have a wealth of garden photos for 2012, enough to make an entry for each season.

13 February

We arrive to wake up the garden.

 Euphobia characias wulfenii

crocus backed with Melianthus major

 Crocus and Anthriscus ‘Ravenswing’

 Iris reticulata

Euphorbia ‘Tasmanian Tiger’

16 March

Narcissi and heather by a cottage

Pulmonaria and Narcissi in A Frame garden

A Frame garden with Hellebore and Pulmonaria

inside the deer fence

Great news! A clematis we thought had died put out a new shoot.

26 March

the lady fountain

Pieris (which my grandma called Andromeda) and primrose

7 April

Allan pruning roses

13 April

Euphorbia characias ‘Wulfenii’

tulip buds

Fritillaria meleagris (checkered lily, guinea hen flower)

Erythronium (dogtooth violet)…from my mother’s garden

21 April

quintessential spring green with tulips

one of the “green” tulips

tulips

28 April

tulip 

 Tulip ‘Cool Crystal’

 broken by rain

tulip 

by the pond

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