Thursday, 12 November 2015
I woke to wind, and I lay for a bit thinking that the Depot Restaurant might be a sheltered spot to plant bulbs out of the southern gale. Then I looked out the window and saw sheets of rain. (The wind had been blowing so hard that it had hidden the sound of raindrops.) Never mind. Today would be the day to do the bulb spreadsheets (lists for each job, quantity, name, and price).
Allan took pretty much all the photos today other than some tulip photos of years past.
Mary
Too wet!
Do you see my friend?
Our neighbour, Onyx, had found a sheltered spot to watch hummingbirds. Perhaps we need to fit him up with a BirdsBeSafe collar like our cats wear.
Out of the wind
Mahonia in Allan’s garden
my rainy view from my spread sheet table
Tetrapanax buds
I thought the above were Tetrapanax FLOWERS till Todd told me they are just the buds, and that the flowers open white…if we only had a long enough summer. I Googled to find a photo of the flower, and found it here, on a blog which includes one of my favourite quotations from my favourite author:
“People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the whole time to have such things about us.” – Iris Murdoch
Allan went to get the mail and observed these workers on a roof nearby, who unlike us, had not been able to take the day off. They’d been working on this roof for a few days and I am sure they had hoped to get it done before this storm.
Meanwhile, I got a text from Todd that he was actually out on gardening jobs in this weather. While looking up wind gusts later on, I found this map that shows the difference in wind intensity between Ilwaco and the north end of the Peninsula where Todd lives.
35 (with a maximum 46 mph gust) here, 17 up there on the ocean side, maybe even less on the bay side.
The storm should continue well into tomorrow.
I sent this to Garden Tour Nancy, since her husband Phil frequents the jetty for fishing. She replied that just yesterday he got drenched with a wave while standing on the highest rock.
All afternoon I did bulb spread sheets, till my brain thoroughly ached. I thought you plant nuts might be interested in some of what I am planting in my own garden, some of each of the following:
Allium albopilosum, Allium schubertii, Camassia cusickii, Camassia leitchlinii alba, Crocus ‘Jeanne D’arc’, Crocus ‘Vanguard’, Lilies ‘Acapulco’, ‘Beverly Dreams’, ‘Orange Marmalade’. I’m sure I also have some of the other tall alliums. Definitely have 5 Allium ‘Forelock’ that did not make it onto my own spreadsheet.
Allium Forelock, summer 2014
Narcissus ‘Felindre’, ‘Kedron’, ‘Lieke’, ‘Martha Stewart’ (ordered because Lorna of Andersen’s is a big Martha fan, and now she has moved to Seattle so won’t see it), ‘Mint Julep’, ‘New Baby’ (very excited about this new version of ‘Baby Moon!), ‘Pacific Coast’, ‘Pipit’, ‘Pueblo’, ‘Rapture’, ‘Red Devon’, ‘Surfside’, ‘Thalia Sun’ (new version of Thalia!!), ‘Toto’, ‘Tweety Bird’, ‘Unsurpassable’, ‘Yazz’, Narcissus poeticus recurvus (the poeticus are my favourites.)
Tulip ‘Antoinette’, ‘Exotic Emperor’, ‘Fantasy’, ‘Fire of Love’, ‘Formosa’, ‘Green Wave’ (my favourite tulip), ‘Madonna’, ‘Night Rider’, ‘Orange Princess’, ‘Rococo’, ‘Spring Green’, ‘Strong Gold’ (a great do-er for Long Beach planters), ‘Virichic’, ‘White Parrot’, acuminata, batalinii ‘Bright Gem’, batalinii ‘Salmon Gem’, clusiana ‘Lady Jane’, dasystemon, kolpakowskiana, and praestans ‘Fuselier’.
Best of all, parrot tulip ‘Green Wave’, a very late bloomer
Tulip ‘Formosa’, my second favourite, great combination of green flames and good and very late bloomer
Tulip ‘Akebono’; note the thin red petal outline
As I worked on this planter last spring, passersby swooned over Tulip ‘Akebono’. My third favourite tulip, and I completely forgot to order it this year, dang it!
I had picked up Fritillaria lutea and the orange one from Costco over a month ago; the orange ones had rotted in the bag by the time I got around to sorting bulbs. I should have known, because fritillarias want to be planted immediately, not left to sit for a month waiting for the other bulbs to arrive for sorting. So I just have the yellow one, lutea.
Some tulips that I adore but have not ordered for a couple of years, after a soggy spring made them look sad:
‘Cool Crystal’ (pink) and ‘Sensual Touch’ (orange)
Tulip ‘Cool Crystal’; the fringes don’t do well in very rainy springtimes
in a planter: Tulip ‘Sensual Touch’
Tulip ‘Cummins’
Next year I must remember to give the fringed ones another go. I do adore them and it is worth the risk of them not doing well, because on a good year they make me so happy.
Meanwhile, Allan sorted through the used and re-used bulb bags from the planting we had done recently, to see what could be saved to reuse for next year, and to make sure we had not missed any bulbs.
a box to be sorted
after sorting
He did such a useful thing this year, crossing off all my scribblings with a big black marker so that next year I don’t have to cross them off as I sort.
Despite the storm, we had dinner plans with our three gardening friends who drove all the way down from Oysterville.
The Cove Restaurant
and the weekly meeting of the North Beach Garden Gang (with us, Dave and Melissa, and Todd in attendance).
at The Cove
Allan’s photo: perusing the menu
pear and goat cheese salad
Allan’s noodle bowl
Melissa’s halibut and our table by the fireplace
after dinner
Todd, the golf mascot, Dave, Melissa and me; the wind was blowing sheets of rain against the building and the parking lot looked like a lake. Dave was ready to lead the way.
Tomorrow, the weather is supposed to be equally bad if not worse. With all the spreadsheets done, I just might get a reading day at last.
Tangly Cottage Gardening 