16 February: boatyard and Howerton

Wednesday, 16 February 2022

Port of Ilwaco

Ilwaco boatyard

We returned to the boatyard to finish up, including a bit more ceanothus pruning, considerable digging up of Pennisetum macrourum (beautiful but too much of a runner) and the shearing of the huge patch of P. macrourum at the south end (too too much for us old folks to dig up.)

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20 Nov: last full work day of 2019?

Wednesday, 20 November 2019

Frosty greeted me when I awoke (after not enough sleep, again).

I am appreciating my time with him after coming home one evening last week and finding him all wobbly and confused again.  I had googled how much honey to give him and learned from reputable vet sites that it should be a tablespoon, not just the touch of honey I had given him the first time.  Getting a tablespoon of honey into a cat’s mouth was not easy.  He ended up with honey dripping from his whiskers and sticky honey on his ears and plenty of honey on my shirt sleeves.

Dr Google for cats informed me that he could die from one of these spells and that if he were to be found in a coma, we must try to administer honey or corn syrup.  I was glad that soon we will be home more.  I hope to have at least one more reading winter with him.  He is 15, maybe even 15 going on 16.

On the way to work, we pulled the last cosmos from the post office garden.  The light is so low now that even at midmorning, the River City Playhouse across the street casts a big shadow on the garden.

Port of Ilwaco

We began with a continuation of yesterday’s fall clean up along Howerton Avenue, from RiversZen Yoga to Salt Hotel.

the Time Enough Books garden boat

Long Beach

I tidied up Fifth Street Park’s west side some more while Allan worked on the east side and a street tree garden.  I’d got a last small shipment of bulbs and added some more narcissi (a cyclamineous mix and a miniature mix), hoping for a better spring show in 2020.

A handsome horse and carriage passed by going south….

Allan’s photo

…then west…

…and then to the north.

I had thought someone was calling out “Jeeves! Jeeves!” but it had been “Gee! Gee!”

The pineapple sage in the west garden continues to bloom.

Although it is the only one for blocks around, a hummingbird had found it and worked at every flower.

This particular pineapple sage has come back for several years in a row.  I must plant more in 2020.

The final street tree bed (of eighteen in all), before and after:

Allan’s photos

It will be chock-a-block with narcissi come springtime.

We then pulled the Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ foliage out of all three parking lot berms on the east side of downtown.

before

after

before

after (Allan’s photos)

south berm

middle berm

I have always wanted to do something better on the middle berm than the few clumps of crocosmia and rugosa roses.  We have never found the time.  (And they do get walked upon by owners of parked cars.)  In the spring, the quaking grass takes over and is attractive.

blackberries on the north berm (Allan’s photo)

After we dumped a trailer load of debris at City Works, a beautiful cat appeared and inspected our work.

Allan’s photos

I did not have time to make friends.  We were racing sunset.

We cleaned up the welcome sign, pulling the agyranthemum, bottoming out the Geranium ‘Rozanne’ and trimming the Salvia ‘Hot Lips’ so that the lights will shine on the sign without deep shadows (I hope).

I had to stand back a quarter of a block to not have my long shadow in the photo…and still had my head in the frame.

before

It was a warm day with no jackets needed!

after

before

after (I left some still blooming bidens along the edge.)

north side, before

and after (Allan’s photos)

The grape hyacinth foliage is already up, which is perfectly normal.

Port of Ilwaco

With less than an hour till sunset, we returned to the Howerton Avenue gardens, planted some narcissi in the east and the At the Helm Hotel curbside beds.

east bed (Allan’s photo)

Allan sheared down the pearly everlasting by the hotel.

before

after, with red twig dogwood looking grand

I did not have time to gather the precious leaves!  We had just time to get home, offload debris, catch our breath, and go back out to a meeting.  Additionally, there was the anxiety of Frosty having one of his bad spells.  We managed to get him to take a half tablespoon of corn syrup (a tablespoon being the goal), which proved to be sticky, but not half as sticky as tablespoon of honey.

Ilwaco Community Building

I was surprised how few people showed up other than the mayor, Jenna (president of the merchants association) and the members of the commission.  The seven? citizens who attended, including us and Marlene, enjoyed an excellent presentation.  That is Mayor Gary Forner speaking, in blue, below.

We now have a five day break before next Tuesday’s volunteer crab pot tree decorating session, after which I hope the weather allows us to do one last brief weeding of the Howerton Avenue gardens before Thanksgiving weekend’s tourists arrive.  If it doesn’t get done, that will be sort of ok, as they are not terribly weedy.

What is left on the work board looks much more daunting than it actually is.  (I was so mad that I had not written down “LB berms”, because I robbed myself of the joy of erasing it.)

Most of those locations on the “final check” list will take no more than an hour of work, and in some cases less than an hour.  I estimate that less than eight hours of work, some of it dependent on having a hard frost, stands between us and full staycation and a hiatus (not quite yet) from daily blog posts.

 

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10-11 Sept: two mulchings and a dinner

Tuesday, 10 September 2019

The mini-birdbath that Debbie W. gave me on garden tour day looks cute filled with rain.

Boreas Inn

We got fifteen bags of Gardner and Bloome Harvest Supreme to mulch the west beds at the Boreas…first ten, and then Allan went to get five more.  We made them go further by mixing in the last of the spring mulch pile, a bulk delivery than had been extra sandy and grey looking.  The beds had looked discouragingly grey all summer.  We should have just added the bagged mulch last spring but…we hadn’t.  I am too budget minded and have an ongoing problem with spending other people’s money, even when I should.

Allan took all the photos of the project.

The bulk mulch had been kept on and under tarps.

I kept telling Allan “Don’t make it too grey!”

I was able to erase “mulch Boreas” from the work board, although I noticed later in the week that I had written “pull phormiums” rather than crocosmia.  Thank goodness our target will be the much easier crocosmia.  I have eliminated almost all phormiums from gardens that we care for.

In the evening, we treated Our Kathleen to an early birthday dinner at

The Depot Restaurant.

summer salad

Duck Shanghai for Kathleen, with orange blackberry sauce and ginger and five spice sticky rice

Prawns Bangkok for Allan

I could eat a soup bowl full of the Steak Killian’s scallion sauce.

a birthday brownie

and blackberry trifle

We had a leisurely two hour feast.  For once, we were not the last table to leave because all the mulching work suddenly caught up with me and so we were the second to last.

---

Wednesday, 11 September 2019

Allan put on a trailer side because we had mulching plans today.

Before work, we checked on a house out of our usual routine, to make sure that there were no big pruning issues (like leaning trees).  It had a lovely secret garden feel.

The Depot Restaurant

Chef Michael had asked us to prune along the edge of the side yard of the house that serves as the restaurant office.

before

during

after (Allan’s photos)

While Allan loaded the last of the debris, I checked on the Depot garden.

We had intended to take the debris home for chipping, but there was so much, and some was thorny salmonberry, so we took it to the dump.

There I saw a stumpery.

On the way out, we scored a great little dustbin for a planter, for only $5.00

Diane’s Garden

We did such a quick check of the Red Barn garden that I did not count it as work, and spent an hour at Diane’s tidying her garden.  Some of the sweet peas are still floriferous enough to leave for one more week.  All Allan’s photos here.

The roadside garden:

The septic vault garden:

cosmos

cosmos

It was 70 degrees, rather hot for us, and time for wee break.

The Basket Case Greenhouse

I had to see what was new and found a Panicum ‘Blood Brothers’ that was irresistible.  We encountered Todd there and had an amusing chat, all fun and leisurely and off the clock of any job.

Peninsula Landscape Supply

We got a yard of the new kind of mulch…

Allan’s photo

…and took it to

The Port of Ilwaco

…to fluff up some of the beds that had been walked and sat upon during Slow Drag.

weeding

I have made a place for some new plants, when the steady autumn rains come.

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo, nicely fluffed formerly trampled area

I checked on the south port office garden while Allan put the last of the mulch on nearby curbside beds.

Cosmos ‘Cupcake’

The temperature had mercifully dropped to make for a beautiful evening.

All out of mulch, we checked on the curbside bed at At the Helm Hotel, where Allan noticed the dogwood berries.

My favourite bed by the Ilwaco pavilion:

On the way home, we saw that of the two Sunflowers of Mystery in the Ilwaco planters, one had been cut (not broken) off.  I was again mildly disappointed in human behavior…and reflected that the planters will soon be Not Our Problem.

A day later, two friends informed me that they had each (separately) seen a woman picking herself a big bouquet of flowers at the boatyard. One of them pointed out to her the several do not pick signs. The woman’s response: “I ain’t hurtin’ nothin’.”

I have toyed with the idea of making a public cutting garden somewhere else in town for people who need a bouquet so badly and who have no money for flowers and nowhere to grow them. I just think it would end in tears, probably mine.

The workboard got a little shorter.

 

 

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3 July: an all Ilwaco day

Wednesday, 3 July 2019…

was an all Ilwaco day, my favourite kind of work day.

Allan took almost all of the photos.

Mike’s garden

I watered while Allan cut more branches out of the dying conifers which are supposed to be dug out (by someone else)…soon.

We stopped at home to offload debris and had a visit with Marlene and her dogs as they walked by.

Port of Ilwaco

I pruned my way most of the way down the Howerton Avenue gardens, shearing back wax myrtles and trimming ceanothus for clear traffic sight lines, while Allan did most of the watering.

Fellow gardener Joseph and his daughter Bella passed by.

 The santolinas were the most admired and asked-about plant today. I got all the inquirers to smell the lemony foliage.

You can see the difference in how nice and round the regularly pruned santolinas are, vs. these that were not pruned for a couple of years:

 And we saw MaryBeth as she took a stroll past the gardens.

Port Office garden finally filling in

from above

view from port office deck

ceanothus pruning at Time Enough Books

Last week I wrote about how a young boy had apologized for “hurting the blue plant” in the west end garden bed (an eryngium).  Today the same plant was hurt, by someone else, we assume.

I finally got out my camera while we worked at the west end.

Eryngium ‘Sapphire Blue’

west end of marina

looking east

looking south

We got all the Howerton Avenue gardens done except for the two east end beds.  They will have to wait for next week.

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25 June: jab, work, reward

Tuesday, 25 June 2019

We started our day with a Shingrix jab at the local pharmacy.  The pharmacist said that sometimes the side effects are less with part two of the shot, and sometimes more.  It’s worth it if it prevents shingles, as I know from experience. He also said side effects other than arm pain would not start till tomorrow, and so we went to work.

Port of Ilwaco

I almost forgot to bring some more plants for the port office garden.  We went home and got some old standby Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’.

Allan’s photo

We got to see the Purly Shell dogs, Aria and my very good friend Jack…

….and got an update that my old stairmaster is happy in its new home.

I was ever so pleased to be able to weed and water the western and easternmost curbside gardens and CoHo Charters garden.

Phormium in bloom at the Skywater Gallery’s parking lot garden

before trimming the oxeye daisies

I got to pet this “pocket bulldog” pup.

I had the strongest urge to get myself one.  “Why?” said Allan.  That’s why:

Allan’s photo

I need more santolinas all the way through the bed above.

Allan’s photo

Last time we worked in these beds, a boy said to Allan that he was sorry he hurt the eryngium last year!  (Not calling it by name, of course.)

Brodiaea ‘Rudy’ (Allan’s photo)

I am thrilled that I have finally produced a garden at the Freedom Market, even if it is all “weeds” (appropriately).

It is a cannabis store, AKA “weed”…well, you get it.

looking east down Howerton

west end of the marina

We moved to the east end of Howerton for more watering and tidying.

crack in the sidewalk

California poppies

the fasciated toadflax

trimming the sea thrift

the ever annoying Euphorbia ‘Fen’s Ruby’; don’t plant it! (We didn’t it, it hitched in on something else.) Allan’s photo

The new bakery has tidied its parking lot garden.  It is but a food truck now, with rave reviews for the cinnamon rolls, but will eventually be a sit down bakery with breads and pain au chocolat, the sort of pastries we cannot get around here.

looking east

looking west

santolina, lavenders, eryngium

It felt fantastic to have (almost) the whole stretch of Howerton watered yesterday and today.

We had arranged to meet Alicia after work at the almost brand new Waterline pub at At the Helm Hotel.

nearby, my favourite bed

Allan’s photo

sword ferns that we had trimmed at the entrance

At the Helm Hotel

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

our view from the pub

Before our meal, Allan trimmed one more sword fern that was bringing down the tone outside our pub window.

We feasted. I wanted to try out several things to get photos for the Discover Ilwaco Facebook page.

appetizers

Allan’s photo

Cobb salad

a tasty stew

We had a good long meal and a good long gabfest and ended the day by pulling the spent oxeye daisies out of the curb in front of the J’s cottage.

Allan’s photo

Yesterday, Skooter had been helping Alicia garden next door.  We had not seen him last night, but sometimes he comes in after we go to sleep.  We had not seen him today, either.  Guess where we found him at midnight?  Locked in Alicia’s garage.  He had snuck in when she put the wheelbarrow away.  He had much to say about it.  It is now the first place we will look if he is gone for more than half a day.

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1 May: weeds and seeds at the Port of Ilwaco

Wednesday, 1 May 2019

Before work, Allan checked on the J’s new rose.

Calendula reflected in our van window:

Port of Ilwaco

Today’s mission: To weed all the rest of the gardens we care for along the Port.  (There is one that we skip, that is all escallonias with horrible landscape fabric showing all around them.  One of these days when I have time, I will cut the landscape fabric out of there and then will start to weed around the escallonias.  At the moment—no time for that.)

I still could not step up and down off the curb without yowling in pain from my calf.  However, I had remembered the compression stockings that I wore last time I had this injury.  They did help keep my muscle, tendon, or whatever the heck is hurting me from jumping around so much (even though they are a bugger to put on).

Fortunately, there is plenty of weeding to do all around the edges of the curbside beds, or I could take one step up and just stay in the middle and weed the length of a bed.  Allan has to do the four sections covered with large river rock (dating from before our time).  I simply cannot walk on that without knee pain. I wonder if anyone who landscapes a whole bed with river rock ever thinks ahead to how hard it will be to weed.  The one with landscape fabric underneath is the worst, of course.

We watered the At the Helm Hotel curbside where I had planted seeds recently and, because of the dry and windy weather, we also watered six of the other beds.  At this time of year, we do not have time to start up the whole watering regimen and we are not best pleased at the extreme dry weather with no rain in the forecast.  It is worrisome, with the longterm forecast of a dry summer.

Without any more whinging (or just a bit), here are today’s photos.

I kept planting seeds, even though with no rain, I have little confidence in the results.

We cannot water every day!

We can only hope.

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

helianthemum

Eschscholzia californica

proof that the California poppies have not all reverted to orange

the drive-over garden

Allan’s photo

some rocks I cannot walk on

Santolina ‘Lemon Fizz’ reverting to green

Allan’s photo

Armeria (sea thrift) Allan’s photo

Irony (Allan’s photo)

Allan’s photo

joy

Allan’s photo

Tulip linifolia

at Time Enough Books

Here is better photo recently taken by Purly Shell.

photo courtesy Purly Shell Fiber Arts

by Time Enough Books (Allan’s photo)

I got Allan to pull out some tired old elagrostis (weeping love grass).

ceanothus

a helper at Salt Hotel

For some reason, it has fallen on Allan to strim the edge of the sidewalk by the Freedom Market.

before

after

west end, looking east

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo, the little funny hat of a California poppy seed pod, already

 

the west end

By now, we had weeded and sometimes watered from the Pavilion to the west end.  We were utterly exhausted and yet simply had to go back to weed the long bed at the east end and the lava rock bed by CoHo Charters.

finishing at 7 PM

Even though I had planned to do all Long Beach on Thursday and Friday, we still had not made it to the Ilwaco fire station or one of the curbside gardens that we had hoped to do today.

 

 

 

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29 March: Js, port and Shelburne

Friday, 29 March 2019

We weeded and mowed the pocket lawn at the Js across the street.  I planted some sweet peas along the white picket fence by the front gate, just because I have extra seeds.

Js front garden

Allan’s photo

a handsome Berberis darwinii next door

a passerby (Allan’s photo)

At the Ilwaco Post Office, I planted some sweet peas along the fence. I have never succeeded in growing them here, but I live in hope.

lilies emerging (Allan’s photo)

At the port, we worked our way from the east to the west end, planting poppies in some of the curbside beds (me), and weeding and deadheading (Allan).  He took all the photos at the port.  By poppies, I mean California poppy, Eschscholzia californica, in assorted colours—Buttercream, Copper Pot, Tropical Sunset, Dusky Rose, Rose Chiffon, Pink Champagne, Jelly Beans, Alba, Bridal Bouquet, Appleblossom Chiffon.

CoHo Charters curbside bed

Dave Jensen architecture office and the Tuna Club

At the Helm hotel (not open yet)

At the Helm curbside

by Ilwaco Pavilion

so far not much picking this year

Time Enough Books curbside

one of the Purly Shell pups (about six months old)

Time Enough Books

before

after

Time Enough Books entryway

photo especially for Tony Tomeo

Muscari paradoxum, which I adore

We went to The Shelburne Hotel for the rest of the workday.  I had really wanted to spend all day there, but it seemed important to get the California poppies planted at the port before the rain returns.

Allan tackled the annoying Ranunculus ficaria in the back garden, bagging it up for disposal.

before

after

And in the limited time we had, he also went after some of the montbretia that is trying to return.

I took out more of a run of Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ in the front garden, in an area where it is partly shaded and turned sad and mildewy by late summer.

After: I want hardy fuchsias there instead.

not very showy yet

Muscari ‘Helena’

Tulipa sylvestris

We had our dinner in the pub.

Allan’s smoked salmon reuben

And now for two days off (maybe Monday, too, if a predicted rain storm arrives).  I intend to not leave my property, and Allan has a boating plan for one of the days.

 

 

 

 

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24 Feb: spring clean up along the Port

Sunday, 24 February 2019

Despite chilly weather, we spring cleaned from the east to the west end of the Howerton Avenue curbside gardens at the Port of Ilwaco. You may note we did not trim most of the santolinas. Because it is still freezing cold at night, I am waiting on them till closer to actual spring.

Dramatic clouds decorated the horizon south of the marina.

East end garden (Allan’s photos):

David Jensen office, before and after:

Oddly, while Allan was trimming one of the grasses today, a man walked by and said “I’ve never seen a man do that,” apparently meaning he had never before seen a man gardening.

A rain shower sent us home to unload the clean (non weedy) plant debris we had collected so far….more gleanings for my compost bins.

Half an hour later, we were back on the job.

From now on, I will call the former ShoreBank building “At the Helm”, the name of the new hotel with pub (The Waterline Pub) that is due to open sometime this year.

I could not help but clip some of At the Helm’s ferns. The Stihl trimmer made quick work of it. Last year, no one trimmed them and the many dead fronds hurt my eyes.

Looking east from the Ilwaco pavilion (At the Helm is the red building):

The drive-over garden (between two big driveways):

Powell Gallery/RiversZen Yoga garden (Allan’s photos):

Removing some weedy catmint from a bed by the Don Nisbett art gallery; I put some small, clean pieces back in:

I had a look at the garden on the south side of the Port Office. What to do? I will have to ask if the plan, after last year’s building remodel, is to have a deck or to recreate the garden.

The marina in sunshine:

Port Office curbside garden (Allan’s photos):

The good mulch (Gardner and Bloome Soil Conditioner and/or Harvest Supreme) that we added to the Time Enough Books curbside garden has been well worthwhile. The garden is full of poppy seedlings, and the plants are now much more vigorous than before.

Narcissus ‘Julia Jane’

The rest of the photos are all Allan’s.

West end gardens:

On the work list, as soon as the nights are less cold, is the addition of some Phlomis and a few other plants to these beds.

I got to meet a wonderful dog. She said “Woo woo woo!” and was ever so soft.

Despite the break for rain, we got the whole length of Howerton done. The Toy (the Stihl trimmer) really speeds us up with this kind of work.

Across the street from the west end garden:

Allan said he could not decide which photos to send me of the rainbow he saw later at the east end of the marina. I couldn’t decide among them, either, so here they all are.

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13 Nov: fun with work and volunteering

Tuesday, 13 November 2018

Port of Ilwaco

We got up early (for us) to help with decorating the Crab Pot Tree at the port, with gratitude that the weather forecast of a quarter inch of rain and 20+ mph wind was completely wrong. Mostly, as I told Jenna when we showed up at 10:15, my “volunteering” meant that I had volunteered Allan to help while I worked on the nearby boatyard garden.  I can’t do heights, and there were other folks to hand things up to the people who can do heights.

Last week, a couple of volunteers had put the strings of lights on.  Allan and I were at home that day because we had arranged the delivery of mulch before I remembered it was a Tree Morning.

the tree today when we arrived

Here comes a decorated crab pot from the boatyard.

Crab Pot volunteers

Allan heard one of the volunteers say, “Our corgis thought they were going for a walk!”

Allan’s photo

hanging floats on the tree

This year, some floats are marked with the names of the crabbing fleet.

Two floats represent the Coast Guard…

U.S.Coast Guard Station Cape Disappointment crab float signed by the station personnel and Auxiliary Flotilla 6-2 members.

And one float, to be installed later, will honor the names of two local fishermen who died while crabbing, Luke Jensen and Kevin Soule.

Jenna and a volunteer installing lights to mark the observation field

This year, to avoid folks walking in traffic and being all crammed in around the base of the tree, the watchers and carolers will be across the street in a large parking lot.

When I met Allan, he was an 18 year old who enjoyed climbing the scaffolding of bridges for fun (as I recall).

Allan’s photos:

U.S. Coast Guard National Motor Lifeboat School crab float signed by the staff and students.

Jessie’s Fish Company in the background

For the next two Tuesdays, volunteers will gather at 10 AM to complete the decorating.

Meanwhile, between walking back and forth to take these photos for Discover Ilwaco, I did the fall clean up for the south section of the boatyard garden.

I love our lightweight and efficient new shearing tool, the one recommended to us by Pam Fleming.

Stihl Shrub Cutter

It is ideal for trimming lavender, armeria, santolinas, and also worked well trimming the ceanothus so it is even with the edge of the sidewalk.  By late afternoon, I was calling it “the toy” because it is so much fun to use.  The question is, if you pay $150 for a tool and spare battery, and it cuts your shearing time in half, who profits financially?

Stihl will profit again because we both like the tool so much that we must get a second one before spring clean up.

I am sorry to tell our California reader(s) that Stihl says “We apologize, but we can no longer sell or ship to CA as a result of PROP 65“.  I cannot figure out why, unless it is that the battery is considered toxic.  It seems like an environmentally friendly and delightfully quiet little tool to me.

Here is my ultra-cool fasciated Euphorbia characias wulfenii.

I am leaving perhaps a dozen cosmos in the boatyard garden till the frost takes them down.

south end of boatyard garden, done

Allan joined me to finish the north stretch of the garden.

Allan’s photo

I am not a believer in flattening a garden in autumn.  I leave a considerable amount of it standing for winter interest and for the birds to get seeds.

We removed the “please leave the flowers” signs and must remember to reinstall them when the narcissi buds appear.

Allan used The Toy on one of the Ilwaco planters and a street tree garden, to flatten the golden oregano.  The first hard frost will blacken it, so this is pre-emptive and will also help small bulbs like crocuses show up.

before

after (Allan’s photos)

Sad erysimum may be pulled next spring or sooner.

We next did our last fall clean up all along the port from east to west.

east end looking west

It was so much fun to shape the santolinas and trim the sea thrift with The Toy!  In the late winter, we will cut the santolinas much harder.  I wonder if The Toy will be able to handle that.

It did a wonderfully easy trimming of the wax myrtle, which I keep low because of traffic sight lines.

before

after…so easy and quick!

My favourite bed by the Ilwaco pavilion…

…is the only one that will need post frost clean up of a couple of cosmos that I grew from seed.

Seed success is thrilling!

At the recently mulched Time Enough Books garden, I was pleased to see lots of poppy seedlings.

dark areas are where some grass weeds came out

poppy seedlings around my new dwarf Stipa

While I moved on to beds further west, Allan cut back an elderberry, as we do each autumn to make it easier for holiday lights to be hung.

before, “someone” forgot to take an after!

Allan said the stems of the barberry will “work well in the Pencil Sharpener”, and I realized we now have a pet name for our one-branch-at-a-time chipper-shredder.

Meanwhile, crabbers were buzzing around with their crab pots all afternoon.

in the parking lot, pots from the gear shed next door to our back garden (Allan’s photo)

finishing the westernmost garden at almost sunset

It had been my dream to get the 22 Ilwaco planters and 10 street tree gardens all done today, as well.  I enjoyed the last hour of work at the port better when I let go of that dream.

At 4:30, with half an hour before dark, while Allan dumped debris, I popped across the street to pull cosmos and weeds out of the J’s front garden.  Just look who I found over there asleep in the garden.

a big stretch as he emerged from his nap

He has made himself a little nest.

We are now four days away from semi-staycation.  J’s will take half an hour more, the Norwoods will be a short job (although I plan to trim some lavender with the toy), pruning Mike’s escallonia is really all there is left to do of fall clean up there, and the planters will take just a couple of hours.  A day to quickly finish the Red Barn and then do the LAST EVER fall clean up of Klipsan Beach Cottages garden, and one more session at the Shelburne to prune some of the wisteria and a few perennials…

 

 

 

 

 

 

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15 Oct: Bulb Time day 4— Ilwaco

Tuesday, 15 October 2018

We had an all Ilwaco bulbing day.

J’s & Norwood’s & Mike’s garden

We started at the little blue cottage across the street.  I had noticed in a recent photo that some blue fescue looked old and tatty, so it got removed (by Allan) and new bulbs put in its place. Meanwhile, I set the bulbs out across the street at the Norwood garden and then Allan planted them while I planted at the J’s cottage.

At the J’s: azalea oddly in bloom last week, with tatty grasses

bulbs are now where fescues were

Every bulb I planted around the J’s birdbath required banging a hole through the stupid landscape fabric that is underneath this garden (not installed by the Js; it was there when they bought the place).

At the Norwoods, Allan’s befores and afters of the north side (he weeded, too, mostly pesky creeping sorrel):

before

after (I see the area where a big pieris came out needs some small shade plants added …when the weather gets damp again).

before

after

We will mulch the south side bed when we start our mulching rounds.  It is narrow and was planted by the previous owners of the house.

south side

Next we planted white and pink and blue spring flower bulbs (narcissus, tulips, crocus, iris Dutch and reticulata and assorted whatnots) at Mike’s.  His garden was looking quite fine with pink hesperantha but not one photo was taken.

Port of Ilwaco

Planting at the boatyard and the port came next.  The hot weather was more manageable down by the water.  Today, there was no wind, so our bulb bags did not blow away.  That was a treat.

boatyard garden

ceanothus and lavender

I am pleased with the tapestry of flowers.

Even the BadAster is pleasing here.

rue, euphorbia, cosmos, santolina

hot sunshine, a bit too hot for my preference

looking south from the gate

We headed down to the curbside gardens along the port with an assortment of narcissi and some species tulips that I hope are small enough to not entice deer.  I wish I could plant lots of crocus and Iris reticulata there.  It was heartbreaking a few years back when crows or seagulls pulled out almost all of those little bulbs as soon as their early green sprouts started to show.

on the way to the port…hot

Allan’s photo (obviously)

Ilwaco pavilion garden  (Allan’s photo)

Ilwaco pavilion garden

By five thirty, we had made it all the way down to the west end, putting some new bulbs in almost every bed.

west end (Allan’s photo)

shockingly hot at 5:30!

At home, the evening was pleasant, warm, windless, even after dark.  I would love to have sat around the campfire but instead I had to sort the next batches of bulbs for several more hours, with the front and back garage doors open with the van parked in the driveway to give me some privacy from the street.

work board with port and boatyard erased and more sorting done

 

 

 

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