27-28 June: back to work

Monday, 27 June 2016

Our volunteer post office garden

I will soon remedy the bareness along the front edge. I do not like seeing soil!

Long Beach

Along with some tidying of parks, we watered all the Long Beach planters.  They had not been done since Wednesday because of our garden touring trip.  Fortunately, it had rained on Thursday and misted on Friday.

dierama and Dorothy Perkins rose in Fifth Street Park

Asiatic lilies Fifth Street Park

Fifth Street Park: I moved two tiny cannas from shade to sun in hope they will do better (like the ones we saw while garden touring in Salem).  Not happy that front corner is bare.

in a planter: trimmed some nasturtium leaves so the poor agastache shows

I so love these santolinas.

First Place Mall planter and lovely grey weather

The parsley in this planter reseeds itself and I edit it to the right amount.

parsley, cosmos, agastache

one of my favourite planters, by Dennis Co

Fish Alley (Allan’s photo)

Fish Alley planter (Allan’s photo)

A visitor was taking photos of his gnome. (Allan’s photo)

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

by Lewis and Clark square (Allan’s photo)

Allan’s photo

reseeded eryngium is still there (Allan’s photo). It got wiped out by a street sweeper before the next Long Beach day.

We mulched the big L&C Square planter. (Allan’s photo)

L&C Square planter (Allan’s photo)

L& C Square planter (Allan’s photo)

Ilwaco

While Allan watered the street trees and planters, I weeded the boatyard.

one of the Ilwaco planters (Allan’s photo)  The deer are not bothering the nasturtiums as much this year.

Ilwaco planter, with orange lilies somebody else stuck in (Allan’s photos).  I would have cut off those erysimum flowers.

This kitty follows his person down Lake Street. (Allan’s photo)

It took me an hour and a half to make a big mess just in this one small stretch of garden.  It hurts to step in and out of the garden, just a slight step down.

had to cut back an echinops that had placed itself next to the sidewalk…phooey.

at the boatyard (Allan’s photo). Allan helped clean up the mess I made.

Tuesday, 28 June 2016

at home

At last I had time for a quick look around the garden while picking a bouquet for Salt Hotel.

nicely full barrel from some overnight rain

I did not mind that we had watered yesterday and then it rained.  It was good to get hose water down to the surface of the planters; sometimes rain does not penetrate through the thick foliage.

looking SE from entry gate

Mermaid rose

a leptospermum that I bought from Pam Fleming

Clematis ‘Rooguchi’ blooming way up high

my new Hydrangea ‘Edgy Orbits’

the curse of bindweed and no time to deal with it

Fuchsia Lane

on Fuchsia Lane

Danger Tree bed; I missed the peak of the Dranunculus vulgaris.

the rose that Jo gave me

I wanted very much to stay home with Smokey.

I wish for time to weed my front garden.

Port of Ilwaco

bouquet delivered to Salt Hotel (astilbes and sanguisorba)

at the marina

We had some weeding to do at the port before our main job of the day.  Our goal for the week: To get Long Beach and the port and the boatyard gardens looking great for the Fourth of July weekend.

chatting with Don Nisbett at his gallery

Time Enough Books curbside garden

a veronica and beach strawberry

pulling spent poppies by Salt Hotel

garden at west end, looking east

west end garden, looking west

FINGER BLIGHT! Some swiped an eryngium flower stalk. Grrr. (Allan’s photo)

Jo’s garden

Our friend Ed Strange (Strange Landscaping) was working on a garden kitty corner from Jo’s and popped over to visit before we got started.

Ed and Jackson (Allan’s photo)

my good friend Jackson

We spent the rest of the day weeding and grooming Jo’s garden, perhaps for the second to last time.  Jo, our longest time client for over 20 years, is passing her beach garden and cottage on to a beloved niece.  I have decided it is time to pass the garden on to Dave and Melissa and/or Todd.  I am now a year older than the age Jo was when she first hired me in 1994.

I’ll miss Jo and Bob and my good friend Coco.

Coco (Allan’s photo)

Jo’s entry garden

entry flower bed, before

and after some weeding and trimming

inside the entry flower garden (Allan’s photo)

middle courtyard, with Jo behind the screen door

northwest path, before

and after Allan trimmed it up

me and Jo

west garden

Allan’s photo

before…and…

after (Allan’s photos)

the west gate (Allan’s photo)

It has been a year of letting go.  This is a favourite garden to say goodbye to, even though it is one that we only care for once every month or so.

 

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