19 October: the last goodbye to Jo’s garden

Wednesday, 19 October 2016

We said goodbye to Jo’s garden today after doing the last fall clean up there before new owners take over.

The depth of my sadness when we were about to leave surprised me.  Jo and Bob are my most longtime steady clients on the Peninsula.  In 1993, I started gardening three hours a week for Jo’s mother, Maxine, and in 1994 Robert and I helped Jo turn her garden from a monoculture of rhododendrons to a perennial garden designed by Dale Browse (who at the time lived in the Seaview home that our friend Patti has now).  Jo was then about two years younger than I am now.

By the end of 1994, we had become Jo’s regular helpers.  She did most of the gardening herself.  We came in about once a month in spring and summer, usually before the festivals when her family and friends would come to stay.

After they had both retired, Jo and Bob (whose main home is near Tacoma)  spent almost all May through early September here.

In 2005, Allan became my co-gardener and has put in 11 years of helping out at Jo’s.

So today, we did the last fall clean up.  Jo likes the perennials clipped back to the ground every autumn.  With a sad feeling in my heart, I said goodbye.  (All these photos are from today unless otherwise indicated.)

Jo’s garden via Google Earth

Goodbye to the house and guest cottage, built in 1892. (guest cottage east wall)

Goodbye, raised bed rhododendrons in the driveway. Building this bed and transplanting these shrubs from the future flower garden was our first job at Jo’s garden in 1994.

Goodbye to the entry garden where we planted pink and red geraniums every May.

Jo spent a goodly amount at the Basket Case Greenhouse every spring for geraniums and other annuals for her window boxes and baskets and containers.

after planting the geraniums in May 2016

Jo on garden tour day 2013

Goodbye to the guest cottage.

an ensuite one bedroom haven for friends and family

Goodbye to the historic house and its spacious back deck.

Goodbye to the sheltered nook by the back door, great for taking shelter in a rain squall.

Goodbye to the rounded bench on the deck.

comfiest wooden bench ever

on garden tour day, July 2013

snow on the deck, December 2013 (Allan’s photo)

Jo left lots of garden art for the lucky new owners.

Jo once told me that she was not a good garden designer.  She was just wrong about that.  The whole garden was full of charming decorations.  I said to her at the time that the inside of the house, rich with quilts and embroidered samplers and family pictures, showed her good sense of design. (Over the years, she has given us three of her quilts.)

Goodbye to the center courtyard.

Goodbye to the center courtyard door, from which Jo often emerged to chat with us. Her sewing machine (she’s an avid quilter) was right inside.

goodbye to the clever courtyard drainage, created a couple of summers ago by one of Jo’s daughters or granddaughters.

Goodbye to the bird feeders, now holding only pine needles.

I hope the new owners will feed the birds.

Goodbye to the central courtyard white rambling rose, a start from a rose in Maxine’s garden.

Goodbye, stone garden cat.

Center courtyard, July 2013. We will miss Coco, too.

center courtyard, July 2016

the northwest garden, July 2016 (just west of the center courtyard)

Goodbye to the sun porch that wrapped all the way around the west side of the house.

Goodbye to the huge second lot, which I would have turned into more garden if only I could have bought this place.

Goodbye to the honeysuckle and clematis arbor just east of the central courtyard.

Goodbye to the northeast garden with its heart gate and narrow brick path.

By the metal gate. I wish this for the new owners.

Goodbye, tiny little spigots of the sprinkler system that were so easy to cut by accident.

Goodbye, little northeast garden bench.

northeast garden path, July 2013

the last sweeping of leaves out of the gate. Goodbye, little white gate.

Goodbye to the steep driveway that always caught our trailer hitch!

Goodbye, Jo’s garden.  Jo tells me she and Bob hope to buy a little cottage closer to Tacoma for a getaway.  I hope they find the perfect one and that their time there is as sweet as the summers in Long Beach.  I wouldn’t want to continue working this garden for anyone but Jo.  I’m so used to doing it Jo’s way.

Two favourite posts from the past about Jo’s garden:

on the garden tour in 2013 with photos of the entire garden at its summer best

the first post I ever wrote about Jo’s garden (2007)

The Josie’s Garden sign is still there.  I feel the same mix of happy memories and tears writing this as the sun and raindrops on this sign.

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18-19 October: fall clean up intensifies

Tuesday, 18 October 2016

I had suggested to Allan that putting double stick tape on his desk might keep Skooter off of it.  Skooter started to eat the tape when it stuck to his face.  Next, I suggested that cats don’t like foil.

Skooter sleeping on foil (Allan’s photo)

I don’t do much fall clean up in my own garden because I ascribe to the Ann Lovejoy school of thought of leaving most of the clean up for late winter and early spring.  I will clip bit by bit over the winter to reveal views and make space for the crocuses and snow drops to show.

That’s not what our clients like and understand, though.  We tidy up public gardens well because most passersby won’t feel comfortable with the wild and tangly brown and tan winter look.  We occupied ourselves with some fall clean up today as we wait for the rest of the bulbs to arrive later this week.

Nursery errands

On the way north, we picked up some bags of bulb food at The Planter Box.  Teresa told us that the greenhouse covers had held up well to the storm until one big gust suddenly ripped the plastic off two big greenhouses.

photo by The Planter Box

bulb food. We are ready. (Allan’s photo)

Corn stalks for decorating.

gnarly pumpkins

Next, we drove over to Sandridge Road to pick up just six violas from the Basket Case Greenhouse.

Darrell, one of the new Basket Case owners (Allan’s photo)

They still have loads of chrysanthemums at a very good price.  I think their official autumn hours are on Thursday through Sunday.

They did not get that gust of bad greenhouse-ripping wind.

Basket Case photo

We drove up Sandridge Road and across Joe Johns.  When I saw a strikingly colourful house, we simply had to go around the block….which meant about a mile around…to get a photo of it.

eye catching colour

telephoto

Allan pointed out that the license plate sign reads “Gro-Damit Nursery”!

I am intrigued.

(I asked on Facebook and learned this really is a nursery so will have to check it out next spring.)

Marilyn’s garden

The only client’s garden we have regularly left almost wild all winter was Marilyn’s.  I am sure the deer have appreciated plenty of soft, secret places to sleep.  This year, we are doing more clipping than usual because new owners are taking possession soon.  Just in case they are not gardeners,  and in case they don’t clip anything back in later winter, I want them to be able see their nice collection of narcissi next spring.  It feels strange that we won’t be planting more narcissi here this fall.

looking southwest from the street

An old dead tree had come down in the storm, not very big.  I had grown akebia on it so there was quite a tangle.  I sicced Allan on it.

before (Allan’s photos)

after; the akebia can smother the salmonberry on the property line.

looking south into autumn sunshine

Allan’s photo

looking north

looking west from the back porch

I hope the new folks will know that all those plants can be cut down in spring.

The neighbour’s sweet tabby likes the garden (of course) Allan’s photo

I think there might be one more visit, but this could have been our last trip to Marilyn’s…depending on when the sale closes.  Because I did not know, I did not get all verklempt about it.

Klipsan Beach Cottages

Allan cutting down the towering Thalictrum ‘Elin’. We want the stems for Halloween decorations.

autumn red blueberry leaves and Agapanthus seed heads

Thalictrum gone

backlit clematis

cutting floppy Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’

That sedum had been in heavy shade cast by the bay tree and roses that got cut back last week.

Allan tackled the Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’ that was behind the garden bench.

before (Allan’s photos)

during

after

Garden writer Christopher Lloyd would have appreciated Allan’s technique.  I recall reading of Christo criticizing a gardener who left sharp stem stubs that would stab a person’s fingers when buried in next year’s new growth.

On the other hand, it is supposed to be good for a certain kind of beneficial bee to leave hollow stem stubs for nesting places.

after more clipping

birdbath view

sign of all the rain we had: sandbags by the basement entrance

KBC helper Luis was burning the last of the pile of debris.

The Anchorage Cottages

When I looked at the weather forecast of rain tomorrow, I became anxious to get some of the fall clean up done at Jo’s.  It must be done by the end of this month.  So we did not stay long at The Anchorage.

center courtyard

A new deck in progress made me feel ok to leave the garden not quite perfect.

in the office courtyard

bee on a tattered dahlia (Allan’s photo)

Jo’s garden

We had two hours left to spend at Jo’s and we got a good start on the most severe fall clean up that we do anywhere.  Jo likes the garden cut completely to the ground and wants this done for the new owners.  I wondered if maybe they, like me, prefer more plants left standing in winter.  They can have their way next year.

looking in the gate.

entry garden, still not as clipped as I would do for Jo herself.

Shasta daisies before (Allan’s photo)

and after

northwest bed. Jo would like this. I could not bear to pull the blooming impatiens.

west bed before (Allan’s photo)

and after today’s efforts

Allan got partway down the west side, clipping daisies and asters and helianthus back hard.

We will be back; we did not get the center courtyard done.

I hope the new owners know that the plants are still in there and did not get taken away!  I swear all I took was a small start of the clumping purple aster.

Long Beach and Ilwaco

planting the violas in the Stormin’ Norman planter (the one we recently did over by removing scads of wire vine).  We chose violas of dark red and blue, the Stormin’ Norman colors.

that planter one month ago

We cleaned up the planters at Ilwaco city hall and hope to do more Ilwaco clean up later this week (and also hope to get Jo’s done before Bulb Time begins).

pulling tatty nasturtiums and cosmos at Ilwaco City Hall

Someone had made an autumnal potted flower display.

Tomorrow calls for rain and wind.  I hope it is another wrong weather forecast so that we can get back to Jo’s.

I am so excited that tonight we have a DVD of an adaptation of the Blandings books by PG Wodehouse.  I love the Blandings books even more than Jeeves and Wooster.

(Update:  It’s not nearly as good as the Jeeves and Wooster show with Fry and Laurie.)

Wednesday, 19 October 2016

Skooter has taken over Allan’s computer desk. A pile of boxes barricades him from going behind the monitor.

equal time for Frosty

Even though rain was predicted, we went back to finish Jo’s fall clean up so that it will be done before tomorrow, when bulb sorting time begins.

Just down the street, work is being done on the old historic fire station building.

On the way, we saw county commissioner candidate Fred Hill putting up a campaign sign.  We circled the block to see if he had smaller signs for people’s yards.

Allan’s photo

I did score a sign and we spoke of two issues that cemented my vote for him.

On Allan and I went to Jo’s to finish what we began yesterday.

Jo’s garden

Allan’s photos:

before

after

I hope the new owners don’t come in and say “Hey, someone took all our plants.”  The plants are still there and will return in spring.

west garden bed today

About to leave. It rained on us the whole time.

I have much more to say about this last time at Jo’s.  That will be tomorrow’s post.

Ilwaco

We picked up chicken salad sandwiches at Roots Java, Juice and Salad Bar

at Roots

Melissa, Roots owner

progress at the old fire station

Like us, these fellows had been working in the rain.

At home, I put up our new political sign.

I gathered up plastic milk crates from the greenhouse so they can dry in the garage to receive sorted bulbs.

The patio is still a post-storm obstacle course.

Roots chicken salad on flatbread (you can also get it on a croissant)

Tomorrow: a farewell to Jo’s garden.

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1995 (age 71):

Oct 18: Got my flu shot today.  Frost nipped the squash plants back by the apple tree.  I didn’t see any other frost damage.

Oct 19:  Spent 3+ hours in strawberry patch.  Made a new row of daughter plants.  Cleaned up the rows, trimming the plants and moving small plants into the rows.

1997 (age 73):

Oct 18:  I tried to put up the gadget to use to lower the baskets (in the house) but I don’t understand the directions so I’ll have to wait for Robert.  [Robert, my spouse at the time, and I were about to arrive for our yearly 4 day visit to help out with all sorts of chores and cleaning.]

1998 (age 74):

Oct 19:  What a waste.  A beautiful sunny warm day and I spent the day (again) peeling apples and tomatoes—3 dehydrator trays each plus some more applesauce.  It was cold during the night so I’ll put another blanket on the bed.  I pulled some apples down from the tree using my new rock rake.

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21-22 July: Long Beach and Ilwaco

I’m still playing catchup with some two day posts while I try to get to only five days behind instead of fifteen.

Thursday, 21 July 2016

lilies in our volunteer garden at the post office

I planted the three little gazanias.

Rudbeckia that Our Kathleen donated last year.

I asked Allan to photograph the Basket Case hanging baskets across the street in front of the museum (because they were on his side of the van).

Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum

Mike’s Garden

I had big plans to prune (or rather…have Allan prune) some of the climbing rose out of Mayor Mike’s beach pine today.  We ran out of time, though, because a couple of other jobs had suddenly joined the schedule.

NEXT week…I hope…we will thin out the rambling rose.

I had big plans to get Long Beach AND Ilwaco and the Port of Ilwaco gardens done today and have Friday through Monday off.  My first thought upon waking had been “Tomorrow off!”.  Two things happened to change that when I checked my email and Facebook.  1.  I found out about an art show that would take place in Coulter Park…which was a mess.  2. I found out for sure that the sale of Jo’s house had fallen through, and because we like Jo and Bob so much, I offered to keep working there after all, deadheading and grooming once a week while it is for sale…including going there today to check on the watering.

The Depot Restaurant

While we were doing our weekly watering and deadheading, a group of garden admirers came by to chat.  The daughter was studying zoo horticulture (including what not to feed to the animals), which made for an interesting and informative conversation on all sides.  The dierama (angel’s fishing rod) was a big hit.

north side of dining deck

lilies and helenium

more lilies

lots of deadheads on the cosmos now (Allan’s photos)

after deadheading

looking south

the front with barrels and window boxes by Nancy Aust of The Basket Case

Long Beach

the weekly grooming of the welcome sign

Cosmos ‘Happy Ring’ reseeded from last year

one weird flower on the echibeckia

both sides

and the back

I decided we had better check on the kite museum garden.

It is doing well this year!

Gift shop manager Patty has been keeping it watered and deadheading the cosmos, thus the prolific blooms.

Jo’s Garden

Here we were again at Jo’s garden, making it look fresh and nice for the realtor who would meet with Jo and Bob tomorrow.

after deadheading some spent gladiolas

I hope a gardener buys this place.

the center courtyard

Here is the real estate listing for this dream house and garden.

back to Long Beach

We started in Long Beach town again by working together to groom the City Hall and Veterans Field gardens.

poor li’l Crimson Pygmy barberry had gotten smashed.

It used to look nice like this one.

Someone had left a rock in the flag pavilion, we think in memory of a loved one. (Allan’s photo)

Then Allan and I parted ways.  While I watered all the planters, Allan tackled Coulter Park.  It had not been done for awhile, and Friday and Saturday (July 22-23), the Peninsula Art Association would be having an art sale in the old train depot building there.  It took Allan three or four hours to undo the tangles of bindweed and salmonberry which is creeping under the fence from the north.  I’ve gotten so fed up with the situation, and especially with clipping salmonberry out from the canes of a row of thorny roses, that I’ve somewhat given up.  Fortunately, Allan is made of sterner stuff.

before and after

the horror of bindweed

before

after

the painful rose nightmare…rose and salmonberry roots intermingled, with plenty of thorns on both, topped with bindweed and birdsfoot trefoil

after (the salmonberry roots are still all entwined with the roses; you can see salmonberry taller than the fence, behind)

looks nice for the art show patrons.  A monster salmonberry looms on the other side.

Meanwhile, I watered planters and did a bit of deadheading in Fifth Street Park.

Sanguisorba in Fifth Street Park

white tigridia

I collect snails from the planters and, because I don’t like to kill them, I deposit them in a couple of empty lots along my route.  There was an odd moment, when I saw this one trying to leave the bucket, that I felt for one second like it was my pet, like a dog or a cat.

a strange moment indeed

sweet pea success in one of the planters (with a tower that holds a business name sign)

edging carpet of golden thyme

pizazz in miniature

parsley

agastache and parsley

Fun Rides

Not only do I like the new paint job on Fun Rides, but the new owners are playing much better carousel music.  Instead of the same carny tune over and over, I’ve heard carnivalized versions of YMCA, Heart of Glass, and several more pop/disco songs that make me happy.

Allan got done with Coulter Park in time to water four of the planters.

a stunning cosmos…like ‘Seashells’ but fluffier.   (Allan’s photo)

We quite simply could not get to Ilwaco, sadly, so our Friday off slipped through our fingers.  I did not feel we could have gotten done even had we worked a ten hour day.  For awhile, I felt rather glum, then reminded myself that an all Ilwaco day is not such a hard thing.

Friday, 22 July 2016

I wanted to stay home with my Smokey.

post office garden

Port of Ilwaco

Because some rain had fallen overnight, I deluded myself into thinking we wouldn’t have to water.  I was wrong.  We realized immediately upon arrival at the boatyard that the garden had not been moistened enough by the light rain.  I weeded while Allan watered.

a boat going out

I overheard the boat owners saying it was going to be windy this weekend.  I hoped that just meant out on the water.  One said to a friend that the boat was “so smooth you could do brain surgery while crossing the bar.”

looks like bad invasive purple loosestrife has blown in from somewhere, down where I can’t get at it.

about 1/5 of the boatyard garden, looking south

sweet pea success

I then hoped we would not have to water the Howerton Ave. curbside gardens.  So wrong.  We ended up watering almost all of them.

a little bird in the garden at Time Enough Books

watering the most parched west end garden bed

Gaura ‘Whirling Butterfly’ (Allan’s photo)

Eryngium (sea holly) (Allan’s photo)

grateful plants (Allan’s photo)

snaking hoses a long way from the dock (Allan’s photo)

Eryngium ‘Sapphire Blue’ is fading to tan (Allan’s photo)

Pokemon Go players (Allan’s photo)

still clear water today

a different and prettier bindweed on the bank of the marina

Memorial plaques are set into the lawn at the marina. (Allan’s photo)

Allan found the obituary of the father of the family, whose plaque is on the right.  Let’s take a moment to remember these local fishing folk.  We are always aware here that the commercial fisherfolk are a brave and hardy clan.

A light mist for about ten minutes was not enough to let us stop watering.  The water is still not on at the former Wade Gallery garden bed (which we had planted up all nice for the previous owners) so we are still bucket watering it (or rather, Allan is).

before the bucket watering, which is never enough: Even the Eryngium is suffering from lack of water.

Penstemon longing for a good dose of hose water.  So frustrating.

I walked the whole length of Howerton weeding the beds.

the “drive over garden” shows the difference when we can reach a garden with hose water.

blue catananche at the east end

Both Allan and I had noticed that ‘Sapphire Blue’ is going tan.

Allan finished the workday by watering the Ilwaco street trees and planters with the water trailer while I went home and watered our own garden.  Then, our weekly meeting of the North Beach Garden Gang.  (It had been delayed one day because of a Melissa excursion to Portland on Thursday.)  We had time on the way to visit the last half an hour of the PAA art show and chat with our friend Bayside Debbie.

Debbie and her really cool jewelry

The Cove Restaurant

sedums in Sondra’s garden outside (Allan’s photo)

caesar salad (Allan’s photo)

ahi tuna

prime rib (a Friday night offering) for Dave and Mel (Allan’s photo)

and a very chocolatey dessert (Allan’s photo)

lemon mascarpone cheesecake, and our dear server Lynn treated us to our desserts.

At last we had come to our three day rather than four day weekend, with plans for boating, gardening, and some time touring one of our favourite local gardens with friends.

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Ginger’s Garden Diaries

from my mother’s garden diaries of two decades ago

1997 (age 73):

July 21: 10:30-5:00! COOLER  Picked berries, barely enough for one breakfast.  I planned to mulch and cage the tomatoes but ended up weeding, deadheading, and watering the flower beds in upper driveway and tam area.  I pulled gobs of the perennial geranium plants that are everywhere.  Did some weeding in front “ditch” but didn’t get done so I quit working at 5:00.

July 22:  Store and errands day.  Paid electric bill, Tim’s, Payless and Stock Market.  Which is being redone by new owners (QFC) so it’s very difficult finding items.

1998 (age 74):

July 21:  I put out all my quart mayo jars to recycle.  I’ll keep all the pints.  I can use mayo pints for tomatoes.  I called Foremost Insurance Co.  They will send an agent to check damage in bathroom floor—in 3 or 4 days.  [She was getting her home ready to sell so she could move to Long Beach.]

July 22:  TOO HOT  90 degrees.  The agent called at 9:00 AM.  She will come tomorrow at 1:00.  I worked all day going over my house plants.  I repotted several, threw some out, and put the plants back in the Floralight.  I picked berries at 5:30 still hot—not many because of the heat.  I watered from 7:00 to 9:00—then showered and quit for the day.

 

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11 July: goodbye to Jo’s garden

Monday, 11 July 2016

Today would be our last workday in Jo’s garden.  I picked a bouquet to take to her (and added two Allium albopilosum after Allan took this photo).

at home, the bouquet

Allan’s photo: Our planter at the Ilwaco post office

post office planter and someone playing Pokemon Go.

Jo’s garden

Jo and Bob have sold their house to a beloved niece who has always dreamed of having a cottage like her aunt Jo’s.  Now she has that very cottage.

I started working for Jo’s mother, Maxine, in 1993.  In ’94, I helped with re-make of Jo’s garden from rhododenrons and bark to a cottage garden.  The garden became my most longterm continuous job and a place of beauty that has been on the local garden tour twice.  When I started working for Jo, she was one year younger than the age I am now and had realized she could not entirely keep up the garden by herself.  Thus I feel that at my age it is a good thing to let one more garden go, and I have recommended that Sea Star Gardening (Dave and Melissa) become the gardeners there if new jobbing gardeners are desired.  (If they do, I will revisit the garden occasionally.)

saying goodbye to my dear friend Coco. (Allan’s photo)

garter snake and horsetail (Allan’s photo)

When we had finished the “spiffying up” of the garden today, I took a last set of photos of Jo’s own garden which will pass to its new owner later today.

Entry. Amazingly, these geraniums (always alternating pink and red and edged with white alyssum) have thrived every year in full shade….

…as does this window box on the north wall of the tiny guest cottage.

Entry garden was blown about by Saturday’s wind.

I’m glad Jo got to see the glads blooming that she bought and had me plant this spring. My mom loved them, too. She donated some to me for Golden Sands but I did not get to see them bloom there.

entry patio

Every year Jo bought impatiens to go under the rhodie.

east wall of the house

gate to northeast garden bed, with agapanthus

northeast bed

planting nook by the entry patio

Middle patio. Container on gate, left, by Nancy Aust of Basket Case Greenhouse.

Jo always said the Persicaria ‘Firetail’ did not have enough “bang for the buck”. We agreed Kathy, the new owner, might like it better than Jo does. (It is a favourite of mine because I like spikes.)

north wall of house, under the kitchen window, wall hanging container by Nancy Aust of Basket Case Greenhouse.

northwest garden

Allan said “We won’t have to deadhead the daisies this year!” and later Jo said the same thing.

west garden

west garden

monkshood in west garden; Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’, Strobilanthes atropurpureus and asters will bloom later.

looking back.  That area to the right had columbines and bellflowers earlier in spring.

Jo her ownself.

Our Jo.

I was in control of my emotions and only felt small pangs.  However, the next day, writing this and looking at the photos I am all verklempt.

Long Beach

We did some weeding on the Bolstadt Beach Approach and then addressed the horrible center parking lot berm east of town.

before, a miserable thing.

after some weeding and some string trimming, I am calling it good enough and will erase it from the work board.

Allan had hacked out this difficult area:

before

after.  “Good enough!” sez I.

Across the parking lot: The owners of Stormin’ Norman’s Kite Shop, Castaways Grille and more have bought the fun rides and are fixing them up.

The ferris wheel that has been defunct for years is getting repairs!

The cutest fun ride I have ever seen has appeared in the parking lot.

“Needs a lot of work”

wish I could fit in this rocket ship!

the little fish fun ride (Allan’s photo)

ferris wheel parts (Allan’s photo)

When we went to dump our debris at city works, a dump truck came in twice from a big remodel project at a nearby playing field.  I was impressed at the driver’s skill in what looked like a huge Tonka truck.

driver’s helper

We took a bucket of mulch back out to the beach approach to fix a planter that had been severely hit by finger blight.

One side of the planters is like this.Soil tucked in where someone tried to pry up a sea thrift in the corner. (Allan’s photo)

The other side with new soil. It been completely finger blighted so that the soil was low and the underlying fabric showed around the edges. It will remain empty for now because I am sick of the continuing thefts.

A new heuchera at city hall had been trampled flat so I had to cut it back. (Allan’s photo)

Ilwaco

We weeded for an hour at the community building.

Why I loathe salal in the garden; this root was in a rhodendron’s space.

glorious Allium flavum

We needed to get a Depot gift certificate for Jacob and Maddy, which I had promised for their moving of the heavy fence pieces from the museum to our place.  (They would have done it for free, but I believe in paying.)  This was a good excuse for Allan and I to have a comforting dinner at…

The Depot Restaurant

I had a look at the dining deck.  The grasses will give even more enclosure next year.

Depot deck has southeast exposure.

delicious Baja salad (Allan’s photo)

clam chowder (Allan’s photo)

salmon with chantarelle sauce

We sat at the counter with this view.

The comfort food was comforting indeed.

The dierama is temporarily interfering with parking. I hope folks don’t mind. This driver has given it space.

the garden behind parked cars

Tomorrow, we will take the day off because it is the planned day for fence panel delivery and I have plans to do more weeding at home.

a comforting sight: The work board tonight.

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Ginger’s Garden Diaries

from my mother’s diaries of two decades ago

1995 (age 72):

July 11:  Cut off the leaves from tulip tree branches.  Got a box full of “twigs” for stove.  There are a few branches that need to be chopped up.  I had to go to Jayhawks for cat litter.  I got out of the driveway ok on first try.

1997 (age 73):

July 11: Picked berries.

1998 (age 74):

July 11:  11:00 – 4:30 WITH TABBY  Tabby didn’t want to come out but seemed to like being out.  She was laying down in the strawberries and then in the tomatoes.  I had to move her when she got into the area where there is old slug bait.  Later on she got spooked by something so I brought her in.  She ran under the bed with the chain following.  I finished planting some tomatoes that didn’t get planted last week.

 

 

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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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20 May: last planting time jobs

Friday, 20 May 2016

I awoke after five hours of sleep, thought briefly about the lost Golden Sands garden, and went back to sleep for two more hours.  The cycle of sleepless stress is finally broken.

Before work, Allan helped me place my mother’s birdbath in the front garden.  It will make a fine view from my writing desk.

Allan’s photo: Two round marks in the center are from yellow duckies that sat in the birdbath at Golden Sands…where it was only filled with water on the days we worked there, or by rain.

I found decorative glass pieces to put on those spots.

Mom’s birdbath under the Tetrapanax ‘Steroidal Giant’, from the window

On the front gate, we found a treasure:

Allan’s photo

Later, an email revealed it was from Patti of the Seaview garden.  She’d also given us some cool rusty stuff earlier in the week after Melissa’s birthday party.

rust from Patti (Allan’s photo)

At the library, I had a book to pick up: an interlibrary loan of book 4 of the Cazalet Chronicle.  We did some weeding along the sidewalk while we were there and I cast a stern eye on the clump of salal that wants to run to the right and interfere with the rhododendron.

I am sure its horrid roots are firmly entrenched under the sidewalk.  I want it gone.

I placed the Geranium ‘Rozanne’ (rescued from mowing in the Golden Sands lawn) atop the wall  and Allan planted it.  The ones that had not been mowed flat, he cut back hard to avoid them looking wilty to passersby.

placing Rozanne at the Community Building

Allan’s photo, a planting place for Rozanne

pulling bindweed

Long Beach

the welcome sign

after pulling some horsetail

Next on the Long Beach town list: weeding the big pop out.

It was a pleasantly cool day for comfy clothes.

after…just a little better. The rugosa roses are rambunctious. I regret planting them here.

We checked on all the planters on the Bolstad approach.  A Mental Health Walk was planned along there for Saturday, sponsored by NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness).

lots of sand in planters closest to the beach due to recent winds (Allan’s photo)

beach sand and verbascum (Allan’s photo)

This darling little dog was ignoring his guardian.  He came to us and Allan nabbed him and carried him back to her.

little dog on the loose (Allan’s photo)

I found some of the usual theft (which is one reason why the beach approach planters are especially challenging, the others being sand, salt, drought and wind).

one side: nice little golden thyme tucked in on the edge under the catmint

other side: matching thyme is gone, and the catmint is a small division to replace one that was stolen earlier.

Someone treats these planters as their own personal nursery of free plants.  I put golden thyme back on the shopping list, hoping the Basket Case still had some of the same cultivar.

Allan weeding

big footprints in the sand

a bit of weeding on the beach approach ground level

I realized with glee that our weeding job earlier this spring had been so effective that we could probably touch up the entire beach approach garden in just one day.  Soon, I hope.

rugosa roses

view looking east

the fairy door some good fairy added to a planter

am thrilled to see some of the poppy seeds that I planted have germinated

How beautiful thyme is when it is left alone to establish rather than being swiped.

To my delight, I found another fairy door in the garden.

telephoto so as not to disturb the occupants

rugosa roses that were cut back to the ground not long ago

reminder to self while parked near city hall: must remember to weed that tatty garden of not much up ahead on the corner

Jo’s Garden

We planted a plethora of painted sage in Jo’s garden.

Jo’s center courtyard

center courtyard daylily

northwest garden bed

The center of the shasta daisy patch is lower than the edges.  I think it because the Cow Wow! mulch got spread more thickly along the edge.

Plants respond to Cow Wow.  The center is lower.  Phlox is along the fence.

west garden bed

north side of house, looking east

center courtyard

guest cottage

painted sage (Salvia viridis) added to entry garden

salvias planting before (Allan’s photos)

and after

With all this planting of salvia viridis going on, I had better show new readers what it looks like:

Salvia viridis

I was relieved to see that the entry garden had begun to grow out of a mysterious problem of repeatedly dying foliage.  Jo was not at home till later today, but she texted me that she had figured it out.  She had sprayed with that anti-mosquito recipe that has been making the rounds on Facebook, with ingredients including mouthwash and epsom salts.  In the areas she sprayed, the plant leaves were burned.  Mystery solved!  Beware of where you spray that recipe (and note that Google will tell you it’s not very effective, anyway).

The big Annuals Planting Time is officially over for work, leaving only the rest of my annuals planting at home.

Basket Case Greenhouse

We couriered the cheque for plants from Long Beach over to the Basket Case Greenhouse.

in the perennial house

Geranium ‘Orion’, supposed to be even better than ‘Rozanne’

I recommend these echibeckias for long season of colour, even though they were not hardy for me. I was going to plant eight of them at Golden Sands! OH WELL!

With all the salvias out of the van, I actually had room to buy my two hanging baskets!

perusing the Blooming availability list, and remembering (finally) two hens and chickens for Diane’s little planter

I did get one golden thyme, then ran out of steam to go back to the beach approach and plant it.

World Kite Museum

We added Gardner and Bloome Soil Building Compost to improve the garden.

It takes an effort to get the tightly compacted mulch out of the bale.

Our friend Patty, the museum store manager and official Garden Waterer, came out to admire.

Ilwaco

In order to not have to water on Sunday, we drove around to all the Ilwaco planters and added just enough water to make them happy, without getting out the water trailer or the usual 20 buckets for bucket watering.  Thanks to rain this past week, they each needed just an empty Costco sized mixed nuts jar dipper full of water.

freshly planted not long ago

I did not plant any nasturtium seeds in the planters this year because last year, the deer feasted on them.

By the boatyard garden: someone had picked a bouquet and then abandoned it in a planter…which is not the meaning of the signs that read “please leave the flowers for everyone to enjoy”!

boatyard garden, looking south

north fence…once upon a time I had a garden along here, too.  It got dug up when new utility lines were installed.

east: the leaning tree garden and one little planter

center: Eryngium ‘Sapphire Blue’

south end of boatyard garden

Salt Pub

After a brief time at home, I went out again to meet Our Kathleen for dinner at Salt Pub.  Allan stayed home because he was loading up his boat for a sailing adventure in Portland tomorrow.

Salt Hotel and Skookum Surf (surfing lessons)

I had just had time to pick a bouquet, something I try to do weekly for Salt because I value the place highly.

my delicious chili

Kathleen’s nachos

We had the baked to order cookie with ice cream for dessert; so good, and the end of such an eventful work week, that I forgot to take a photo.  We had been so deep in conversation that I had not even photographed the view of the port.

the moon over Salt after dinner

later, on my lap: Smokey and Frosty

Now for two days off in my garden.  I have a desire to not leave my property even for the Saturday Market.  Meanwhile, Allan will be off on a Saturday adventure.

Ginger’s Garden Diaries

from my  mother’s garden diaries of two decades ago

1995 (age 71):

May 20:  1:00-7:40 with time out to eat.  HOT  Spent almost all afternoon planting flower seed (finally).  I love doing this job outside so it doesn’t matter if I’m sloppy.  Then I spent the evening sorting my seeds into: Do now, do next, do later i.e. plant in fall, winter, etc.

1997 (age 73):

May 20:  ?-5:30  Dahlias were my #1 job for today but it was raining.  It cleared up in early afternoon so I went out and got all the dahlias planted!  Then I started pulling the bedraggled forget me nots, the yellow invasive plants and sweet woodruff.  I am going to plant some seeds in front to see how they do.

1998 (age 74):

May 20: cool-rainy.  I had the blahs today.  I really didn’t want to go out but I did around 2:00.  I potted some tomatoes and needed more room in the greenhouse so I dragged the “window box” begonias out.  (Don’t ask me how I managed that.)  I replaced the tubs of tulips with the begonia boxes.  Then it started raining.  I also moved several trays of tomatoes to the greenhouse to be repotted (maybe tomorrow).

 

 

 

 

 

 

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10 May: back to Jo’s, eventually

Tuesday, 10 May 2016

In the wee hours, just  before sleep time,  I started thinking about the recent job debacle, when a new temporary manager of a place thought our courtyard cottage garden was “trashy”, and it sunk in that a staff member had suggested I bid on doing the job that I had turned from weeds and scrub into a garden and had been doing for over 6 years.  (She was trying to help; the temporary manager did not even bother to contact me before bringing in other people to bid.) All sleep fled till I took a benadryl.  (I wish Melatonin worked for me; it does not.)  I’ve been swearing off benadryl because of a scary study (inconclusively) linking it to Alzheimer’s. Lack of enough sleep made the sorting and loading of plants in the morning a matter of intense concentration.

breakfast: eggs from Garden Tour Nancy’s chickens

at the Ilwaco post office

Long Beach

The big plan for the day was to finish planting the “uppies” in the Long Beach planters that we did not get to yesterday, and pick up Jo’s cosmos and painted sage and get over to Jo’s to plant in good time.

Some agastaches (this year’s uppie!) ready to plant in Lewis and Clark Square

In the big Lewis and Clark Square planter, orangey-peachy agastaches will echo the colour of the Kabob Cottage behind the square, I hope.

Kabob Cottage earlier this spring

Four new perennials went into the Vet Field corner.  Helenium ‘Chelsey’ (red) and Lobelia laxiflora..  I need more of something along the front edge by the flag pole.

Vet field looking south; am thrilled no one is bothering the alliums

Planter Box

Long Beach took so much longer than I thought it would that we did not get to The Planter Box till almost two.

the main greenhouse

Today was the day we began picking up cosmos six packs.  The painted sage is not quite rooted enough so we will plant them on another go-round next week.

(By the way…three days later….we have picked up all we need and the Planter Box still has some left for sale.)

coleus ( a plant I’d get for myself if I weren’t too busy to nurture it)

Teresa and I admiring the Marble Arch sage; healthy but not quite big enough yet.

Basket Case Greenhouse

collecting some more annuals from the back greenhouse

rearview mirror of the van (Allan’s photo)

Jo’s garden

We did not get to Jo’s till after three and worked on cosmos planting, along with six choice Heleniums, for two hours.

cosmos going in (Allan’s photo)

Siberian iris (Allan’s photo)

honeysuckle (Allan’s photo)

 

just one area at Jo’s where we planted cosmos today

roses

Allan’s photo

and more roses

cottage window box (Allan’s photo)

neighbor dog visiting (Allan’s photo)

Long Beach welcome sign

We collected some buckets of soil from our pile at the city works yard to fluff up the sign garden. By 5:30, we were adding Cosmos ‘Sonata’ to the front and back of the welcome sign, along with four Agyranthemum ‘Butterfly” to the front.  I had debated about the latter, as it is a pain to deadhead.   Its bright yellow is perfect, though, for drawing the eye to the sign.

Todd stopped by to inform us that we rock.  He noticed the bidens along the front (a yellow trailing annual) and said it is a weed in North Carolina.   We agreed that its seeds are like painful little needles.

I was probably orating about the number of plants…

Allan’s photo, soil added to the back of the sign

front

back

My big plan was to finish the day by planting cosmos in the garden boat at Time Enough Books and watering the curbside gardens there and by the port office, while Allan watered the Ilwaco planters, and then sort more plants at home.  Even though it was only 6:30 when we finished the welcome sign, I simply could not find the oomph to do another planting job.  It was good thing that I went home instead and got to sorting as that task (including making lists on a clipboard) took until dark.  Somehow Allan found the strength to get the Ilwaco planters and street trees watered.

Tomorrow would be our day to return to the job that was on shaky ground, along with two longtime jobs, with cosmos in tow to plant at each one.

from a few days ago: Calvin on the quilt that Jo gave to me

1995 (age 71):

May 10:  Pulled broccoli plants that had gone to seed.  They are to be shredded.  Potted the rest of tomato seedlings in greenhouse.

 

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3 May: planting at Jo’s

Tuesday, 3 May 2016

The work board just underwent a big change.

as it was

as it is now, entering planting time

The cosmos will be planted after Mother’s Day; some of the other plants can go in now.

Smokey attends to my breakfast plate.

Smokey attends to my breakfast plate. (Allan’s photo)

post office garden

Jo’s garden

Fred had delivered Jo’s large purchase this morning and it awaited us.

flats all line up

Jo gave me a beautiful floral quilt, with roses.

Jo and I survey the work to be done.

I have now been working for Jo for 21 years.  When she hired me, she was a year younger than the age I am now.

placing some plants in the northwest bed

supervisor (Allan’s photo)

Allan’s photo

more plants lined up (Allan’s photo)

all in (Allan’s photo; he always plants this area)

I thought I saw Allan taking photos of our friend Coco, the King Charles Spaniel.  I was mistaken and wish I had taken one myself. Oops.  Coco was especially interested in the squirrel.

I walked around after the four and half hour planting session and took some photos of the results.

looking in the east gate

by the deck

from The Basket Case, already planted

Some of Jo’s favourite snapdragons went in here.  We’ll plant cosmos soon.

middle courtyard

Siberian iris

northwest bed from middle courtyard

northwest bed

west bed

Siberian iris

looking back

We’ll return in a week with lots of cosmos and some more special perennials.

Long Beach

I found out today that the planters in Long Beach that were going to be dug up, now are not, at least not till next fall.  We had time to go to city works, get the last two buckets of our soil from our pile and fill up the one that had been partially dug a couple of months ago. It is a relief that the digging is postponed.

I had an ornamental grass and some euphorbia starts to pop into one of the parking lots berms.  After pleasant weather at Jo’s, an icy cold wind had risen and I was glad we just had a small amount of work left to do today.

corner garden, Veterans Field

a pleasing show of alliums

south parking lot berm with kniphofia from my mom’s old garden

at home

I had a quick walk round the garden.

Eleagnus ‘Quicksilver’

covered in little yellow flowers

with intoxicating fragrance

in Allan’s garden

by the greenhouse, Eccremocarpus scaber came through the winter.

Clematis, mostly blooming on the other side of the fence!

more clematis blooming on Jared and Jessika’s side.

Smokey did not want me to go out again.

However, we had a plan for the early evening.

Salt Hotel Pub

“Learn about the early origins of the United States Coast Guard with Stephen Wood, Interpretive Specialist at Cape Disappointment, Washington State Park, as he presents a Salty Talks presentation, ‘Storm Warriors: the United States Life-Saving Service’. With historical photos and anecdotes, this program will provide a glimpse into the lives of “surfmen” as they served at the Cape Disappointment and Klipsan Beach Life-Saving Stations. This Salty Talks presentation will take place upstairs at the Salt Pub, Tuesday, May 3rd at 6:30pm. The event is free and open to the public. Come early or stay late for a bite and a brew.”

at Salt Hotel Pub (Allan’s photo)

view from our table:  The Coast Guard station, and before that some of the Life Saving Service, is located at the base of that wooded bluff.

Allan’s photo

dinner

Betsy Millard, director of Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum, announcing upcoming exhibits  (Allan’s photo)

Stephen Wood  (Allan’s photo)

In the opening remarks, Stephen Wood praised Julez and Laila for the amazing job they have done with this old hotel.

and a full house for the fascinating historical talk

Ilwaco Beach is now known as Klipsan Beach.  Fort Canby is now known as Cape Disappointment State Park (but we oldtimers still call it Fort Canby sometimes).

Allan says the semaphore is spelling out the word “Guards”.

We left just at the end, before the questions, because it takes me a long time to go down the stairs backwards.

Tomorrow, cold 30 MPH wind is predicted and it would be mighty tempting to stay home and read.  Surely no plants want to be planted in such miserable weather.

1998 (age 74):

May 3:  I actually did some plant work today.  I started checking my violets after watching 3 basketball games.  I  cut back several plants (now I have about 50 leaves to root).  I repotted 3 trays of violets.  I even worked after the 11:00 news.  I wasn’t sleepy so I potted till 1:00.

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19 March: from soup to mulch

Saturday, 19 March 2016

I would rather have stayed home and sorted photos of Mary the cat.  (In fact, as our regular readers know, I did do the sorting and posting over the next couple of days.) However good weather, a charitable event, and work called.

Empty Bowls

Local potter Karen Brownlee devoted weeks of energy to this event, organizing, helping with the making of the bowls, and publicizing.

We got there at 10:45 to get a good chance at the bowls I’d seen on Facebook!

(Don’t anyone tell the little ones, but I always go for a bowl by a grown up potter!)

There was a plug for the quilt show in the window…we still hadn’t made it to the quilts.  (Allan’s photo)

crowds gather around the bowls

Our Kathleen arrived shortly after us.

Allan’s photo

Allan’s first choice was the large tan bowl on the left. Our Kathleen also had an eye for its functional beauty and nabbed it later. He went for an octopus design.

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

our friend Robbie and her bowls

Robbie had been holding her bowls right in front, but moved them when I said they looked like a reverse coconut bra.

live entertainment

an assortment of soups on offer

Allan’s photo

My very favourite soup, smokey tomato and bleu cheese from the 42nd Street Café, was one of the options.

Robbie’s bowls

Allan’s and my bowls (later at home)

Allan’s photo

Robbie’s photo: me and Our Kathleen.  (You eat out of plain bowls, not the ones you buy.)

Then, without lingering quite as long as we would have liked, Allan and I left for the Planter Box to get some mulch for Jo’s garden.

On the way north, we stopped for photos when we saw that the Long Beach carousel  being assembled for the season.

Allan’s photo

Installing the fabric roof in the wind

in a planter across the street (Allan’s photo)

The Planter Box

Our goal was the dairy manure mulch, now known by a zippy new name:

Cow WOW!

Raymond loads our little trailer

While Allan reloaded the buckets and wheelbarrow, I took some plant photos for the Planter Box Facebook page.

heucheras

epimediums

double primroses pink…

…and white

an early blooming white clematis that I acquired for myself a coulpe of years ago

Jo’s garden

trailer load, one yard of Cow WOW

At Jo’s, the mulch has to be bucketed into the garden because of a few steps at the east end and just one step at the west end.

ahead: the steps

entry bed, mulched

and the shade bed

and the bed by the east deck

back to the Planter Box

Last year, we scraped the bottom of the cow mulch pile and were only able to apply one yard.  This year, the lavish pile allowed us to return to get a second yard to make the garden extra fluffy.

Planter Box: The Next Generation

Allan’s photo

second load

white bleeding heart

calceolaria

some poppy plants for Jo (Allan’s photo)

back to Jo’s

This time we parked at the end of the west lawn and Allan wheelbarrowed the buckets up three at a time.

It’s a long way.

I did the dumping and spreading of mulch.  I am thankful to report that the Really Bad leg pain of a few days ago went back to just the ordinary amount…thank goodness.

the west end entry step

One could put a ramp on that little step.  However, the brick paths are narrow and the garden full of plants, making it actually easier to bucket.

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

center courtyard mulched

Allan’s photos: Jo’s sword fern yesterday…

and today

northwest bed mulched

NW corner

west bed, where we ran out last year, nicely mulched

Ilwaco

On the way home, we drove by the Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum and I remembered I had wanted to pull the chickweed from one of their planters before the quilt show, which had started yesterday.  Kitty Mary’s death had changed our plan to attend the quilt show on Friday and I had forgotten the weed.  We don’t take care of those two planters; the chickweed just bugs me.

museum planter, before

after

While weeding here, I had a brainstorm.  The small amount of mulch we had left would be just perfect to mulch our volunteer garden at the Ilwaco Post Office, so with a slight sense of reluctance I decided to donate it to that good cause instead of applying it to a few needy plants at home.

leftover mulch (Allan’s photo)

after??

In taking the after photo, I had another brainstorm: Those two grasses have seen their last good days and have to go!  So out they came.  You can see to the far left that they have made some nice new starts.

the new after

Maddeningly, I thought of removing the grasses after using up all the mulch so had none to nicely fill in the empty spot.

post office looking more colorful

at home: akebia blooming

We had time to rest for a short while and then turned around to meet Our Kathleen for dinner at Salt Pub on the waterfront.

‘Twas a belated birthday occasion as Kathleen was in her workaday world on my birthday.  (Allan’s photo)

She gave me a fabulous plant, knowing I love green flowers:

Hellebore ‘Jade Dragon’..or is it ‘Jade Tiger’?  It’s outside in the dark as I write this.

I had a much needed Gibson

Todd’s birthday flowers from Thursday are still looking fine

flowers, Laila, and Annika

the work board with all the spring clean up done except for Long Beach!

which did not last long, because Penttila’s chapel (misspelled on the board) emailed back that they would love a spring garden cleanup.

Guest photos:

Nancy Gorshe sent me this photo of my friend Scooter in Marilyn’s (her mom’s) garden

from Todd Wiegardt:  Ipheion ‘Albert Costillo’

Ginger’s Garden Diaries

from my mother’s garden diaries of two decades ago

1998 (age 73):

March 19th:  Beautiful day.  I took Tabby to the vet to get her booster shot and nail clipping.  I didn’t get outside but got started on seed planting.  I got the ones planted that had to be put in the shop refrig.  I got labels to make for tomatoes but if it’s as nice outside I’ll work in the garden tomorrow.

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4 Nov: more fall clean up

Wednesday, 4 November 2015

My Martha Stewart moment:  Red twig dogwood arranged in a bucket of sand on the table.  In the corner, the book recommendation pamphlets that I get from Time Enough Books, in case I run out of winter reading.

It is unlikely that I will, because the Susan Conant Dog Lover’s Mysteries often mention books, and I now have a stack of Elinor Lipmans from the library along with two new Stephen McCauleys (and I had to look up and read an e.e. cummings poem because of this passage:

from Brute Strength by Susan Conant

Jo’s Garden

We returned to Jo’s garden to finish the last of the fall clean up there.

We didn’t get the Japanese anemones cut back yesterday….

We did today.

Allan’s photo, before

Allan’s photo, after

We cheated and Allan sawed an azalea flush to the ground that I know Jo wanted dug out.  It was so close to the Japanese maple and some rocks.  I think the sawing will work.  If the azalea comes back, as it well might, we will clip it.

Allan’s photo, before (featuring a horsetail that is about to be yanked)

Allan’s photo, after (the stump is buried under the leaves)

The maple shows well now.

I broke off some dead twigs after taking this photo.

more weeding done here

1:17 PM yesterday

today

I planted some elephant garlic bulbs, because Jo likes them, and remembered how tedious it can be to plant bulb after bulb after bulb after bulb.

To continue the scintillating befores and afters of fall clean up:

Golden Sands Assisted Living

Unlike Jo’s garden, we are not asked by anyone to do a complete flat-top cut on the Golden Sands courtyard garden.  We did not have time to clip everything I wanted to, and we left some things with seedheads standing for the birds.  We also left the cosmos to stand for at least a couple more weeks for the last of the flowers and because birds love the seeds.

Look how tall this Cosmos ‘Sensation’ got. Ridiculous! (and he’s 6″8″)

preposterously tall cosmos. I’m 5’5 1/2 “

NW quadrant, before (1:45 PM)

after: 4:36 PM

SE quadrant, 1:45 PM

Allan’s photo: Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’

Allan’s photo, after

4:36 PM

SE quadrant, 1:45 PM

Allan’s photo, before

Allan’s photo, after

4:36 PM

NE quadrant, 1:45 PM

Allan’s photo: Solidago ‘Fireworks’

(I would have left the ‘Fireworks’ goldenrod standing for bird seeds.  Allan made a different decision.)

Allan’s photo, after, with pineapple sage

4:36 PM (I was apparently too tired to hold the camera steady)

one of six heaping wheelbarrow loads of debris being transported down the haulway carefully past the staff member with the vacuum. (Allan’s photo)

the dining room windows

Residents were gathering in the dining room as we took out our last load of debris.

The Cove Restaurant

No, it’s not our usual Thursday dinner.  We had scheduled our weekly meeting of the North Beach Garden Gang to Wednesday as it was going to be the monthly sushi night.  The sushi guest chef had a medical emergency and sushi was canceled.  We did not mind, as all of Chef Jason’s dinners are delicious.  Since the bulbs are due to arrive tomorrow, it was good to have dinner tonight; tomorrow, I will be in Bulb Hell…er, I mean, sorting bulbs.

Last night chef Jason had competed in Iron Chef Goes Coastal down in Seaside, Oregon.  We had been too tired to go…

Chef Jason Lancaster: photo by Jenna Lanette Austin

photo perhaps by Mariah Jewel: We do know that Jenna designed the table arrangement for the Cove.  Carmen and Wendy arranging desserts. Jason at right.

I felt happy for Jason when I learned that he had come in second in the people’s choice award, and felt really sorry Allan and I had not gone, because Jason lost first place by one vote.  With us there, he would have won by a vote.  A couple of folks at the bar tonight said they wished they had gone, and if they had, he would have won by THREE votes.  Either way, being in second means that next year he will be able to take the stage for the big contest for Iron Chef Coastal 2016.

Our four garden club members all felt tired tonight, and Melissa was especially sad because her six month old rooster, her beloved and sociable Walter, had suddenly died.  She and Dave are such good chicken parents that they are sending Walter’s body to Washington State University to find out why.

Allan’s photo, me and Melissa

thoughts of Walter (Allan’s photo)

Sadly, we never got up to Melissa and Dave’s place after they got Walter and the girls, so we never got to meet him.

Pasta was good comfort food for the evening.

Wednesday has the delicious fried artichoke and sweet potato fries appetizer.

Cove dinner salad

Wednesday is pasta night. Spaghetti and meat balls for me and Dave.

prawns scampi for Melissa

a burger for Allan (Allan’s photo)

If those darn bulbs arrive tomorrow as UPS promises they will, I will be in the thick of sorting for two or three days.  I’m not looking forward it it one little bit because it’s hard on the old brain.

 

 

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