3 September: all the way around

Wednesday, 3 September 2014

We did our work route all the way up to Marilyn’s garden and back. The rain yesterday enabled us to wait till tomorrow to water Long Beach, which means we can get a three day weekend again (because the planters will be able to wait till next Tuesday for more water).

Before work, I picked a bouquet for Luanne.

Clematis ‘Rooguchi’ in the back garden (with a white spider)

This clematis has been blooming for ages and also has beautiful seed pods, preceded by fluff.

Olde Towne Café

and this week’s bouquet

Then, off to work. First, we drove all the way up Sandridge Road to the Eric Wiegardt’s art gallery.

today’s trip

Wiegardt Gallery

I picked a little bouquet of huge cosmos flowers; they’d be over by the weekend. Gallery manager Christl could enjoy them for one day in a vase.

holding huge cosmos flowers

We had brought most of the clump of Eupatorium (Joe Pye Weed) that Allan had dug out of our front garden yesterday. One piece went in the north garden bed at Wiegardt’s.

North bed will be enhanced by another tall plant.

Miscanthus sinensis variegatus and Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’

In the front garden, Eryngium ‘Jade Frost’ has lost its blue flower colour but the stems are still lavender-blue.

Cosmos by the front door.

I took Christl the bouquet and saw that she could see cosmos from her window now; I’m glad we redid the bed outside the office/framing room last fall.

the view, new this year

Last week’s photos of Eric’s flower paintings were a hit, so here are some more.

 

Eric offers a DVD for sale on how to paint flowers.

the view from the front door, looking south

on the entry walk, oregano and its shadow

our view as we are about to drive away

Marilyn’s Garden

Next, we drove north about 45 blocks into Surfside to attend to some deadheading and weeding in Marilyn’s garden.

Marilyn’s garden

fall crocus

I remembered that the colchicum were blooming in the Wiegardt garden also, and I had forgotten to photograph them, AND I had forgotten to check on the little Eucomis that had started to emerge last week. Drat. I had thought of it, and then…no follow through, as Robert used to say.

Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’ and Solidago ‘Fireworks’ and Phygelius

Who says you can’t have lots of flowers in a garden with deer?

I had to trim some flopped cosmos back off of the path; the deer do tend to push things over.

It’s a very tall garden.

The Miscanthus vareigatus has flopped here. The deer bed down behind it, I think.

I know there is some Joe Pye weed somewhere in the garden; it has gotten hidden so we planted a new piece where it will show next year.

Klipsan Beach Cottages

Back south again, below Ocean Park to KBC; we checked Oman Builder’s Supply garden on the way and it needed nothing from us.

the weekly view into the fenced garden

dahlia in big pot by garage

more fall crocus

Persicaria ‘Golden Arrow’

Fuchsia ‘DebRon’s Black Cherry’

The ridiculously tall lily is done; we will move it this fall.

The corner by garage wall and greenhouse, above, got a piece of Joe Pye Weed.

one of Mary’s roses, a real do-er (with some blackspot problems)

Agapanthus is almost over.

Hydrangea ‘Izu No Hana’, my favourite

Japanese anemone…a thug, but useful now.

Pineapple sage in a pot amid the four yews.

Golden Sands Assisted Living

At the Golden Sands courtyard garden, I thought as usual about all the plants I am going to bring here this fall to make it better in late summer. I have made a list, to which I must add Japanese anemone (another I may regret).

The Jerusalem artichoke is at the request of one of the residents. It is quite a runner (she even warned me of that), as is the pink phlox from my garden. I may be filled with regrets by this time next year. However, the resident wants to eat some Jerusalem artichoke; she misses it from her old garden “at home”.

The gardens sure need more late season plants.

my mom’s red velvet rose

Angelica starting to bloom, I think quite late.

While Allan strimmed the patch of lawn, removed another of the old and ugly carex that languish behind the garden beds, and planted the last piece of our former Joe Pye weed, I occupied myself weeding out an awful lot of blue scabiosa starts to make room for new plants to come.

Andersen’s RV Park

I deadheaded endless (seemingly) Agyranthemum ‘Butterfly’ in various containers.

barrels of butterfly deadheading doom

After these six, there are still five more big containers of the stuff here and there. It was HOT and I wore my hat.

Allan deadheaded Payson Hall planters, tired looking as they are.

a Rod Run car, Allan’s photo

This weekend is the last really big tourist weekend of the year, the Rod Run To the End of the World, a massively huge classic car show event. After it is over, I can start tearing tired plants out!

Anchorage Cottages

While weeding an area at the Anchorage by one of the parking spaces, where the Geranium ‘Rozanne’ is looking tatty, a lot of ugly evening primrose rosettes have appeared from who knows where, and some horsetail has crept in, I was feeling that it is so hard to make every garden look good now. At that moment, a guest walked by and said “I love your gardens here so much. I come at all different times of the year and they always look so beautiful no matter what the season.” Well! What impeccable timing she had with her compliment.

center courtyard,

The usual weeding and deadheading of all the planters was my main focus after that.

Some volunteer feverfew make this pot look fresh.

Cute little Eryngium ‘Blue Hobbit’ in a pot by the office.

with some Alllium albopilosum

more deadheading of you know what

By the time I had deadheaded those two pots, I felt quite quite done for the day. I barely managed to hobble over to deadhead the brick chimney planter.

sweet pea ‘Cupani’ against the chimney

And yet…if we could just do one more thing, tomorrow would be so much easier. So we did…

The Long Beach Welcome Sign

Agh, Butterfly!

Fortunately, I do not tire of deadheading cosmos. Well, not much. Ok, a little tired of it all.

Allan strimmed the weeds around the outside and that helped a lot.

It was a good thing we did the welcome sign. Allan went into the grocery store to buy enough treats and campfire food to get us through the weekend. There will be no shopping during Rod Run; we locals know to stock up in advance. As I waited in the car, I got a text from Jo asking “Did you come to my garden today?” I called her immediately and said I thought we were supposed to come on Friday as she had company coming Monday. No, somehow we got mixed up as she also has company coming…tomorrow night! Fortunately, we got so much done today that we have time for her AND Long Beach tomorrow, and the result is that we just may have most of Friday off. The sooner we can retreat from the crowds, the better, so I am happy.

The one Rod Run event I will attend is Friday night’s slow drag at the port, always amusing and just a block from our house.

 

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30 Aug-1 Sept: three days off

I could get used to three days off, and then it would not seem like such a momentous event.  For now, it is still a new and exciting twist to our lives.  I even left the property on one of the days.

Saturday, 30 August 2014

I woke at nine thirty to the sound of intense wind and had immediate sympathy for the vendors down at the Saturday Market.  The tents are hard to handle during wind.  I checked my local weather and learned the gusts were up to 22 mph.  Sure enough, later on when I walked through the market, about a third of the vendors had given up and gone home during that hour of wind.  It’s a shame they could not hold on, or wait it out in their vehicles, and the weather was pleasant from noon onwards.

a rather empty market on a big tourist weekend (Labor Day)

peppers at De Asis produce

lilies for sale, and puddle evidence of overnight rain

flowers from The English Nursery

succulents

My real mission was to meet Garden Tour Nancy for lunch at Olde Towne Café.  On the way, I passed the storage yard for old boats and for the first time ever I saw the gate open.  Of course, I nopped in for a closer look.

Wouldn’t this make a great garden shed?

Outside the fence, a family looks at a very old boat.

a poignant sight

on the way to Olde Towne, a planter and building do a colour echo

I’m planning to take the catmint out of the planters, as it goes through an awkard stage in midsummer and takes up too much room.  It looks awfully good right now though.

At Olde Towne, Allan happened to come in and sat with his friend Chris to talk of boats (of course); Chris is the one who gave Allan the little sailboat that he takes out on Black Lake.

boat talk

Nancy and I talked about garden tours, gardens, chickens, and what makes us happy.

After I got home, I did not set foot off my property for two and a half days, and that makes me quite happy indeed.

I admired some of my many hardy fuchsias:

DebRon’s Black Cherry

Chillerton Beauty

and other plants:

clematis new love

Chelone (pink turtlehead)

Persicaria ‘Firetail’

a late, lone flower on Mermaid rose

I noted that the cat quotation is not entirely blocked by the new support for their platform.  But you can’t read that it is by Beverly Nichols.

I even tackled some very late afternoon weeding, digging the chives that had in such a silly way seeded themselves in a shade garden.  It looks much better without them.

also pulled about a million forget me not starts

Allan’s day was spent in a leisurely way of doing errands and little things like moving the house numbers so they show, since I planted a conifer in front of them and it grew.  Oops.

On the way to and from the post office, he had the pleasure if seeing the Ilwaco tortoise that lives in a private yard.  Neither of us have seen it this close up before; it came right up to the fence.

 

 

 

The tortoise moved very fast when it decided to return to the back yard.

Sunday, 31 August 2014

Island Lake

Allan went boating on Island Lake with his styrofoam boat (that I disrespectfully call the picnic cooler boat).

Looking north with island in background.

Looking south.

Leaving the launch. I had the lake to myself on a very pleasant sunny Labor Day Sunday.

Approaching the peninsula that makes the lake look half the size it is.

Over half the lake seemed less than 3 feet so I steered with the oars leaving the daggerboard & rudder in the bow. Over fifty years of dents on the styrofoam hull from my dad and the scouts he loaned it to.

The shallow passage around the peninsula

a shipwreck by the shore of the lake

This is the north shore of Island Lake. I couldn’t find a dry place to beach and check out Lost Lake to the north. For a sense of scale, the ‘shipwreck’ is up on the left. I tied up (reefed) the sail to make rowing upwind easier. 

Looking south from the north shore. I need to row home and start the fire for dinner.

The rose wind sock that indicates wind direction.

A visitor from Portland with a camper and a kayak helped me load.

Meanwhile, at home:

I woke up and started to debate with myself again about a certain clump of salmonberry back by the bogsy woods:  Should I cut it or not?

The one to the left. It looks extra tatty.

I cut it.

I think I liked it better to have the salmonberry there.  Cutting it is not a problem in the long run, as it will grown back and look fresher and greener next year.  Allan says we could plant something better there; however, I feel the root clump will be just about impossible to remove.  He is welcome to have a go at it with the pick.

Speaking of how “When you cut it, you can’t put it back”, I went too far cutting the poky sharp rose by the rain barrel at the back corner of the house, and spoiled the feeling of surprise when you all of a sudden come through between shed and house and see the back garden. Fortunately, it, too, will grow back.

You can see too much from here now.

I decided to have a fire so mowed the lawn first.

our fire circle

Two thirds of the way through, the mower seized up from too much wet grass and I was not sure how to clean it.  There is a certain way of tipping it that floods the carburetor…or some such thing.  So I got my mom’s little rechargeable electric mower to finish.  I was reminded why we gave in to buying the gas powered mower.

difference in cutting height; the lowest height on the electric one is not low enough for my taste.

difference in cutting width; the electric requires more passes.

As you can tell, I was having a very exciting day.  I managed to get the fire started even though my wilderness survival skills are low.

At last, some flames!

For the rest of the late afternoon,  I fed the fire with twigs and bits of dried salmonberry and alder wood, and sat and admired my view of the garden (facing north, as the wind was from the south, unusually so).

Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’ on the east fence

looking from my chair toward the west fence

Allan returned and we had a typical campfire dinner of beer from local North Jetty Brewing, hot dogs and chips (crisps).

dinner

It’s incredibly relaxing to watch a campfire burn out.

Monday, 1 September, 2014

Allan went off to see a boating event in South Bend; it needs its own post, as he took lots of photos.  I’ll make it into a bonus post for today, publishing this evening.  While he was gone, I weeded a bit, visiting for a long while with J9 when she came over (and shared some Yukon Gold potatoes and some tomatoes), and weeded some more, and took only this one photo.  I distinctly recall digging out these huge clumps of Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’ last fall and moving them to the east fence, and yet here they are again.

They came back.

When he returned, Allan loaded the salmonberry debris into the trailer to be disposed of tomorrow, and cut two lower branches off of Nora’s maple tree, one dead and one hanging low over our fence.  Oh dear, once again, I re-learned the sad lesson that once you cut it, you can’t put it back.  I had just been thinking of the shade for my east garden bed, not of how that bit of foliage hid the view of a big house way up on the hill.  (Eventually, the flowering currant underneath will thrive in the extra sun and grow up to fill that space.)

I’ve been reading a book called Eden on Their Minds, recommended in the Danger Garden blog.

This quotation by Louise Goodall Smith of Birmingham, Alabama, spoke to me of my various efforts in the garden this weekend:

 

 

 

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29 August: Long Beach and Ilwaco

Friday, 29 August 2014

I overslept…tired!  While Allan watered Larry and Robert’s garden (five doors down), I finished my coffee and then did some container watering and a quick tour of our own garden.

The Ladies in Waiting area is smaller now (with a few more plants around the corner by the greenhouse)

The barberry that missed being watered may be reviving itself.

lovely hardy ginger ‘Spice Islands’ with wall decor by my dear friend Sheila.

sun coleus from The Basket Case Greenhouse

I really wanted to stay home with Smokey.

Post Office garden on our way to work….needs more in the mid-front. Next year!

A quick compost bucket switch at Olde Towne Café lead to meeting Judy from three doors down and her friend from out of town, someone she had known for many years and had not seen for years, so they had lots of enjoyable catching up to do.  I invited them to come pick cherry tomatoes from my greenhouse, not sure if they found the time.  Judy is the former “New Judy”, now promoted to just “Judy”, as she has lived here for just about a year now.

Judy and her friend catch up.

Long Beach

Yesterday, we had turned on the soaker hoses on the Sid Snyder beach approach planters.  While Allan turned them back off again, I deadheaded the kite museum garden.

our tiny pocket garden at World Kite Museum

The soaker hose situation on Sid Snyder is so unsatisfactory.  Allan fixed another leak.  The planters do not get enough water.  I fervently hope I can get the city to install quick connect fittings to those planters this winter so that next year, we can give those planters a good soaking once a week (which also washes salt off the leaves).  I must remember to agitate about this.

We made a half block detour to photograph the dahlia garden at Back Country Horse Rides.

Then we split up to each water half the downtown planters.

Some of the painted sage still looks excellent.

I found people admiring the Eryngium in the Lewis and Clark Square planter.

with good reason; Eryngiums are my favourite perennial

note: more Bidens next year; it really holds its colour  (center plant across the street)

In Veterans Field, I noticed that half of the ‘Crimson Pygmy’ barberries are awfully small, clearly having been stepped upon or kicked.

a mere remnant of its former self

how it should be; one that did not get injured

It is such a narrow little garden, you’d think people could use the generous sized walkways instead of stepping on the plants.

The Columbia Pacific Farmers Market (every Friday in Vets Field) did not start till three, however the Rosburg Farm booth was already in session.  They do not spray their plants.

lilies for sale

plants for sale, too

I love Eucalyptus. Only having to carry the plants around saved me from adding to my Ladies in Waiting.

I found a sad finger blight situation in the planter by the Funland arcade.

Someone had pulled out a blue painted sage and left it to dry and die.  Possibly a fidgety child did this.

Now this side has only pink and white…

and the other has pink blue and white and I have a big dose of irritation.

My only comfort is that the planters will all be severely sat upon the weekend after next during the annual Rod Run car event.  You’ll see.  That’s an odd sort of comfort.

Bolstadt and Pacific

Just here, when I crossed the street and turned back south again, I thought “I am too tired to get through this day.”  I knew I would get through it, though.

The planter by Campiche Studios has fuchsias and dahlias, my favourite kind of dahlia flower

hardy fuchsias, probably ‘Pat’s Dream’

I heard an odd thing from some passersby as they read a sign on the Campiche Gallery: “FINE art.  Well, we won’t go in THERE!”

The sidewalks were exceedingly crowded with shoppers, parked bicycles, strollers, dogs.  I was not bothered because I knew it would be that way on the Friday of Labour Day weekend.  This happened to be the day that the planters needed water, and that is just the way it is.  However, I am thrilled there are only two more big tourist weekends (Labour Day and Rod Run) because I am just…tired.

We groomed Fifth Street Park before going on to the two blocks north of the light.

Sanguisorba and Canna flowers in Fifth Street Park

The Allan weeded Coulter Park (two blocks north of the light) while I watered two more blocks of planters.  Mercifully, the northern blocks each have only four planters each instead of six or eight.

The little caps on California poppy blossoms were a cheering sight.

There were a couple of birds by the Heron Pond…

and then joy and delight: I saw a flock of starlings bathing and frolicking there.

With the main street planters and gardens done, we checked on the planters out on the Bolstadt approach.  They needed nothing done, thank goodness.

To keep going, I got us each a Swedish traveling cake from Pink Poppy Bakery…

which is located in this building just west of city hall…

…and then we weeded the city hall gardens.

The ajuga has GOT to go, and how the heck did orange montbretia get in there?

need more hardy fuchsias on north side of city hall

I felt that we could manage to spend half an hour deadheading and weeding at the Boreas Inn.

Boreas Inn garden, six blocks north of Long Beach City Hall

It was mostly deadheading cosmos; I enjoy cutting out the candelabra of spent stems. It’s my favourite plant to deadhead.

If I had been the one deadheading earlier on, that spike in the middle would have been cut all the way down.

Ilwaco

Allan still had to water the Ilwaco planters.  While he did so, I weeded more of the boatyard garden in order to free up time next week to have lunch and a tour at Steve and John’s garden.

down the block, Allan starts watering with the water pump trailer.

boatyard garden, looking north

I realized that nice aster at Andersen’s RV Park is too dark to be ‘Harrington’s Pink’. THIS is ‘Harrington’s Pink’, a good and well behaved aster.

north end of boatyard garden

and with that same white cosmos as a marker, looking south

the running kind of goldenrod.

I think it was a blogger on Garden Rant who recently wrote that it was tiresome when bloggers say golden rod doesn’t cause hay fever, because everyone knows that by now.  I bet someone reading this does NOT know that, so I am saying right here that it does NOT cause hay fever.  There.

It takes Allan almost two hours to water the Ilwaco planters (used to take an hour with heavy, backbreaking bucket watering), so I got the whole boatyard done.

The sky was turning a bit pinkish.

peachy four o clocks came back this year

And then we dumped debris at the east end of the marina.

a fishing boat coming in

evening sky in the water

That’s it for another week and now we will have a three day weekend.

 

 

‘

 

 

 

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28 August: Casa Pacifica, Ilwaco art and gardens

Thursday, 28 August 2014

On the way to work, I took a bouquet of flowers to Luanne at Olde Towne Café for the art night event later on. It recently occurred to me that using the dark foliage of my assorted Physocarpus shrubs would look great in bouquets and help keep the shrubs to a reasonable size for a mixed border.

bouquet and art

While taking a few photos for the café’s Facebook page, I saw a book that I had loved:

The Child from the Sea by Elizabeth Goudge

Luanne said she loved it, too, and had read it many times, and she retrieved it from the for sale books, after all. She had looked for other books by Goudge and not found any; I told her I have a collection: Eight, as it turns out, so the next day I took her my copy of The Castle on the Hill to read.

outside Olde Towne

Casa Pacifica

Then we were off to the Casa Pacifica garden, three miles east of the Peninsula. We don’t get there as often as we should, and I have said our feelings won’t be hurt if Dan and Leanne find someone else, but so far, they are willing to wait.

This is what Agyranthemum ‘Butterfly’ looks like undeadheaded for awhile.

and cleaned up, with new blooms to come

After deadheading the seven barrels down by the garage/workshop, we went to the house level of the garden.

My good friend, Dusty, greeted me.

My black lab, Bertie Woofter, used to make that same quizzical face.

Progress with Darcy: She almost took a biscuit from my hand.

Spook and Darcy being shy.

Poor old Spook is getting very stiff.

The maple by the front porch is the front garden’s best feature.

five barrels of colour by the upper driveway

just a bit of the back garden, which is dry due to a low well.

The garden itself does not take very long as weeds don’t grow when it is so dry. I’d love to get some washed dairy manure mulch up there, but it is too much work for me to get it up and over the rock wall (after wheelbarrowing all the way across the lawn from the driveway). That’s a job for someone younger.

My buddy again.

We needed to check on the Ilwaco gardens for art night; I was pleased that we would have time to do a few other tasks first, as that would make Friday much easier.

The Depot Restaurant, Seaview

At the Depot, we still have some cosmos that are waiting…and waiting…to bloom.

The Helenium is just about done…

…while the clumping (not running) Solidago ‘Fireworks’ is just coming into its glory.

Long Beach Welcome Sign

The welcome sign takes so long to deadhead each week that it was excellent to get it done before Friday.

It’s a good thing the Cosmos ‘Happy Ring’ only thrived at the sunnier end of the back of the sign, or it would have blocked the “Thank You”.

Allan walks the ledge to get deadheads at the front of the sign.

Port of Ilwaco

As we entered Ilwaco, we saw a charming scene outside of Olde Towne.

Olde Towne again, customers surrounded by Luanne’s container garden

We had been wanting all summer to try out a new café at the port and finally had time. We’d heard that Nate’s Coastal Cones and Snacks had excellent wraps, and the word of mouth reviews were correct.

Nate’s

We split this very tasty lunch so we would have an appetite for dinner at the Cove in the evening. You get to choose your ingredients from a long list.

the view

and an interesting boat house in the marina

Then we got back to work weeding and watering the gardens by the Port Office, Time Enough Books, and Don Nisbett Art Gallery.

Time Enough Books garden boat; I think I need to move the golden marjoram and add to the sea of blue Geranium ‘Rozanne’.

The Howerton Way gardens had held up very well from our last weeding, so we moved on quite soon to the boatyard garden.

north end of the boatyard garden (with more Solidago ‘Fireworks’)

Cosmos and a few poppy stragglers

The weather while we were weeding was uncomfortably hot by our standards (probably only 70 degrees or so); by the time we dumped our debris at the east end of the port, a cooling fog was rolling in.

delicious!!

Then it was time for a visit to the last monthly Art Night of the season.

one of our smaller Howerton Way gardens

Don’s Gallery with baskets from the Basket Case Greenhouse

Don and Jenna (Queen La De Da)

Don’s Gallery always draws visitors.

the view

as we left, looking west along Howerton Way

We made an ever so quick stop at Olde Towne to get some photos.

Olde Towne art night

One of the artists, Cynthia Pride Moore.

I especially like this piece by Elizabeth Chappelle.

We had to move on, because I had a strong feeling that I did not want to miss our Thursday tradition of dinner at The Cove.

Parking Lot Cat was glad to see us!

PLC and me (Allan’s photo, of course)

When we entered, the restaurant had every table full. Just before I said we would sit at the bar, we were told “You’re sitting with those two!” There were Steve and John of the bayside garden that we so admire. We had been vaguely planning a Thursday night Cove dinner, then they had had company; today I had thought at around 3 o clock of sending them an email but it seemed too late, and I was not sure when we would be able to leave art night. Cosmically, Steve had emailed ME at 3 o clock, and they had decided to go anyway. Allan and I were delighted. We had delicious food and conversation all about gardening, entertained with photos of the way their garden looks right now, which led to plans to garden tour there next Tuesday.

The food was delectable, as always.

Chef Jason Lancaster gifted us with a sample of his new lobster roll, which we split four ways.

the ahi tuna artistry of the week

Steve and John each had caesar salads and fish tacos, all pronounced delicious.

I was delighted to hear that Steve has subscribed to and daily reads the Tootlepedal blog, loves Mr Tootlepedal’s droll writing style and his wonderful photos of birds, gardens, and scenery.

Now we, and you, have a visit to their garden to anticipate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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21 August: kite festival and Long Beach

Thursday, 21 August 2014

I had hoped to get enough work done to see the handcrafted kite competition at the Kite Festival. So why did I schedule so many tasks before we got there? It just seemed proper to do the jobs in order, and besides, there was very little wind in the morning.

Ilwaco

First, we added some free begonias from The Basket Case to the vandalized and replanted Ilwaco planter.

and a lotus vine, thus adding some extra colour before the three remaining big tourism weekends.

One of the begonia colours coincidentally echoes the building colour across the street.

When we did our compost bucket switch at Olde Towne Café, we were so pleased to see the Depot’s Nancy Gorshe and her mom, Marilyn of Marilyn’s garden.

Nancy and Marilyn out and about

Luanne’s container garden

The Depot Restaurant

The Depot garden

I realized today that half of the cosmos are lush and yet not blooming.

Solidago ‘Fireworks’ (goldenrod) just about to flower

Persicaria ‘Firetail’, a favourite perennial of mine

Agyranthemum ‘Butterfly’ after a good deadheading

windowboxes and barrels on the north side are by Nancy Aust of the Basket Case Greenhouse.

The rosemary on the south side of the deck are finally thriving, having responded well to a dose of Dr Earth all purpose fertilizer.

Chef Michael’s herb garden

Kite Festival

Even though it would have been next in consecutive order, we skipped the Long Beach welcome sign in order to get to the kite festival in time to see the Water Creatures in the Sky mass ascension. Although it was not to be, as there was so little wind, we did see some sights that made the walk well worthwhile.

Pink Poppy Bakery, set up outside with liquid refreshments by Starvation Alley Cranberry Farm

We saw passersby wondering over the rose hips in the beach approach garden.

a very few roses still hanging on. Many people ask us what the rose hips are.

the source of Vitamin C rich rose hip tea

The rugosa roses can stand up to kite festival foot traffic as the prettier and more delicate garden of yore could not.

path worn through because of booths on both sides of the street

at the end of the garden, nice amenities for dogs

out on the sand, a photo being taken…

of this

Some frogs were flying; you can see on the sand that there was not enough wind to get the kitty kite in the air.

the cat kites in 2009. Later in this week, there was enough wind to launch them.

banners in the sand

One of my favourite events at the kite festival is on Saturday afternoon when festival participants parade down the boardwalk holding their banners in the Parade of Colours. I would miss that this year as I was so much longing for a weekend at home.

Parade of Colours over the sand in 2010

and in 2009

Our work schedule did not allow us to wait around to see the handcrafted kites in the air (as it seemed from the announcements that the event might have been delayed due to no wind earlier).

quilt kites on the ground

I mostly hobbled around with my cane just off the hardpacked road, while Allan made it all the way down to the water’s edge.

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

looking south toward North Head (Allan’s photo)

Fishing is HOT this summer. Nine boats on the horizon. (Allan’s photo)

Allan’s photo

Allan saw a handsome display with the likeness of extraordinary multiple kite flyer Ray Bethell. I had seen on Facebook that he is using a cane this year; he is 86 years old.

Ray Bethell banners (Allan’s photo)

Here he is in 2009 flying a kite with each hand and one off his hip.

I felt poignant all day about Ray, and later I heard that he did fly two kites later in the week.

You can see some videos of him here.

Near the event field, I saw this banner created by a fan of his.

Ray and a fan; he is beloved.

We had to get back to work…

Kite Festival booths on the beach approach, as we head back to town (Allan’s photo)

Our next work stop was Erin’s garden. We could see the kites off in the distance.

Erin’s garden

looking south

Cosmos and Kites

The new garden bed at Erin’s has come out fairly well except for a bare area at the west end. My solution will be a drift of silver santolina made from cuttings (stuck right into the ground) this fall. A river of Geranium ‘Rozanne’ would be awesome, too, although I would have to buy those somewhere and they would need a lot of water and deer might nibble them.

mysterious empty spot

looks better closer in

In some areas, California poppies grew well (just not in that bare spot).

‘Thai Pink Champagne’

‘Buttercream’

probably ‘Red Chief’

probably ‘Rose Chiffon’

and a great, tall feathery poppy

Erin has a friend helping in the garden and they have done a good job in the back courtyard.

back courtyard with three new Knautia ‘Thunder and Lightning’

Anchorage Cottages

At the Anchorage, we were greeted by my good friend Mitzu.

lots of deadheading to do in the containers: Salvia ‘Victoria Blue’ and Salvia viridis (painted sage)

the windowboxes are pretty much self-cleaning

I’m going to get me some of this Persicaria ‘Dimity’ in the fall for my garden and for an edger at Larry and Robert’s garden.

Long Beach

We circled back to the Long Beach welcome sign, just where Seaview turns into Long Beach, for the dreaded deadheading of hundreds of yellow daisies on Agyranthemum ‘Butterfly’.

before

after

What the heck?! One of the bidens along the edge is missing, leaving a hole.

the whole view, with a gap of a missing plant; did they think I would not notice??

Cosmos ‘Happy Ring’ doing very well in the welcome sign garden.

Back to downtown Long Beach to water the planters. We parked near Veterans Field where we heard drumming and found a troupe of Korean drummers and dancers on the stage.

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

 

The Veterans Field garden mostly white now with Gaura.

just a little blue and red(dish)

After nitpicking little lawn grass sprouts out of the Vet Field garden, we left there to water the street planters just in time, as I looked back and saw the dancers down in the audience hauling citizens up to the stage! No photos of the planter watering as I was just tired.

After the planters, we weeded and deadheaded in Fifth Street Park.

Much as I love Baptisia australis, the one in this garden has gotten so large, and has such a short period of bloom, that I think it has to be removed.

too big and just too plain green

During this and the previous water session this week, we got many compliments about how exceptionally pretty the town looks with all its flowers, not only the parks and planters but also the many hanging baskets created by Nancy Aust at Basket Case Greenhouse.

Nancy’s baskets on the restroom building, Fifth Street Park

On the other side of the street, while Allan pulled some bindweed from behind the fence, I sat on a bench and had a pleasant view of the waterfall pond.

a sit down view that I have never seen before! Backed with Darmera peltata (with Gunnera on the right, small as it was beaten down by a hard winter)

beautifully reflective

Cove Restaurant

I had been looking forward all day to our weekly reward at the Cove Restaurant.

Allan’s photo, art by our friend Don Nisbett

the entry garden, Allan’s photo

Parking Lot Cat (who despite his name, has a cushy life)

He wanted to come in but was shooed out per health rules.

We dined on Chef Jason’s strawberry salad

Ahi tuna, a fish taco and a Vortex beer went down a treat.

An outside diner got the company of Parking Lot Cat who sat in the chair through the whole meal.

Next, we are planning on a three day weekend (except for Allan watering Ilwaco) and perhaps, if it is not too hot and dry so that we can put off watering Long Beach till Tuesday, a four day weekend. My goal is to not leave the property.

 

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16-17 August: weekend off

Spam of the day:

“I was wondering if you ever thought of changing the page layout of
your website? Its very well written; I love what youve got to say.

But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so people could
connect with it better. Youve got an awful lot
of text for only having one or 2 images. Maybe you could space it out better?”

Hahaha!

Saturday, 16 August 2014

I immediately defeated my goal of two days off without leaving the property by deciding to go to Olde Towne Café for breakfast at ten AM. I did not feel like bugging Allan to do the Saturday Market photos instead of me, so I would have to leave the house anyway. And I had another small mission: to get a photo of John and Cheri’s lovely garden over by Spruce Street.

I told Smokey and Mary that I wasn’t going to work and would soon be spending the rest of the weekend with them.

I set out, with my cane although I did not feel especially gimpy today.

mission one accomplished: John and Cheri’s back garden

Strolling along Spruce, I admired Jenna’s plantings at Queen La De Da’s new location.

At Olde Towne, I had a latte and oatmeal and was lucky to arrive at a quiet time so that Luanne was able to sit and visit for awhile.

a good table for two

(I forgot to take her a bouquet of flowers for the weekend; later in the day, Allan took one over for me.)

Next, a walk down First Avenue to the Market. A stop at Robert’s Antique Gallery gleaned some more photos for the Facebook page with which I help Larry and Robert by providing photos.

I especially liked these duck dishes.

On I walked, past the boatyard garden where I averted my eyes from the occasional horsetail and dandelion.

south end of boatyard garden, with Clamshell Railroad historic sign

On my walk to the market, Kathleen Shaw had pulled her car to the side for a confab; she was on her way home to her cottage after going to the market herself. She told me about a husky puppy named Aragon at Nate’s ice cream shop so I made sure to walk by there.

Aragon: so cute

and cuter (and sweet and friendly, too)

The market was bustling and my knee had started to hurt a bit so I only covered about two blocks.

Of course, I got a treat at Pink Poppy Bakery: two chocolate chip cookies and two scones to share with Allan.

Bonnie, an Olde Towne regular, had just bought a potted lily.

plants from The English Nursery

To get home, I cut through the gear shed property (shhhh) to the east back gate and was met with a terrible shock. I knew some bindweed lurked back there and my weekend project was to pull it out of the southeast corner of the bogsy woods. I did not expect to see this horror from the outside of the fence!

a wall of bindweed from the gearshed side

I went inside and sat for awhile to gather strength. Then:

later….

I also tackled the back corner of the bogsy wood and made some progress. Hauling the debris out will be the most tiresome part.

before

after: a space for a hydrangea aspera

I think I’ll load it all into the trailer to go to the dump on Monday, since we can’t have a three day weekend because Long Beach planters will need watering.

A strong wind had made it a little anxious to work under the trees in the bogsy woods. The gusts were at least 20 mph. As the sun began to descend, I was glad to go inside.

Smokey flopped down in front of me, creating a moving obstacle course all the way to the front door.

Meanwhile, Allan had begun installing our new Pink Poppy Farm inspired sprinkler set up.

more details on this later

He then went sailing on Black Lake to reward himself:

“Almost a 30 degree tilt and good speed but rowed back after not making much headway north past the dock. Was getting stuck as the vegetation made the lake only about half the width it appears. Fog came in, last two pics from Sandridge Road”

Earlier in the day, Allan had photographed a spider outside the back door. I didn’t post it at the beginning as did not want to scare off any arachnophobes.

a big one! size of a quarter, Allan said.

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Sunday, 17 August 2014

For some reason, I woke up with the notion that today would be a good day to cut down salmonberry at the front side of the bogsy wood. What came over me, I do not know; I was filled with happy energy.

Here’s the first area, before.

and after

I thought above removing the clump to the right, then realized it would just reveal too much of the green metal wall of the next door gear shed. Now there is a sense of mystery…you can glimpse the blue hydrangea and might want to walk back for a closer look.

The second part of the project was to move the pile of campfire wood to make a new planting area along the front.

Firewood (fallen alder) had been piled all along the front.

I had an absolute stroke of genius and used two old chairs (not safe for sitting, given to use by our client Jo) to stack the firewood on.

two chairs plus an oyster basket of bark and kindling

Allan seemed unimpressed with this, but I still hold that it is genius, as it will keep the wood up off of the always damp ground back here.

The stubby stumps of salmonberry are still in the area I cleared. Later, Allan will go in with his little chainsaw and cut them flush with the ground; then we will just clip or even use the weedeater to keep any sprouts down.

That’s what we did with another area that was pure salmonberry:

the salmonberry tunnel

The entire bogsy wood was a rough mess when we began the garden.

in October 2010

If we don’t keep up with clipping any sprouts, the salmonberry will creep back in, like it did in the area below:

My third project of the day, before

It took only about one hour to bring that area back to this.

I’ll never get all the salmonberry out of the bogsy wood, so I just like to make paths and tunnels in it. It is the first flower for the hummingbirds (so I have read) and, later, berries for all the berry eating birds. That’s my excuse, and it’s a good one.

Between today’s and yesterday’s clearing, I have a view now of the blue hydrangea back in the woods.

Don’t you just want to walk back there?

I can even see the blue of the hydrangea all the way from my bedroom window.

and maybe the hydrangea looks back; this is what it would see,

Looking south over the river of Geranium ‘Rozanne’, the edge of the bogsy woods looks more clearly defined.

My eye is drawn to how much better the fuchsia shows up.

Now i need a yard of Soil Energy to build up the former wood pile area so that I can plant some of my other new fuchsias there.

Speaking of unplanted plants, here’s the sad story of one of my ladies in waiting. I had two ‘Orange Pillar’ barberries when garden touring on Whidbey Island in June. I have decided they will go in the front garden after I have moved two big thirsty sanguisorbas to the back garden. That can’t be done till fall, so the barberries wait in pots. One was hidden at the back of the ladies in waiting benches and got missed:

Here’s the happy one that was toward the front…

and the terribly sad one; it got well soaked yesterday and I hope it puts out new leaves.

At the end of the day, I especially admired a few things (and judged one thing):

admired white lilies in the back garden

and…Lily ‘Anastasia’ still blooming, towering over Leycesteria ‘Golden Lanterns’

and another pink lily has joined Anastasia; they must be eight or more feet tall.

and the gorgeous berries of Billardia longifloria on the front garden arbour

at northeast corner of house

The judgement: I think I may have way too much Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’, and this daylily has got to go:

I think it will find a new home at Andersen’s RV Park.

Allan took a photo of how the “dead” camellia trunks in the back garden, painted purple two years ago, are sprouting new leaves!

While I don’t really want the camellia to come back, I am impressed.

Life would be just perfect if we had a three day weekend; unfortunately, the Long Beach planters simply must be watered tomorrow. Allan had to water the Ilwaco planters today, so he did not even get a two day weekend.

 

 

 

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6 August: Long Beach planters

Wednesday, 6 August 2014

First, a project in our garden:

Allan dug out the old white rose that I had clipped yesterday evening.

all dug out! (we hope)

I think this is a pink phlox of some sort, deer resistant (or so I have found in unfenced garden)

a stunning rose; this winter I am going to figure out which roses I have by looking at old order lists.

Our workday began, as it does every three days or so, with the compost bucket switch at Olde Towne Café just north of the Ilwaco stoplight. Luanne had moved the couch and coffee table and I think the new arrangement looks ideal for introverts. We had no time to linger there as much work had to be done.

I would like this spot better than when the couch faced the room.

Before we could really get to work, we ran the load of rose canes and roots over to the dump; it was too mean and not something we wanted to inflict on the debris pile at Peninsula Landscape Supply. Then….

Long Beach

Watering the planters takes longer now because of a lot of deadheading. Some of the painted sage is just a tad past its prime:

Painted sage comes in pink, white, and blue. The colour comes from bracts; the flowers a tiny white things.

Some stems are almost done flowering.

So I cut those stems down to a junction with two small flower buds for a less spectacular later bloom.

cute pots outside The Wooden Horse gift shop

I can see these paintings somewhere on my house…

While I watered, a Summerfest musician entertained me (and all passersby); he was good.

I got a little teary when he sang Mr. Bojangles as it reminds me of my ex “who drinks a bit” but has many talents. And since I am publishing two weeks behind because of garden tour posts, I can add that ever since that day, these lines have made me misty eyed daily: “He spoke through tears of fifteen years how his dog and him traveled about. The dog up and died, up and died, and after twenty years he still grieves.” I read up a little bit about the song, Jerry Jeff Walker actually did meet an old man by that name in a jail cell. When the man told the story about his dog, the mood became so heavy that the cellmates ask the old man to dance.

planter, re-done this year (reclaimed from Crocosmia ‘Lucifer), by Campiche Gallery

a good planter by Paws by the Sea

The planter above is a challenge as a former volunteer planted full sized shrubs: two Escallonia ‘Pink Princess’ and a ‘Rosy Glow’ barberry. Cutting them to the “ground” every year seems to work although that leads to an awkward ugly stage for awhile in springtime.

Also a would-be enormous golden Euonymous…sigh…

planter in front of Home at the Beach with nasturtium and Salvia patens

Fuchsia in planter by Wind World Kites (Allan’s photo); the kite guy likes the Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ so it stays in this one.

Meanwhile, Allan watered the trees and turned on the soaker hoses on the Sid Snyder Drive planters, where he fixed a major leak.

No wonder this planter was not doing well!

fixed

I much prefer the hand watering on the main street to these soaker hoses and wish Sid Snyder had quick connect faucet fittings. Soaker hoses never do get the planters evenly moist. I also think it is good to be able to spray the salt and dust off of the plants.

While watering the street trees and the planters on the northernmost block, Allan saw our old dark green two door Saturn; can you believe we worked for eight or nine years out of that little tiny thing??

It is so small I always felt I was going to be squashed like a bug!

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I felt just…happy all day long. This happens fairly often with right livelihood.

home

In the evening, I weeded all down the west side fence, or most of it till I ran out of steam, and Allan dug out a sad Darmera peltata. On a roll in the home garden, I intend to get a yard of Soil Energy to fill in where that rose came out and will have enough for a few other spots as well.

sad, sad Darmera in a spot that was too dry. (It started itself there.)

the former rose spot empty and waiting

and some white lilies just coming on

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