18 Feb: a surprise work afternoon

Thursday, 18 February 2016

I most certainly did not expect to work today; we had every expectation of bad weather, and when we awoke to rain and the sight of the gale flags flying at the port, we relaxed into a day off.  I received an email regarding an exciting book at the library, which Allan would pick up for me, and then I would sit and read it all day long.

Meanwhile, I thought that today was the day that Smokey could go outside.  We examined his paw wound carefully and it seemed nicely closed up.

Smokey and Mary in a characteristic pose

Smokey got outfitted for the outdoors by having his BirdsBeSafe collar installed.

Smokey dressed for the outdoors

 This pretty much eliminates one good reason to keep him indoors all the time (cat depredation of birds, which the collar seems to effectively curtail).  The other is that he would be, of course, safer indoors.  So would I be, and I feel claustrophobic and unable to breathe at the very thought of never getting outdoors into the garden, so…that is why my cats (who I do not feel I OWN) get to make their own choices in the matter.  I also respect all cats who stay indoors all the time.

Soon he was back to the same pose as the one that greeted me before breakfast:

Perhaps the weather was unappealing to him.

rainy view from north window

He moved to the desk by the window.

and then to the window shelf…

and then he was out.

Shortly after that, the sun emerged and I suggested we get one job done.  Allan later said that he had on his light shoes, and that he had made French toast (a day-off breakfast, already consumed), and was about to go on an exercise walk.  But he agreed to work so off we went to…

The Depot Restaurant

east of deck, before (1:30 PM)

and after (3 PM)

before (Allan’s photo)

going in (Allan’s photo)

after (Allan’s photo)

all tidied up

south bed, before

after

before (Allan’s photo)

after (Allan’s photo)

I should have added lime here, and had lime with me, and thought of it, and then forgot.  When we do the clean up of Marilyn’s garden, we are bringing down some divisions of the tallest Miscanthus because Chef Michael would like this side of the deck to have the same sense of enclosure as the east side.

We were fortunate in that Chef Michael gave us some creamy squash and potato soup to take home; that will make a wonderful dinner.

north side of deck

weeded; needs mulch as seems sodden and battered by all the rain

I wonder if this would be a good view for a slide show through the year.

We had filled the trailer with debris, calling for a trip to the dump.  As we finished offloading, the rain began.  Our timing had been perfect.

4 PM at Peninsula Sanitation

On the way home, we drove by Diane’s garden and I fretted to myself that the Stipa gigantea urgently needs trimming, as do the Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’.  I am terribly worried that the looming multiple doctors’ appointments will interfere with work (supposing something is wrong) and I have a luncheon engagement tomorrow (and it is supposed to be stormy) and I don’t like to work at private gardens on the weekends, and …worry, worry, worry.

Other than that, the work board is coming along well.

I erased the Depot on the spring clean up list but had to add “Mulch Depot” under projects!

Smokey was back in.  I fretted anxiously over his paw, had Allan look at it closely with the flashlight, gave it hydrogen peroxide and the special vet ointment and hoped I had not let him out too soon.

He attended to the writing of this post.  (Look behind the screen.)

Here’s the book I would have read all day if we hadn’t worked.

Thank you Georgianna.

Our weekly North Beach Garden Gang meeting is delayed till Friday evening because Todd, Dave, and Melissa went to the garden show in Seattle today.  That is too much road time in one day for my nerves.  Todd sent this photo with the caption “Smokey escaped!”

photo by Todd

And this one, which long time readers of this blog will know is a joke:

Now…for that Dan Pearson book.

Ginger’s Garden Diaries

entries from my mom’s diaries from two decades ago that correspond with today:

1997 (age 72):

Feb 18: Some of the tomato plants [from seed] are up!

1998 (age 73)

Feb 18:  I planned on working with my begonia bulbs in shop but I stopped to mend my garden jacket and then I took off the hood and resewed the collar.  By that time it was after 4 so I built my evening fire and didn’t accomplish anything except repairing my jacket.

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flashback: 24 July—north end

Thursday, 24 July 2014

I had to get a grip and go back to work; it’s not as if I can afford to simply retire.   Besides, my own garden might not provide enough to blog fodder.  My three days off had done my knee some good, so we did all our north end gardens.

Golden Sands Assisted Living

When we arrived, we saw evidence of bears getting into and onto the big wheelie bins by where we park.

smashed lids

We were told that the bear tossed the bins around like toys.  The maintenance man was busy building a better enclosure.

In the enclosed courtyard, I weeded the four quadrant flower beds while Allan mowed the center lawn; we’ve started bringing my mom’s old rechargeable mower sometimes for this purpose.

I am still wanting the four quadrants to be more vibrant at this time of year.

southwest quadrant

southeast…rather blah now!

northeast…better!

northwest…just needs MORE.

Inside, one of the residents, Ann, told us how much she loves the garden, and talked about the garden she had to leave behind when she moved in. So even if I’m not satisfied, the gardens are still giving pleasure to the residents.

To the left, you can see the wheelbarrow that I am about to push down the long, long hallway.

Klipsan Beach Cottages

the usual look into the fenced garden through the east gate

Melianthus major, so small compared to last year because it died all the way back in the winter.

Allium albopilosum

lily; when my mom moved into Golden Sands, I moved some of her lilies up here.

probably ‘Conca D’Or’

daisies in the lawn border

pulmonaria under the big rhodo on the pond island

Chocolate flower (some children were touring the garden and loved smelling this)

Oman Builders Supply garden, Ocean Park

the usual deadheading…

Marilyn’s Garden, Surfside

We had not gotten as far north as Marilyn’s garden for what felt like an awfully long time (but was probably just three weeks at most).

When we arrived, we found a doe and a fawn in the front garden.  They ambled away.

giant miscanthus by the lawn hiding the neighbours’ driveway

looking south along the garden path

oregano by the path

along the path; the garden was abuzz with bees

view from the porch looking northwest

Oddly, the deer don’t eat the lilies here.  Do I dare to plant more?

Cosmos

and more cosmos

Wiegardt Gallery

Heading back south again to Nahcotta…our weekly stop at Wiegardt Gallery.

the front garden

in the ornamental grass garden near the street…I am very pleased the deer are not eating the pink feathery sanguisorba

And they aren’t eating the sanguisorba near the front door either…

…even though they nibbled on it earlier in the year.

bees on the cosmos again

If I had to pick a favourite annual, I think cosmos would win over painted sage.

The Cove Restaurant

The reward for actually leaving the house and going to work: dinner at the Cove Restaurant.

a little wildflower garden by the parking lot

You can see that the Cove is right by the Peninsula Golf Course; golfing is not my thing, but it does make for a green and peaceful setting.

looking north to the clubhouse and restaurant

I envy the success with sunflowers in front of the restaurant.

dahlias in the entry garden

entry garden with Alllum schubertii

inside at the bar, that is not our friend Ed Strange, and that is golf on the telly

Even though it was fish taco Thursday, I had to have the ahi tuna

And Allan had the yakisoba bowl

I had bites of Allan’s dinner; the delicious ingredients went all down through the noodles, not just piled on top, and included wonderful sea beans from the shores of Willapa Bay.

 

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13 July: Rhone Street Gardens

Sunday, 13 July 2014

Garden Bloggers Fling, Portland

Sunday’s well-worn itinerary

On the way from Ernst/Fuller Gardens to the Rhone Street Garden, our tour bus was halted by a freight train. We were all astonished that in the middle of the city, a train that long was allowed to block so much traffic. Since then, I’ve done some reading on freight trains in Portland and found this was probably not unusual.

Again, the two Fling tour buses were going in a different order to the small gardens so that only 40 of us at once would descend on each one.

trainwatching

It is no exaggeration to say that the train had us sitting there for at least fifteen minutes, cutting into our Rhone Street Gardens time.

Rhone Street Gardens at last

Joy!! I was so very excited to visit Rhone Street Gardens, as that and Danger Garden are blogs that I adore. To see both of these gardens in person will deeply enhance my blog reading experience. I also was very much enjoying the smaller gardens, as they were much more accessible to me in my sore legs state of being, and I did not have to go far afield and away from all the other humans to find a place to sit. In the small gardens, one can go round several times and catch every detail.

I wish I had remembered to ask owner Scott (who also was one of the Fling organizers) what the story was about flooding, as I could not picture how a garden like this floods. Perhaps the story was written in his blog before I discovered it, so I’ll poke back and have a look. (I did, and learned that the flooding was along the parking strips. Allan says he was told the storm sewers backed up as high as the bottom step of the stairs by the sidewalk.)

Bloggers arrive at Rhone Street Gardens; Scott is to the very left

Allan’s photo, approaching the garden

I believe that is Lisa, a blogger who most impressively came all the way from Spain.

(Lisa’s blog: http://descubriendohojas.blogspot.com/)

sit spot by the front steps

steps to the front porch

Leslie from California explores the sidewalk gardens.

(Leslie’s blog: http://www.starappleediblegardens.com/)

along the other length of sidewalk along the front of the house

Below: wood edges on sidewalk, perhaps added recently to counteract flooding?

really paved in 1911???

Allan’s photo: “kit for raised garden lumber detail”

grasses swooping next to the sidewalk

to my right: sloped garden by the house

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

Parking Strip: grasses and perennials mixed

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

What is this grass? I must acquire it!

Allan’s photo: “Schizachirum looks better than ‘blue oat grass’ no dead center”

Maybe Scott wrote this down for Allan.

I see that I need to start collecting ornamental grasses again. I used to, then got complacent and slacked off. These are wonderful.

salvia, I believe

galvanized pots mark one end of the L shaped parking strips

looking to the right

I meant to have some of the delicious orange juice on my second walk-through but got so absorbed in the garden that I forgot! As you can see, and as I forgot to mention earlier, the day was not blazing hot and the light on the gardens was not all harsh sun and shadow as it had been on Friday and Saturday.

As I turn up the path, the porch is to my right. (I have a terrible time with left and right, and Allan often reads the blog after it is published and gives me corrections. 😉

 

on the porch, a blogger gets a photo looking out

Allan’s photo from the porch

a somewhat secret sit spot behind the grasses

Scott wrote here about the creation of this sit spot.

I remember Lucy Hardiman speaking about how she likes the secret sit spot behind shrubs in her garden so that she can eavesdrop on what people say about it.

This one caught my eye, of course.

rain chain by the porch

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

standing by the sit spot

birds must love this garden

Allan’s photo

Now I turn my attention to the shed of wood and metal (a look that I like very much.)

with a blogger enraptured with plants

the best green roof, with grasses and flowers

Allan’s photo

(I do hope this inspires Allan to build a little shed like this between us and Nora’s security light… I have no such skills. I used to think that I should wait and see if I get a gardening neighbour next door, but have realized from the Ernst/Fuller garden that a privacy wall is good, even with a friend next door.)

 

Allan’s photo

 

passageway between house and shed

looking back at the shed

with garden detail

I walked around three times and took a photo each time.

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

 

OOOh, Allan took a photo of the building details!

beside the path

just past the shed

little courtyard behind the shed

Earlier this year, Scott wrote about the need to create a privacy screen for this particular sit spot. (In rereading that post, I finally realized that the metal trough planters that I like have a name: stock tanks.)

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

sign on fence by that little sit spot

 

lily at corner of house

Allan’s photo

bloggers turn the corner from the sit spot to the back of the house

I could hear water among this greenery in the back corner.

a little secret bubbler

Allan’s photo: looking out to the driveway

looking back from the arbour that leads to the driveway

looking back from the driveway to the side of the house

Allan’s photo

Scott said the neighbours’ chickens like to visit.

At the foot of the driveway, Scott’s cat (or the neighbour’s orange cat?) was looking suspiciously at the big tour bus parked across the street.

what the heck is that?

I’ll lie down but I’m still keeping an eye on it.

Allan’s photo of me taking the picture

and trying to get some attention from the cat.

I think the standoffishness indicates that this was the neighbours’ orange cat…or else he was really obsessed with that bus.

from the foot of the driveway, looking down the parking strip toward the corner from where I started

Allan’s photo: “soft sidewalk edge”

Allan’s photo

Echinacea pallida (must have!!) and a verbascum

parking strip

fireweed against the house

I just so much appreciate touring a garden in a house that was made for the working or middle class!

I can imagine living here.

Having come full circle, here are the stairs to the front porch.

parking strip plants

I back up for some more street views.

the kitty appears

 

I’m mystified as to where Allan took this photo; maybe from the front porch??

I found out that Scott’s husband likes Star Trek!

As our time at Rhone Street Gardens drew to a close and we all began to gather near the front steps, Boots decided it was time to pose.

(I hope I have his name right.)

Allan’s photo: Kylee from Ohio and Boots

Kylee’s blog: http://ourlittleacre.blogspot.com/

Allan’s photo: cat admiration society

Allan’s photo: more cat photos

Allan’s photo of a photo of garden owners (all three of them)

happy family (Allan’s photo)

and then…some territory defending! (Allan’s photo)

At the end…We had difficulty tearing ourselves away. The garden completely lived up to my expectations and I was sorry to leave.

Next: the John Kuza garden in collaboration with Sean Hogan.

P.S.:

Allan noticed this cute license plate and wondered which blogger it belongs to!

Here’s Pam Penick’s ode to Rhone Street Gardens.

Here’s GardenBook on Rhone Street Gardens.

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11 July: Westwind Farm Studio

Friday, 11 July 2014

Garden Bloggers Fling

our whirlwind day!

Westwind Farm Studio

Just up the road from the Old Germantown Road garden, we visited Westwind Farm, a recording studio, yoga center, lavender farm, and nursery. I had been there in 2007 when it the landscape was brand new and again in 2011.

We parked above the garden where a lavender festival was going on and walked down some gentle steps to the garden. (I skirted the steps by picking my way down the lawn next to them.)

passing by daylilies mixed with grasses

One of many delightful things about the Bloggers Fling was how often we were plied with treats. Here, by a table under a tree a bartender offered wine or ginger ale. The scorching hot sun had retreated into a haze, making our visit more comfortable.

bloggers mingling

The billowing meadowy look prevails in the gardens.

The gardens right around the house are more structured. (The pink flower is astilbe.)

On the edge of the garden, the salt water swimming pool inspired one blogger to wade in.

Next to the pool house, some gentle quacking noises guided me to a little flock of ducks.

by a waterfall pool; I looked at the horsetail intermingled with astilbe and wondered why I spend so much time trying to eliminate such a beautiful thing.

splashing water and ducks quacking

looking up from the pond to a fireplace terrace

I contemplated the steps going up the hill and thought “I really shouldn’t…”

so enticing

A procession of ducks drew my attention back to the lawn.

 

ducks pass bloggers dabbling toes in the salt water

I went up to the fireplace terrace…

and then could not resist going further up.

(If you are just joining this blog, all the hesitation is due to a torn calf muscle that I was supposed to be “taking easy”.)

Irresistible

the view from halfway up

and further still

I found it relaxing that the garden was not perfectly weeded; the occasional dwarf fireweed cluster looked perfect here.

the greenhouse at the very top

the veg garden fence

sunflowers in the fenced garden

looking down

I have admired this simple, handsome fence since my first visit to this garden.

It is strung with fairy lights.

Fortunately, my memory was correct in that there was a gentle slope down the back of the hill with no steps.

Grasses along the slope.

Grass expert John Greenlee had a big hand in this garden, and I recall hearing in the past that Ann Lovejoy (my favourite garden guru) also had some involvement in its beginning.

mixed flowers, ferns and grasses

back to level ground

I acquire a delicious glass of wine…and sit down.

My view from where I sat:

a blogger’s chair, with lavender from the festival uphill

blogger’s sunhat and camera

A folksinger’s voice and guitar drifted down from a tent up the hill.

telephoto of singer by the lavender field

The singer regaled us with a song that usually bugs me (“I’m a picker, I’m a grinner” are not my favourite lyrics) and made it sound good, followed by two songs that I adore: Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door and Somebody that I Used to Know with its quirky melody.

I took one more quick turn around the nearest part of the garden.

The ducks had been caged.

looking over the grassy meadows below the house

 

steps to house deck overlooking the pool

Then back to my sit spot. Meanwhile, Allan had had his own walkabout.

Allan’s photos:

a mown path

flowers and sculpture on the way down from where the bus parked

herding ducks

More of the Eryngium giganteum that I so want.

by the salt water pool

refreshed bloggers

so wonderful after such a hot day

beside the house

inside the greenhouse atop the hill

the view from on high

monarda (bee balm) and Stipa gigantea

the billowing meadowy look

Reunited, Allan and I climbed the path to the bus park; the buses always left on time.

view from the bus of bloggers climbing the hill

John Greenlee, garden designer

and one last straggler running with a forgotten bag

We were caught on a traffic jam on the way back (in fact, I recall the bus had left the Germantown Road garden a little early because of that possibility).

on the comfy bus

As we crept slowly along Old Germantown Road’s narrow lane, branches brushed the side of the bus. We got to the hotel at a few minutes to seven and rushed to and from our rooms to get to the banquet in time…and that’s next.

 

 

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24 Nov: bulb time, day 16

Sunday, 24 November, 2013

Today was a big bulbing day.  With no recreational or social stops whatsoever, we drove straight up to Klipsan Beach Cottages, where we had 566 Narcissi to plant at the A Frame.    The A Frame sits down lower than the eight cottages that line the ridge and is to the south of Mary and Denny’s house and the entry road.  Like all the units, it is privately owned, and when the owners Pete and Darlene are not there it becomes one of the vacation rentals.

The A Frame from the entry road (taken after our planting session)

The A Frame

When tossing out batches of bulbs for Allan and I to plant, I have learned that if there is a batch of 5 to 10 in a bag, it is easier to find them if I just drop the bag and then whoever plants arranges the bulbs in a pleasing pattern.

bags in a ground-cover-y area

Otherwise, the bulbs disappear into ground cover (here, beach strawberry that has had the nerve to move in to the area, and sweet woodruff, which I most decidedly did not plant.  It is a nemesis of mine!).

When looking for somewhere to fit that many bulbs, I noticed an impractical in and out swoop of the lawn between a few hydrangeas that Darlene had had planted a couple of years ago.  Denny agreed the area was awkward for the lawn mower so I decided to join up the hydrangea semi circles.

before

after

Unfortunately, the horrible ivy just beyond the garden actually is on the neighbouring property next to the irregularly shaped lot.

bright sunshine and strong shadows

Again, the sun shone powerfully, blinding me as I moved from sun to shade.  While digging out the new bed I got so hot that I changed into a summer shirt and was awfully glad I had not removed it from the car.  It was 61 degrees!

blue blue sky

Someone told me later that the unusual number of jet trails in the sky were from jets being turned around due to a big storm in Texas that has delayed many flights.

In the beds around the decks of the house, I planted the showy narcissi that I chose (unusually) this year:  Flower Record, Tropical Sunset, Fragrant Rose, High Society.  I hope they won’t be too gaudy.

by the deck

I thought for sure I had pulled the last of the painted sage yesterday at the boatyard.  Here was a healthy clump still in bloom by the A Frame’s propane tank!

Much of the A Frame garden is wooded.  Once upon a time, ivy covered the soil between the A Frame and the cottages till Allan and I hacked at it and rolled it off like a noxious carpet.

sparsely treed woods reclaimed from ivy

To plant in that tough ground and in the rooty spots of the newly created hydrangea bed, I found that the new red tool we recently got from Back Alley Gardens in Gearhart outshone my beloved Ho Mi (Korean hand plow, E-Z Digger, Zen Digger).

My ho mi supplanted by the hefty red tool

The warm sun continued to make bulb planting feel unseasonal during our entire long session at KBC.

the last leaves of Tiger Eyes sumac

over by the garage

and the matching pump house door

I had been terribly worried toward the end of our A Frame planting  that we would not get done in time to do Marilyn’s garden as well.  We did, and with enough time to take some Christmas decoration photos.

It feels weird to see Christmas decorations out in the summer-like weather.  Mary went ahead and put them up today because later this week, she will be so busy with visiting family that she won’t have time.

tower of white lights in the garden

I have not been able to bear cutting down the wands of the Dierama (even though they hang over the path)

Up on the cottages, Mary hung a wreath for each one.

cottage door

wreath with ocean view

A little after two thirty, we went north to Marilyn’s garden and planted a considerably smaller batch of bulbs: only 136.

We leave many of the tall perennials and grasses standing all winter at Marilyn’s as they provide shelter and seeds for the birds she loves to watch from her window.

I did pull the cosmos, painted sage, and cut back some flopsy perennials along the path to make room for bulbs.

before

after

Just when we had finished, I noticed that in the driveway garden, a double pink Hellebore is already about to bloom.   I cut all the tatty old leaves to the ground, as one is supposed to do.

Hellebore before

and after

Hellebore in bud. It will be glorious.

Much to my delight we got done in time to go to Wiegardt Gallery with enough light to cut back some perennials and plant 20 more Narcissi bulbs.  This job absorbed 10 of the ‘Fragrant Breeze’ bulbs that I forgotten to account for in my last order.

Allan chopping perennials (and the last, still green cosmos pulled out)

As the sunset, I took some photos of the ornamental grass area by the road.

My favourite, Stipa gigantea

I wanted to take photos showing the view to east and west on the paved walking path that goes by Wiegardt Gallery.  First,  I noticed all the windblown grass blades all over the lawn.

uh oh….a mess on both sides of the paved walking path.

 With enough light left to pick them up, I gathered over three hundred blades in a big armful.  It is the sort of job that leads to counting.  Allan did not understand why I didn’t just rake; I felt the area was too large, and there were too many leaves, and it was just easier to gather them.

He helped me finish.

Then I could take a tidy set of east and west photos.

looking west along Bay Avenue toward the ocean; the sky was pale pink. Really.

looking east to Willapa Bay, with another pink sky that did not register

To the left, the Pacific Ocean.  To the right, Willapa Bay.

Bay Avenue. What they call Peninsula Highway, we call Sandridge Road (along the bay)

Now we have but three batches of bulbs to plant other than mine own, one large, one medium, one quite small.  It is all contigent on an order of 200 tulips arriving that were due on Friday and have somehow got hung up in Portland (according to UPS tracker).  Without them, bulbing is now at a standstill.

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9 Oct: the rest of the story

9 October, 2013: north end jobs

I don’t know when I switched to the writing “Oct 9” instead of “9 Oct”.  As a longtime Anglophile, it is time I get back the the Anglo/European date style even if it looks odd to some.

After an inspirational tour of Lisa’s new garden, we went on to three north end jobs, with a stop at Peninsula Landscape Supply to pick up three more buckets of river rock for the Larry and Robert garden.

at Peninsula Landscape Supply

At Eric Wiegardt’s gallery, I pulled some cranesbill geraniums and weeds here and there while Allan cleared an area that was ALL pesky cranesbill ‘A.T. Johnson’ and just a bit of ajuga, leaving…just a bit of ajuga.

before and after

The geranium is especially pointless in this garden because deer eat off the haze of insipid pale pink flowers.

cute Coreopsis ‘Flower Tower’ by the front door

I may not love the BadAster, but the bees sure do.

Next, we drove north to Marilyn’s garden.  Something odd had happened on the south end of the garden.  A path, like something had been dragged, went through to the next yard and a Barberry ‘Helmond’s Pillar’ was knocked right over!  Allan righted it again while I pulled some spent Cosmos and painted sage.

What have we here??

The garden is tall and jungly now…

Miscanthus plumes

On the way back to Ocean Park, we stopped and had a look at a rental possibility for our friend J9, who hopes to move back to the Peninsula.  Perhaps the block we looked at is not for her…

“We are a gun toting neighbor watching Hood!”

Two houses on the block shared the same sentiment. Back to the rental quest!

Onward to Klipsan Beach Cottages for more fall cleanup.  I personally would choose to leave Thalictrum ‘Elin’ (below, left) up all winter.  I love the colour of the stems and the structure.  I have come to realize that not everyone sees the architectural beauty in dormant plants, so I cut it back.

before and after

Allan cut down some ferns and I pruned a buddleia and while I did some other work, Allan cut down a whole passel of Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’ behind the bench.

before and after

I worked in the area to the south of the greenhouse (just east of the bench spot), tying up some flopped Melianthus major and Coreopsis ‘Flower Tower’, weeding and pulling out dead-ish foliage.

This area has two different Melianthus and a lovely rose (not blooming today).  It used to be all raspberries.

before

after

The garden still has much beauty to offer.

Billardia longiflora

Of course, this pretty pale purple aster does not spread thuggishly!

Agapanthus and aster

roses

sunlit hydrangeas in the A Frame’s garden

Artemisia ‘Guizhou’ by the greenhouse

I hope guests can see the beauty in the tawny stalks of Artemisia ‘Guizhou’, because i am not ready to let it go.

Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ truly was this bright in evening sun.

On the way to Marilyn’s garden, the van had started to make an odd noise…a grinding sound.  All the way from Marilyn’s to Klipsan Beach Cottages, Allan was listening and trying to diagnose it.  It seemed to be coming from the undercarriage.  When I would ask for his theories or how serious it might be, I was admonished to “Listen!”  Leaving KBC, more listening ensued and some slight speeding up, slowing down, and brake work.  Could it be a brake shoe?  The universal joint?  I questioned whether we might have to take it into the shop, and if so, when, and would we be able to get across the river to pick up our lawnmower from the Astoria repair shop (without realizing my ultimate fear of breaking down on the bridge), and did the Saturn still work? (The Saturn shifter is getting stiffer and more problematic.)  These questions were spread out over seventeen miles, but…”Listen!”  One thought crossed my mind…could it be as simple as a…but…”LISTEN!”  I thought to myself about what a difficulty it would be to take the van in for repair, and wondered again if it could be as simple as a br…. “LISTEN!”

When we stopped in front of Larry and Robert’s house to drop off the river rock buckets, Allan looked underneath the van.  He popped back up and suggested I do the same.  There indeed was a BR…ANCH! caught in the spare tire which (kind of oddly) is located underneath the vehicle.

looking under the van by Larry and Robert’s house

In our own driveway half a block away, Allan obligingly got a better photo.

tire branch

I hope this was the cause of all our van trouble today.

small but very noisy

I had just enough daylight to drag most of Sunday’s debris to the new debris pile.

debris pile at sunset

Sometimes, WordPress informs me,  readers will have to view an ad at the bottom of a post (unless I pony up for a more expensive blog).  So here’s one of my choice.  Water Music Festival is this weekend and is the event for which Music in the Gardens tour is a fundraiser.  Both benefit music programs in the schools.  We hear the Saturday evening concert is sold out, but the other two performances will be excellent and as I post this, seating is still available for those shows.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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gardening and art

Friday, September 27, 2013

With much rain predicted, I was sure we could get the entire day off.  I had various computer projects in mind, mainly sorting out and deleting some of the 16,000 plus photos I’ve taken since my old computer crashed last February.

I walked down to Olde Towne in the wind while Allan continued to snooze.

strawberry waffle

He joined me after awhile because I had gotten thoroughly soaked by sideways rain and buffeted by wind on the way to breakfast.  While he took the opportunity to go to a shop in Seaview to have new shocks installed in our van, I got a ride home from Queen La De Da and told myself I would put ten things away before I booted up the computer.  After maybe thirty things had been properly dealt with, I proceeded to sort cerinthe seeds that I had collected over the summer.

Cerinthe chaff

Out of that pile of chaff (in a bowl made by my friend Sheila (New Leaf Plants and Pottery), I got over 150 seeds.

Cerinthe seeds

They are large and each plant produces so many that I am amazed at how expensive a packet of Cerinthe major purpurascens seeds is.

Allan returned from his errands and told me that, as the rain and wind had slowed, he had seen the Port of Ilwaco crew out removing (with a backhoe) some of the tall ornamental grasses we had tagged earlier in the week.  We waited long enough to give the crew a head start and then went out…leaving the cats snoozing.

Smokey and Mary

The crew had done a wonderful job of tidying up after themselves after removing grasses to the north of the old Port Bistro building.

where once were grasses

We had just a bit of cleaning up to do so we also clipped the big, woody old lavenders.  We may replace them next spring.

before (Sept 25)

after

I am a big fan of ornamental grasses; the problem with those is that they blocked the oncoming traffic sightline of people leaving the nearby parking lots.

Just to the west in the next curbside bed, the removal of another large Miscanthus had pulled the root mass of a Ceanothus in a way that reminded me of the ruching up of a rug.

root mass out of place

Allan managed to get it back where it should be with the pick, and I did some pruning on the Ceanothus and pulled as much soil as possible into the hole where the grass used to be.   We’ll get more soil but we want to wait till the removal of the rest of the tagged plants because we will have more holes to level off.

by the tuna club…I’ll plant something smaller in this spot.

At home, the cats were still snoozing but Mary welcomed some attention.

waking up

At five PM we walked three blocks down to the museum for opening night of “Charles Fitzpatrick: Pen & Photo”.  On the way, I admired a stunning gazania in Judy’s garden.

Gazania

The rain held off for our walk to the museum, and the snacks were excellent.

refreshments

Peninsulites examine the photos.

One panel of photos was especially interesting to me as it showed a lot of old hotels, including the Grandview Lodge…AKA The Sou’wester.

enlarged

Back in those days, the beach came right up to J Place in Seaview and was at the Sou’wester’s front door.  Now it is half a mile to the west because of dune accretion.

Every November, the museum has a lively auction of small pieces created by local artists and craftspeople.  The display was up for preview and I now know which ones I am going to bid on.

preview of 6×6 art auction

Unfortunately, so do a number of other people.

art collectors plotting

We were able to walk home without being rained on.

heading home past Larry and Robert’s garden boat, with Judy and Tom’s house in the background

Soon after we were cozily indoors, the rain returned with force and remained for most of the next two days.  As it was only 6 PM, I had a good head start on writing the blog post about the wonderful bayside garden I had seen the day before.  What with getting the photos in the right order and side distractions such as messages from friends, it took four hours to complete the entry after all.

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shorter days

Wednesday, September 18

I was so sure that autumnal weather had arrived that we took with us three Ilex ‘Sky Pencil’, thinking we would have nice cool weather in which to plant them.  Pounding rain on the roof and outside the window last night had been a soothing prelude to sleep.  In the morning, Allan heard rain and turned his alarm off, thinking we could sleep in.  Then the bright sun came in the windows.

By the time we got to Klipsan Beach Cottages to start working, the weather was back to a hot summer day, so the Ilex just went for a ride and came back home again.

They got taken for a ride.

The sky was so blue.  At KBC, behind one particular tree, I often notice the sky looking bluer than anywhere else.

the bluest spot

This reminds me of being a child, in a hammock, in a garden belonging to a friend of my grandmother’s, looking up at the sky and thinking I was right under the center of it.  Surrounded by a garden, that was one of the moments when I fell in love with gardening and wanted to create such a paradise for myself.

looking up at the blue spot

The rest of the sky was cloudless but just not as blue!

Hydrangea ‘Izu No Hana’…speaking of blue…

Denny’s high school reunion group is coming this weekend, a tradition started a few years ago when they surprised him with Mary’s help.  He attended a small high school and had not been able to attend their reunions because of his work managing KBC, so now they come to him.

We looked for ways to make the garden look extra good at this time of year and I hit upon putting a sharp edge on Mary’s border, the one we made her for a birthday present several years back.

before

after

Garden writer Anne Wareham wrote in The Bad Tempered Gardener about how much she dislikes crisp edges between grass and a garden bed.  I don’t think she would like any of my gardens much, but I do like hers.

Schizostylis at KBC

Mary’s favourite rose, Jude the Obscure, against the blue, blue sky

another excellent rose, whose name I wish I knew…

Coreopsis ‘Flower Tower’ is blooming up high over the greenhouse.  Every year it amuses me all to bits with its little coreopsis flowers so high up in the air.

Coreopsis ‘Flower Tower’ way up there

Last week, apparently I did a lousy job of trimming the Strobilanthes atropurpureus and left little stubs.

If I did this, for shame…

better…

We checked on the garden at Oman Builders Supply and trimmed a few deadheads off the Eryisimum ‘Bowles Mauve’ and I failed to photograph the gaps that still bothers me where someone stole the Eryngium plants  in full bloom earlier this year.

At Wiegardt Gallery, I was struck as usual by how good the ornamental grasses look in the lawn.

This miscanthus has such a nice flowing shape.

the gallery from the street through Stipa gigantea

and over the top of Miscanthus

looking west to the gallery sign

Also am very fond of this Sanguisorba.

Even though it was hard to photograph in the bright and rather uncomfortably hot sun, the bad aster that escaped my pulling now looks nice with the Schizostylis in bloom.

late bloomers

As soon as the aster is done, I’ll be trying to pull it all out again but will for sure miss a few pink roots.

Three hours at Andersen’s RV Park ended the work day.  My mind boggles with the endless deadheading of Agyranthemum ‘Butterfly’.  A little jingle runs through my head as I cut about 25 deadheads each off of 20 large plants:  I’m so very very very very tired of it all, so very very tired of it all.  Where this ditty came from I have no idea, but I find myself humming it every autumn in that awkward couple of weeks before real fall project season revives my interest.

The RV park was full with lots of happy people walking cute dogs.  That helped get me through the two hours of deadheading (cosmos and sweet peas, too); the hour of weeding was not so bad.  We were pleased to see longtime staffers Ruth and Bob back for a couple of weeks.  (Hi, Ruth!!)

Andersen’s west side, now devoid of poppy flowers

Again, the asters that I failed to eradicate now look wonderful.   By pulling as many as I can in the spring and early summer, we seem to end up with the perfect amount in the fall.

wild blue aster looking like deliberate bouquets

I bet if I planted a nice clumping aster like ‘Harrington’s Pink’, the roving deer would eat it.

Andersen’s owner Lorna says the Schizostylis makes her very happy in the fall.

Schizostylis at Andersen’s

I heard a tip once in a seminar by Dan Hinkley:  That this plant will not run all over the place if it is in a damp spot.  He said that if it is running rampant, it’s looking for water.  This nice clump is well watered and is behaving itself.  In South Africa, it grows on river banks.  Wikipedia informs me it is called Hesperantha now.  When did that happen??

Because the days are shorter, we were home before seven.  I find that to be absolute bliss.  I still had time to pick a bowl of tasty small tomatoes from the greenhouse, and Allan mowed the lawn.  It seemed to me he was mowing in the dark, but he said he could follow the mower’s tire tracks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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weekend off…

Saturday, August 31

The idea of regularly taking weekends off is a new development, and perhaps one that we will regret come the winter if the money gets low.  It’s part of my “life is too short” philosophy and the desire to spend more time in my own home and garden.

I had Saturday to myself because Allan had gone to Olympia for the day for a family obligation.

I’m still working on getting a good photo of the “Butterfly Gladiolus”.

gladiolus papilio

called “Butterfly Glad” because of the markings inside the flower

On the way to Olde Towne for coffee, I stopped at Larry’s Antique Gallery Too! shop just for fun and to catch up on town gossip  news.

Antique Gallery

There is always a shop dog to pet.  Of three of the Larry and Robert dogs, this is usually the one:

Sophie

The shop is lush with beautiful objects…

After my midmorning coffee and a treat at Olde Towne Café, I headed for the Saturday Market via the Antique Gallery, Robert’s branch of the family business.

cute kitchen towels at Robert’s antique shop

The two Antique Galleries and Olde Towne Trading Post are a big draw for antiquers and I always think of my grandma going “antiquing” on Greenwood Avenue in Seattle when I see the happy browsers in the shops.

I walked past the Ilwaco boatyard….

Picotee cosmos at the boatyard

My friend and basketmaker from Seattle, Pat Reese, gave me this grass long ago.  It has beautiful soft plumes and is a runner but not too annoyingly so.  Can anyone ID it for me?  It is a nice alternative for pampas grass because it stays much smaller and its blades are not as sharp and harsh…if it is not considered noxious because of its spreading habit.

a lovely grass at the south end of the boatyard garden

I did my usual stint photographing the Saturday Market for Discover Ilwaco.  For the blog, some garden related photos:

succulents

salsa in a bag from De Asis Farm

flowers and herbs from Pink Poppy Farm (at the Pink Poppy Bakery booth)

I saw, taking photos (of dogs, she said) my good new friend Donna, someone I am fortunate to have met through Facebook.

Donna sighting on a booth dog

The local Facebook connections have been an amazing boon to my sense of being connected to other like minded folks on the Peninsula.

Donna’s dog Chloe: 15 years old

good advice

Another friend connection:  Our friend Kelly’s booth of screen printed apparel:

Blue Crab Graphics; her sign is made from an old screen printing frame

As I walked the two blocks home, for once not going in through the field and my back gate, I saw that water was rising at the meander line that divides the parking lots from our residences.

The grove of trees marks the Bogsy Wood.

Other than social and photographic wanderings, I did my first mowing with our new gas mower.  It definitely goes faster than the rechargeable electric one.  I would have stuck with the electric for ecological reasons but for its battery getting old and a replacement would have been ridiculously expensive…and its mowing path was quite narrow.

My big new idea is to mow this fall and leave unmowed all the edge areas that do not flow easily into the mowing pattern and then cut those bits of sod out with a half moon edger.  Mowing without having to back up and fiddle around with awkward areas is my goal.

Sunday, September 1

Here’s another grass in my garden for which I crave an identification.  Pam and Cathie from Back Alley Gardens had an idea when they visited, but I forgot the name Pam suggested.

It is delicate and reddish and I got it at a Hardy Plant weekend or maybe Cistus nursery.

I need to divide a bit off of this and put some down at the boatyard!

New idea:  Plant peas and beans in containers like this along the fence; they won’t have to fight with tree and shrub roots of the mixed border hedges I am trying to grow.

not elegant but works well

Looking back on my attempt to grow “edibles” for the edible tour, I think it worked out pretty well.  I still have lots of tomatoes…more than I can use so I share with Judy and Devery.

greenhouse tomatoes

I had more cucumbers than I could eat and shared with Devery, Judy and Mary N!

I have some peppers coming along in the greenhouse as well.

banana peppers

The crop of cilantro is substantial although I and Mary N’s husband seem to be the only ones who like it.

slow bolting cilantro

The hops are ornamental as far as I am concerned because I don’t make beer.  However, Madeline of Pink Poppy Bakery told me that dried hops are good in sleepytime tea so I am going to give that a try for my chronic insomnia.  (I can sleep, but not till two AM!)

hops on the old clotheline

Red Runner beans look gorgeous against the back wall of Allan’s shed…but don’t seem to be all that tasty so I just grow them to look good.

red runner beans

and a showy dark purple bean

Before the edible tour, in order to keep the lettuce from bolting, I was dedicated to harvesting the young leaves and making salads.  I must admit I have not done so since tour day.  Now it has gone old and bitter and I should compost it and plant a fall crop (if it is not too late….maybe in the greenhouse)…

lettuce bowl, given to me by Nancy Allen

My favourites are the ornamental flowers and if I were still making salads, I’d be putting begonia flowers in them.

The yellows taste like citrus and the reds taste like berries!

The long stretch of lawn going back to the bogsy wood culminates in something new now:

looking south

a new debris pile built on newspaper

I am hoping to take the old debris pile on the other side of the garden, clean it up, get all the spuds out and make it into a garden bed.

How can I have run out of space for new beds in such a large yard?

I continue to debate about whether or not to have the Danger Tree…quite dead…cut down or wait and see if it falls.  It shouldn’t hit the house unless it really flew, but might take out some fence.

The bark is cracking in an ominous way.

I hope I can have it cut just above the branches where the blue bottles hang and if a tree cutter could make it look kind of rough like it broke naturally, it would make a most convincing snag.

It’s too dangerous to leave even though the birds love it.

An arbourist assured me it had just died of old age, not because I built a carefully shallow bed on one side of it.

shade bed

an orchid? or lily? growing in the shade

(In my old garden and in my clients’ gardens, I know every plant but in my own I have lost track…from planting it up so quickly over just two years.)

As the day progressed, I had company expected and unexpected.

Garden Blogger Alison of Bonney Lassie arrived at three and we had a splendid talk and walk throughout the garden.

Alison taking photos…

She is also someone I met through Facebook’s network of gardeners.

Gene Miles came by with a friend and I had another pleasant walk seeing it through others’ eyes.  His friend from Oregon proved to be knowledgeable about plants but was camera shy.

Gene is not the shy type.

Pretty soon Judy came by with Beep, both on the way home from a walk.

The well trained Beep!

Judy and I had been neighbours for over a year when we became Facebook friends and found out much more quickly than in the old fashioned way just how much we had in common.

Judy and The Beep

We sat in the shade back by the fire circle because neither of us is fond of hot sun.

The gregarious cats Smokey, Mary and Frosty were thrilled to meet new people but as usual, Calvin made himself scarce and hid out indoors.

Smokey, people lover (in his BirdsBeSafe collar)

Calvin the shy

Meanwhile, Allan was up to something…

a project

But I wasn’t sure what.

It turned out to be this:

a shelf for the van…

that hold tools underneath

If we have to eat rice and beans, forgo restaurants and have tea instead of fancy coffees at Olde Towne this coming January due to not having worked hard enough this summer, it will have been worth it for days like these.

evening peace in the garden

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Aug. 7: Garden Club tour, part two

August 7, 2013

After visiting Pink Poppy Farm and Marilyns garden, we continued south to Dee Bristol’s garden in Butterfly Shores.

Bristol

west side garden, created by local gardener Diana Canto

driftwood and Buddleia

gardener Diana Canto talks to guests

Artemisia, Lavender, grasses

looking west

a jet from behind enhances the bubbler

Perovskia (Russian Sage)

I marveled at the gorgeousness of the Perovskia.  Diana said this is the best it has ever done.

Diana’s dog Lucy adds a sense of scale.

NW corner of house

north side of house

Going into the back yard at the southwest corner of the house, we pass this massive driftwood.

It’s enormous.

Owner Dee says they call it their sea serpent.

serpent or sea monster indeed

In the back yard, the two little dogs came to greet us.

dogs

Dee (in yellow sweater) by the back yard veg boxes.

Next, we continued south and made a rest stop at Andersen’s RV Park where the poppy garden was much admired….then on down tiny little N Alley to Laura and Don Deemer’s garden.

garden club at Laura and Don’s  house

As I knew they would, the ladies took a strong interest in Laura’s decorative garden art.

birdhouse post

post with shells

And they were impressed with how Don and Laura had done everything themselves over the course of twenty years, from the pond to Don’s metal art.

pond

enjoying the garden

Don’s rebar pig

In what used to be a vegetable garden, before they planted trees and shrubs for shade and privacy, is a bench where Laura loves to read.

a bench in the cool shade

on the porch

on the porch

I noticed details I had not seen on my previous visits.

a snail in the shade garden

Laura’s heart

garden shed in north side garden, a new display since the garden tour.  I like it!

north side garden, weeping tree and dry creek

Next:  Jo’s, Gene’s, and my garden are visited.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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