Thursday, 17 May 2018
Todd and I had gone in on an order from Digging Dog nursery. It arrived in the morning, and took an hour to unpack. Allan’s photos:

I found it time consuming to unpack the shredded paper and to look at my list of which were for Todd and which for me.
The rest of the plants looked promising.
While I sorted and listed, Allan went across the street to mow at J’s. We have fallen far behind.
Before we left, I picked some snails to take for a long ride to a place with wild plants.
Mike’s garden
We finally got a start on getting Mike’s garden back into good order. I decided to not plant any cosmos there so I don’t have to worry about watering them. (All work photos today are Allan’s.)

Me and Mike discuss the prospect of getting rid of a suckering and not very floriferous lilac, at the same time that two slowly dying conifers get removed.
While I weeded, Allan’s project was to reshape two Lonicera ‘Baggeson’s Gold’ to the round form that Mike likes.
Ilwaco boatyard garden
We did some weeding, and I planted cosmos. Oh, what a difference the mulch made (applied last fall). Last year I was hammering away at gravel to plant the cosmos. This year, it was easy peasy.

This euphorbia came out. (There are plenty. It had reseeded too close to the sidewalk and was old and woody.)
We added two more of our signs.
As for the man who was caught picking flowers earlier this week and told a port office person that “no one is going to take care of them so I am saving them”, I fumed for awhile while planting. Just exactly where did he think all these cool plants come from? The garden was in pretty good shape; what did he think an uncared for garden looks like? I got up a good head of steam. I fervently hope the port comes up with some official no picking signs.
It might seem inconsequential to pick poppies, but I have no way of knowing if someone who is picking is going to also pick the alliums and the eryngiums that only bloom once, ONE CHANCE for beauty.
For example, after the cosmos were all in, we went to the Ilwaco pavilion garden to water some new plants. Here, the Allium ‘Purple Sensation’ are blooming. If someone picks them, that is the last we will see of them because each puts out just ONE flower.
our garden
At home, I walked back to the Bogsy Wood to check on some newly transplanted fuchsias and took a few photos on my way there and back again. I was terribly sad at how weedy my garden is and how I do not have time for it, and yet there is still much to admire.

Thrilled to see my severely coppiced cotinus finally putting out new red leaves. Whew! I did not kill it!
I picked up all the weed piles I left on the lawn last week, and Allan mowed. It had gotten so long, Frosty had to pick his paws up high.
Skooter was staring intently….
…at his next door nemesis, Onyx.
My mom’s beloved rhododendron, originally from her garden, then moved to Golden Sands when she lived there, then to here:
The snails are enjoying my compost bins. I long for time to turn the compost.
I even had time to sit down and finish this book by my favourite cartoonist, Roz Chast. It is due back tomorrow.
She poses an interesting question, hearkening back to when her parents would spend a day in the city:
I remember taking many long walks as a youth and not carrying a water bottle. How was that possible? Now, I take water with me pretty much everywhere.
I was able to erase Mike’s garden and Ilwaco from the work board Annuals Planting Time list, leaving only Klipsan Beach Cottages and here. This means the worst of the APT pressure is over. No wonder my headache decreased today.
The one thing that I sadly have not had the time for the past two days is watching even a short episode of Gardener’s World.