15 Nov: down to one

Thursday, 15 November 2018

Instead of the predicted rain, we had another beautifully sunny day.

Long Beach

I had woken up early with a thought of cutting down what loomed in my mind as a terribly out of scale miscanthus in Fifth Street Park, which was not even supposed to be on today’s agenda.  When we got there, it did not look anything like the monster in my mind.

So instead, I used The Toy (Stihl cordless shears) to cut down a much smaller grass on the other side of the park, one that does not die back well.

before

after

Brainstorm: In late winter, when we return to work, we will move a bit of this grass over the other side, by that not so big miscanthus, to make the two end pieces of the park match better.

The Red Barn

We mulched with a bale of Gardner and Bloome compost and admired the horses.  Horse admiration is really why I keep this tiny job. (Also, it is conveniently next door to Diane’s garden.)  Allan’s photos:

a Friesian

before

after

The Shelburne Hotel

Allan checked the pots up on most of the second floor decks and balconies:

We had two missions: a preliminary trimming of the vastly overgrown wisteria and more weeding and cutting back in the garden.  We were especially going after orange montbretia, badaster, aegepodium, and misplaced and aggressive Spirea douglasii.

The wisteria will get a massive cutback in February.  It has built itself up and up into a huge mound, with dead underneath, and its flowers are mostly hidden.  Today was only a small beginning.

before

after

the vast mound

after (leaving some street-view-blocking leaves for now)

I began, and then Allan took over while I weeded.

after (Allan’s photo)

Allan is in there.

after

before, inside the fence ((Allan’s photos)

and after

It will be February ladder work by Allan to do the rest.  (I will haul the debris to the trailer.)

At the end of the work day, the garden was far more cut back than I would do with my own.  I think the tidy look makes most hotel guests feel that the garden is cared for in winter.

looking north

looking south

Even with all the mulch we have applied, I wish the soil level was higher in there.

looking south

back garden

calendulas for Chef Casey

back garden, pineapple sage

The one mission I did not complete this fall was a thorough (although probably futile) dig out of the madly running and stinky houttuynia in the bed above.  It is now on my agenda for February 2019.

pub windows aglow

We sadly could not be lured into the pub tonight because we had a full trailer load of debris to offload at home, some for the wheelie bin (invasive weeds), some for the chipper and some for the compost pile (clean debris only).

And now we are down to one day of fall clean up: The final work visit of all (our) time to  Klipsan Beach Cottages, scheduled for tomorrow.

 

 

Read Full Post »

8 Nov: mulching week, day 3

Thursday, 8 November 2018

First, a postscript to Halloween and the 6×6 art auction.  Wendy Murry is the artist on whose 6×6 piece I always bid.  Some of her work from the past, that I am so glad to own:

and my favourite:

my favourite Wendy art of all

She told me that she would not be in the art auction this year because of being so busy but that she had made me a piece of art anyway.  On Halloween, she brought it to me, and this morning I remembered to photograph it for you.  It is a depiction of Dead Man’s Cove at Cape Disappointment.

Here is a real life view.

I am pleased and touched and grateful.

Ilwaco mulching

Today we began by loading all the buckets of mulch and applying more buckets-full to our volunteer garden at the Ilwaco Fire Department.

before, with mulching to the right hand side that was done last night.

The velvety verbascum that had placed itself right on the edge had to go.

after

and the long, narrow west side, too.

I think there might be a narrow bed on the east side that is just nothing; I should have a look and maybe put more Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’, of which I have an endless supply, into it.

Next, we mulched our volunteer garden at the Post Office, where we used up the rest of the load of 25 five gallon buckets and 17 four gallon buckets.  That’s 193 gallons; 201 and a bit equals one cubic yard, according to my calculations.

I removed some under-performing Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’ to make room for a bulb of my Lily Conca D’Or.  Look how big it is after several years in the ground!

It went in the back corner.

I have mixed feelings about all that grass in the front.  I asked the opinion of a passerby, who said she liked it.

clearing out plants while mulching

post office garden after mulching

back home, this much left (Allan’s photo)

Mike’s garden

Back at home, we reloaded all the buckets and applied them at Mike’s garden, a few blocks to the east.

ready for Mike’s garden (Allan’s photo)

autumn leaves

Mike’s front garden

mulching thickly at Mike’s, where the soil is clay and fill.

Someone else is going to remove this tatty old lilac:

And we will return soon to prune the Escallonia iveyi behind it.

Back home…

Now this much is left. (Allan’s photo)

I was in suspense whether filling all the buckets for the Shelburne would use the mulch up, or whether we would have enough left for Diane’s garden.  I was so happy that some was left over.

The Shelburne Hotel

We delivered another full complement of buckets to the Shelburne.

ready to mulch (Allan’s photo)

We usually leave the right-in-front parking spots for guests.  Not today, when we had such heavy work to do.

We not only mulched but also moved some hardy fuchsias and a hydrangea to more eye-catching locations.  I planted two of my Lily Conca D’Or, some violas, and some starts of a white veronicastrum.  Three big clumps of white astilbe that had appeared in full sun got moved to happier shady spots.

I removed a lot of badasters. and must remember to put some divisions of good asters in for autumnal beauty in 2019.

nice thick layer of Soil Energy

In case you are wondering what Soil Energy consists of: “Soil Energy combines composted wood products, aged screened sawdust, screened sand, composted chicken manure, lime, fertilizer and iron. (pH 6.2, brown tan in color, 38.9% organic matter).”

We finished after sunset.

brushing footprints out of the mulch

sweeping the path

The windows of the pub (left, below) glowed so enticingly that we went in for a work reward.

Jambalaya (ordered with no oysters, please!) with a side salad, fried chicken sandwich and small chopped salad

At home, the work board reflects that Diane’s is the only mulching job left.

 

 

Read Full Post »

Oct 16: Bulb Time, day five—Depot, Shelburne

Tuesday, 16 October 2018

We began by buying more bulb food at Dennis Company and then planting bulbs at the…

Depot Restaurant

‘Twas this hot as we arrived there.

We battled our way through the still tall and blooming garden to plant the bulbs.

Allan’s photo, before trimming down the solidago to just get in there.

I wanted an after, showing much more space, but we both forgot to take one.  The goldenrod was all flopped open so had to be trimmed to make room for bulbs.

before

The weather was uncomfortably hot.  Fortunately, our next job was in a garden that has a feeling of coolness.

The Shelburne Hotel

sweet peas still blooming (Allan’s photo)

up on the room 4 deck (Allan’s photo)

I sent Allan up to the decks with an assortment of species tulips and narcissi, little ones, to go in three of the large planters.

room 4 deck (Allan’s photo)

a frog on Allan’s tool belt

I don’t know the story behind that! (Later: frog lives in a planter on the center deck and jumped onto the tool belt. After posing for a picture it hopped back to its planter, sticking to the side.)

Soon it hopped down and hid while Allan finished planting its planter.

While I finished planting the last of a rather huge number of bulbs, Allan watered the entire garden.  Watering in mid October … Is that the new trend from now on?  Rain is not expected for another week so it had to be done.

totem garden in early evening (Allan’s photo)

the mini bog garden (Allan’s photo)

Got done just at sunset…6:20 PM, front garden, looking north

sweet pea longevity

and south, with cozy lights in the pub windows

I got some of pretty much all my favourite bulbs for the Shelburne, just wait and see!

I would love to have had a meal at the pub.  Instead, I had to sort bulbs for tomorrow till about ten PM.  Allan kept me going with a cheesy melt and a fine cuppa.

Sorting involves more standing than sitting and makes me tireder than actually planting the bulbs.

I only have time to read one chapter a night of Marion Cran’s final memoir, Hagar’s Garden.  Reading a chapter at a time is diluting the emotional impact, which means less weeping over it on my part.  And it is delaying the moment when I come to the end of her story.

Read Full Post »

9 Oct: working close to home

Tuesday, 9 October 2018

A sunny day turned reading plans into work reality.   I had rearranged today’s work in order to stay to home because we were expecting a cable telly repairperson in the afternoon to replace our suddenly plotzed DVR box.  I had briefly pondered if it were a sign to give up cable telly and just watch shows online.  I could not find the energy to figure out a new thing so had resignedly waited the two days for a repair appointment.

Ilwaco

I planted the Conca D’Or lily bulb into the fire station garden while Allan photographed a couple of Ilwaco houses that are further along with Halloween prep than we are.  (We have not begun.)

on Spruce Street

another Spruce Street house….

…wherein lives a friend sympatico with us (not shown in the window).

I wonder if she had just gotten back from a demonstration we had not heard about?

Allan helped by deadheading at the fire station.

We dug out annoying plants from two of the city planters kitty corner from the boatyard.

part of the boatyard garden

the north side of the boatyard

I once had a garden running partway along the north fence as well as the full length of the east fence.  Only the east garden remains because a pipe laying project about fifteen years ago put paid to the north garden.

A teucrium (?) of great vigor had completely filled up one of the planters, and in another, a golden oregano had repeatedly been crispy by watering days.

Allan’s photo

We had a bag of potting soil that had an unfortunate large vein of sawdust in it.

Allan’s photo

formerly swamped with golden oregano (Allan’s photo)

after (Allan’s photo)

I should have dumped the whole bag of potting soil into the wheelbarrow and mixed it up.

We took the teucrium (?) and golden oregano down to the port and planted it in curbside beds where a reasonably vigorous plant is welcome.

east end

port crew member at work tidying the bank of the marina (Allan’s photo)

Allan at work at the west end

While waiting for the cable repair, we worked across the street from our house at the J’s.

ghosts in Jay and Jodie’s tree

azalea oddly in bloom

Looking at that photo, I think that I will remove those blue fescue.  They are well past their prime.

The only irksome thing about waiting for the cable repair was the several automated phone calls from the company wanting to be assured that we had not changed our mind about the two hour window for the appointment.

The situation reminded me of how people say “First World Problems” about things like cable tv or mobile phone woes.  This excellent essay explains why the phrase is problematic—and inspired me to read the novel Open City by Teju Cole.

In case you don’t click the link, here is part of what Cole wrote about “First World Problems”: “I don’t like this expression “First World problems.” It is false and it is condescending. Yes, Nigerians struggle with floods or infant mortality. But these same Nigerians also deal with mundane and seemingly luxurious hassles. Connectivity issues on your BlackBerry, cost of car repair, how to sync your iPad, what brand of noodles to buy: Third World problems. All the silly stuff of life doesn’t disappear just because you’re black and live in a poorer country. People in the richer nations need a more robust sense of the lives being lived in the darker nations. Here’s a First World problem: the inability to see that others are as fully complex and as keen on technology and pleasure as you are.”

Here is another essay on the same topic.

And The Guardian eloquently weighed in right here.

Right after another automated call let me know that the repair would take place in a half an hour, two cable guys arrive, one a trainee, both efficient and pleasant.  The new DVR box is smaller and yet also so subtly grumbly at all times that much later, while reading at midnight, I thought we had a dripping leak somewhere. It was just the disk making a faint racket, the sort of racket that most people would say only bothers me (but Googling proved it does bother other people with sensitivity to noise). Every appliance we have had to replace this year, (refrigerator, washing machine, and now the DVR) is noisier than the old one we had before.  I wish the engineers would realize that quietness is a worthy goal.

I failed, by punching the wrong menu number, to correctly take the survey in yet another phone call right after the appointment was over, so I missed my chance to give the guys a good review.

But I digress.  In one of Marion Cran’s books, she mentions being told that her books were “discursive”.  The kindest part of the definition is “rambling, digressive, meandering, wandering, maundering, diffuse.”

After the repair, we had time to garden for two more hours at

The Shelburne Hotel.

I went into the north side garden by the pub windows to dig out the utterly silly echinops, AKA blue globe thistle plants there.  From the original clump I planted in the sun years ago, these had been moved all over in my ten year absence.  They won’t bloom in this deeply shady bed.

before

I like the short, narrow bladed, and very controllable round-handled shovel when I am working by the old windows.

after plant removal and then shifting of a pulmonaria and scrophularia, both with white or silver leaves.

The last of the sweet peas are still good enough to stay.

looking north

looking south

from the south end sidewalk

Meanwhile, Allan had checked the plants on the second floor decks and balconies.

dahlia on the room four deck

He then sheared down the Persicaria ‘Firetail’ that had been planted under the rhododendron at the south end of the property.

before

My former spouse and former co-gardener stopped by for a chat.

In the mail today arrived three books by Marion Cran.

Garden Talks has transcripts of her 1920s gardening radio show. She is said to be the first gardening broadcaster.  The little book is Garden Wisdom, excerpts from her various books. Gardens of Character is her second to last gardening memoir.  I set aside the final memoir, Hagar’s Garden, and sat down straightaway to read halfway through Gardens of Character (with a break for dinner and This is Us).

12:30 AM: Skooter usurps the late night reading lap space

Read Full Post »

28 Sept: mostly Shelburne

Friday, 28 September 2018

 

the temperature when we left for work

Last year I swore I would not work if the temperature was over 75.  But needs must…

Shelburne Hotel

We watered the Shelburne garden just in case the predicted rain did not come.  The hotel was hosting a big weekend of food and music with a band called The Super Saturated Sugar Strings.  One of the band members, a chef, was going to prepare the Friday dinner in the Shelburne Restaurant.  I like the name of the band and it all sounded very interesting but I had no energy to attend, just to get the garden ready for guests.

The Sugar Strings event sounds fascinating as I read about it now.  I have regret at not making the effort to dig deep for a bit of extra evening energy.

“5-course dinner and Parlor in the Round music featuring members of SSSS

Sugar Strings frontman Carlyle Watt will be crafting a multi-course dinner at the historic Shelburne Hotel in Seaview, WA. Carlyle studied at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in California’s Napa Valley, and he is currently the head baker and executive chef at Alaska’s award winning bakery, Fire Island Rustic Bakeshop. In 2017, he was nominated as an outstanding baker by the James Beard Foundation. Carlyle’s ability to merge baking, pastry, and culinary techniques creates a unique and memorable dining experience. When the Sugar Strings go on tour, Carlyle brings his passion for food along, hosting pop-up dinners, guest-chef appearances, and generally keeping the band well-fed to sustain their high energy shows. 

Collaborating with Carlyle in the front of the house will be The Sugar String’s bassist, Kevin Worrell, presenting his hit Alaskan singer-songwriter showcase, Parlor In The Round. This dinner theater will feature local favorites Pretty Gritty and the Strings’ own Kat Moore, taking turns with songs and stories inspired by the evening’s bill of fare. As host, Kevin will select written submissions from the audience as prompts for musical improv games, and as fodder for his quick-witted banter.”

I don’t think I could have dug deep enough for improv energy, though.  As long as no audience participation was required, I would have been ok.

A different event was taking place in the pub tonight (the hotel has a pub and a dining room).  We think that is the event for which Todd was bringing flowers.

Allan’s photos

As Todd hurried off to another obligation, Allan and I had time, for once, to do a thorough job of weeding, deadheading, and tidying the paths without rushing off to another obligation of our own.

in the Shelburne back garden

front garden, 82 degrees F.

Japanese anemones

one of two matching planters at the front entry

Not only did we have time for a nice garden tidy (except for big projects like battling the aegepodium or houttuynia), we took time for a tasty pub lunch of two new menu items.  Because we rarely take a break for lunch during a work day, our lunch is usually some sort of home made sandwich scarfed down while we work.  This was a special reward for working in hot weather.

Allan’s photo

crab cakes with apple and fennel cabbage slaw and roasted red pepper aioli

beer battered fish and chips

and that oh so good blackberry cream cheese tart

looking north into the front garden as we depart

We thought because of the heat that it would be a good night for a campfire dinner.  Allan bought some hot dog buns at the grocery store across the street while I did a tiny bit more gardening.

Ilwaco

As soon as we approached Ilwaco, we decided the campfire idea was not a go.  Between Seaview and Ilwaco, we drove into a cool and breezy fog, so welcome after two days of heat.

I worked for awhile on the boatyard garden while Allan watered the Ilwaco planters, we fervently hope for the last time in 2018.  The Long Beach parks manager spoke this week of winterizing the LB planters because of rain being predicted, and yet the forecast only calls for slight chance of minimal rain.  I would love a good rain at last once a week now.  We are so tired of watering.

fog at the end of the boatyard

Allan’s photo

Cosmos in the boatyard that looks like ‘Happy Ring’ (which I did not plant this year).

I like Cosmos ‘Happy Ring’ very much, just have not seen it for sale anywhere lately.

solidago, sweet peas, lavender, Allium christophii seedhead

tall pink aster, possibly ‘Harrington’s Pink’

looking north

I walked home via the post office and the fire station to weed and deadhead those two small volunteer gardens.

Ilwaco Fire Department

This time, the day had been well planned enough that Allan was not out watering in the dusk.

 

 

 

 

Read Full Post »

20 Sept: another project day

Thursday, 20 September 2018

Diane’s garden

We got a view of Diane’s garden that is usually blocked by her horse trailer.

the raised box garden from where the horse trailer usually sits

Allan’s photo

Just deadheading this floriferous garden takes a long work session now.

in the raised box garden before

after (Allan’s photos)

Allan deadheading cosmos and sweet peas along the road

We briefly deadheaded at the Red Barn after Diane’s and did not see Cosmo the barn cat. I hope he is okay.

Long Beach

The baskets are still up at city hall.  I have my eye on them for compost makings.

autumn crocus at city hall

I deadheaded most of the downtown planters, which did not need watering thanks to all our good rain.  Allan got stuck in to digging out the planter by Fifth Street Park where I wanted to say goodbye to a mess of Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ and BadAster and curly teucrium.

A passerby asked for and was thrilled to get starts of all of those.  She was even happier when I also gave her a start of the pink hesperantha from a park garden nearby.

This garden bed has suddenly become glorious.

Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’, Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’, hesperantha

The pink one is either ‘Viscountess Byng’ or ‘Mrs Hagerty’.

more hesperantha with ‘Super Dorothy’ rose

Zauschneria in a planter

I just read that zauschneria is “Epilobium canum, also known as California fuchsia or Zauschneria, [and] is a species of willowherb in the evening primrose family.”  So saith Google. I find its relation to fireweed (rosebay willowherb) surprising.

A few Allium christophii made it through the summer.

Meanwhile, Allan’s planter project:

before

before

He found a painted rock in the planter and set it aside before photographing it. A passerby snagged it and left one of her own behind.

We went to city works to dump our debris, stopping on the way to tidy up the Veterans Field gardens. After dumping, we filled eight buckets from our Soil Energy pile.  When I put the tarp back, I came awfully close to this critter who must have been in a fold of the tarp taking a nap the whole time, till I woke it up.

a big one

I wish I could have caught it and taken it to my garden to eat slugs.

big and fast and annoyed (Allan’s photos)

Back at the planter, eight buckets was not quite enough.

will add more later (Allan’s photos)

The planter on August 13th and today:

I feel you can now see Captain Bob’s Chowder, a favourite lunch spot of ours, more clearly (to the left of Marsh’s).

The big lavender has to stay because it’s all mixed up with the metal tower thingie. A smaller lavender on the other side got cut back so that its flowers would not wilt over the weekend.  I gave the lovely bouquet of lavender to Cathy at Captain Bob’s Chowder.

Shelburne Hotel

We watered the garden so that we would not have to worry about it during our long weekend.  Allan checked the upstairs pots and found them dry.  The rather silly dahlia survived our pot re-do of Tuesday without wilting.

Dahlia will go in the garden later (Allan’s photo)

guests with garden questions

The sweet peas are mostly looking tatty now.  I will remove them soon but cannot bear to yet.

still flowering and fragrant

not very nice in the middle

I spent awhile picking and clipping off hops leaves and stems with sooty mildew.

not nice at all

I had hoped for time to tidy the Ilwaco planters and perhaps water them.  The hops problem took up all that time.  Allan will check on those planters tomorrow.  Other than that we are now embarking on a long weekend, with the blissful news that tonight, when Allan checked the Medicare website, he found he has indeed been reinstated.

And the work board got an erasure.

getting shorter till I add more tasks

 

 

 

Read Full Post »

11 Sept: a change-up

Tuesday, 11 Sept 2018

It had rained some overnight.  If the Long Beach planters were damp enough to not need watering today, our schedule would change.

a different angle on the post office garden

We dropped off a composter at the Shelburne Hotel for Chef Casey to use.

behind the kitchen, not part of the garden!

Long Beach

We parked twice so I could poke at two planters.  Yay, we can skip watering till at least tomorrow. The planters mostly did not look terribly sat upon from Rod Run weekend, although I did see some that looked squashed along the edge.

We picked up our cheque at city hall and tidied the garden a bit.

north side: salmon pink hesperantha, undesirable volunteer orange montbretia is getting a temporary pass.

city hall, west side

looking west down the Bolstad approach

After a bank run to deposit cheques, we dumped debris—and picked up six of the innards (root ball and plants) of the hanging baskets at the city works dump.  I look forward each year to getting them for good compost makings.

Because of not having to water, we would do Wednesday’s route today, except for the Depot Restaurant.

Diane’s garden

After light deadheading at the Red Barn, we deadheaded at Diane’s. (No Cosmo the barn cat at the Red Barn today….I hope he is ok.)

I did the roadside garden:

Allan did the raised box garden.

Allan’s photo, pre deadheading

Allan’s photo

cosmos, allium seedhead

statice and cosmos

Klipsan Beach Cottages

We are doing KBC every other week now.  Thus we had an hour and forty five minutes of tidying to do, more worth the long drive than just an hour.  It is time to begin the very gradual cutting down of the garden.  (I’d leave mine totally wild all winter, except that I want room to mulch.  Tourist gardens get made tidy and rather sparse for winter.)

birdbath view

sanguisorba

Lonicera japonica ‘Aureo-reticulata’ and Hydrangea ‘Izu No Hana’

Tetrapanax papyrifer ‘Steroidal Giant’ and offspring

Although Allan disagreed, I insisted that the big lower leaf was yellowing and had to be clipped.

Hamamelis leaves are turning.

hamamelis and Miscanthus ‘Gold Bar’

black currants

rose, hesperantha, Japanese anemone

autumn crocus

before pulling aged Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’

and after (Allan’s photo)

We finished the job in a drenching and welcome rain.

KBC guest on motorcycles glad to arrive (Allan’s photo)

As we drove home, it was only 4 PM and seemed to early to quit, so I suggested we check up on the

Shelburne Hotel.

I was glad we did because I found a bit of a cosmos catastrophe.  Since I was there for lunch yesterday with Our Kathleen, either from something romping through the garden or maybe some strong rain, several big stems of the tall cosmos that are just starting to bloom had snapped off and were lying all cattywampus.  I did considerable clipping.  As for photos, I have one looking north from last Friday:

looking north

and one from after I clipped and hauled today:

A big one to the right is totally gone because every stem was broken off at the base.

I must decide later this week whether or not to severely clip or pull this one that has flopped forward onto other plants:

Should it stay or should it go now?

Even though it’s blooming, I think it will be for the chop.

Allan, meanwhile, had dug out those Stella D’Oro daylilies in deep shade that had defeated me last week.

before

after

before

after (Allan’s photos)

We got done at 5:15.  Allan immediately agreed to my suggestion that we go to the Depot for an early dinner.

The Depot Restaurant

artichoke fritos and olives as an appetizer

My main motivation was to have two favourite dishes that would soon disappear when the fall menu is reinstated.

refreshing cold gazpacho

and Mediterranean salad

Allan had his favourites:

clam chowder

Parmesan chicken

At home, I got to pet the ever patient Rudder.

And before dark, we got all the compost debris unloaded and back to the bins.

I am most pleased that dusk comes at 7:30 now, because I WILL keep going until dark. Earlier darkness is the only way that our workdays begin to get shorter. I am longing for staycation to come, with darkness at 4:30, rain, and time to catch up on books and my favourite blogs.

 

 

Read Full Post »

5 Sept: some prepping for Slow Drag

Wednesday, 5 September 2018

We did part of the usual Wednesday route, this week without Klipsan Beach Cottages, which will be every other week now.  (This is only because of two reasons: one, the job is ending at the end of autumn and two, I am tired.  A third reason, specific to this week, is that having Labor Day Monday at the beginnning of the week and Rod Run Friday at the end limits the time for working on public gardens.)

The Depot Restaurant

We deadheaded and watered.  I picked some unsightly leaves off of the hops at the entry to the dining deck.

Depot dining deck entryway from the restaurant

south and east side of dining deck

North side; the white flower is Boltonia asteroides.

The Red Barn Arena

The garden had been watered so we only needed to do a few minutes of deadheading.

Red Barn garden

I got to pet Cosmo the barn cat.  Oh, how I want him to be the one I take home to be my best friend cat.  He is darling.

sweet, soft, loves to be petted

I want him to be mine.

Allan’s photo

Diane’s garden

My very good friend Misty

roadside garden (Allan’s photo)

perovskia (Allan’s photo)

In the roadside garden, white sweet peas and Cosmos ‘Cupcake’

the raised box garden

shadows of statice

shadows of bachelor buttons (cornflower)

Allan’s photo

I had to cut down one aster because its foliage had rust or some such.

before, with brown foliage (the other such aster is green)

after (the base of the plant got sprayed with fungicide)

Allan managed to get a photo of puppy Holly between her running around and jumping.

The Shelburne Hotel

We watered, weeded, deadheaded, dead-leafed.

looking east down the bocce ball court

back garden; Sunset runner beans in the trellis pots are getting tired.

Allan was able to get into the three south balcony rooms (you can see two of the balconies in above photo) to check on our succulent planters.  He had not checked on them since we planted them. (They cannot be accessed when the rooms are occupied.) Red clover had infiltrated two of them.

before, room 12

room 14

I planted the lovely Sedum ‘October Daphne’, which in my garden and elsewhere always gets chomped by snails.  Here, it is snail free.

But one stem was broken, maybe was getting too much water…

Room 15, a fine October Daphne…but with red clover.

That’s better.

Room 4’s cosmos container needs way too much deadheading.

before, definitely a mistaken choice of plant

I remember now, I had some extra Cosmos ‘Xanthos’ and wanted a place to put them.  Ooops.  This planter is getting a re-do this very month.

Guests can charge their electric cars on the north side of the Shelburne.

Allan’s photo

watering in front (Allan’s photo)

Mary Norwood stopped to chat and I gave her a little sweet pea bouquet.

Just as we left, we saw Scott of Scott and Tony and had a little natter.

I must show you Tony’s photos of his night blooming cereus.  He has had to come to their beach cottage two days later than Scott because he simply had to see his plant bloom (in their city home) with a multitude of flowers.  How does he do it? I am lucky to get one a year.

photos by Tony!

Meanwhile, Scott and his beloved car are in the biggest photo of this year’s promo article for the Rod Run.

Allan is going to get to go hang out with them at the event because we are skipping the Cannon Beach Cottage Tour this year.  (I want to stay home in my own garden.)

Port of Ilwaco

We watered all but the two east end gardens (and one other that is just escallonias and bark that we never water).  Allan drove in six posts that we are going to use for roping off my favourite garden bed during the Friday evening Slow Drag.  It has delicate plants.  Other gardens can hold up better to being walked and sat upon, although there are a few other plants that I want to safeguard with some individual protection.  All photos at the port by Allan.  I was out of steam for photos.

stake pounder, a great tool. No stakes were broken.

plus a big metal pry bar to make holes with and tamp them tight afterward

We will rope it off tomorrow night.

Must protect my agastaches!

I planted some Brodiaea ‘Queen Fabiola’ bulbs in this bed.  I have read that they are drought tolerant so I want to try them in these “hellstrip” gardens.  Maybe they will be less floppy that in more cushy gardens.

Later in the watering, Jenna stopped to show me some signs she has made for Slow Drag, “Please keep off the gardens and plants”.  I appreciate that very much.

J’s garden

Allan mowed and I did some deadheading and borrowed his camera for two vignettes:

elephant garlic, tied up by the J’s, well done!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read Full Post »

30 August: not quite all Ilwaco

Thursday, 30 August 2018

Before work, dignified and self-possessed Rudder from next door strolled by and I got to pet him in passing.

At age 16, he was on a mission to go to his front lawn and slowly lie down for a nap.

Mike’s garden

At former-mayor Mike’s garden a few blocks east, we had a brief mission: to mulch two beaten down areas.

before, one of the two

after (with a conifer that is slowly dying)

Ilwaco boatyard garden

We spent about an hour, with me pulling many of the old poppies and putting them in the MaryBeth Wheelie Cart for seed collecting, while Allan weeded.

before pulling poppies

cosmos

santolina and pink yarrow

catmint, santolina, California poppies

Shelburne Hotel

We digressed from Ilwaco to Seaview to spend some time extra time at the Shelburne.  This gave Allan time to give the boxwood square a bit of a trim.

before

after

Meanwhile, I had in mind to dig out three boring old Stella D’Oro daylilies that were languishing in the shade.  Boring though they are, I thought I would find a spot for them in the back garden so that Chef Casey Venus would have more daylily flowers.  Boring though she is, Stella does reliably rebloom.

before: Stella way back against the fence, and lots of horrible aegepodium.

Maybe I just need to ditch Stella so I don’t move aegepodium into the back garden.  I will carefully separate out some daylily roots.  It was a moot point because I could not even get my shovel into the ground, so this project will wait for another day.  I did manage to get out several of the noxious-weed Iris pseudacorus.

before

after, not the most successful project!

A future project will be to have Allan get on a small ladder and try to get some of the green reversion branches out of the golden privet at the north end of the front garden.

It wants to go green.

Joe Pye Weed and white phlox before…

…and after I ran my hand over the phlox just to knock off the spent blossoms and leave an interesting green shape.

In the back garden, I noticed something on a table and realized it was a message.

I love this place.

I love it, too.  Working here is my happiest job this year.

the back courtyard

Sunset runner beans

bocce ball court

west side, back garden

south side semi shade garden next to the al fresco dining

We also watered the whole garden so that it won’t have to be done between Long Beach and Ilwaco tomorrow.  Allan wants to get home before dark on Friday to load up his boat for a Saturday trip.  This means we will have to water the Shelburne again on Sunday.

deadheads from watering the Room Four deck’s containers (Allan’s photos)

Remember when last week we spotted the KING 5 news van at the Shelburne after work?  We figured they were there covering the kite festival, and they were.  Here is the kite festival segment.  But they also did a segment on the Shelburne itself with LOTS of photos of the flowers.  It is short and sweet and right here.  Not only does it flatter the garden; it also gets across the improvements over the old, rather stuffy look inside the inn.  The historic feeling of the inn is still strong and now the rooms are spacious and airy in feel.

Port of Ilwaco

We went home for the second long hose. I got to pet Rudder again—twice in one day!

This time, a small piece of cheese might have been used as a lure.

Back to our not quite all Ilwaco day, we did our usual watering of the curbside gardens, except for the east end one which we only do every other week.  (It is our drought tolerance test, or else we just get tired.)

by the soon to be new At The Helm hotel, formerly Shorebank

By Ilwaco Pavilion

I fretted while watering about this garden possibly getting trampled during Slow Drag and thought, I MUST find out where the finish line will be this year.  I have implored that it not be by this garden.

a new and delicate area where once was a mugo pine

I managed to grow this coreopsis from seed and I want to see it bloom!

Other beds, like the drive-over garden, are much tougher.

The finish line used to be at this bed by the ArtPort Gallery.  I wish it still was.

As I worked my way along the gardens, I expressed my worries to a merchant friend, who said the rumor is that the race will run the other way and end at Salt Hotel.  That would be awesome; the Salt garden bed is sparse, with river rock chunkier even than the ArtPort bed, and would stand up better to trampling.  (I can reveal this rumour because, by the time you read this, Slow Drag will have happened days before.)

by Salt Hotel

also by Salt Hotel

The west end beds would get some trampling, too.  I don’t have anything precious and not easily replaceable in here:

I checked on our planters at OleBob’s.  Wish we had time for a lunch here!

Geranium ‘Rozanne’ climbing into a crab pot at Time Enough Books

We learned that a friend of ours had an encounter with an elk, on a foggy road. She’s ok, but does not know about the elk.

reflective high tide at the port

Before going home, I remembered one last thing.  We went back to the boatyard and Allan pried out this tatty old blue oat grass.

well past its prime

home

Skooter and Frosty were pleased to see us home by 6 PM.

I had collected enough green clippings this week at work to start layering green and brown compost into bin three.

green and brown plant material and some shredded paper

evening light on the garden

Allan and I moved a sign that had gotten hidden behind an escallonia branch.

I am now am waiting for a loooong time to have my Pittosporum ‘Tasman Ruffles’ grow up here.  I am tempted to move it again and plant something bigger.  But I won’t, poor thing has already been moved so many times, which is why it is now four inches tall instead of the four feet it had achieved before the second-to-last move severely set it back.

As for the sign, it applies to my life now but not to everyone’s.  “Why keep a garden account and reckon the cost of pure joy? Is it not cheap at any price?” (Mirabel Osler)  I choose my garden over travel and other luxuries (most home remodeling, for example).  Some people on an even more limited budget have to choose groceries over garden, as I did when trying to get out of debt; during one of those years, I bought one six pack of cosmos for my garden and that was all.  Even now, I cannot afford “any price“, yet that quotation still speaks to me.  Maybe it justifies what I do spend.

 

 

 

 

Read Full Post »

16 August: Long Beach etc etc etc

Thursday, 16 August

Before work, I picked and delivered a bouquet to Queen La De Da for a bridal shower that she was hosting.  Allan photographed it for me.

Queen La De Da’s gallery and event center

At the post office, I asked him to photograph the planter; the deer are finally leaving the little rose alone.

Still before work, we visited the South Pacific County Humane Society to make a contribution in honor of our friend Larry, spouse of Diane whose garden we care for.  Allan photographed some cats.  I do long for a satisfactory lap cat.

The shelter had a large crop of kittens.

Long Beach

Sometimes toward the end of the day at this time of year, I find myself saying a little chant, especially while dragging hoses, in a high pitched monotone: “Help me helpme helpme helpme heeeelp me.” Today, it started at the beginning of watering Long Beach and that is when I knew that summer burn out had hit hard.  While I still do love my job, certain factors are wearing by now: hose-rassling, navigating around crowds, dragging heavy hoses (not in Long Beach, fortunately), and loud cars booming music with misogynist lyrics (in Long Beach, unfortunately).

While watering, I finished the August planter reference post, and that will appear tomorrow, mostly for my interest.

I noticed a chrysanthemum blooming in the planter by NIVA green and thought it was way too early and that I should have given it the Chelsea chop.

When I headed down the other side of the street, I saw that Dennis Company is already selling chrysanthemum plants—so I guess it is just right.

chrysanthemums for sale already

I still love Oregano ‘Hopley’s Purple’ so much. What a doer!

Origanum ‘Hopley’s Purple’

The planter in front of Stormin’ Norman’s needs a dig out.  That darn wire plant, that I thought was a house plant when I planted it and then it took over, is trying to take over again.  We should have dug out ALL the soil instead of hoping we could control the starts from bits of root left behind in our clean out two years ago.

It is creeping everywhere.

I only had to ask one person to move off a bench for watering today.  I was glad I had already done the Funland planter before a large crowd appeared.

We watered the Sid Snyder planters. I should do a reference post for the beach approach planters.  Allan parked by Adrift distillery, owned by the Adrift Hotel, whose owners are our clients now at the Shelburne.

planters at the distillery (Allan’s photo)

World Kite Museum

We checked up on the kite museum garden because kite festival starts next Monday.

Allan’s photo

The Shelburne Hotel

We planted one more daylily from my garden, making room for it by moving a sad rodgersia to a spot where I hope it will be happier.

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo: must get a bag of compost to make this daylily patch look better.

We weeded, deadheaded, and watered thoroughly, hoping it will last well till Monday.

The garden looks different now because I cut back all the Nicotiana ‘Fragrant Cloud’ to new growth halfway down. They were tired and had no no blooms to offer up high.

looking south, no more cloud of white

looking north, the tall non blooming cosmos is most irksome!

not one flower bud on most of the Cosmos ‘Sensation’

Cutting seed pods off of the many sweet peas takes a long time now.

I am happy in this garden and never sing the help me song here….not even when I see the horrors of houttuynia in this back yard shady bed, waiting a fall clean out.

horrors

I wish I had time to work on this bed more during the summer.

We remembered to clip a dead blackberry cane from the  next door yard off of the totem’s beak.

so glad this bed does not have the houttuynia

Brown Turkey fig tree has figs!

I got to pet a good rescued dog named Buster Brown.

Allan’s photo

When his person began to have dinner, Buster was all attention.

I wanted so very much to stay for dinner, too, but we had another couple of hours of our watering ritual.

Ilwaco

Allan watered the trees and planters, while I watered the boatyard garden.

The Pennisetum macrourum is coming back strong and will need another big pull out this fall.

I saw a boat name that spoke to me.  This is my dream, too:

Autumn Dream

Autumn, when we can stop watering and when the Pacific Breeze blows all the wildfire smoke away.

I walked home and saw just one of the Main Street cats.

I went out of the way to deadhead our volunteer garden at the fire station.  Allan would water it last.

ornamental corn—will it make an ear?

I am so looking forward to our three day weekend—but first (tomorrow), the Planter Reference Post.

 

 

 

 

Read Full Post »