Simple Roses

As I was working in the yard tonight, I accidentally snapped off this rose.  I cannot compost such a pretty blossom, so I got out a tiny little vase for it.  The  "vase" is a cut glass salt or pepper shaker.  Originally it had a little glass top, but some time ago the top broke.  It's one of my favorite little mini vases...perfect for a single blossom.

Shade Path

On the south side of my home is a small strip of land.  I'd estimate there's only about 8' from the house to the fence.   We've lived here for 8 1/2 years, and this was the very last section of our yard to landscape.  There's a story about why it took so long to get to, but I'll get to that in a bit.  I started on this strip a year ago, and I'm just thrilled with how it's coming along.

All along the fence I have clematis growing.  Some is doing well.  Some is growing slower than the others.  Some died and need to be replaced.  But once it picks up steam (probably in a couple years), my hope is that large expanse of fence will be covered with vines and flowers.  There are evergreen varieties interspersed with deciduous ones, so that there will be green throughout the year.  My dining room window looks out to this view, and I'm so glad to see a little less brown and a bit more green!

Down lower is a border of bleeding hearts, hellebores (cream, rose and burgandy blooms), pink tulips, creamy soft yellow daffodils, allium, and sweet woodruff on the ground.  I just love when it's all in bloom, and can't wait until the border has a backdrop of clematis running up the fence.

For the path to the gate, I chose Irish Moss which spreads in soft clumps.  I would've loved to have put in a flagstone path, but that was beyond our budget right now.  I have the Irish Moss on the other side of the house, and it's done very well, with light traffic.   When I put in the moss last year, I bought a flat of it, and broke it up into tiny pieces to plug into the ground.  I expect that the mounds will be touching by next year.

While the south side of this path gets full shade, the northern part up against the house gets a lot of sun.  Last year I planted sunflowers, cosmos, and zinnias, and plan to do the same again. I love to look out of my dining room window and see the tall cosmos flowers blowing in the wind.  So much nicer than it used to be!

So why did it take us so darn long to landscape this strip?  Well, when we first moved into the house, a low retaining wall was in place as our yard is slightly higher than the neighbor's yard.  The only problem is that there was a good 18" of our land on the other side of the wall.  When we put up a fence years ago, we could've put the fence on the property line, but the fence would've been very low.  So we chose to put it on our side of the wall.  The only problem was the soil wasn't stable until you came into a yard a bit.  So for years our fence was 2-3 feet in from the property line.  That 2-3 foot strip of land was enclosed in our neighbor's yard!

 Over time we realized that we'd have to do something about that, or we'd end up losing the land.  2 1/2 years ago, our neighbors put their house up for sale.  That was a sign to us that we needed to reclaim the land...immediately.  Not having the money to replace the retaining wall, we went ahead and had a fence company move the existing fence back a few feet...onto the lower land.   The fence had the illusion of being about 2' shorter than it had been.  We could now see so much of our neighbor's yard!


To create the illusion of height, we had the fence posts extend 2' above the fence.  Then I ran galvanized wire from post to post and planted the clematis.    Right now we have about 10 clematis plants growing and only one is tall enough to have reached the wire above the fence.  I can't wait until the other plants get that tall!

Support your daisies!

"Alaska" Shasta Daisies, that is! I bought one little pot of them several years ago, and have since divided them into five clumps (not to mention the divisions I've given away). With the right soil (and soil really is everything) a clump will grow to nearly 5' high and about 3-4' in diameter. These tall beauties look lovely when they're in a natural clump. But eventually (halfway through their bloom time) they will flop over every which way.

Support is essential if you want perky daisies! The simplest way I've found to support them is to tie 3 circles of jute around them as they're growing. It's a loose circle, just tight enough that the jute won't slip down. I've used stakes too. In fact the original clump in the back has 5 green stakes with the twine wrapped around those. No matter how you choose to do it, give them a bit of support.

Here's what they'll look like without support:

Inside the clump you can see the stems falling over in all directions:

Hardy Pacific Northwest Fuchsias!!!!

Cool beans!! In researching my new "Miss California" fuchsia, I found this fabulous site, the Northwest Fuchsia Society. They have a whole list of hardy perennials for the Pacific Northwest. WHOHOO!!! There are some gorgeous fuchsias shown!

I love, love, love new plants!!!

As I tore out the Creeping Jenny in the southwest (shadiest) corner of my backyard, I was busy at work dreaming about what would replace it. I already have a Nikko Blue hydrangea, two Lime Rickey Heucheras, and two Hellebores in that spot. Originally there were three of each (well, only one hydrangea!), as I do believe in the rule of odd numbers, but eventually you just get what you get...

Today, at our local Garden Faire, I scoped out the shade plants. The first to catch my eye were the hydrangeas. I have a huge weakness for hydrangeas. That's not a good thing, as they do take up some space! (But they are so hard to resist.) Somehow, someway, they will fit!!

The first to catch my eye was an oakleaf hydrangea; specifically Hydrangea Quercifolia Snowflake. I have one lacecap, and four mopheads (the round puffy blossoms you see most often), but I don't have an oakleaf. The blossoms weren't round, but kind of conical (like those from a butterfly bush or lilac), with double white flowers. Supposedly they will give me great fall color and winter interest...can always use that in the garden! The price was right...just $6! It's not much more than a twig right now, but I love buying smaller plants. They're usually much less expensive and don't need as big a hole.

After reading a bit, I've learned that they simply don't survive in heavy clay soil. They need good drainage. Our soil is heavy clay, though we did amend it when we first started landscaping the yard 5 years ago. It hasn't been amended since, so I'm going to have to be patient and wait until I can work the dirt and add more amendments (50/50 soil/compost mix). I don't want it to die!

Another booth had a lot of 1 gallon Heuchera plants for just $4 each. I snagged four that I don't have: Carmel, Hercules, Miracle, and Harvest Lemon Chiffon. Several other booths had Heucheras...but at $8/9 each! Later on, I found 1 or 2 gallon containers at a local garden store for $15! Honestly, there's not much difference between a 1 and 2 gallon plant. If you can buy them in 4" pots (which I usually do...just couldn't find them today) the prices are about $3-4. So I figured my 1 gallon plants were true bargains!

I did find a perennial fuchsia for the shady area: Miss California. I've had good luck with the perennial ones in my side yard, and am hoping this one does as well.

Also catching my eye (just as I was leaving...isn't that how it always is?!) was a Shasta Daisy "Crazy Daisy" (Leucanthemum superbum...or Chrysanthemum). The frilly petals were whimsical and fun. The shopkeeper explained that every blossom on the plant was different. Though it's not a shade plant, I am crazy about daisies, and brought it home with me too!

The Garden Faire usually has some incredible yard art. Two years ago I purchased this copper/tin watering can birdhouse which I (as Eloise would say) love, love, love! This year, a rusty iron flower caught my eye. I gave it a serious lookover, quickly looked at the rest of the yard art and came back minutes later. I'm not sure where it will go, so I'm playing around with locations in the back. I'll live with it in different spots a few days at a time until I love, love, love the location! I also need to decide whether to use it as a trellis with beans/flowers growing up it. Part of me loves that idea; the other part worries that the flowers will cover up too much of the shape. Again, I'll just have to play around with it. Maybe some years I'll grow annuals (sweet peas??!) and others I'll let it go naked.

Just after the Garden Faire, I went on the local garden tour that coincided with the events. I'll post about that tomorrow, and just mention the one plant I saw that I had to have. Seriously, out of all the plants I saw, I just fell in love with this little mini daisy plant that was in a mixed container. It's not really a daisy, but Argyranthemum "LaRita White". Excitedly I asked the owner if he knew where one could be purchased. He did...and off I went in search of one!

I found it at Kraemers...but for 19.99!! Looking more carefully, I discovered it was three separate plants. And the garden home owner I spoke with said it re-seeded prolifically. I looked elsewhere and didn't find it, so I splurged and brought that home with me too.

Of course, when you're at Kraemers, you're bound to be distracted by all sorts of fabulous beauties that are just begging to come home with you. I don't know if you hear the cries, but I sure do..."Choose me! Choose me!" Today it was a perfect pink "Glowing Embers" Hydrangea. Oh, I hope I can keep my soil the right amount of acidity (trying for 6.7-6.8) to keep it that perfect pink!!!

I love, love, love new plants!!!

June Garden Surprises

When we moved in (December '02) there were three small plum trees in our yard. They were planted sometime in 2002. While they're decorative plums (Thundercloud), they occasionally produce plums. Some years it's just a few, but every few years the trees are loaded. This is such a year.

Back in April when they were in full bloom, I was sitting in our swing beneath the two backyard plums. It was a quiet warm day, and the only noise around was the constant buzzing of the bees. They were everywhere! I kept saying to them, "Pollinate, pollinate, pollinate!" Sure enough...they pollinated. So now, two months later the trees are full of cherry sized plums. These plums don't get very large, maybe around 1" in diameter. They'll be ready in August and are quite tasty!

We are growing three different types of blueberries, and just yesterday I found this little volunteer plant in the garden. As tiny as it is, there are berries on it! I'm going to let it grow a bit more and then find it a new home.

Two other surprises were the pink snapdragons and a yellow calibrochia which came back. In the PNW, these are considered annuals, and I usually pull them out in the fall. As I've talked with other friends they say theirs sometimes come back too. So, from now on, I'm not going to leave them alone, and hope they'll return!






And, finally, the most exciting growth for me to watch this year is the formation of our first four pears. This pear tree was planted two years ago, and I'm thrilled to have pears so soon!

Freebies For Friends

My garden peaks in June, so I'm really trying to get it cleaned up so I can simply enjoy that month without a lot of work. As I'm weeding (a daily chore!) I'm finding a lot of little starts from last year's plants. Before I pull thin them out completely, they are yours for the asking. Right now I have:

• Foxglove (variety of colors)
• Creeping Jenny (spreading plant with bright yellow flowers)
  
• Columbine (not sure what colors...)
• Tomatillos (necessary for this enchilada sauce)
• This rosy-red perennial (bottom right) that I can't find the plant tag to...
  

Need help identifying this perennial flower...

Last year I saw this in my friend's yard, and loved it because it was an early bloomer (March!). She shared it with me, but didn't know its name. I'd love to know what it's called and would appreciate any help you could give me. Thanks!!
Added May 2: I posted my query on Dave's Garden on their plant identification forum. Within two minutes I learned that it's pulmonaria: David's Ward variety. Now I know!

I promise to never....

1. Use landscaping fabric again. It seems like a good idea. It really does. You put it down to keep the weeds from coming through. What they don't tell you is that soon (much sooner than you think!) the weeds will start growing on top of the fabric. You see, once you put down the fabric, you place a layer of mulch on top so no one sees the fabric. Well....weeds grow in mulch just as easily as they grow in dirt! And, how the heck are you supposed to add compost to your plants? If you put in on top of the paper/mulch, it just sits on top and never amends the soil. Here's a bit of my landscaping fabric peeking through. There is a nice layer of dirt that has accumulated on top of it. Seriuosly...as I find it, I'm tearing it out. The weeds are going to come with or without the fabric. Save yourself some money!!
2. Plant mint in the garden. This was one of the very first garden lessons I learned way back when we first married. It needs to be contained so it doesn't take over your whole yard.
3. Plant Creeping Jenny in the yard. This one will be used in containers only. It wasn't a fast creeper, but after five years it was quickly starting to take over. It grows right over low-growing plants and can smother them. I've dug out about 3/4 of mine in the past couple weeks.
4. Plant campanula punctata (aka Cherry Bells) in the garden. This one is even worse than mint. It was really hard to eradicate! There are many types of campanula, and not all are invasive. In fact, one of my favorites, Canterbury Bells, is a type of campanula. It's a keeper!

Canterbury Bells

May Day! Time to Ding Dong Ditch...

Clematis (Markum's Pink)

My daughter just reminded me that tomorrow is May Day. And with May Day comes the tradition of putting flowers on the doorsteps of your friends and neighbors, ringing their bell, and running. Or Ding Dong Ditching!

This is what is blooming in my yard. If these show up on your doorstep, you'll know who left them!

Happy May Day!

Coral Bells (Heuchera, unknown variety)
Columbine (Aquilegia Winky Rose-Rose)Rock Daphne (Ruby Glow)Tulip (Apricot Beauty)

Rhododendron (Horizon's Monarch)

Garden sharing....

Well, I went to the local garden swap today, and it was a complete bust. Perhaps it got better as the day went on, but when I went (at 11, and then again at noon), the tables were virtually empty. Such a drastic change from the past two when the tables were piled high, and neighbors were chatting with neighbors. It was such a fun exchange.

With today's warm, sunny weather I thought it would be packed. Nope. I left my Foxglove, Canterbury Bells, and Creeping Jenny for folks to take. I took a couple packs of lettuce seeds, only to find out later that they were dated 1994 and 2001. Into the trash they went! Hopefully next year will be much better....

With that in mind, I still have a lot of Foxglove and Creeping Jenny. You can have all you want. First, I will warn you about both before you take them!

The foxglove, while a bienniel, reseeds prolifically. Someone who stopped by my yard last year told me, "Ah, foxgloves...you'll never get rid of them!" To which I replied, "Why would I want to?!" I do love them. But I have some spots where thousands are growing. I've already "weeded" thousands of them (as teeny-tiny dots), but am letting a bunch of others grow a bit in case someone wants them. They can be quickly scooped up with the soil to replant directly in your yard or into some 4" pots until they get bigger. So there's your warning...once you have them, you'll never get rid of them.

Foxglove

And the Creeping Jenny. I love that it grew as groundcover in a shady corner of the yard under the maple tree. I loved the rounded little green leaves and the cheery yellow flowers so much that I took a few sprigs and planted them in other areas. 5-6 years later I'm ready to say goodbye and am digging it all up. If you want this in your yard, all you need to do is stick a tiny piece in the ground. They will root and spread nearly as quickly as peppermint. I have all you could ever want, and more! The only place I will ever use this again will be in a container! It looks nice in a hanging basket as it cascades down. Just don't let it get all the way to the ground or it will root and take off...you've been warned.

Creeping Jenny

Now, if you still want any of this, just let me know. Seriously. You can have all you want!

Final Fall Flowers & Fresh Tomatillo Salsa

My garden is a summer garden. It looks spectacular in the summer, and spring is pretty darn nice too. But when school starts, I really lose a lot of oomph, and I start to let it all go. If I kept at it (uh...watering would be good...) I'd still have some great annuals to perk up the place. But I lose steam.

Last night we were expecting our first hard frost. I learned of this around 9 p.m., and immediately went outside to cut down the last of the basil, pick the last of the tomatoes, peppers, & tomatillos, and the last of the tender blooming flowers.

In a hurry, I stuck the basil into canning jars full of water, and placed those in the refrigerator. This is my preferred way to save fresh basil. It can last well over a week this way. Some people place a plastic bag over the top, but I've never found that to make much of a difference. So I skip the bag.

There were only a few tomatoes worth picking; a few of them ripe. I picked the unripened ones as well and placed them on a platter. I stick the platter into my dark pantry and they ripen in a few days. Oregon's tomato growing season is relatively short. Once they get going, we simply run out of hot, sunny days to keep them ripening. So every year, I resort to ripening the last of them in the pantry.

The tomatillos were very small, not even filling their husks. (Uh, maybe if I'd have watered them in the past month, things would be different...). I'm not sure if they're worth saving. Maybe we'll get a small batch of tomatillo salsa* out of them.

And the flowers. I LOVE hydrangeas. Just love them!! In late summer we stop seeing the brilliant colors, and instead get this beautiful greenish/mauve-ish blossom. I have bushes full of these, and find the colors just perfect for a fall garden. They won't last long. As soon as the frosts come, they'll get all wilty black. (I try to cut them back a bit before that happens...it's just easier.)

Last night I picked a bunch of blossoms. Some are in a vase full of water. Two bunches are drying; hanging upside down from a cabinet in my office. They dry well, retaining their color for quite some time. So, while I love fresh flowers in the house, I make do with a couple of large dried hydrangea bouquets in the fall/winter.

Some dahlias were also still blooming, and I picked those, placing them in a vase with two Nikko Blue hydrangeas that were oddly enough still bright blue.






*Tomatillo Sauce (San Francisco Encore)

Heat in a large saucepan:
6 T oil (3/8 C)

Add, and cook until soft:
2 medium onions, chopped
1 7 oz can diced green chiles
26 oz. (2 13 oz. cans) tomatillos, drained (I use fresh when they're in season!)
1 C chicken stock
3 TB fresh lime juice
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp salt

Simmer 25 minutes over low heat. Taste and correct seasonings. Puree in food processor or blender until smooth.