Mom and Dad's Waterfall

Ain't it pretty?

Landscaper for hire, anyone interested?

Seed Collection

Information on Seed Collecting for annuals and some perennials:
http://www.seedandsower.com/collecting-seeds.asp

Misc

These 'hens and chicks' were prettier when they were flat, but now they are definitely more interesting! On Hornby Island, we visited an artist's studio who had these and other similar plants cushioning old chairs...it looked really cool, though a bit un-sittable.
Very interesting seed heads on the clematis.
Love the colors, pretty good for a 5$ basket huh?

Front Left Garden-August 1.07

This bed needs more annuals or edging next year, and something to go behind the lupine on the left that will bloom from mid-July on.

Front Pergola Garden-August 1.07

The sages did really well in this garden, but there's a bit of a bare spot on either side of the right hand one. I'm not sure about a center-piece plant for the garden...I'm experimenting with a lily that was a gift from Nakisa, but I'm not sure if it'll come back, and it's done blooming by mid-July. I definitely need something longer blooming, like the sages.

I love the fleabane and star creeper in here, and the snaps surprised me and reseeded themselves.

I'm a little concerned that the veronica speedwell 'Royal Blue' is invasive as it is spreading everywhere...we'll see what happens I guess.

There is a purplish colored grass that I'm considering for this garden, maybe paired with the yellow with purple-centers 'osteopermum' (sp) annual? But it definitely needs a feature plant.

Waterfall Garden-August 1.07

I'm a little concerned the Mexican Hair grass is outgrowing it's bounds, but don't want to move the red coreopsis because it brings the brightest color to the area. Hmmmmm.

Balloon flower looks nice here too.

Impatiens work well under the cedars where other things die.

The mouse-eared coreopsis (2) beside the impatiens were finished flowering mid-July and weren't that impressive. They may need to move. It might be better to replace them with a bigger bed of impatiens next year.

The creeping speedwell is really pretty and blooms in late spring.

Front Step Garden-August 1.07

I tried to do a bit of a formal planting scheme for Nu in here as he doesn't always like the cottage style that I do...I don't know how formal it is. I used New Guinea impatiens for edging, and closely placed Gazania in the middle as foreground for the perennials. The two lily plants were great, but both were done blooming by August and looked a bit dry through the season. The coleus should have been in a place with less sun as it faded. Rudbeckia started blooming late July. Astilbe is looking a bit wilty here, I think it might be too hot for it. I love the crocosmia in here, but not the bachelor's button...I don't think I like it anywhere! This bed probably needs more annuals and sun-loving plants in it next year.

Vegetable patch-August 1.07

Dill, Lettuces, Beans, Cucumbers and Rhubarb....

I think the dill needs more sun.

Beans grew very very well from seed. Cucumbers did alright too, mainly the seeds that were started indoors, but none are producing yet. Lettuce grew well from seed. The rhubarb is TOO BIG and needs to be divided, even though I just got this patch this year. They say it's good not to harvest it the first year, and never past the July long wkd, as it allows the root system to develop and nurture the plant. I'd say mine's not having too many problems!

Back Garden-August 1.07

This bed is crying out for bold, bright colors. It gets a lot of bright sun during the day, and needs the color for the flowers to stand out.
I have 3 daylillies in the front left corner which I hope will bush out, but want to make room for more, in different colors and bloom times, by moving the yarrow which is right behind them. This should be a bright focal point. The Jupiter's Beard could be moved closer to the bee balm and make room for some Japanese Blood Grass which would look smashing!

I want to increase the patch of delphiniums to 7 or 9, including some early and long-blooming types. I'm not sure about the phlox as it's quite floppy. I would like to add some coneflowers too.

Also, I will never again grow sweet peas up the pyramid, maybe a trailing nasturtium, or a runner bean?

I need to plan better so there's different things blooming all through the growing season, rather than a sea of green! Maybe throwing something like poppies out there, that reseeds itself, would help.

This bed also needs a bit of edging around the front.

Happy with: bee balm, delphiniums, jupiter's beard, lavender, may night sage, daisies, pincushion flowers, lillies

Catmint: is pretty in bloom in June, and looks like it will rebloom anytime, but is not attractive in between!

Foxgloves: are not blooming yet!!

Tomatoes: are monstrous (the plants not the fruit)

Sweet peas: are being eaten by a little green bug and aren't blooming yet

Asters: are flopping over

Painted Daisies: were finished blooming mid-July

Yarrow: is in too conspicuous of a place

Cut-flower garden-August 1.07

So I'm fairly confident now that there WILL be some flowers in here!

Unfortunately none of my ladybird poppies really amounted to anything, but the Shirley Poppies from Pare, my neighbor, are growing nicely.

In the pot: mint

top right: creeping thyme, flowered in beginning of summer and has doubled in size its first year.

-to the left of it are 3 dwarf Jacob's ladder and 3 alpine poppies. The Jacob's ladder was cut back after flowering in June-early July, and is now flowering again. The poppies were done early July.

-the rest of the greenery is poppies to the right, and zinnias to the left, still anxiously awaited.

I'm considering putting a lavender hedge in the back of this garden for some year-round interest...and moving several floppy asters from the other side where I don't know where to put them. Also, I think this bed needs something low and long-blooming edging it, maybe aubretia, and some wallflowers in spring and something else a foot or so high in summer, to provide a foreground while my cut-flowers are growing.

Foxglove 'Foxy'

Botanical: Digitalis purpurea 'Foxy'
Biennial
Height: 4-5 '
Exposure: Light shade to sun.
Spacing: 15-18" apart
Notes: Save the dried seed pods and sprinkle in the garden in spring and fall
Location: 2 in back garden, 3 in front

Brass Buttons

Origin: Hornby Island

Will grow in almost any conditions

Supposedly spreads rapidly by runners

Variegated Sweet Flag

I'm guessing on the name...it's similar to what I'm guessing is Golden Variegated Sweet Flag in the waterfall garden...a very lovely clump of grass, though really scraggly looking it's first summer...

2nd year 2007

Daylily 'Stella D'Oro'

Daylily

'Stella D'Oro' hybrid

Color: yellow

Taken Aug. 1, first year 2007

Delphinium

Botanical: Delphinium 'Pacific Giant hybrid'
Bloom: June and September (mine bloomed June and August first year 2007)
Exposure: Full sun
Height/Spacing: 4-6' by 18-24"
Care: Require staking!
Apply 10-10-10 ferilizer in spring and again in growing season.
Water at base of plant.
Plants: 4 (3 blooming)

First year, August 1

Coreopsis 'Zagreb'

Tickseed

July 13/07

2 year old plant....at least quadrupled in size.

my new lavender hedge (surprised by Nu...thanks to Louie)

a humble vegetable garden...in process. yellow bush beans, cucumbers,

rhubarb, mixed mesclun greens, dill and cherry tomatoes (not in picture). hungry yet?

Sometimes surprises are best...

I had no idea what the plant (that is now blooming in brilliant orange) was going to look like when it was given to me from a friend of Dad's. Turns out to be quite the perfect spot for it, next to the yellow coreopsis and all. I believe it is called crocosmia. I'm enjoying it thoroughly!

Parsley

I had my first taste of it yesterday...

it was very good, spicy and breath-freshening indeed.

Perennial, evergreen.

Beans

My bush beans are coming up nicely, and I've only lost one to pests so far...

time will tell how many actually turn into bean-producing plants though!

Sweet Peas

Foolproof seeds to grow, unlike some others I've come across...

Shasta Daisies

Bloom early and all summer into fall...these are the flowers to get for low-maintenance gardening! All you have to do is occasionally pick off the wilted blooms.

Sept.08-Didn't get a rebloom this year, and the leaves all got mottled with black...don't know if this is a good sign...

Meadow sage companions

It's still trial and error when it comes to where to place plants in the garden. I think this may be one combination that I got right...shasta daisies in the front, and the white and pink flower to the back (I forget it's name).

I've been moving stuff around enough, that's for sure!

The bees love the meadow sage, they're in it all day long. Which makes it hard to deadhead!

Yarrow 'Summer Pastels'

Used to be classified as a weed, can you believe it?

The detail on these is lost at a distance, but they're really very intricate and beautiful.

That's a pincushion flower that won't stand up straight on the right.

Bee balm

This plant is getting HUGE! The lady at the nursery said maybe 4 ft. tall, but I was hoping for 6 and I've almost got it! It's going to have brilliant red flowers and it's getting ready to bloom.

That's Jupiter's Beard and pre-blooming white foxglove in the background.

mint is growing...

I'm a little embarrassed to admit, at first there was a type of clover growing in the pot, which I assumed to be mint, until the real mint came up and the imposter was recognized. Heehee. Rookie.

Rock Penstemon

Isn't it pretty? It's the first year it's bloomed for me. I'm thinking of placing it against a backdrop of lavender, as the space behind it is pretty bare after my bleeding heart is finished blooming.

Seedlings

Zinnias and Poppies coming up...

there have only been 2 casualties so far (both zinnias) which brings the zinnia count to 20, and there must be at least 100 tiny poppy seedlings starting.

coleus

Well, sadly, none of my coleus seeds survived. But I bought 3 of these for 69 cents each at the nursery which seems to be a better deal than 2 or 3 dollars for a packet of seeds that produces 0 plants. Aren't the colors on them cool?

front garden

I love the lupines in here, but I'm wondering if I've chosen a bad centerpiece plant because I know it doesn't bloom all summer. Oh well, enjoy it while it lasts I guess.

The veronica on the far right seems to be done blooming, and I'm not sure if it will come back again or not. The mexican hair grass in the forefront has developed these really cool seedheads that are quite lovely.

With the salvia, I'm enjoying the benefits of planting in the fall rather than spring, as mine is super huge compared to Mom's, which was planted in spring. Who knew it would make such a difference?

Hummingbird!!

Yesterday I spotted it for the first time...

a cute little hummingbird flitting around my catmint plants!!

so lovely!!

My Newest Enemy

The dreaded Pill Bug...also known as Slater, Sow Bug, and the deceptively endearing Roly Poly Bug.

Do not be fooled.

It is not cute, nor is it welcome in a garden where one is haplessly trying to grow fragile little plant seedlings. It feeds on tender new plant tissue, or decaying plant matter...not the mature plants as they are too tough to chew. And it is the reason why several of my sunflower seedlings have disappeared, and my cucumber shoots are suffering bites as well. I have killed a few of them on sight, but apparently the way to do it is with beer, cantaloupe or corn cobs to trap them. Unless you want to import their natural predator, the Sow Bug Killer spider, which apparently has very large fangs. 'Shiver' up the spine. If you've seen these ugly relatives of the shrimp in your garden, and you're losing tiny seedlings...now you know why.

may night sage

Botanical: Salvia nemerosa

Common: May night meadow sage

Size: 18" x 18"

Exposure: Full sun

Bloom: Late May through summer

Notes: Heavy re-bloomer with deadheading and extra water

Little Star Creeper

Botanical: Laurencia fluviatilis

Common: Blue star creeper

Exposure: Full sun, half sun, shade

Bloom: Late May-Fall

Notes: Evergreen

Rate of growth is pretty slow

Origin is Australia

experiments!

Happy birthday to me! A lovely obelisk, soon to be entangled by creeping sweet pea vines and sweet-smelling flowers. I wanted to make one, but couldn't find any willow! Thanks for the present Mom and Dad!
Task of the day: Seed-planting.
Can you believe that big, beautiful, vibrant flowers grow from these dead looking little husks? Our God has an amazing imagination.
So I planted some rudbeckia and sunflowers in the front, and in my amost-empty cut-flower garden in the back I emptied 4 packages of seed...larkspur, shirley poppies, ladybird poppies and zinnias. This was done with very little knowledge or confidence in the end result, but a lot of hope and excitement! The best way to learn is by doing, right? The rudbeckia and zinnias were inspired by my oma, who always used to send us home from her house with flowers in hand. When I asked her what was easy to grow by seed, she recommended both.
I'd already planted cucumbers and some rudbeckia in the house, of which almost all the cukes, but only one rudbeckia actually sprouted and are now out in the garden. The coleus and oregano I tried inside all died. Next time I guess I will have to check my blog more often to get those helpful comments!!! Damp-off it is. Actually the coleus looked quite good to me, about an inch tall, healthy looking though small, it had been growing about 7-8 weeks inside when I put it out. But none of it survived at all. Too small I guess.
My parsley, dill, and sweet pea seeds are all sprouting in the garden too.
What's left to plant? Strawberries, lettuce and beans. Mmmmmmm.
I think this must be one of my favorite times of the garden season...when everything is just beginning and full of promise. I'm sure some disappointments lie ahead, but that's the way it is with experiments!!

waterfall garden in may

This is the lovely view I get to enjoy from my living room window...thanks to my dear landscaping hubby. This is a somewhat difficult area for plants, as they don't get much sun for most of the year. The lingonberry is doing well, getting quite out-of-control-looking actually. There are 3 alpine columbine plants around a clump of tufted grass that I have almost given up hope on. After about 2 months, still no flowers at all. I tried to plant an amethyst astilbe in the empty spot to the right, but it didn't grow. I've moved it to a place with more sun, to give it a chance there.
In a month or two I hope this space will be full of color and life...it's a collection of some of my favorite flowers...there's 2 lupine plants, one coming into bloom now, surrounded by sages and veronica, two astilbes, three pink foxgloves, and a few other things. The little star creeper actually has flowers this year, although not as many as I'd hoped. And I sure wish I'd planted all of it inside the bricks, not staggered like that. Oh well. It's a beginning!

Rudbeckia (P)

Above: what the plant actually grew into...

Below: what the plant was supposed to grow into!

Botanical: Perennial Rudbeckia hirta 'Cherokee Sunset'

Exposure: Full sun

Height/Spacing: 2-3' by 1'

Bloom: Late season, mid-summer to frost, started bloom end July 2007

Notes: Long-lasting cut flowers

Collect seed and start in protected situation, as it may act like an annual.

UPDATE: This plant turned out to be like a regular rudbeckia, which is fine with me, but rather false advertising!!