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Post by JoeP on Apr 4, 2021 12:58:35 GMT
Well...most of the sugina subulata is in the ground. Two pathways, the crossroads square, and the plaza. The palette. The pathway. The plaza. Looks like the palette consists of green, white, terracotta, various shades of brown and some yellow.
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Post by whollygoats on Apr 4, 2021 14:22:11 GMT
Well...most of the sugina subulata is in the ground. Two pathways, the crossroads square, and the plaza. The palette. The pathway. The plaza. Looks like the palette consists of green, white, terracotta, various shades of brown and some yellow. The palette was shades of green. All the other colors are on the canvas....I'm just making happy little pathways with daubs of shades of green.
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Post by whollygoats on Apr 4, 2021 16:13:46 GMT
So...The project I had set myself for the summer is pretty much complete.
There is the pathway back to the SE corner, where the concrete slab pile is, which I think I've decided to do in fairy thyme. It only need go back to just short of the fence, as I'm visualizing the stand of raspberries being back there, against the fence.
I've started, but not completed, the weeding on the eastern path to the China Beach Trail. Once I complete the weeding in the back and swing through the gate, I'm thinking about the need for several stands of hollyhock along that trail. It's very narrow, but not really used. At present, it takes a couple of 'machete sessions' each dry season just to keep the noxious weeds down. By August, it will have its north end choked shut by the alstromeria.
So...The nursery list now includes fairy thyme and alcea rosea. Oh, and myosotis seed, I can't forget those. I also need to keep my eyes open for sets of melons and bell peppers. Once I've seen commitment from the asparagus, I can move forward with inter-plantings of basil....all in good time.
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Post by whollygoats on Apr 4, 2021 16:17:34 GMT
Note: Places to plant more Tete-a-tete miniature daffodils:
~ Any rose bed. ~ Front portion of the fenceline iris bed. ~ 'Mater patch. ~ Near the water gauge and east of the iris in the parking strip.
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Post by whollygoats on Apr 5, 2021 18:11:14 GMT
So...Having distributed the last of my handmade glass beads to friends, I took most of those I'd kept, largely muddy and undistinguished beads, and placed them in an old heavy ceramic pet food bowl of the small persuasion, filled said bowl with water, leaving the tops of the beads dry, and placed the whole lot inside the lip of the birdbath. It is a 'bee bistro' with a place for bees to land where they can access water, without peril. I think it is a good use of the last of my handmade glass beads. It will include a commitment on my part to keep the bistro watered. It's the "Ol' Watering Bowl Bee Bistro" @ the Birdbath Bijou. ETA: Of course, once I'd placed the Bee Bistro, I realized that I had already been fulfilling bee needs with my funky birdbath. It tilts slightly. And, it was damaged when my clubfooted neighbor knocked it off its pedestal, so I now make sure that the damage portion is uphill to keep the water in the shallow bath. This means the basin tilts and leaves the damaged upper portion often dry....like a beach for bees. Now, local bees can lounge on the bee beach, or fly to the deep end for quaffing off the beads.
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Post by whollygoats on Apr 9, 2021 14:56:29 GMT
The cherry flower petals are falling and the first shoot of asparagus has made its presence known.
The cage is off the rhubarb, thanks to the intervention of a couple of whiskered pansies and the rhubarb's own expanding canopy.
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Post by Mari on Apr 10, 2021 11:56:17 GMT
Sounds lovely. I'd really like to see your garden in real life...
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Post by whollygoats on Apr 11, 2021 2:24:02 GMT
The only constant is change.
Today, the sweetpeas are up.
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Post by whollygoats on Apr 11, 2021 2:54:03 GMT
Also, today, comes the news that the stand of aged Douglas firs, three lots to the east of my garden, are being taken down and removed.
Sad as it is, it is not particularly surprising. I'd noted myself how they posed a potential fall danger to the host house and several neighboring properties, particularly now that another of their number had been recently removed (to make way for the common-wall duplex atrocity), effectively destabilizing the stand.
The murder of crows will have to focus their attentions on the stand of Douglas firs on the next block to the west.
It is the end of an era....
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Post by whollygoats on Apr 11, 2021 2:58:44 GMT
I looked at the weather for the coming week.
I'm going to have to water my garden in April. This is beyond two standard deviations, for sure...maybe three.
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Post by whollygoats on Apr 11, 2021 3:47:37 GMT
Sounds lovely. I'd really like to see your garden in real life... Any time you happen to find yourself in Portland, do come by. Best time is mid-May to early June, when the iris are still abloom and the roses have just begun.
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Post by whollygoats on Apr 12, 2021 18:18:01 GMT
The woodland hyacinth are abloom.
Now that it is noon, it is finally warm enough to go out and wander around the garden.
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Post by whollygoats on Apr 12, 2021 22:17:25 GMT
I sprinkled around some forget-me-not seeds in all the spring bulb pots. I won't get any results this year, but next year should restart my flagging collection.
I also primed 18 4" pots (a full tray) with rose & flower soil and hollyhock seeds (doubles), as well as sprinkling seeds at two separate sites along the eastern fence.
I hope to get some pruning done on the grape while my guest is here, so that I have somebody here to spot me on the ladder. If I accomplish that, I shall have earned my gin & tonic.
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Post by whollygoats on Apr 14, 2021 20:49:45 GMT
My first tulip! I is...'apricot'? 'Coral'? 'Pastel orange'?
I need to check back when I plugged these in.
ETA: 'Sweet Lady' coral tulips. I distinctly wrote down 'coral'; as I did for the frilly 'Replete' daffodils. I had also forgotten about the other miniature daffodils I'd interplanted in the cannabis pots. Those are 'Prototype' variety bulbs and have an orangish trumpet with very light yellow petals.
The tete-a-tete miniature daffodils are starting to fade. The woodland hyacinth are abloom all over the back at the moment, along with forget-me-nots, so there is a divine fragrance wafting about.
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Post by whollygoats on Apr 17, 2021 0:46:47 GMT
Grape is pruned.
Witchhazel is in bloom.
Unfortunately, so are dandelions, so I guess the lion hunt is on. As is the hunt for maple volunteers.
I have my first asparagus spear. I guess it will have to be an addition to my morning egg dish. It's not like I have a mess of spears.
The catgrass is up.
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Post by whollygoats on Apr 17, 2021 2:01:23 GMT
I'm watching my water level on the bird bath/bee beach and bistro with regards all my recent plantings.
When all the water disappears and I need to refill the bird bath et al, then I need to water all the recent plantings, including catgrass, hollyhock seed (in three places), morning glory seed, violas, and all the sagina subulata, as well as douse the emerging sweetpeas in the bargain.
I've had to water twice this week....this is nucking futz.
This is Puddle City, not some California idyll. In April it is supposed to at least threaten to rain each and every day in April. But, nooooo....
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Post by whollygoats on Apr 17, 2021 18:22:42 GMT
A view east from the back garden, toward the two tall firs which are slated to be felled.
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Post by JoeP on Apr 17, 2021 19:56:52 GMT
Has your picture been felled? It displays a broken image for me.
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Post by whollygoats on Apr 18, 2021 2:25:36 GMT
It looks fine on my end...I'm not some fancy IT guy.
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Post by Mari on Apr 18, 2021 10:18:16 GMT
I can see it too.
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Post by JoeP on Apr 18, 2021 17:14:06 GMT
Is it on Facebook? Maybe you need to be signed in
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Post by whollygoats on Apr 18, 2021 18:00:43 GMT
Yes. It is a posting from my FB cache and was a posting of mine in 'friends' mode. I am signed in.
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Post by whollygoats on Apr 18, 2021 18:04:56 GMT
In non-technical diversions, the rhubarb is revividus in the eastern front plateau!
I have made two plantings in a small bed wedged between the rosa rugosa and the edge of the property. I thought I had lost both due to failure to thrive (poor soil, poor light, and/or slugs galore), but, lo, a budling of rhubarb leaves has emerged. I must mulch heavily and encourage further expansion.
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Post by Mari on Apr 21, 2021 12:41:04 GMT
We got lots of several different seeds for a veggie patch. Not sure I'll plant them.
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Post by whollygoats on Apr 21, 2021 20:37:42 GMT
We got lots of several different seeds for a veggie patch. Not sure I'll plant them. Why not? You do know that you need to plant them to get them to germinate, grow, and produce, right?
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Post by Mari on Apr 23, 2021 16:03:19 GMT
Yes, but I'd need the room to plant them later...
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Post by whollygoats on Apr 25, 2021 18:33:35 GMT
So, a stroll about informs me that the woodland hyacinth bloom is now at full and the forget-me-nots are about to peak. New blooms include the first volunteer columbine, the rosemary, the Kenilworth ivy, and the newly planted Tiny Ruby dianthus. Morning glory starts are now strong, as are the sweetpeas. I have a significant number of iris buds. I'm betting on 'First Interstate' to be my first bloom. Murray has discovered, and grazed, the new pot of freshly sprouted cat grass in a pot on the balcony. I am pleased. The Bee Beach & Bistro with the bleeding heart performing.
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Post by whollygoats on Apr 25, 2021 19:20:34 GMT
Images from Wellington Gardens... Tulips et al. Kenilworth ivy. My asparagus spears grow up through this mat of vegetation. Macro of Kenilworth ivy. Whiskered pansies. The bottlebrush blooms of the witchhazel. The view from the public walk at the witchhazel, at the base of the eastern front slope. The flowers on the slope are a mix of woodland hyacinth (the purplish tone) and forget-me-nots (the light blue tone). The arched roof covers the front porch.
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Post by whollygoats on Apr 25, 2021 19:52:59 GMT
The last turn through the nursery to obtain more sugina subulata also prompted some seed buying (the hollyhocks) and I also picked up two roses.
One rose is a replacment of a lost miniature known as "Gourmet Popcorn". It is, of course, a prolific producer of smallish white flowers with a yellowish center. Like popcorn. The other is a replacement/augmentation of an existing rose that is front and center in the balcony rosebed...."Double Delight". The twenty year old shrub has been suffering under the onslaught of competitors, so I was going to replace it with a healthier specimen. But when I got it there, I just decided I would augment what was already there (with just one stem) with the new shrub, making it a double "Double Delight". (It gets its name from its stunning appearance of red margins on white blooms and a magnificent fragrance.) It is my favorite variety rose, so I wanted to help it back to prominence.
Next time through, I shall have to obtain a new climbing hydrangea. The one I planted years ago does not seem to have flourished. A new canvas beckons!
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Post by whollygoats on Apr 27, 2021 21:54:05 GMT
THE RACES ARE ON!
Specifically, the annual race to the first iris bloom and the first rose bloom are now in play.
The iris finish will be soon, and there is a contender, but it is going to have to do some major work to catch up to the leader.
In the rose category there is only one contender. 'Sweet Surrender', my fragrant pink 'dinner plate' rose, has a huge, burgeoning rosebud ready to curl back its sepals and burst in to bloom. Soon. Like days. I dunno why I have such an early bud (except, of course, for weeks of untoward sunny weather here in Puddle City).
It looks as though I should look in to my rhubarb recipes. It's going gangbusters.
Pix to follow.
The daffs are all fading and the tulips, such as they are, are at peak. All to be gone in a wink. I need to plan for my transient residents in the pots.
It's lion hunting season and, as is wont, I had my first 'friendly fire' incident today in the fenceline iris bed. In pushing to excise a dandelion plant of some note, I inadvertantly snapped off a stem with a bud. Oafishness on my part, for sure. I shall back off on my vehement persecution of dandelions for the time being...
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