sprig to twig

The cherry trees are blooming, but not the great white cloud of years past.

The trees are covered with lichen and moss. I wonder if that has anything to do with the sparse bloom. Of course the rain could also be the culprit. Any theories?

The rain has certainly taken its toll on Euphorbia wulfenii. When it stands up straight it reaches our second story, and is magnificent. Here, it’s been beaten down to the ground. Ah, well..we takes our chances with this one, but it’s well worth the gamble when things go right.

I planted lots of white anemones, but the heathers have overtaken most of them. Time to order lots more.

Last year the Fuchsia ‘Golden Gate’ went wild and grew clear to the top of the deck roof. Usually, it dies back and/or it gets cut back to the ground. Not this year! It’s leafing out already and I am tempted to give it free rein and see what happens. Do you think I’d be creating a monster?

I’m crazy about the sawtoothed leaves of the Saxifraga dentata I got from Loree at the last plant swap. I left this much of the clump intact, to be on the safe side, but what I really wanted to do was spread it around as a ground cover.

Success! Here are the starts I separated from the main clump last fall. Looks like I’m good to go.

I have a big patch of Mahonia ‘King’s Ransom’. It flowers nicely, but the foliage is rather diseased looking and the plants are leggy. Right after the flowers fade, I am going to cut it back hard. If it doesn’t behave itself next year, it’s coming out (sometimes these threats are just what’s needed).

Another disappointment is this Hellebore, always looking down demurely, afraid to show her face. She would be just right for a terraced garden, where one could catch her off guard by looking up. Anyone out there ready to give her those conditions?

Here is a glimpse of what the end of March looks like here:

We’ve encouraged the Clematis armandii to grow under the roof of the front deck. These parts are in full, fragrant bloom. The parts that have remained outside, where it is colder and wetter, are still in bud, thus extending the season for this star of the early spring garden.

It can’t hold a candle to the two plants covering this pergola in full sun in Carlton OR.

As it emerges, the Lysimachia punctata ‘Alexander’ forms these little rosettes (its most charming phase, in my opinion)

On Bloom Day, the Forsythia was still mostly in bud. Now look at it!

Pussy willows have gone from furry to fluffy…achoo!

The first Rhody to bloom is always PJM.

This year ‘Janet’ is giving it some competition.

Here’s a closer look at ‘Janet’. Now there’s a pink I can get excited about.

Volunteer Ribes pop up all over the place.

I don’t know what it is about white primroses: they seem to remain relatively pristine,

While the blue ones are quickly tattered, I presume by slugs and snails.

Some of the plants recently acquired need to be viewed close-up to be appreciated. The Corokia cotoneaster is featured in the oval pot, with Ophiopogon japonicus ‘Pam Harper’ at its feet. The round pot, upper left, has two blue star creepers (Laurentia fluviatilis) and one Sedum makinoi ‘Ogon’ setting the stage for Nandina domestica filamentosa…almost invisible here, but I have high hopes for it.

This pretty little silvery lily turf turned up at Home Depot…really the only thing that spoke to me there.

But now back to Carlton, where our hosts, Susan & Gilbert, set this lovely table under that clematis-clad pergola and served up a memorable Easter brunch. Can you believe that sunshine? What better way to bid goodbye to March and wish you all a Happy Easter.

With the last stretch of nice weather, I was finally able to address the issue chronicled at the end of this post.

Digging out the area and storing the soil in wheelbarrows and tarps was the hardest part.

Meanwhile, I unrolled the wire mesh and weighted it down with rocks to help it uncurl. The plain old garden dirt was mixed with 1/4-10 gravel and dark hemlock mulch before returning it to the screened bed.

Several plants had been waiting in pots (one for years) for this day. Two Acorus gramineus variegatus from Home Depot were divided into enough plugs to cover a large area. The pot in the above photo contains Itea ilicifolia, a plant I have high hopes for. See it here on Plant Lust. I’ve killed it before, but maybe the care that went into preparing this bed will do the trick.

In the foreground is the lovely small tree that inspired the making of this bed. It has lived in a large pot for several years, and it was showing signs of longing for liberation. I thought it was ‘Red Bells’, but when I compare it to the excellent photos on Plant Lust, I think, instead, it is Enkianthus campanulatis var. sikokianthus. To its right is Hypericum inodorum ‘Albury Purple’. Impossible to see at this stage is Disporum hookerii. The sweet flag plugs take up the middle of the bed, where their root system is meant to protect the water lines beneath. In the distance, on the left, is a Pineapple Guava (Acca sellowiana). An Osmanthus too small to see is somewhere there in the middle distance, and on the right is the Itea. Where the new bed joins an existing bed a vigorous ground cover of Hypericum ‘Brigadoon’ will pretty rapidly migrate into the bare patches.

Looking west…

And one last shot, looking east. Take That! evil gophers! With this project taken care of, I guess it’s back to weeding for me.

When I first learned about Google Reader from Loree I was thrilled. No longer would I waste time popping by sites I had bookmarked to see if they had posted anything new. I was never a big fan of the service: in the short time I’ve been using it, it has cut out on me, losing all of my data, at least three times that I can remember. Now it has announced that it will be shutting down in July. I figure “Why wait?”

A site called lifehacker did a lot of the groundwork with a survey of alternatives. The most attractive choice to me was Feedly, but I was not alone. When I tried to access it, I ran out of patience before it managed to fully load. The next best thing, as far as I could tell, was The Old Reader. I signed in via Facebook with no problem. The protocol for adding sites is nearly identical to Google’s…in fact, the reason it was developed was that the original version of GR was much preferred by these developers after Google insisted upon “improving things”. We all know how that goes. Well, I was bombing right along: culling through bookmarks and adding my favorite blogs, when everything froze up on me. I haven’t exactly given up. I’ll give it a rest and try again later. But I am left unable to make any recommendations. How about you? Have you moved on to something that works like a charm?

While we’re at it, I have a couple of other technical glitches that have been bugging me lately. All of a sudden, certain words as I type away get turned into links with no help from me. Anybody know what’s up with that? And the ADS! I never had too much trouble ignoring them before, but now they seem to pop up, filled with wiggly attention-getters, at the top of every page and no way to turn them off. Don’t get me started on the buxom beauties in various stages of undress that appear, unbidden, on my timeline and elsewhere. I’m pretty tolerant, thinking “OK, everybody’s got to try to make a living”, but these things are driving me crazy-nutso! Your thoughts?

At last! A few of the blooms reached their peak on Mahonia ‘Arthur Menzies’, albeit only the few that were hidden away and protected by foliage. The big, showy one on the top of the plant fell victim to freezing weather, as in seasons past.

The first few Forsythia flowers have opened, with many to follow soon. I like it best right now, though the full display is admittedly more dramatic.

Spring is such a yellow season. The Tete a Tete daffys are the first of the Narcissi to bloom. There they are, off to the side. I’m partial to the paler, creamier yellow of the dangling blossoms sparsly adorning the bare branches of Stachyrus praecox. Tiny matching butterflies hover around them, then disappear as the flowers fade.

The greenish yellow of Euphorbia wulfenii is in that early stage where it looks like the large congregation is bowing its heads in prayer.

Not all is yellow. I planted lots of Muscari latifolia scattered about, hoping that they would multiply, as advertised. So far, no colonizing tendencies, but I do love that little dot of blue peeking through the tapestry of ground covers.

These, however, are increasing at a satisfying rate. The first of the Tulipa kaufmania ‘Shakespeare’ will soon be joined by dozens more. Cloudy days leave them closed up like this, but all it takes is a few stray rays of sunshine for them to open fully and show their hidden beauty.

A fragrant ground cover of common violets has the sense to bloom early, when there is little competition. A few stems in a tiny vase can scent an entire room.

People always seem to be seeking blue flowers, so I leave this rampant weed to flower wherever it will not out-compete things I’m trying to baby along. Anyone know what it’s called?

I’ve never been fond of the screaming salmon color of the quince we have, but if I cut a few branches just when the buds are beginning to swell, they bloom indoors in lovely pale, blushing shades.

And I love the pale orange sherbet shade of the Kalanchloi fedtschenkoi, which just illustrates how quirky and opinionated one’s color sense can be, with the fine line between “screaming salmon” and “pale orange sherbet”. Speaking of which, a new (to me) blogger, Anna Kullgren, has an entertaining essay on the subject, poking fun at Pantone’s color of the year.

Pam is well know in blogging circles for her blog, Digging, and for hosting the monthly meme, Foliage Follow-Up, where the non-flowers in our gardens are given their just due. The idea of turning the American obsession with grass into an earth-friendlier approach has been gathering steam for some time. Here we have a practical guide to the whys and hows of the grassless revolution.

Many of Pam’s followers have already sung the praises of the book’s fine photography, supporting the ideas for alternatives to traditional lawns. They note that the book breaks down the planning and execution of lawn replacement into easily identifiable choices and steps. I second all that. Where I diverge, and feel that I have something to add to the conversation, is this: Pam is a wordsmith. She is highly readable. Scattered throughout the text are gems like this:

‘Devil’s Shoestring’ (Nolina lindenhameriana) puddles on the ground like a shrugged-off party dress.

So by all means, read this book for the useful information it contains, but do not fail to revel in the language. It will deliver every bit as much literary satisfaction as the novel on your bedstand.

Excuse me…I don’t mean to go all Biblical on you, but after playing the acquisition game for a while there’s nothing for it but to get some of that new stuff in the ground. And what a day for it! Yesterday was bright and clear and today a gentle rain is watering in all of the new plantings.

First up, the group of plants I got from the Yamhill native plant sale. A friend told us about this, and volunteered to pick up our plants when he took the drive to collect his. The prices were good, and the website was easy to navigate. I ordered five Camassia leichtlini var suksdorfii to plant at the woodland’s edge, hoping that they will naturalize over time; two Asclepias speciosa (showy milkweed); one Disporum hookerii (Hooker’s fairy bells); three Sequoia sempervirens (coastal redwood); two Arbutus menziesii (Pacific Madrone); and two Cornus nuttalii (Pacific dogwood). I asked Bob to pick up some huckleberries if they had any on hand, and they did, shown bottom left and center. Turns out they had run out of dogwoods and sequoias, so they substituted extra Madrones, a couple of Cascara (Rhamnus purshiana) and nine crab apples (Malus fusca).

Not sure what to do with all of those crab apples, I potted them up to grow on for a while. They can reach thirty five feet and enjoy moist conditions. I might put a couple of them in the front hedgerow, but if they appeal to you, let me know…or I can bring some to the next plant swap.

What to do with five Madrones, when they can top out at twenty to fifty feet was an even bigger challenge. Well, they’re supposed to be slow-growing and appreciative of poor soil with good drainage, so I just stuck them at intervals along the border I’m developing approaching the house. We’ll see what happens. I can always cut them down or, if I don’t wait too long, dig them up for relocation. As you can see by the first photo, most of the things in this batch of plants pretty much disappeared when planted. If they prosper and put on a show, they are sure to show up in future posts.

The Yard, Garden and Patio Show came next, and the only plant I bought was this Dyckia hybrid. It is meant to take the place of a deceased Echeveria in a pot of succulents. I hope I will have better luck with this. I rarely go on a buying spree at the show, because I don’t want to haul plants around with me, especially when there are so many stellar nurseries nearby where I can just drive up and load plants into the car. I am kind of kicking myself for not picking up a few of the unusual dahlia bulbs (or whatever you call those things) on offer, though.

A quick and dirty stop at Means to pick up a couple of things to stick in porch pots yielded this perky Primula Elatior Reno mix (I like the way the flowers rise above the rosette of leaves) and a surprise. As I browsed the tables, a young man approached and inquired if I needed help finding anything. What?! He proved to be quite knowledgeable and friendly, running counter to the reputation of an outlet that has sold boring plants in quantity with no one in the place knowing anything about the merchandise. When I called this to the attention of Ransom, he chuckled and allowed as how that was their reason for hiring him. Guess I’ll be pulling off the road on my way to Freddy’s more frequently in the days ahead.

I was surprised to find small pots of Hellebores for a mere $6.50. See how nicely ‘Pink Beauty’ nestles into the cachepot that sits next to our front door? I’ll find it a permanent home later.

I’ve long admired the foliage of Salix integra ‘Hakuro Nishiki’, but hadn’t realized how colorful the bare branches were in winter. This will be a great addition to the driveway border that is oh-so-slowly coming together.

The Open House at Dancing Oaks yielded more than plants. Who could resist the cold pressed hazelnut oil at right? As you can see, we didn’t even try, as we have already drizzled it over the incredible (and colorful) eggs. Front, left, is Nandina domestica filamentosa, which will form a dome similar to Japanese maple, but lacier and more see-through. Behind that is Acanthus Syriacus to add to my “collection” of three. In the center is Cyclamen coum, silver form. New stems form in cunning spirals. This may go under the Nandina. The last plant is hiding beyond the frame, but wait…

There it is: Corokia cotoneaster and yes, I’m ready to give it another go after having destroyed a couple of them.

On Sunday, Scott, of Rhone Street Gardens brought me this wonderful bunch of grasses: three Muhlenbergia cappilaris, a huge (like its name) Stipa gigantea and in the bag, I believe, a Miscanthus, but which one escapes me (Scott?). Next time the sun breaks through, I will get these into the ground. Since Scott was mainly making room in an already crowded garden it was not quite a swap, but I did serve pie…and on our walkabout we identified a couple of things he’d like (next time).

Now that I have most things planted, I can forge ahead into Spring with a clear conscience. Hortlandia will be coming up soon, after all.

We had dinner at Cuvée Friday night and spent the night in Carlton. The next day, my friend Susan and I headed even further into the countryside to visit Dancing Oaks Nursery. I had only been there in high summer and Susan had never seen the place. It is far FAR off the beaten path, but well worth the trip through gorgeous countryside. The above scene is the one that greets you as you approach the nursery. Having driven through pounding rain, we were heartened to see the skies clear.

Nothing like a spiky greeting to get things off to a good start.

Where to start? We followed our noses through several hoop houses jam-packed with plant life, and in this case overseen by one of the many cats who rule here (see him stretched out over the door at the far end?).

Most of the plants under cover are well marked, like this Magnolia.

Here is the plant that goes with the label. Isn’t it a beauty?

It was the red leaves that attracted me, but knowing that this is a Tibouchina lets me know that velvety flowers are its real calling card.

Nice to know that it has another season in which to shine.

Can you tell that the people here have a lot of fun doing what they do?

Having combed through the greenhouses, it was time to stroll around the grounds. Still stripped down to winter bones…

sporting their own spare beauty. I neglected to ask about these trees, but I love them.

This is a good time to appreciate the garden art sprinkled about.

This colorful glass fish is nestled in grasses bordering a pond.

Across the pond, grasses and cat tails have been allowed to dry in place.

A little rill feeds the pond and serenades us all.

A rustic fence surrounds the rill, with seating nearby.

Transitioning to the pergola is this rough wooden structure.

Standing sentry at the entrance to the pergola, an Edgeworthia is just beginning to come into flower.

It will become a dark tunnel when things leaf out, but the sun plays peek-a-boo now, as we head down the path through the pergola.

Looking back the way we have come, a large pot catches the light and beckons to us.

A weeping blue Atlas cedar has been trained up one upright and allowed to weep down from above.

Some newer looking berms act as a buffer between the cultivated garden and the natural areas beyond. The star of this berm is this Eucalyptus, while beyond Agaves, Opuntias and Yucca reign.

A few flowering plants have broken dormancy to bejewel the landscape. These Iris r. ‘Pixie’ are joined by Hellebores

and random clumps of snowdrops.

At the pavilion, where goodies were being served, I loved this arrangement of pots, one holding a dramatic Agave, another filled with rocks to receive the runoff captured by the rain chain.

Don’t these willow chairs tempt you to sit a while and bask in those rare rays of sunshine?

As we wandered, refreshed, back towards the sales shack, I couldn’t stop clicking away. Here’s another of many rain chains, this time hanging from a tree branch. Pots are used throughout the garden as containers and as stand-alone sculptural pieces.

An ancient looking magnolia stellata seems to be saying “Come back soon and see me strut my stuff”.

You would be doing yourself a disservice if you hurried away without indulging in some chit chat with the owners of this edenic corner of the world. Here’s the view out over the valley as we reluctantly bid adieu. I know you will want to know what came home with me, but that will come in a later post. I have used restraint at each stop on this spring’s buying spree, but the plants are piling up. I will soon need to deal with them, and then all will be revealed…I promise.

I’m impressed how so many of you can keep up your blogging and commenting even with spring springing and garden chores beckoning. I’ve been overwhelmed, with two gardens to clean up, spruce up and prune into shape. Sooo…I’m rolling blooms and foliage into one post, and if I have failed to comment on your recent posts, please know that I love you still and will be back in the saddle as soon as the rains return.

Out here at the R&R Ranch, it’s slim pickins in the bloom department. The Hamamelis with the split personality is having its ‘Diane’ moment. Earlier (sometime in January) that middle tall part bloomed yellow. The plant I purchased was meant to be ‘Diane’ so your guess is as good as mine about what’s going on here.

‘Diane’ was ready for her close-up, with the sun catching her against a background in shadow. The only other things blooming here are snowdrops and slug-tattered primroses.

In town, we are getting ready for new tenants to take over. They say they will maintain the garden, but we have heard that song before. At any rate, it seems only fair to get them off to a good start. The garden here has a southern exposure, is surrounded by concrete and gets reflected light from the house. The Bergenias are in full flower,

With those around the corner, in the shade, fattening up their buds, ready to star in the second act..

I can’t recall having planted this low-growing charmer (i know…I sound like I’m testifying before congress) . Anyone know what it is? This just in from The Mulchmaid: the plant in question is Lesser celadine, and is on the invasive species list. Jane included a link to Kim Pokorny telling us all about it. Sorry, Linda…I guess I won’t be passing this one along.

I’ve never been big on crocuses (they seem to bloom for about five seconds, tops), but these cheerful little fellows emerging through the duff make their case pretty convincingly.

Since Bloom Day fell the day after St Valentines Day, I think it only fair to include this mixed bouquet from my Valentine. Some of these flowers will go out early in a blaze of glory and the nature of the arrangement will morph over time…just as relationships do.

And now for the Foliage Follow-up. Melianthus Major was one of the first plants I ever spent serious money on (well, $20 seemed like a lot at the time). It was my first (and, so far, only) visit to Gossler Farms in Springfield OR. The plant was in a one gallon pot, with three or four leaves…but what leaves! They were a very pale green with a bluish cast and deep serrations. Lightly brushing the leaves produced the scent of peanut butter. It was love at first sight.

Backing up a bit here, you can see that my one little plant has colonized an entire area (it goes on some ways beyond the left of the picture frame, but I wanted to include the bright red dogwood twigs encroaching from the right). I have tried several times to divide and move it to our current digs, but it will have none of it. I will keep trying, because this is one of my all-time favorite plants. In the meantime, I hope our new tenants give it the love and attention it deserves.

You could do worse than to shower your love and attention upon May Dreams Gardens for Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day and Digging for Foliage Follow-up.

Portland’s show is held in the convention center, where the stage is set by these sculptures by Ming Fey: sprigs of poppies dangling overhead and giant pods resting on pedestals at each end of the great hall.

Outside of the exhibit hall is a taste of things to come.

Including an orb sculpture from the Cracked Pots booths. I must confess to rushing by that area of the show, and only appreciating it once someone has pulled out a nice piece like this to feature in a garden setting. Scott has the good eye for such things and has purchased some terrific garden art.

A pet peeve for many is the practice of forcing things into bloom for the display gardens. Sorry, guys…this is Fantasy Gardening. You want realism? Go to the arboretum.

Or…you purists could head straight for the HPSO booth, where you will find cuttings and plants only in their natural state. Here you see a table populated by blooming branches. This time of year it is dominated by witch hazels, daphne, a few viburnums and sarcacocca.

Another table was devoted to berry bearing branches. Everything in the HPSO booth is labeled with the proper Latin name, there are informational signs like the one you see here, and there are reference materials and live bodies to help you answer your questions.

Here’s an overview of the exhibit floor, filled with booths selling everything garden related, from plants to artifacts to wine (that last may be a stretch, but believe me: after a few hours tromping around the show, you’ll be ready for a glass of wine).

A few of the vendors shun the commercial route and go for a more inspirational approach.

My mission is usually to cull the display gardens for ideas. These red metal arches led into one of the gardens.

Where you really have to look past the excess to pick up on the good ideas lurking here. Speaking of excess: see the weeping lights in the weeping tree to the left? They also morphed into different colors! And that blue tree in the back? That is no lighting trick…the tree is painted blue.

But in a quieter part of that same garden, the up-lighting silhouetted the bare trees against the dark evergreen background. I could maybe use that idea.

Fire pits were big this year. This one is surrounded by seating formed by steel mesh crates topped with pillows. The pavilion in the back is topped by an eco-roof in a pattern of squares. If we wanted to get nit-picky here, we might mention that a) the seating has no opening for entry and those crates look pretty heavy b) plants rarely consent to retain a geometric pattern c) pillows left outside will soon sport muddy footprints, or worse. But again, I remind you that this is Fantasy Gardening.

One display had a 50’s theme, right down to the outfits worn by its attendants.

It’s a fire pit! It’s a fountain! It’s a repurposed Weber!

It’s unusual to see a stock tank in-ground…more unusual to see the fish be large-mouthed bass.

This flower cut out of shiny metal and used as a fire pit lit up a dark corner in a dramatic way.

Did you notice that the back of that chair is upholstered in succulents? And look at the cutouts in the plywood floor.

Here’s a closer look at those floor designs: some filled with moss, others with daffodils.

I liked the use of simple 4 x 4’s for edging and the on-end branches as a transition zone (perhaps an alternative to the more commonly seen pebbles?)

I’ll close with my favorite of the display gardens. The little house on the left is cantilevered over the pool. Tricks of lighting emphasize the already flaming vine maples (or something…I didn’t check) in the back. Small trees with bright bark were a popular trend, as were Edgeworthias (foreground, right). The whole area of the display gardens was dimly lighted, the better to emphasize the use of dramatic lighting.

And there you have a rundown of the things that caught my eye. I’ll be cruising your blogs to see what others thought. If you have strong opinions, I hope you will voice them (in your blog, or in the comments). It makes it all more fun, don’t you think?