Walt’s Visit and Summer is coming to a close

Brother Tim and I went to Walt’s Organic Fertilizer yesterday.  It is a charming little nursery in North Seattle.

I bought a few things, including a gorgeous Alstroemeria–a dwarf with near-white flowers with img_3720

I love that this has just a few spots in the middle, unlike the usual spotty versions.

img_3721

I got this Lewisia “Little Mango” to grow in the greenhouse.  I love Lewisias, but I haven’t grown one in a while.

img_3722

I also got this twinflower for the Doug fir bed.  I’ve seen these growing near the cabin in dry shade…so maybe it will survive.  Here is what it might look like one day:

Image result for twinflower

These are such amazing wildflowers–I hope the little guy survives.

I also got lettuce seeds to start in one of the raised beds.  Here are the three varieties I chose:

Image result for lolla rossa lettuce

This variety is Lolla Rossa.

Image result for lettuce tango

This variety is Tango.

Image result for oak leaf lettuce
And here is Oak Leaf.
I cleaned out the bed that I had already cleaned out a few weeks ago–there were about two thousand calendula and borage seedlings already up and growing in there.  I rooted them out by hand and added potting soil on top to plant the lettuce seeds in.  If they get a quick, healthy start, they might just stay ahead of the NEXT crop of calendulas and borages that will inevitably push up in the next week or so.  I did water the bed with the sprinkler, and the other raised beds and Doug fir bed, too.  Things were extremely dry out there.

Here are some pictures of what’s happening in the garden as summer transitions to autumn.  I had high hopes that we’d get enough rain this week to matter, but I was deeply disappointed!  It rained overnight on Friday–just enough to perk up some of the potted plants that weren’t under the eaves.  The veggie beds under the Douglas fir tree didn’t even get wet.  That tree absorbs so much water that it has to really pour for any to slip through all the branches to the gardens underneath.

dsc06585

There is a precocious Daphne laureola that popped up in the Douglas fir bed.  You can see the flower buds for early next spring forming at the tips of the branches.  I have a soft spot for these shrubs, though they are invasive.  I should remove it, but I know I won’t.

dsc06584

As the flowers wane, the foliage starts to shine.  Here is the Aucuba japonica in the Doug fir bed, looking better than the Aruncus that died early in front of it.

dsc06583

I plan to do some digging to identify this tree soon.  You can really see the red petioles here.  From a seed off a tree outside the Arboretum gift shop (that tree has since died and been removed), these two seedlings are getting some serious growth on them now.  I need to prune them back to keep them from shading the orchard.

dsc06582

Here is a shot of one of the leaves–should help me ID it.

dsc06581

Ceratostigma plumbaginoides blooming on the side of the orchard garden.

dsc06579

Close-up of the flowers–actually a better blue than the tropical plumbago.

dsc06578

These amazing huge berries are on Prime Ark…very delicious, too!

dsc06577

A few more berries coming on in the summer batch.

dsc06576

More flowers (and berries) coming on–not sure if they’ll make it before frost, but I admire their spirit!

dsc06575

More blackberry flowers.

dsc06574

The beauty and symmetry of mullein flowers gets missed because they appear in spires, but they are amazing.  The crinkled lower petal really shows in this picture.

dsc06573

Here is the spire.

dsc06571

Serious gardeners would burn me at the stake for even showing this combination, but I think it actually is quite stunning.  The tall spires are dock seeds, with aster flowers and raspberry leaves.

dsc06570

I seem to have two types of aster.  One is shorter–I think brother Tim gave it me from Bette Higgins.  The other is taller–maybe also from brother Tim through his friend Merla.

dsc06569

The white hardy geranium that I started from seed this spring is still blooming in the pot Leon stuck it in.  It has  an interesting flower pattern–the stems just keep elongating and sending out more blossoms, though they are a bit smaller and spaced farther apart than the first blooms.

dsc06568

Another great foliage plant that really looks great this month–Lamium maculatum.

dsc06567

The fragrant arboretum rose is getting a bit of a second wind–and the clematis on the same arbor has a few straggler flowers, too.

dsc06566

Dahlias are the stars of the flower show right now…not super prolific, but enough of them and a great variety of bloom types.

dsc06565

The alignment of the petals on this particular cultivar are almost impossibly intricate.

 

dsc06563

I cut most of the rose hips off when I pruned this arboretum rose, but a few still snuck through.  They are brilliant, shiny red.

dsc06562

Another dahlia showing off…

dsc06561

Another dahlia…

dsc06560

Another view.

dsc06559

I cut back the seed heads on this Dianthus expecting an explosion of bloom.  I got two.  But in September, that’s a treasure!

dsc06558

Seeds from the voodoo lily–spectacular color.

dsc06557

Hesperis seed pods split open and look kind of crazy…I keep meaning to cut them back, but instead I’ve grown fond of them.

dsc06556

Feverfew snapping back from the summer heat and blooming its fool head off.

dsc06555

Here are the asters that I added to the Doug fir bed last summer.  They aren’t covered with flowers, but there are lots of buds and it looks like they might last for several months.

dsc06554

Brother Tim pointed out the seed pods on this Acanthus.  They are bright green against the tan bracts.  There are spines protecting the seed pods, too.

dsc06553

The ripe pods are a burnished brown–they look a little like acorns.

dsc06552

Garlic chives in one of the raised beds, an offset from brother Tim that is blooming especially well this year.  They make great cut-flowers, too.

dsc06551

Another dahlia…

dsc06550

And another…

dsc06549

And another…

 

dsc06547

I’m not sure why most of the cane begonias died out, but this is the last of them.  The leaves look pretty good, but it isn’t as robust as most of the starts I had before.

dsc06546

Some of my potted seedlings are showing autumn color.

dsc06545

Some more maples showing color.

dsc06544

The showiest of all–Acer davidii…

dsc06543

Close up of davidii leaf

dsc06542

Great gesneriad flower…

dsc06541

Streptocarpus blooming in the greenhouse…

 

dsc06540

Nasturtium blooming in the greenhouse.

dsc06539

Geranium maderense very happy that it got repotted a month ago.  I might get flowers next year, though it is still puny compared to pictures I’ve seen online, where the flowering plants reach four feet tall.

dsc06538

The euphorbia brother Tim brought to me last weekend and a blooming begonia.

dsc06537

More gorgeous gesneriad flowers.

dsc06536

Abutilon flower in the greenhouse.  The actual color is a deep, blood red.

dsc06535

There are a few orb weavers in the greenhouse–I like them in there eating bugs and they typically lay their eggs in there in the autumn.

dsc06534

Rain lily blooming in the greenhouse.

dsc06533

Another view…

dsc06532

Another view…
dsc06530

Another abutilon flower.

dsc06529

Geraniums blooming in the greenhouse.

dsc06528

Fuchsia “Cardinal”

dsc06527

More Cardinal flowers.

dsc06524

Seedlings on shelf outside the greenhouse.

dsc06521

Begonia blooming outside on the patio.

dsc06520

 

dsc06519

The coleus are coming into their own.  They probably will start to dwindle as the weather cools.

dsc06518

Two sculptures:  a stone beauty by Elaine McKay and a gorgeous begonia.

dsc06586

Wonderberries ripe in the raised beds.