We had a perfect day for planting in Seattle, so I set about getting some of the perennial seedlings I started last year into the parking strip memorial garden on the south side of the house.  It was difficult, slow work, but I’m hopeful in a couple of months it will pay off in a boisterous, bloom-filled garden.

The challenge of planting is that there is an 8″ mulch of wood chips over the entire parking strip, so that has to be scraped away from the landscape cloth.  Then, I cut Xs in the cloth and use a trowel to create planting holes.  Hardpan is only a few inches down, so it is a tough slog trying to get holes big enough even for 4″ pot-sized starter plants.  My strategy was to dig wider holes that needed, put Epic Starter Mix in each hole, along with some half-composted fir needles.  Then, I turn the plants out of their pots and pull their roots out into a flatter disk, then push them into the holes and add some soil on top and pull the landscape cloth back towards the plant.  For the more robust plants, I’m confident this treatment will work out.  But for the more delicate ones, I’m not so sure…I guess we’ll know soon enough.

So far, I’ve planted some of the following:  Columbine, chaenorhinum, sedum, Kenilworth ivy, catmint, geranium, asters and Agastache.  I will keep working on the garden tomorrow to get all of the plants I have so far into the ground.

There isn’t a lot to see yet, but I got about a 6′ length of parking strip planted today.

Below are some other things of note in the garden on St. Patrick’s Day.

A little pansy in a patio pot recovering from an unpredictable winter.

A tiny dianthus flower braving the March coolness.

Most of the primroses are pretty sad looking, but this blue one is a bit more chipper.

Pots of little narcissus.  These are adding a bit of cheer to the front patio.

Close up.

My plum tree is full of flowers–a much bigger bloom than it has ever had.  I didn’t see any pollinators, but we should get a big crop of plums, anyway.  I just need to figure out how to protect them from the critters!

Close up of the plum bloom bounty.

The honey berry couple that I’ve got growing in the orchard garden has done very little in the three years I’ve owned them.  But this year, even though they are still pretty small, they are blooming.  I’ll be surprised if any berries appear, but you never know.

Weedy Daphne showing off what makes it such a weed:  very prolific blooms and berries!

That late winter blast we had a few weeks ago with snow and temps in the 20s zapped my camellia buds.  They are brown and dead.  A few good ones remain, but none of the flowers are open yet.

Anemone blanda in the Doug fir bed.

Hellebore in the Doug fir bed.

Fritillaria imperialis lutea maxima is somehow happy in the dry mostly shady Doug fir bed.  It is slowly forming a clump.  Three stalks are up this year, and two of them have flowers.

Here is a happy surprise.  The foxgloves I planted in the Doug fir bed last year did almost nothing and I assumed they had composted themselves, but instead, they came back really strong this year.  These are Foxy, which is a really dwarf seed strain.

Masdevallia blooms adding some glamor and interest to the greenhouse.

A slightly different view.  I love the way the flowers look head-on and from the side.  There is so much movement in the shape!

More orchid blooms.

A closer view showing some of the rich designs on each bloom.

Another orchid in the greenhouse…the first Pleione formosana flower has opened.

Another view.

This pot has six flowers coming on.  I need to figure out the proper way to divide/separate out the older pseudobulbs, as there are many that are not blooming that are blooming size.  I will tackle this once blooming is over.

Wow!  Look at all the flowers this Lewisia is attempting to share!  I’ve had no luck with these at all in the greenhouse, so if this one does open all these flowers I will consider it a victory.

Not a great photo, but this is the first honey locust seedling from the seeds I planted probably back in January.  I expected these to be up a long time ago.

Nasturtium already blooming in the greenhouse.

For St. Patrick’s Day, my purple shamrock is rocking the greenhouse shelf.

This Corydalis is blooming in a pot on the back patio.  It is a bit less showy than last year, but still exquisite.