Friends’ Garden and Seedling Portraits

I spent the weekend in Happy Valley, OR with good friends and new homeowners, Dean and Brian. They want to have some fruits and vegetables as part of their landscape. This weekend, we planted some fruit trees, raspberries, and blueberries. I’ve provided them with seeds, as well, to get the vegetables and herbs started. Below is the original plan. I’ve strayed already from it, but it will surely still be an amazing space.

Above is the garden as I left it yesterday. Another interesting before picture is the lot just behind their home, which will be developed in the next six months. I scoured the plants to look for gems, but only found some feverfew plants and dug one up to add to Dean and Brian’s herb bed. There was a bamboo spreading around that might have done well in a pot, but I decided not to try it. There was also a purple-leaved lilac-like shrub that had been covered over deeply in fill dirt but was pushing up from a stump. None of the suckers had roots within reach, so I left that one go, too. It may have been a Weigela.

To the east of Dean & Brian’s lot sat an empty lot with piles of brush and garbage. Next time I go down, it will be scraped bare and a house will start to take shape there.

Closer to home, the seeds I’ve planted are producing some nice results on the heat mat.

Kalanchoe thrysiflora (5 total seedlings, one getting its true leaves)
Gasteria hybrids (1 total seedling)
Incarvillea sinensis “Cheron” (about 30 total seedlings in two pots, just starting to get true leaves)
Incarvillea sinensis “Cheron” (second pot)
Albuca spiralis (3 total seedlings)
The third Albuca seedling–close to the rim.
Lewisia hybrids (4 total seedlings)
Lewisia seedlings — you can see true leaves starting to grow.
Seedling from Chiltern’s greenhouse mix.
Lobivia species (2 seedlings total)
A second view of the two seedlings.
A third view of Lobivia seedlings.
Chiltern’s greenhouse mix seedling.
  • Heliotrope “Marine” (15 seedlings getting true leaves now)

The garden is showing signs of spring, though I haven’t done any clean-up and things are very rough and tumble at the moment. The crocus are blooming.