I was able to spend about ten hours last weekend on the greenhouse and potting bench.  I can’t remember the last time I was able to carve out that much time for the plants.  Every plant got some much-needed attention.  Here are some “after” photos.

Here are two of the new Streptocarpus plants that I started from leaf cuttings last year.

 

The stem broke on this one, so I had to lift them up to get a photo…great color and patterns, though.

Another view.

One of the smaller seedling Impatiens that I grew from seed getting its first flower now!

Pristine white Streptocarpus named “Angelina Jolie.”

Another Cape Primrose from the leaf cuttings I got from an eBay seller last year.

This pot of Pleione orchids has gotten really crowded.  There will be dozens of bulblets in a month or so, and I’ll peel them off and pot them together in a separate pot or two.  I think it will take about three years for me to get blooming size plants from the bulblets.

The big story with this part of the shelf is that I threw away the original Sinningia leuchotircha caudex.  I had that plant for ten or so years and it had gotten huge, but a few years ago, all the buds died out at the top, and it never recovered.

This shelf contains an assortment of bulbs–Hippeastrums, inlcuding seedlings of H. mondonii, Habranthus robustus, Watsonia, Ferraria, and a few unknowns from a mixed seed packet.

Another view of one of the bulb shelves.  The Veltheimia bracteata bulbs are here, too.  They didn’t bloom last year for the first time in a long time, so I added some more fertile soil under and over the root balls without disturbing the roots.

This shelf has cactus, Gasterias, and an Aloiniopsis rurbrolineata that I grew from seed five or six years ago.

This is the Streptocarpus shelf–probably ten different plants, most of them are ten or so years old, but still productive.

Some plants not shown clearly in these photos that I potted on or divided include the hybrid red and white Hippeastrum that I’ve had for a long time.  Not only does it bloom every year,  but it sets seeds, and the seedlings have sprung up in pots all over the greenhouse.  I must have more than a dozen bulbs of this hybrid now!  There were offsets as well as the seedlings.

Also prolifically seeding around is the Hippeastrelia hybrid.  I potted all of the seedlings in separate pots and in good soil.  There are about a dozen pots of these now, too, and I divided the original pot of bulbs, which was very congested!

Other seedlings I potted on are Agapanthus praecox–I got five seedlings from the plant I grew from seed about seven years ago.

This view shows the Strelitzia reginae, Sinningia tubiflora, and the three divisions of Impatiens flanaganae, a tall tuberous type.   I also divided the old butterfly amaryllis I’ve had for 20 years.  I has only flowered once or twice in all that time!  The bulbs were pretty small, but seemed healthy enough.

This corner of a shelf has some vines tangled up, including an old succulent one that I’ve never identified, Thunbergia alata, and Eccremocarpus scaber.

This lower shelf has two Billbergia nutans, with Clivia miniata hybrids that I grew from seed in front.

More Clivia seedlings.  These are all mostly blooming size now, and I expect they should bloom next year.

Another Clivia seedling.

This shelf is pretty empty, with just a Bowiea volubilis and a pot with stock geranium plants.

Another bottom shelf with Clivia seedlings.   Hoping for a great show come March/April.

Here is the massive Coelogyne cristata that I’ve had for ten or so years.  I did not repot this plant.  I’m not really sure how I will when the time comes, but it bloomed well this year, so I’m hoping it will again next year and I can deal with repotting it afterwards.

Since the last post I did before September was May 27th, I’m adding some photos I took with my phone in June and July.  I’ll include some assessments here of the plants I started from seed this year.

Brother Tim had the great idea of growing vines up Leon’s “Pod” sculpture in the driveway bed.  He started a pot of morning glory seedlings and we potted them on into a bigger pot under the sculpture.

I was worried these would never grow and bloom–they took a very long time to get going.  I guess they were waiting for warm weather.

Every morning when I left for work, these flowers cheered me on.  By the time I got home in the evening, they were gone!

Amazing color and shape.  These have always been one of my favorite flowers–I’m not sure why I haven’t grown them at all lately, but I’m glad Tim brought them back to me.  And they looked great on the sculpture, too.

These vines wanted to be vigorous, but the pot constrained them.  Next year, I will plant them directly in the ground with lots of food and love.

The other vine that I grew up the same sculpture was Eccremocarpus scaber.  This one turned out to be a yellowy orange color.   I like the grace and strength of these vines, but like the morning glories, they need to be planted in the ground and not in a pot, to realize their full potential.  Next year!

Close-up of the Eccremocarpus buds.

The Petunias have been amazing all summer–I just cut them all back last weekend to see if I can coax another round of blooms.    I liked the Osteospermum flowers, but they didn’t last long.  I tried cutting them back, as well, but so far, no new buds.

Poor picture–the phone camera doesn’t like the glow off the very white blooms (but I do!).

I’m very happy with how the Begonia “Funky Pink” plants worked out–I hope they will winter over in the greenhouse as well as the Begonia boliviensis  that

Our Easter lily came back with a few fragrant flowers, and one of the Dahlias was back, too.

My Hemerocallis never put on a big show like some I’ve seen, but the flowers are gorgeous for a little while.  This on e is in the driveway bed.

Abutilon x suntense blooming in late spring.  I ruthlessly pruned these shrubs after blooming to try to give them some shape, as they are very leggy and top-heavy.

Restrepia guttulata blooming in the greenhouse this spring.  They outdid themselves this year, with four flowers on each of the two plants.

A few freesia laxa flowers.

I had purchased some miniature Gesneriads last year from an online shop, The Violet Barn.  It took them about a year to get going, but these two finally started blooming.

Not a great photo, but you can see the color and shape of these miniature violet flowers.  They are a gorgeous hue, but they don’t open fully, staying cup-shaped until they dry up.

The roses on the Jeff Tangen arbor bloomed beautifully this year.  I believe the red one is a root stock for a hybrid tea, but I like it when it blooms and it pretty much disappears after that.

Another view.

And another.

I was so thrilled when this little beauty bloomed.  This is a rose I grew from seed, but I have no idea where the seeds came from!  But I love the color, the fragrance is lemony and bright, and the hips, which are on the plant at this writing, are an almost-black burgundy color.

Another view. I hope to make this plant into a bonsai.

An early Impatiens flower from one of the seedlings.

The Epiphyllum hybrid that I’ve had for so long (20+ years) from brother Tim had an amazing, huge flower this year.  The photo doesn’t capture the neon nature of this pink flower.

Another view.

The driveway patio pots blooming madly in early summer.  At this point, the Dianthus and the Osteospermum are all blooming.  Neither hybrid lasted long in the summer heat, but I’m waiting to see if chopping them back and cooler September weather will revive them a bit.

A different view showing the Hakonechloa macra aureola plant that we’ve had for so long.  It makes a great foil for the bright annuals.

A better view of the pinks, Dianthus “Raspberry Parfait.”  My disappointment in these plants is not because of flower or form, but I just wanted more flowers for longer.  This was an unusually hot summer, so I may try them again to see if they do better given cooler conditions.

 

 

Here are a few photos from around the garden this weekend.

Here’s a fun combination–garlic chives and rhubarb.

I’m excited that this rhubarb has taken hold after more than a year…I will be able to harvest some next year.

Himalayan blackberries in the raised beds.  They produced really well this year, mostly because they got a little water.  The wilder ones in the neighborhood did not have good berries this year.

More blackberry pictures–I really love these berries!

The wonderful arboretum rose is blooming really well–its second big burst of the summer.  The fragrance is amazing, as always.

Close up of a rosebud.

Phlox “Laura” is my favorite visually, but there are others that appeal to my nose more.

Asters remain unfazed by the dry, hot summer.  They are putting on a real show now in the various gardens, especially the Armando garden.

More asters in the driveway bed.

More arboretum rose pics.

One drawback this year has been that the old flowers cling to the vines, along with the new buds.  I think rain and wind usually help clean the plants, but we haven’t had any of that, so they cling on much longer.

More phlox pictures.

And more.  I had cut these back in early June, which made them branch out and bloom a bit later.  The pink blooms are much more fragrant than the lavender/whites.  I’m glad I have them planted together!

I’ve been taking a few pictures all summer, even though I haven’t had time to post.  So, here are some updates on the patio pots planted with seedlings I started early this year.

Here’s a fun mimulus blooming again after I trimmed it back.

Some of the “Funky Pink” begonias are doing better than others–these are blooming really well in a pot with the New Guinea impatiens.

Another photo of the begonias I grew from seed eight months ago.

Coleus finally getting going on the back patio.

Another coleus, showing the flowers coming on.

My favorite in this series of photos–this is a mimulus and impatiens that should be clashing, but actually look really good together!

Another view of some coleus leaves.

Back patio view.

The petunias have been the workhorses of all the sunny pots.  The color range was limited, but the individual flowers/plants were stunning.

These photos don’t capture the depth of the purple/blue color.

The flower form is impressive, too.

The white petunia is impressive, too.

Again, not a great photo, but the red is very pure.

Only one of the New Guinea impatiens survived, but it is a winner.  The flowers are about 2-1/2″ across.  The first flowers opened in August.

Another view.  I’m really hopeful this one makes it through the winter in the greenhouse.

This pot was planted with the tiniest, weakest coleus seedlings. They came into their own recently, in August/September.

I’m not as fond of the star-marked impatiens that I grew this year as I  was of the solid colors I grew last year.  The bi-colored ones are showy, for sure, but a little too busy for my taste.

Here’s a showy coleus growing strong on the back patio.

The coleus got pretty tall this year, which I like.  They also bloomed, which I tried to curtail, but nature won out.

Coleus, mimulus, and impatiens on the back patio.  There is something so cheerful and random about mimulus flowers–they always make me smile.

I love using Pelargonium papillonaceum for foliage contrast.

Pelargonium “Petals” provides more leaf contrast in a sunny pot on the driveway, here with Anagalis monellii.

The true blue Anagalis flowers are impressive, but the plants were less so…spindly and weak.  I think they needed to be grown on in cooler temps early on.

Truly, truly blue.  The “Cola” series Pelargonium provides a nice contrast.

The flowers of Dianthus “Raspberry Parfait” were large and gorgeous.  Their bloom season was pretty short, though, so I trimmed them all back and am hoping for a second bloom before frost.

Salvia “Lighthouse Purple” took a while to get going, but they were impressive in flower, with a long season of color.  I have more seeds that I will definitely grow again next year.

 

I’m hoping to get caught up on some posts in the next few weeks.  Below are some photos from our August trip to the cabin in Tonasket.

The wildfires in British Columbia,  California and central Washington all contributed to the smoke we experienced on our trip–you can really see it here in the meadow.

Not a great photo, but this is the tiny flower of Dianthus armeria.

One of my favorite wildflowers.  This is the Scottish bluebell, Campanula rotundifolia.

I took this photo so I could research the name of this tree.  I believe it is Acer glabrum var. douglasii, the Douglas maple.

Even coyote poop tells a plant story–this batch was full of currant seeds from the very productive Ribes cereum.

A native bee on a thistle.

Close-up of the colorful currants.  The color of the berries varies from deep red to orange.

Sadly, the currants are very bland to the taste, but they probably pack a lot of nutrition.

Another view.

My best hiking buddy.  He’s slowed down a bit, but he still loves a little adventure.

He’s smelling something great.

I fell in love with these little calves in the meadow.  I ran into the owner and he said they are Texas Longhorn x Watusi crosses.

I just wanted to hug this little guy.  He wasn’t in a hugging mood, though, and when he is grown, his massive horns will discourage any hug attempts, for sure.

The grass in the meadow still had some green, and the cows all looked fat and healthy.

Another meadow  view showing all the smoke.  The smoke ended up in Seattle, too, the next week.  It was ugly and depressing!

Another smokey view.

And another.  It never really did clear up in the two days we were up there.

 

 

Mona and Bodhi got their summer trims.  They are loving the outside time that comes with warmer weather.

I was happy to see that one of the seedling Abutilon shrubs has white flowers.  They are smaller than the lavender ones, but still great.

Another view.

More photos of the giant Coelogyne cristata blooming in the GH.  I was ready to sell this plant because it had so few flowers, but look at it this year!

Another view.

This Rhipsalis is a fairly new acquisition.  Leon grabbed some cuttings from a friend.  I didn’t expect it to really grow, and especially not to bloom, but the cuttings rooted quickly and are apparently very happy.  The flowers are showier than I would have thought.

Another shot of the flowers from below.

The peas in the raised beds are soaring up Leon’s trellis.  They are nearing 5′ high and just started blooming.

The flowers are almost as showy as sweet peas.

Blue-eyed grass “Devon Skies” blooming in the Armando garden.  This little plant is a delight.

Here is the habit.

Centaurea blooming in the Doug fir bed.

Brunnera and Hesperis in the Doug fir bed.

All of the Hesperis started out as white, but the lavender ones are creeping in more and more.  Luckily, they look great together!

 

 

This Rhody came with the house and has been disappointing in years past, but this year it is magnificent!

May is the best month for the foundation planting.

Lathyrus niger blooming near the driveway.  This hardy perennial is close to 20 years old.  It gets loads of amazing black seed pods.

The iris are blooming madly near the driveway–more flowers than ever before.

Despite there once being ten different cultivars in the iris bed, the only one blooming this year is this old fashioned one.  It smells good, too.

 

This poppy is 20+ years old.  It is one of the Pizzicato series grown from seed when we first moved in.

Poppy with iris behind.

The real poppy show is being provided by Papaver bracteatum in the front bed near the raspberries.

This is a peek a boo shot through the berries from the orchard garden.

This Rhody belongs to the neighbors but several flowering branches grace the edges of the orchard garden.

Polemonium blooming in the orchard garden.  Despite a short season, these cheerful flowers are

This Abutilon in the orchard garden is full of flowers.  Sadly, it is leaning over so much, it is tough to see.  I will prune and stake these plants next spring to avoid this problem.

One of the David Austen roses in the orchard garden.  This is Olivia.

I am extremely pleased with this seedling Iris sibirica.  I planted the seeds for this beauty four years ago and this is the first time it has bloomed.

Another view.  I really love the color and the markings.

This photo gives an idea of the plant’s habit.  It bloomed pretty well for about two weeks.

We have two of these Rhody shrubs that are outsized foundation plants.  The flowers are an interesting purply pink and they provide a nice frame to the living room window.

Clematis montana bloomed bright on the back patio fence and spread a sweet smell.

Another view…

You can get an idea how mnay flowers tehre were here–loads of them.

The flowers just photograph really well, so I can’t help myself!

This is a Tillandsia in the greenhouse.

Coelogyne cristata in the greenhouse–this is a massive orchid that bloomed really well this year.

A closer view of the Coelogyne flowers.  I was trying really hard not to get water on the flowers to keep them pristine.  In past years, they came down with brown spots that ruined them.  They have lasted 10 days or more this year and are spot-free!  But the plant itself and nearby plants were suffering without water, so I’ve started sprinkling all the plants carefully around the orchid.

Closer view of the flowers.  They are usually fragrant, but I can’t smell them this year–maybe at night?

One of the dozens of iris blooms in the driveway bed.

My favorite poppy that I’ve ever grown, this is Papaver bracteatum, growing on the street side of the raspberries in the orchard bed.  Started from seed over 20 years ago, there are several of these that have persisted all this time.  The show they put on this year was the best ever.

Another poppy pic.  Interestingly, a neighbor came by who didn’t speak English that well.  She appeared to be from India.  She said that they had poppies like this growing up and they would pluck the

Another view…

The petals of these flowers are natrually very satiny, which makes photography a bit of a challenge.

More poppies.

Abutilon flowers in the sun.  I went a little photo crazy with these because I started them from seed and this is the first year they are living up to their potential.

 

I appear to have walked past the Siberian iris again and couldn’t resist a few more pics.

 

 

 

 

I was able to get around all the gardens and take some more photos this weekend.  The garden needs some love, but it still offers up a lot of beauty.

Columbine seedling in the Armando garden.  There is a wide range of flower colors and shapes revealing themselves this month.

I love this one–very elegant and bright.

This one is pretty, too.  There are probably ten or so blooming right now, all mixed colors.  That probably isn’t ideal from a design standpoint, but this garden is meant to be bright and fun and insect/bird friendly.  I’m not going to fret if some of the colors clash!

I’m so excited about this little plant, also in the Armando garden.  These are Chaenorhinum.  They are dainty,  showy, and the flowers are fun.

Another Chaenorhinum view.

The golden hops really shine in the bright spring sunshine.  Extremely vigorous, we fight these back all spring just to make sure nobody dies.  It seems like they could overcome all of us, plants, animals, and people.

The tangle of hops–very Jack and the Beanstalk!

Rhodies blooming in the woodland garden.

It is easy to forget about this snowball bush in the woodland garden unless it is blooming.

These rhododendron flowers glow from within.  I’m glad I got this photo because the blooms started dropping the next day–so sad!

Another view.

Another view.

Choisya blooming in the woodland garden–nice fragrance and lots of flowers, but needs to be hacked back to the fence.  It wants to take over.

More photos of woodland garden rhododendrons.

A view of the entire shrub lit up by sun and blossoms.

 

On to the greenhouse.  The pelargoniums are blooming, creating a fun cloud of pink bug-like flowers.

This dwarf Hippeastrum is blooming on a shelf I can’t reach, so I used the zoom for the pictures.  It is an intense shade of red.

This dwarf Hippeastrum is blooming on a shelf I can’t reach, so I used the zoom for the pictures.  It is an intense shade of red.

Pelargonium “Grossersorten” blooming in the GH.

These little Restrepias ended up having four flowers each, which is great.  The flowers take on funny shapes at every stage.  This older bloom looks like a Looney Tunes bird.

This one looks like an alien.

This seedling nasturtium is a great

Dwarf Hippeastrum blooming in the GH.

Same flowers with more light to catch the color.

Amazing orchid Coelogyne cristata blooming in the GH.  This huge plant has 30-40 flowers this year.  They should be fragrant, but I can’t smell anything.  Maybe at night?

Close-up.

Another view.

Seedling Pelargonium blooming in the GH.

Closer view.

Geranium cutting taken last fall.  This is a gorgeous clone.

Masdevallias still blooming in the GH.

Daphne blooming in a pot on the patio.

Happy blooming Daphne on the patio.

Close up of these fragrant beauties.

 

Things have been really busy, but I had a chance to take some photos in the yard today and plan to add more entries this weekend.  The weather was gorgeous and the garden is full of wonderful things.

We have four crows that hang out around the yard.  We believe two are the parents and two are year-old youngsters.   We can only tell one of them from the others because she has a deformed bill.  We feed them every day (dog food) and they let us know when they want something.  I’m impressed with how well crows have adapted to urban environments.  They are incredibly smart and fun to watch.

We have a window box on the side of the house.  One of the snapdragons from last year’s seed-starting efforts wintered over well and is getting set to bloom.  I added a Nemesia from the Fred Meyers trip brother Tim and I took several weeks back.

I forgot that I tucked some Ornithogalum nutans bulbs in some of the pots around the house.  You can’t tell it from this bad photo, but the flowers are quite pretty and large.

Some shots of the orchard garden now, including wallflowers, tulips and bleeding hearts in the bed in front of the woodland garden.

Another view.

I had purchased dozens of tulips for the Armando parking strip garden, but the ground wasn’t ready for them last fall, so I plugged them in around the garden.  They are all viridiflora types, with green in the petals.  They are showy and elegant and really add to the May garden.

These white/green tulips light up the Doug fir bed.

More tulips in the Doug fir bed.

This one has very little green.

These are next to the house, near a downspout by the lilac shrub.

The bluebells are blooming right alongside the tulips–they make a nice duo.

Tulip hosting a bindweed!  The gorgeous flower overcomes the poor background in this photo.

More tulips.

And one last indulgence.

The Lamiums have never looked so good!  And on both sides of the path…so rare to have great foliage and flowers.

More tulips.  Leon cut the lawn this week and it makes a nice backdrop.

Another view.

The bleeding hearts are blooming big in the orchard garden.  This one from sister Cate is getting really large–close to three feet tall and wide.

Geranium phaeum blooming in the driveway bed.  This gorgeous, carefree plant comes up through its shorter neighbors and blooms for a few weeks, then disappears quietly.

Not a great photo, but you can get a sense of the volume of flowers.  This is a great year for this plant–maybe twice as many flowers as last year.

 

A lone tulip survivor which is several years old.  Tulips don’t perennialize easily in my garden, but a few of them survive and thrive.

I was ready to rip out the bearded iris in the driveway bed.  They are such a pain, with weeds and grass in-between the rhizomes and they haven’t been blooming well.  They must have sensed my threats, as this year there are 15 or more flower spikes!  That’s far more than we’ve ever had before.

More tulip views.

And another.

Aronia flowers in the orchard garden.

The lilacs are blooming and scenting the entire yard.

Columbine seedling.  The flower color is almost too dark, but there is a grace to these plants that I adore.

Abutilons blooming in the orchard bed.  These are three-year-old seedlings.  The plants need to be pruned or staked or something, but I can’t complain about the flowers–the cultivar is Suntense.

Another view.

And another….

The berries are blooming and I saw a lot of native pollinators around them.

I’m very impressed with these Geranium plants.  Grown from seeds two years ago, they were kind of spindly last year, but this year they are boisterous and bloomiferous.  You can see all the buds next to the flowers.

You can see how big these Geraniums are this year, close to two feet tall!  They are officially Geranium pyrenaicum “Summer Snow”.

There is a lot to not like about this weedy Lonicera, but I’ve kept one hoping the flowers are useful to birds and bees.  They don’t have any fragrance, so they aren’t much use to me.

Another view of an Abutilon.

I won’t get my hopes too high, but the cherry tree has approximately one jillion cherries on it right now.  I need to get some netting over it ASAP.

I liked the way this bleeding heart looked against the fence/trellis.

I grew this Iris siberica from seed.  I thought it was going to be “Lilting Laura,” but the color is wrong.  I’m thrilled that it is blooming for the first time this year.  I started it four years ago, I think.

Close-up of bleeding heart flowers.

I don’t have time for captions but wanted to put a few more pictures of the Clivias that are showing off in the greenhouse.  There are about 18 scapes this year, which is really good.  There are a few non-Clivia pics too.

There is too much to do for me to spend much time documenting things.  I wanted to post a few pictures of some nice bloomers, though, so I have a record of them.

One of the gorgeous “peach” Clivias.  This one has a great scape shape, big blooms, and a fantastic color–a real winner!

Another view, with the tubular-flowered seedling behind.

Here is the other first-time bloomer.  This one is a bit more yellow, and the scape is a bit weaker, but it is still gorgeous.

My lens fogged over due to the humidity in the warm greenhouse, but I snapped this close-up of my favorite Clivia anyway.

Mom’s Cymbidium blooming in the corner.  Nice, graceful flower scape.

Here is the second Restrepia division with both flowers open.

These flowers make me laugh–they look so alien!

Not a good picture, but he Pelargoniums are just starting to bloom in the greenhouse.  These flowers are on top of a monster 5-footer!