March may come in like a lion and go out like a lamb, but August 2015 came in like a firecracker and left like a nuclear bomb!  We had a surprisingly big storm on Saturday, with many snapped trees and branches, lost power and closed bridges.

The happy news, though, was that along with the high winds, there was a fair amount of rain.  Cool temperatures have arrived on the heels of the storm, so we went from summer to fall in a blustery blur.

There has been little time to work in the greenhouse or garden.  Just keeping everything watered has taken up all my time the last few months.

We stopped on Bainbridge Island on Sunday to visit the art museum gift shop there and I saw some interesting plants.  There were quite a few interesting plantings around the museum.  Check it out if you are ever in the area:  http://www.biartmuseum.org/.

Large pots featured full grown crepe myrtle trees in a garish pinkish red shade.  In Seattle, I like crepe myrtles more for their form than for their flowers.  The trunks and bark are wonderful.  I don’t mind the very light pink and white flowers, but most of them are awkward shades that somehow don’t fit into late summer.

Other interesting plants growing in planting beds around the museum:

Tulbaghia violacea, the society garlic, loving the sun and warmth this summer provided.

Here is a crinum hybrid growing near the museum.  There were others in another spot, but I failed to get a picture of them.  Again, I believe the dry, hot summer enabled magnificent bloom from these bulbous plants.  They are rare here in the area and I am trying to get some established in my garden.

To give a sense of how hot and dry this summer has been, check out the current wildfire map of Washington:

Close to a million acres have burned, and our little cabin is just a mile or so from the Okanogan Complex fire.  We check every day to see if the fire has spread to Bench Creek and engulfed our cabin.  So far, the amazing fire crews have kept the fire at bay, and it is about 40% contained at this point.  We are hopeful we’ll get through this season, but feel awful for the people and animals affected by these massive fires.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like washing the car, sometimes watering the garden will bring rain!

We had a series of thunderstorms last week right after I watered the entire yard and some real rain finally fell in our neighborhood for the first time all summer.  It was enough to keep me from having to water the pots for a few days!  You could smell the relief from all the thirsty plants and animals.

The bad news was that the lightning in the storms started fires near Chelan and other places in the state.

While that certainly isn’t humorous, we had a funny moment here in our garden with some fire.  Leon had been deeply offended by a grass sprout in the front garden that had the nerve to grow big and go to seed where he couldn’t help but notice it from the front window.  He determined the easiest way to rid the world of this vile invader was to light it with a torch.  He didn’t realize just how very dry the yard was.  The grass burned, alright, but so did much of the bearded iris bed that surrounded it and some branches of the rose bush and other nearby plants!  Luckily, with the hose handy, he controlled the flames before any serious harm occurred and he wasn’t arrested for violating the burn ban!

The humorous part to me is that this turned out to be a great way to clear grass out of an iris bed, always a tedious task!  My brother and I laid down a thick layer of bark, not knowing if the iris would survive.  Because these iris never bloom, anyway, it would have been no great loss.  But the beauty of rhizomes is that they are survivors and the iris are up through the bark now and growing great guns!  So, while I don’t recommend a fire during a drought, I will explore this as an option in wetter years with some controlled burning.  My hope is that the fire also cured the rhizomes enough to help them bloom next year–wouldn’t that be crazy?

My favorite impatiens is blooming in the greenhouse right now.  This is Impatiens flanaganae, a rare tuberous variety from Strange Wonderful Things in California.

 

The flowers of this plant feature a brilliant combination of color and form–exotic, graceful and plenty big enough to get noticed.

I haven’t had a lot of time for the garden, but here are a few pics of seedlings:

Here is another picture of the delicate Geranium bohemicum–I like the lighting here.  These small flowers may never put on a huge show, but combined with the lovely foliage, they promise to bring charm to the garden.

Few people would likely grow Kenilworth Ivy from seed, but I love this plant and so I am starting some to plant around in the greenhouse and patio pots.  You can see the effective foliage here and the sweet, expressive little flowers peaking out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brother Tim, Leon and I headed out to the Kruckeberg Botanic Garden today (http://www.kruckeberg.org/).  I’ve lived near Shoreline for 20 years and never really paid attention to this garden before.  My loss, as it turned out to be a real treasure.  We were reminded of the garden because Leon installed a sculpture there this week as part of Shorelines Artscape sculpture exhibit.  His “Night Watchman” is beautifully displayed near the parking area of the garden.

We had a wonderful picnic there first, followed by some quick exploration of the grounds before picking through a bunch of amazing sales plants propagated right there on the property.

Here are some of the plants we ended up buying:

Boykinia major — the nursery had strong starts of these plants, new to me.  Native to the western US, but not Washington.  I bought one for the newly planted Douglas fir bed.

Clematis stans — another new plant to me, this clematis is considered a viney sub-shrub, and best of all its late summer flowers are fragrant.  I purchased a healthy one-gallon start.  It was expensive, but I’m excited for its potential and worth it to have something special to remember the day.

Oxalis oregana — Western wood sorrel is a great ground cover for shade and Leon wanted to try some in the woodland garden to cover some of the bare patches near the western fence.

Begonia sutherlandii — Tim had spotted a large plant of this cheerful begonia and while I was checking through the sale plants, I spotted the last 4″ pot of this beauty, blooming brightly and begging to be taken home.  So, Tim bought it.

We plan to head back to this wonderful garden sometime soon and spend a whole day exploring.  Their inventory of rare and interesting plants is impressive, and the staff are friendly and knowledgeable.

 

 

 

Granted, it was hardly a rain of biblical proportions, but we did get some precipitation over the last few days.  The plants are visibly relieved!  I was really annoyed when I read my last Christopher Lloyd book because every page had some detail about the weather.  I understand it better now.  At some point the weather is ALL that matters.  My whole garden focus has changed because of the hot and dry spell we’ve had the last few months.

Starting plants from seed can be extremely rewarding or sadly disappointing.  The forget-me-nots I started have teeny tiny flowers and aren’t likely going to find their way into the garden.  However, the Geranium bohemicum seedlings, while not what I expected, are charming.

The flowers are not big and showy, but the color is good and the foliage is very attractive.

Speaking of attractive foliage, here are some potted plants whose foliage is super pleasing:

Very impressive giant leaves on this Paulownia tomentosa seedling–just in its second year from seed

Always impressive, this cane begonia from brother Tim will reach 6′ in a good year

This pelargonium is called Petals, which is ironic, given its puny floral display against its amazing variegated leaves.

This is a seedling pelargonium, so the flowers are less showy than the cutting-grown hybrids.  The leaves are gorgeous, though, and a perfect contrast with Petals and Grossersorten.

Not a lot of flowers here, yet the display is lovely.  The heat and dry have not impacted the pelargoniums at all!

My brother calls the clearance area of nurseries the “Dent and Diddle”, and we always head there first when we visit a plant store.  The above begonia is an example of what a discounted plant can turn into!  This is the third year I’ve grown this plant and I enjoy it more every year.

And while we’re on begonias, take a look a this beauty, also a late-season Dent and Diddle find.  This is Begonia boliviana:

Below are the lovely leaves of Dioscorea battatas, a tropical vine that I worry might be not so tropical and invasive in the ground.  I keep it in pots and it is lovely, especially this year in all the warm weather.

Below are a bunch of flower pics that I’ll just post quickly.

Echinops ritro.

Althea syriacus shrub blooming for the first time–love this color.

Weedy as they are, I can’t help but love borage.  The blue is true, and the form is graceful from every angle.

I’m not the only one who thinks so–just ask the bees!

Below are the berries on the Voodoo lily (Dracunculus vulgaris).  All of them set hundreds of seeds this year, no doubt due to the heat.

Below is one glorious flower from a flowering maple (Abutilon megapotamicum) from brother Tim 

 Another of the Eucomis hybrids I grew from seed.  This is my favorite, with the purple centers and graceful spikes.

Streptocarpus still blooming strong in the greenhouse–a riot of color!

Dietes irioides, the Fortnight Lily, is blooming in the greenhouse.  There are ten flowers on this iris relative that are about to bloom.

The flowers on this seedling abutilon are less showy than the Bella series, but it is putting on a good show right now.

Pelargonium Grossersorten blooming in the greenhouse.  I take cutting every year and intend to place them all in patio pots, but inevitably they end up staying inside and blooming happily the whole summer.

The Griffinia continues to bloom–eight flowers on this spike.  I’m hoping for a second spike, as the plant has spread nicely, but no sign of more flowers yet.

 

 

Oxalis triangularis blooming.  The flowers are elegant and the leaves are impressively colored.

 Fuchsia “Cardinal”

 Fuchsia “Janice Ann”

 

 

Another pic of Roguchi–so beautiful!

 

 

 

 

 

95 Degrees today!  Seattle is hot and dry and it is stressing out the plants.  I’ve watered every day that I can and I’m trying to carry the plants through the worst of it, but it is touch and go.  For sure, the shrubs I planted in the Douglas fir bed are looking pretty wilted, but a few minutes of sprinkling brings them back a bit.  Similarly, the pumpkin vines, which I always thought loved heat, have been collapsing in the heat of the day, so I’ve sprinkled them to bring them back.

Amidst all the heat-caused chaos, some treasures are blooming.  My favorite right now is  the clematis Roguchi:

In the greenhouse, the little amaryllis relative, Griffinia liboniana has quickly thrown a flower spike:

And even more quickly, it bloomed!

Lastly, the Eucomis hybrids that I grew from seed about six years ago are blooming.  Here is one impressive spike:

I harvested my fava beans yesterday and cooked them up–will eat them for lunch tomorrow.  I ripped the plants out of the bed and fertilized it with Happy Frog before planting seedlings of the Wonderberry there I had started in the greenhouse.  Apparently, these are Solanum retroflexum (formerly Solanum x burbankii, a hybrid originating from the great Luther Burbank).  See more info here.

It is too hot to do much other garden work, but cooler weather is coming next week.  I’ll look to get some chores done (and document them) next week.

After weeding the Douglas fir bed last week, I realized there was a lot of room for new plants in there.  I impulsively went online and ordered some plants I thought would do well.  They landed yesterday and I planted them tonight–all smallish starter plants, but strong and healthy and I got them all for less than $100.  First I watered and planted, then I watered more after just to make sure the poor starts have a chance!  Our dry Seattle summers are not ideal for starting a planting, but I will watch and water and hope that they all make it.  Here’s what I planted:

Towards the edge of the circle, I planted:

3 Aster oblongifolius “October Skies”–I love asters as much for their color as for the timing of their bloom–and I love the way they spread!  This bed gets enough sun that I think these will do great if they survive the summer.

1 Clethra “Hummingbird”–as soon as this cultivar was released, I wanted it.  The start I received is already blooming and should make a great addition to the bed.

A bit farther back, I added:

1 Azalea “Fragrant Star”–fragrance is always appealing to me, and this looks like a graceful cultivar.  Keeping it moist enough through the summer will be critical, as it was in a very small starter pot, so the rootball is very small and will dry out easily.

1 Azalea “Weston’s Lemon Drop”–I’m not usually a big fan of yellow flowers, but the lighter, less bright yellows appeal to me, especially in spring.

The back row includes:

1 Kerria japonica “Golden Guinea”–I planted this in front of a big Aucuba and I think it will shine there.  These bigger single flowers are much more graceful and more in keeping with the woodland nature of the bed than the more common double form.

1 Hydrangea aspera  “Villosa”–this is a spectacular species hydrangea.  It may outgrow the space I provided, but that will be a few years away.  The start was pretty small, but healthy.

1 Hydrangea macrophylla “Izu No Hana”–graceful flowers and healthy looking foliage, the start of this plant I received was already blooming at one foot tall!

1 Hydrangea “Next Generation Pistachio”–not usually a big fan of the mop head types, I was impressed with the very different coloration of this cultivar.

Around the same depth in the bed, I planted two plants that I had grown from seed:

Daphniphyllum macropodum–actually three seedlings in a gallon pot that I planted out together.  I have seen a big full grown specimen in the arboretum (and that’s where my seeds came from about five years ago), and these are beautify shrubs/small trees.

Sinocalycanthus chinensis–I am not absolutely sure of the species, but I believe this is right.  Impressive leaves and I look forward to some of the lovely flowers in a few years.  This seedling is about two feet tall and five years old, growing strongly in a gallon pot.

And lastly, right next to the giant Douglas fir itself, in a sheltered spot, I pulled away the ivy and planted this beauty to hopefully climb the trunk:

Hydrangea anomala “Petiolaris Firefly”–I know these can be fragile and hard to establish, but I do think the environment I am asking this vine to grow in is close to ideal, assuming I can keep it moist enough to establish itself this summer.

 

 

 

 

Leon found a baby warbler in the pond this morning.   He scooped it up in the skimmer and dried it off.  The tame little guy was incredibly beautiful and curious.

Once dry, the little chick flew away into the shrubbery.

We’ve seen warblers bathing in the waterfall, but didn’t realize they obviously were nesting very close by.

Below are some pictures of plants in bloom right now:

Feverfew is a volunteer that I love–I move them around and make sure they have a home somewhere I can enjoy them.  They are easy to grow, smell good and bloom like crazy!

Crocosmia “Lucifer” is almost trite at this point, it is so heavily planted and does so well here in Seattle.  But it is one of those clichés that you can totally enjoy yourself even though you know all the neighbors have it, too.

Not sure if this was a hover fly, but it acted like one…next to the Orchard Garden buzzing around the weeds, mostly.  How generous of me to leave so many weeds for insects to enjoy.

Daylily pics from the perennial bed next to the Orchard Garden.

I’m not sure which salvia this is, but it is a volunteer with me and never disappoints.  It has big, handsome leaves and these intricate stems of flowers.

I don’t have any of the big-flowered clematis, but I have some smaller flowered summer bloomers, including this purple one on the trellis outside the front door.

Voodoo lilies always impress me with their exotic, giant blooms.  The smell is dead meat, but not super strong, and the plants are fascinating.  They love the climate here in Seattle and they spread.  Also, they set seeds and the seeds will come up pretty easily, too.

Aruncus (Goat’s Beard) blooming in the Douglas Fir Bed.  These are excellent, hardy perennials that get about four feet tall and bloom wonderfully in summer.

I’ve posted pics of these Cheddar pinks before, but they continue to bloom, smell spicy and look great.

Some roses in the bed in front of the greenhouse.  Top in Bonica, bottom is Collette, and I’m not sure about the one in the middle, but it is a lovely, unusual shade.

The giant Echinops ritro in the bed in front of the greenhouse is setting buds.  This big perennial will reach four feet or more with metallic blue thistly flowers.  I grew this from seed about seven years ago and now it seeds itself around the veggie gardens, so I pot them up or move them around.

A white mullein (Verbascum hyb.) that seeded itself in the greenhouse bed.

You can see feverfew, rose campion and the big echinoops behind, with Bonica blooming inside the echinops.

Lathyrus sativus is one of the seedlings from the lathyrus mix that I started in winter.  The plant isn’t much to look at, but the flowers are stunning.

The Buddleia on the neighbor line next to the Orchard Garden.  I have three colors of butterfly bush there, including this one that blooms first.

Honestly, there hasn’t been much gardening this June, as I’ve been out of town or busy.  But I do what I can and the garden grows whether I’m home or not.

The best project that I’ve completed, thanks to Leon’s purchase of 5 yards of bark, is that I’ve put down landscape cloth and completely barked the orchard garden:

I really loved this garden before and love it even more now.  Here are some of the fruits and berries I’ve been harvesting:

Some of my favorite berries–these are tayberries.  They ripen first, along with the Wild Treasure blackberries.  They have a mild flavor and the plant is wonderfully healthy and prolific.

 My Glacier sweet cherry, which is on a very dwarf rootstock, dropped so many cherries in June (called “June drop”, this is supposedly normal) that I feared none would be left.  However, ended up with some beautiful cherries and they tasted great.

 Here are some goumis.  I haven’t figured out how to use all  of these, but I eat them fresh (large pit) and they have a nice, tart flavor.  The shrub is hardy and productive.

These blackberries are ripening fast in the warm weather.  This is Apache and it has vigorous canes and hundreds of berries.

Aronia berries are not yet ripe, but they are coming along.  This is a lovely little shrub that is growing leaps and bounds–should give me twice as many berries next year.  I love the berries in smoothies and eaten fresh.

Here are some black raspberries–a native rubus with delightful berries.  The canes loop over and root in the fall, so I get several new plants to share with friends every year.  The berries are beautiful and delicious.

Despite all the warm weather, or maybe because of it, the greenhouse is full of colorful surprises.

I’ve had this Sinningia leucothrica for many years.  This is the first year it has had two bloom spikes.  It has an interesting growth habit, with the large felted leaves and lovely orange blooms.

I’ve also had this begonia for many years and it has cheerful flowers.

This seedling geranium has brilliant flowers.  While the form isn’t the greatest, you can’t argue with the flower power.  If I had it outside, it likely could be spotted from the moon!

The most consistent amaryllis that I own–this beauty blooms reliably every year.

Hippeastrelia bloom–this clump ended up having three gorgeous blooms.  The shape and color are everything, as they are not fragrant, but you can’t have everything and I can’t get enough of this hybrid.

Probably my biggest weakness in gardening is labeling.  I ordered 13 streptocarpus leaves off Ebay years ago and they came labeled.  I never believed that the leaves would root, so didn’t bother to label them carefully.  And, amazingly, they rooted and produced beautiful plants with stunning flowers.  Streptocarpus grow perfectly in my cool greenhouse–I just keep them pretty dry in the winter and either top dress or repot them each year.  I water from below and fertilize with compost tea.  I will be taking some leaf cuttings to increase my stock this year.

This flowering maple, grown from seeds (Bella mixed) five or six years ago, blooms reliably with papery pink flowers.  I only noticed the aphids on this plant after I looked at the last photo–another benefit of blogging!  I’ll spray those off.