A bit of rain landed in Seattle today, and it was seriously welcomed!  I had to water the new fruit trees and roses this week to make sure they make it through their first year.  The roses look great.  The fruit trees look a little stressed.  After todays rain and cooler temperatures, I’m sure they will perk up, however.

We have wrens nesting in a bird box we set on some shelves outside the greenhouse.  Wrens are my favorite city birds.  They are cheerful and spunky and they communicate clearly when they are annoyed.

The hardworking parents are constantly carrying insects to their chicks.

Geranium x cantabrigiense “Biokovo” blooming under a stand of Voodoo Lilies in the Doug fir bed.

Another photo of the white Hesperis matronalis.

One of the throwback lavender Hesperis.

Linaria purpurea “Canon J. Went” growing in a pot near the Doug fir bed.

We have a couple of rhododendrons outside the living room window.  They were the wrong choice for a foundation planting, as this is a tall cultivar.  We trim them so low that they hardly bloom.  The plan is to move them one day and replace them with dwarf hydrangeas.  The flowers, however few, are a nice orchid shade.

I’m not a big fan of hybrid tea roses–they tend to have gorgeous flowers on ugly shrubs.  I’ve had the above plant for years, though, and while it has the usual faults of a hybrid tea, including black spot and other diseases and pests, the flowers are such a vivid shade that I can’t help but smile when it blooms.  This is “Europeana.”

Another view, with the raindrops on the petals.

This is very interesting.  The clematis that I have on the Jeff Tangen arbor usually has small flowers with four petals.  The first flowers this year at the top of the arbor are these amazingly huge, six-petals, and stunning.  I bought the parent of this cutting without a name, but I suspect it might be “Jackmanii.”

More pictures of the Geraneum phaeum hybrid in the driveway bed…this is out of focus a bit, but the color is captured nicely.

If you look closely, you can see the habit of the phaeum hybrid here in contrast to the G. macrorrhizum at its feet.

The standard Linaria purpurea.  These plants are vigorous, but graceful.  They seed about and volunteer a bit, but nothing like their noxious (but beautiful) cousin, Linaria vulgaris.

You get a feel more for the habit of the plant here.  This is a mature one growing in the ground near the driveway.

The arboretum rose seedling behind Leon’s fantastic Pod sculpture.  This rose is blooming really well this year and the fragrance is subtle, but excellent.

Lazy photographer trying to get the picture without kneeling down with the plant!  But I like this picture, anyway–with Jeff Tangen’s sculpture behind and the fantastic fluted petals of the poppy.

A picture from above, showing raindrops on the petals.  This is a seedling from Papaver orientale “Pizzicato.”

Yet another photo.  The surrounding plants are seedlings of a thug plant sold to me as Dracocephalum moldavica.  These do not actually appear to be that plant, nor any other plant I can identify.  I have to shear them back after flowering to keep them from seeding, as they are prolific and filled with wander-lust.

Goumi berries starting to swell.  These grow amazingly fast into ripe berries–should have some fresh eating by the end of June.

The dwarf mulberry that had been planted in the orchard bed for two years got mowed accidentally early on, and subsequently just never really recovered.  I replaced it today with two Honeyberry plants, “Tundra” and “Cinderella.”  These Lonicera caerulea var. edulis cultivars should pollinate each other and be full of fruit starting in the next year or two.

The miniature rose in the orchard garden with raindrops on it.

This poor little penstemon from brother Tim battles the bindweed every year, but manages to survive.  I’ve increased my eradication efforts this year–I pull the rampant vines up every day to try and get them to disappear.

Raindrops on Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum multiflorum) leaves.

Lovely leaves and stems–a fantastic combination of substance and grace.

More raindrops.  And I’m hoping for many, many more raindrops as I don’t have much time right now to water things.

Such a crazy time in life and in the garden!  Seattle pretty much skipped spring and jumped right into summer.  We had multiple days in the 80’s in April, and it has been really dry, as well.  I will be putting the sprinkler out tomorrow.

I love this blackberry plant for its flowers and the promise they hold.  There were hardly any bees early on, but the last few days this plant has been abuzz with pollinators.

I’ve had this miniature rose since before we moved to this house 20 years ago.  It is finally getting some sun and a chance to flourish after the redo of the orchard garden last year.

The buds are deep yellow, but the flowers fade to a soft cream.

This lovely allium relative has the unfortunate name of Nectarscordum.

The flowers face down, so can  be tough to view…

Close-up.

The deep purple columbines contrast nicely with the bright raspberry foliage.  I keep cutting the raspberries back, but they are always one step ahead of me.  Tough to get mad at them during berry season, though.

The iris that were burned in Leon’s fire accident last year are blooming.  Only the really hardy, near-wild ones have flowers, but there are six spikes this year.  I love the look and the very distinctive fragrance.

The flowers are kind of wilty in all the hot sun, but the way they unfold and refold is interesting.  This was the iris that my Mom grew in her garden in Burien.

The species rose that I grew from a seed from the arboretum is blooming.  I love single roses.  These flowers are superficially similar to the blackberry blooms in the orchard bed.

 

This rose gets lovely hips, too, but I will need to cut it back before it has a chance this year–it is planted in a bad spot at the end of the driveway and it encroaches on the driveway and the street.

Dame’s rockets under Leon’s Miracle Gro sculpture in the Douglas fir bed.

I love how the dames rockets have spread.  They have a nice spicy scent and if I cut them back, they’ll bloom again.

Rhodohypoxis baurii form Edelweiss blooming in the greenhouse.

A larger division of the same clone.

The masdevallias keep blooming…

Freesia laxa with the orchids behind.

Close up of the seed-grown freesias.

 

The pitcher plant in bloom with a hatching of orb weavers behind.

A little more perspective on this interesting bloom.

Gorgeous Hippeatrum “Jade Dragon” in bloom in the greenhouse.

A different view.

The clivia show wasn’t as brilliant this year, but there were still some lovely flowers.

More clivia blooms.

These tiny seedlings of Geranium “Summer Snow” are tiny compared to the meadow cranesbill below that were started the same day.

Mountain bluets blooming in the Doug fir bed.

This is Brunnera “Alexander’s Great.”  So far, it seems okay with the dry, well drained soil of the Doug fir bed.

More pictures of the Miracle Gro with hesperis at its feet.

Close-up of the dame’s rockets (hesperis).  I grew the white ones from seed years ago and they persist as volunteers, with just a few lapsing into the more common lavender.

I love this little hosta in the Doug fir bed.  It has perfect foliage and a neat shape.

Another picture of the dame’s rockets.  I guess I really like them!

 

Lilac “Miss Kim” is a little beauty in front of our living room window.  It stays so low and blooms for almost a month.

All of these flowers, and a fresh fragrance, too.

This happy pansy wintered over in a pot on the driveway.

Here is a flower from the blackberry “Wild Treasure.”  This plant is very happy on the trellis this year and has a lot of flowers.  I’m hopeful for berries this year.

You can see all the flowers on Wild Treasure here.  We should have berries in a couple of weeks.

The Apache blackberry cane that I tipped last year at 6 feet has hundreds of flowers this year.  I’m looking forward to some serious blackberry production this year.

Another photo of Apache flowers.   I love these delicate blooms.

 

Here is one of the Jacob’s ladders I stated from seed last year.  It didn’t look like much all alone, but the photo makes it look pretty showy! this is the only one that bloomed of the 10 or so that I planted in the orchard bed last year.

Sweet woodruff flowers.  There is just a fringe of this ground cover near the arbor.

Detail of Solomon’s seal flowers and leaves.

More Solomon’s seals.

One of my favorite roses–this is Souvenir de St. Annes, I think.  It has the nicest fragrance and wonderful blooms.

The shrub isn’t doing well in a pot, so I  need to move it to the garden–I will look to doing that sometime soon before I lose  it altogether.

Jacob’s ladders of a softer shade.

And more.  These grow along the driveway.

Geranium macrorrhizum blooming all over the garden.  I like these.  They are less invasive than some, but spread enough to cover necessary ground.

Another amazing geranium.  This is a phaeum cultivar.  It grows up nicely through the big foots and blooms for a couple of weeks with these purple blooms.

More detail of the “Mourning Widow.”

This post is several weeks overdue, as the photos were taken a while back.  They need to be shared, however, as there were/are some amazing things happening in the garden.

You can’t escape spring even from inside the house, as the three clematis outside the french doors are blooming.  A pair of juncos is nesting in this particular vine, as well, so not only does it look good, but it sounds like hungry chicks!

The more double of the spring clematis.

 

You can see all three flower types of the vines in this photo–the more dainty single one on the left, the double one in the middle, both alpina clones.  C. montana rubens is to the right.

Montana rubens blooming extraordinarily well this year.  Some years it hardly blooms at all, and other years it is smothered in these luscious blooms.  Their beauty is magnified by the sweet fragrance.

You can really see the perfection of the blooms here.  They last maybe ten days.  The vine is attractive, too, with its darker leaves and reddish stems.  It can be a bit boisterous, but easy to prune back after flowering.

Here is an interesting contrast in the garden.  Two red Japanese maples, one with deeply dissected leaves, the other with the fuller classic maple shape.

For color contrast, the red maple and the golden hop excel.  The hop is becoming a bit of a thug, so we have to guide and prune it to keep it from overwhelming more delicate neighbors.

We have two stands of old-fashioned lilacs in our yard.  They bloomed well this year and very early.

These are blueberry flowers.  I have a couple of these shrubs blooming, so should get some good berry set this year.

A few of the forget-me-not volunteers in the driveway bed.  I love these little guys!

Two sides to camellia ownership.  First, the gorgeous, giant blooms.

Second, the mess!  I inherited this camellia with the house.  I’m not sure I would ever plant one of these big-flowered hybrids myself, since they struggle in the rain, which makes the flowers messy on the trees.  The small flowered species are more to my liking as garden shrubs.

A volunteer golden chain tree grows along the orchard bed next to the camellia.  It makes a nice transition.  I’m finding seedlings all through the new bark I put down last year.  I’ll move some of them to pots for bonsai and potted specimens.

These aronia blooms are really lovely.  This berry shrub is covered with blooms and should provide an excellent amount of berries for smoothies this year.

Another view.

Goumi flowers abound on my one shrub this year.  I love goumis because they are self fertile and prolific and completely trouble free.  The one challenge is the pit in each ripe berry–but I eat them fresh, usually, so it is less of a problem.

Here is a photo of one of the “rounds” I created around the existing plants in the orchard garden.  These are alpine strawberries and Jacob’s ladders.

A close up of the alpine strawberry blooms.  Berries are already setting on these charming woodlanders.

I’m very sad about my apple trees this year.  One of them didn’t bloom at all, and since they require a pollinator, it seems unlikely that I’ll get apples.  I planted two new trees this year, so in the future this may not be as big of an issue.  I saw very few bees this year pollinating the apple and cherry trees, so I took a paintbrush out and tried to pollinate myself.

Cherries have set, for sure, and there are also a few plums on the plum tree and a few Asian pears (above) on the mixed Asian pear espalier.

The bleeding hearts continue to bloom nicely.  This is the golden-leaved sport from sister Cate.

The standard form has become a very robust plant–like a small shrub!

The wall flowers that I started from seed last year look pretty good and smell even better.

Weedy as they are, I love these bluebells.  When we moved to the house, there were hundreds of them.  They’ve dwindled down to a few now, and I look forward to their show.

A few of the perennialized tulips along the driveway.

This beautiful shrub from brother Tim.  I let it grow up this year and tied it to the Jeff Tangen arbor.  It bloomed remarkably.  I will cut it back and hope for more flowers later in the year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some more pictures from our recent Arizona vacation.

I believe this was a cholla cactus–the flowers not quite open yet.

 

This opuntia pad and fruits looks suspiciously like a foot with six toes.

I

Large opuntia with the foot-pad above to the left.

This saguaro had been damaged/broken and you can see the skeleton inside.  It was still growing and appeared well despite the huge loss of its entire top.

Open cholla flowers

Delicate petals and deadly spines

Not a plant you want to stumble upon in flip-flops!

More cactus flowers

And more…

And one more…

These are called fish hook barrel cactus–for obvious reason.  Beautiful plants, but somewhat unsociable.

Another view.  Spectacular plants!

The distant hills on one of my walks.  You can see the limestone cliffs at the tops, eroded by rain and wind into beautiful shapes.

Another spectacular cactus flower.

Amazing cactus plant with delicate blooms amid the deadly thorns.

We hear how Saguaros are endangered and getting rare.  And maybe all the Saguaro-like cactus we saw were not Saguaros at all.  But if they were, there were thousands and thousands of them.  Hard to imagine them endangered!

This poppy proved a bright spot in the desert.  This wasn’t a California poppy–possibly a Mexican poppy.

The rocks/stones/boulders are very impressive in the desert.

More impressive stones.

And more–the colors are amazing.

A typical view on a walk in the desert.

Amazing that plants, including cactus and Palos Verdes trees, find a way to grow in these extreme conditions.

I was pretty excited to find tamarisk along the roadside.  Later, I read that in Arizona, this is called “Salt Cedar” and it is extremely invasive.

A close up of the flowers.  This plant would be fine to grow in Seattle, likely, with no worries about it spreading.

Not sure exactly what the name of this daisy is, but it looked a bit like a tansy.  I only saw it in one place.

It can get tiresome to see all the dry, dry, dry and dusty.  So, I walked to the river and the views were fresher!

Near the river, these brave guys were heading straight up one of the steep  hills.

Arliss took us to Quartzite to see the sights.  This was one of the better/worse ones.

Someone had been using this plastic squirrel for target practice.  It was a strange thing to come upon in the desert.

Spectacular views on a walk near Arliss and Mike’s.

Another great view.  I was actually following the power lines so I wouldn’t get lost.

These hills were full of quartzite.

You can see the sparkling quartzite that the earth is spewing up here.

Another view.

And again…

My shadow against the parched earth.

Another fantastic vision.

A dwarf oenothera in the desert.

Close up of the flowers.

Not sure of these flowers, but they reminded me of layias, only one color.

Fantastic cloud formation.

 

Below are a bunch of captioned pictures from our recent trip to Phoenix and Parker, Arizona.

Arliss, Mike and yours truly–we were hiking in a wash out past Shea Road.  Mike and Arliss are fun to wander with–they know all about the geology and flora and fauna of the desert.

Every rock and every plant is a new treasure.

Desert plant patterns are spectacular.

The color of the cliffs is fascinating, too.

Water only fills the wash once or twice a year, but the force has created canyons all over the desert and it forces shrubs to marry stones, as seen here.

Mike called these elk horn cactus.  The flowers came in various colors, from reddish orange to pure greenish yellow.

There are some giant bees in Arizona, but they were tough for me to photograph.  You can see one in the first photo here just to the right of the Ocotillo blossoms.  It is that giant shiny black bug.  The bees were just a bit smaller than hummingbirds, and probably heavier.

Ocotillos were blooming beautifully all over the desert.

Mesquite trees were blooming everywhere, as well.

The Colorado River runs very close to Arliss and Mike’s place and there were people out enjoying the water on hot days.

A dwarf form of Oenothera added a bright spot in the sand.

I haven’t identified this shrub with tubular flowers yet–it was in  a neighbor’s yard.

Opuntias take on a different kind of look in the spring.

Some other neighbors had a wonderful garden full of hybrid tea roses.  I couldn’t help but think of the water and chemicals they probably have to use to keep these beautiful flowers coming in the desert.

I’ve yet to identify this berry-sporting prickly shrub found in the washes near Parker.

I can’t imagine the berries last long if they are at all edible.

This hillside was regurgitating calcite in thin, translucent sheets.  I found several other hills like this in my hikes.

These shrubs turn lavender in the hot sun…and they blend in with the sand and rocks around them.

A smaller version of the above–its shadow gives it away.

Opuntias are hardcore survivors in the rocky desert.  Some have a lavender hue.

Close up of the same.

There isn’t a lot of wildlife out during the hot days, but these fence lizards scurried away frequently on my hikes.

This little guy had set up home right next to Arliss and Mike’s driveway.

Boat-tailed grackles take the place of crows in this environment.  Their vocalizations are more varied, but they have a similar sense of curiosity and boisterous charm.

Agave offsets–so tempting!

Lantana thrives in dooryards.

I found this boat in one of the washes.  The washes are used as garbage dumps by some and the water steals in own garbage when it really gets flowing, as well.

You can see the lines of different types of sediment/stone up the hillsides.

Views on some of my desert hikes.

Palos verde trees were in full bloom–this one was a  beacon at the top of a wash.

A large opuntia that had recently bloomed with fruit setting.

Barely hanging on a cliff.

This giant limestone-looking flat boulder was in the middle of a wash, having been excavated by recent floods.  It was probably six feet across, at least.

More views from a wash.  The sun and shadows are very different when you are walking in a canyon and I had to be very aware of the time so as not to get stuck trying to find my way out in the dark.

Much of the land looks like this.  It isn’t really dirt or sand–it is an aggregate of stone and sand pushed up from the earth.

Creosote bushes are amazing survivors.  They were the first and sometimes only settlers on barren ground.  They have a defense mechanism where they exude toxic chemicals that won’t let other plants grow nearby, including other creosote bushes.  So, they are spaced out quite a distance and the desert never really looks like a shrubbery.  It looks more like the bushes were planted by a machine on 12 foot axes.

Bougainvillea grow well in the desert, as well, but have to be watered.  I’m not fond of this, the most predominant hue, but it certainly stood out in a world where almost every flower is yellow.

I saw this hummer in a Mesquite–we were watching each other.

I’ve heard these called Mexican petunias–they are ruellias.

Very drought tolerant, apparently.

This beautiful Bauhinia tree is in the same garden as the tea roses mentioned earlier.  This yard is an oasis–lots of green plants and bright flowers and birds (they have multitudinous feeders).

You can see the great Orchid Tree leaves here, along with the graceful flowers.

I’ll post more pictures in the next day or two.

 

 

I had to postpone any garden work for a couple of weeks due to work conflicts, so I set today aside to get the bare minimum done, especially since the weather was perfect to get things done.

My order from Plant Delights landed on Thursday, so I potted up or planted out all of those treasures.  The more tender ones ended up in pots in the greenhouse until warmer weather.  The hardier ones went right outside.  I’m probably most excited about Iris ungicularis “Francis Wormsley”–a winter blooming fragrant iris!  I planted it near the plum tree along the fence in the orchard garden.

Two kiwi vines arrived from Burgess.  The female is pretty healthy looking, but the male looked like a dead stick.  I planted it anyway, but will watch it and get a replacement if needed.  I planted these on the trellises in the raised veggie beds.

Much of the day was spent cleaning up after the serious windstorm we had here last weekend.  There were hundreds of branches off the Douglas fir, and thousands of cones from that tree, as well.  I didn’t attempt to pick up the cones–something I’ll tackle another time.  But the branches got picked/raked up and readied for yard waste pick up.

I fertilized the cane berries today, too, with an organic food from Raintree Nursery.  The blackberries are looking really strong this year and I expect many more berries this year than last.

It was an excellent day for photographs, as the sun was filtered by thin clouds.  I’m going to dump some here and will add captions some other time.

One of last year’s forced hyacinths–a gorgeous very light pink.  All over the garden and pots, many of the hyacinths have bent over, likely due to weather and weak stems.

This may be the third time I’ve photographed this potted hyacinth from last year’s forced bulbs, which means it has been in bloom for the better part of a month.

I couldn’t get a clear shot of the clivia buds that are coming on throughout the greenhouse–the space is stuffed to the gills.  But I took a blurry shot to show that the flowers are coming…

This mounted orchid has increased in size ten-fold since I got it at the flower and garden show maybe 4 years ago.  It has yet to bless me with its flowers.  I think it is an Aerangis, but I couldn’t reach it to read the tag!

Many of the cymbidiums that I assumed would not bloom are now spiking–probably 5 or six more spikes throughout the greenhouse.

This is a second spike on the “hooded” cymbidium.  Its first spike of flowers had bad viral spots and were ruined.  Hopefully, the second spike will fare better–I have adjusted the fan and will open the door frequently to ensure air circulation.

Fuchsia “Cardinal” tree is blooming.  I need to pinch it back, but couldn’t bear to take these lovely flowers off!

The form of this holiday cactus is spectacular.  This is one that I’m growing in a hanging basket in orchid bark.  The flower display has been less than impressive in quantity, but the blooms themselves are fascinating and beautiful.

The “classic” holiday cactus still has dozens of bright blooms.

 ‘

At the front of the greenhouse, out of reach, the Veltheimia is blooming.

I don’t think Freesia laxa plants exactly thrive in my care…but they bless me with flowers, anyway.  This is a seedling of the blue morph, and while the sparse flower show does not inspire awe, the delicate lavender color with distinctive spots are worth a spot in the greenhouse.

I appear to have a knack with Pleione, however.  I started with one bulb and now there are a dozen or so.  I’ll be able to try some outside when I divide them.  The clay pot they are in has 7 blooms this year.

For such short plants, the flowers are actually huge.

The bulbs have spread quickly in this terracotta rectangular pot.

Here are what the bulbs look like.  They are starting to pile up on top of each other, so I will pick a few out and share with family/friends, and plant some in the Douglas fir bed to see if they can survive there.

A slightly clearer picture of the pot.

This bloom is not quite open yet.

Another picture of the soon to be fully open Pleione formosana flower.  This flower was closest and I could reach it easiest, so that’s why I photographed it so much!

I spent part of the day going through potted plants on the shelves next to the house and repotting/topdressing (and composting) the contents there.  Above is a Japanese maple seedling that I put in a bonsai pot today.  It is not really a bonsai yet, but has some real potential.  I believe this is a five year old seedling from some arboretum seeds.

Here is the shelf mentioned above.  I got through the top three shelves.  There are two shelves to go–might get to it tomorrow.

Trillium aren’t huge fans of the Douglas fir bed, but they persist there after probably 15 years.  I think there are only two that will bloom this year.  I love these plants, but I suspect it is too dry under that giant forest tree to keep them truly happy.

Anemone blandas blooming in the Douglas fir bed.  I forgot I had planted these, along with some other fall-planted bulbs back in October.  They were happy to remind me, though.  They are fantastic–perfect woodland citizens.

A close up of the Anemone flower.

More Anemone flowers.

One narcissus that perennializes in my garden is the poeticus–you can see a healthy clump here that will have 7-10 flowers in the next week or so.

Very few tulips have survived, but this cream/white one will be wide open in a few days.  It has graceful form.

An absolute spring favorite–the sweet olive, Osmanthus fragrans.  As I worked in the orchard garden and front yard, this generous shrub rewarded me with its sweet scent.

Ferns around the garden are really coming into their own this month.

Fiddleheads.

More fiddleheads.

Strong new growth as the old fronds make way by laying on the ground.

This Heuchera is in the woodland “pond” garden.

Probably  my favorite picture of the day–this is a bleeding heart (Dicentra) in the woodland “pool” garden.

The same plant from a little distance.

Yellow is not my favorite flower color, but this Epimedium x versicolor “Sulphureum” in the pool garden has earned my appreciation.  It is tough as nails and blooms brightly in earliest spring.

Not fully in focus, but this is Brazen Hussy, the best-named plant in the pool garden, a selection of Ranunculus.  It is a runner, for sure, but hasn’t proven thuggish, since it disappears in late spring.

The Goumi (Elaeagnus multiflora) in the orchard garden is budding up better than ever–looks like it will have a bumper crop this year!

This aronia shrub has flowers coming.   It looks like it may have fewer berries than last year.   The plant is growing well, though, so I imagine it’ll produce a lot more berries next year.

Corylopsis still blooming.  The flowers fade to a soft lemon yellow and elongate into this graceful form.

Again, with the past-its-best Forsythia in the background.

Another Corylopsis branch.

Squirrels help spread the grape hyacinths (Muscari), or at least I assume that’s how they end up in places they were never planted.  This stand is in the raspberry bed.

Throught the raspberry canes.

I need to fertilize this poor camellia, but it is blooming beautifully.

Many more flowers on the Asian pear espalier–I am hopeful that we’ll actually get fruit this year.  Last year, despite quite a few flowers, not fruit appeared.

Here is sister Cate’s Hellebore–I couldn’t resist another picture in the perfect lighting today.

Dicentra in the orchard garden–this also from sister Cate.

Close up of the sister Cate bleeding heart.

The plum tree is blooming well this year, too.  Hopefully we’ll get a few plums.  I believe this is Santa Rosa.

Close up of the flowers.

And more plum flowers.

Here is the start of Iris unguicularis “Francis Wormsley” from Plant Delights.  The plants were all great starts and packed extremely well.

Started very early from seed last year, these wall flowers are just now blooming.  I absolutely love this rich burgundy color!

Coronilla (emerus?) blooming near the front door.  This came as a start from brother Tim at least 15 years ago.  It has done really well for me.  My only challenge is how to keep it pruned and yet let it bloom–it has grand aspirations in a limited space.

More Coronilla flowers.  This shrub is just starting to bloom now–it will stay cheerful for about a month, and will rebloom if I cut it way back.

 

We had rain squalls, sun bursts and then a thunder storm at the beginning of the evening–all of the weather March can bring in one busy day.

I didn’t let the weather slow me down, as I had a rare garden day set aside and I got quite a bit done.

My Raintree Nursery order arrived this week and I had to get the trees and brambles in the ground.  There was a dwarf Morello cherry:

A dwarf Vandalay cherry:

Two urban columnar apples:

One Royalty raspberry, planted in a raised bed:

Chester blackberry, planted between the espalier Asian pear and the plum tree:

Here are some pictures from the greenhouse and around:

Old-fashioned holiday cactus blooming in the greenhouse.  I inherited this from some neighbors that moved away, and begrudgingly found room for it.  And of course, it makes me feel guilty every year by blooming beautifully!

Very soft pink hyacinths blooming for the second year in a pot on the potting bench.

I like this starry blue one, too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I visited West Seattle today for Brother Tim’s birthday celebration.  We walked all over and saw some amazing things.

First, on the way out, I saw this blooming in the pot with the Osmanthus:

Corydalis solida, which gets forgotten every year because it goes dormant so early, comes back with a lot of fanfare in early spring!

This seems happy in the pot, even though the soil is full of Osmanthus root.

Also on the way out, I noticed raindrops and sunshine on the primroses in the pot near the porch.

I wasn’t sure about flower colors, but I think springtime allows for brighter combinations without worrying about too much brightness or contrast.

Below are more crocus pics–they are just so photogenic!

Here is a foliage standout–Persicaria “Red Dragon” in the Douglas fir bed.  This was a big, robust grower at first, but I think it is unhappy now and it just throws a few stems each year.  This is probably an okay thing, as I gave starts to my friend Jeff and they turned into monsters in his yard–tall and wide thugs that had to be tamed!

Another hyacinth picture, with the light and raindrops–love these white ones.

And then on to West Seattle.

These were some amazing pots we passed outside a business.  I’m not sure what these gray leaved beauties were–tried to find them online (centarea, senecio?), but couldn’t find them.  They were brilliant!

A close-up of a particularly attractive Hellebore in one of these pots.

I photographed this same Rhodie last year around the same time.  It is extremely beautiful.

Camellias are a mixed blessing.  Lots of pretty flowers and a giant mess underneath!  I had a gardening job years ago in a job with HUMONGOUS camellia shrubs and I spent hours and hours picking up the dropped flowers from the ground/lawn.  They were heavy.  I filled whole garbage bags with them every spring!

Like last year, we had a gorgeous day to explore and the magnolia flowers looked great against the blue sky.

On the same gardening job, I had to pick up saucer magnolia flowers after they dropped–they were even worse than camellias!  They stuck to the lawn and had to be raked out of it.

Aubrietas growing in a rock wall.  The flowers don’t last long, but they are fun.

Some amazing grasses were still looking good after winter.

Red-flowered currants were blooming.  I love them for maybe two weeks, but not enough to add any to my yard.  Brother Tim says they are worth it for the hummers they attract.

I’m not a fan of bergenias normally, but the below white one (possibly Bressingham White) was very pretty.

And here’s a close-up.

Below are the catkins on a contorted Colylus avellana

I love Magnolia stellate, and there were some stunning ones in West Seattle today, perfectly pristine.

Next, we went to Schmidt’s Preserve, where we walked through some great wilderness, including some old-growth trees.  Only the plant-geek Petersons would be mostly impressed by all the skunk cabbage plants throughout the area!

The leaves on these smelly water plants will extend out to 3 feet or more.

And there were some salmon berries blooming (Rubus spectabilis)

The forest was really wet and I saw these mushrooms growing on a nurse log:

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the beach, this amazing log covered with ivy vines was laying on the sand.

And a bird sighting–these appear to be Barrow’s goldeneyes!  So amazing!

And the other amazing this was to see how WARM it is in West Seattle vs. my house, just 12 miles away!  This acacia was growing outside in a sheltered corner:

All in all, it was a fantastic day, celebrating my big brother’s 58th birthday outside in a beautiful world!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was stuck inside most of the day, but noticed there was significant frost on the grass when I ventured out to get the paper this morning.

Sunny weather is a mixed blessing, as it seems ripe for garden photography, but the truth is that better pictures are typically had on overcast days.  Still, living in Seattle, I think sunshine means more to me–it definitely alters all moods for the better!

Here is a Hellebore given to us by friends Bonnie and Pam probably 15 years ago.  The plant is a bit less vigorous this year, with fewer flowers, but it has a grace and beauty that some of the more floriferous Lenten roses lack.

One of Leon’s early stone sculptures.  This one is called Aquarius and it sits near the pond in the fenced pond garden.  The above Hellebore lives there, too.

Below are some bonsai starts–seedling that I started years ago.  The center plant is a Japanese larch that is leafing out–such a cheerful, graceful tree.

The larch buds just bursting with life:

I love the light through the garlic chives.  I grew these from seeds, as well.  It has taken a few years for them to get enough size on them so I feel okay harvesting them!

Standard chives are below–popping up like crazy.  I will take some off the edges and pot them up for brother Tim’s plant sale in the spring.

I’m not really sure why hyacinths are my favorite spring bulb–it must be the fragrance.  These white beauties from the cold frame are more graceful than most of the giant hybrids…and the scent doesn’t disappoint.

Our cheerful bulb/primrose display.  The pot needs to be washed, as rain has washed mud all the way up the sides!  Such a Seattle problem.

Corylopsis is blooming.  I struggle to get flowers of this shrub that do justice to its graceful, bright flowers.

Crocus, on the other hand, are almost impossible NOT to photograph well.  The photography rule of avoiding sunny days doesn’t always apply.  For example, crocus just don’t ever look this happy on a cloudy day.

I went a little crazy with the crocus pics, but can you blame me?  They are infinitely graceful.

I love the deep golden hearts to the white crocus below.

And here again.

These are new for me and I’m really pleased with them–I’ll get more to plant in the Doug fir bed and around this fall.  Another advantage to crocus is the price–so I can afford to be generous with them.

And last…

I’ve already photographed this iris reticulate hybrid, but can’t resist a few more pictures in the sun.

I’ve not had luck with these in the garden, so forcing them in pots has been my only way to enjoy success with them.  I splurged last year and got some nice hybrids rather than the usual mix.  The mixes often don’t have the better cultivars–I think they are tough to propagate and they command a high price.

More leftover forced hyacinths from last year.

In the greenhouse, Mom’s cymbidium is still blooming beautifully.  The flowers lose some of their green and turn a buff-beige that is stunning.

Here is an inherited cymbidium blooming for the first time.  I am not opposed to the cup shaped flowers, and the color and size are nice.  Unfortunately, the flowers are spotted on the outside and that ruins the picture when the flowers don’t open all the way!

The Masdevallias continue to shine, as well, so I took a few pictures in the bright light.

Superb form and garish color.

You can really see the intricate interior in this picture.

 

The day has wavered from drizzly to rainy all morning, but I didn’t let that stop me from getting things done in the garden.  Days off are too precious to waste just because Seattle is being Seattle!

You can see the wet in these flower pictures:

The forced iris in the windowsill continue to impress;

I’ll pull more bulbs out of the fridge and put them out on the porch and in the greenhouse later today.

The main focus today was clean-up of the shrubs around the orchard garden.  This is what I removed:

It will take a few weeks to get all of this into yard waste!  Most of the branches are from the climbing rose, the Lonicera tatarica, buddlejas, rhodies that have crept over from the neighbors yard and raspberries.

Here is the cleaned up raspberry bed:

The canes are noticeably weaker this year.  I really need to fertilize them well and I have some fertilizer coming from Raintree Nursery.

The forsythia and winter hazel are opening up despite the rain–should be in full bloom by next weekend.

I planted a bunch of seeds today, too–lettuce and endive, parsley and peas, Tiny Tim tomatoes and kale.