Chomper's Return

Chomper (he now has a name) is back. I found the tell-tale signs of his presence this morning during my walk about.



Upper left - Sedum 'Blue Spruce' blossom chomped
Upper middle - Pansy1, 2 blossoms chomped
Upper right - Gaura Pink, blossom chomped
Lower left - Pansy2, 4 blossoms chomped
Lower middle - Creeping Jenny, new leaves chomped (third time)
Lower right - Carnation - blossom bud chomped

I think we see a pattern here and also the signs of an epicurean palate. I think he/she also has large ears and a fluffy tail. So instead of Chomper 1, a chipmunk,
I think this is Chomper 2, a RABBIT!!!

Time to get the Liquid Fence out again.

A Shady Project

A friend of mine gave me some beautiful large hostas. I knew one of my front perennial beds had way too much sun. I was afraid the other did too so I needed shady space for hostas.

Remedy, build one, put it on the north side of the house which has no yard at all because the drive-way is right against the house.

I had a bunch of left-overs. Some left over cement block (from the raised veggie beds), some landscape timbers (from my first bed edging idea), some weed barrier cloth (also from the raised veggie beds), and some extra soil mix. Sooooooo...

First, a layer of concrete 1/2 blocks for good drainage and sturdy base.
Second, landscape timbers in a small rectangle 4 deep(approx 2' x 4').
Third, line the container/raised bed with weed block fabric to hold the soil but allow drainage.
Fourth, fill with good soil mix.
Fifth, plant with shady plants.

Here's the results.


Add a few plants.


And VOILA!!


Oh yes, there is also a left-over amaryllis sitting on the back rim of this little bed. He's still nice and green. Any suggestions on how to make him bloom next winter?

Home Again.....

No photos. Let your mind create the images....

We've been so overjoyed with the sounds of cardinals and blue jays all around us. Sounds of a mid-west summer day. Warm summer days with gentle breezes bringing relief from the heat. We had really missed it all.

Tonight at dusk, we were sitting on our front deck, surrounded by my new flower gardens and being guarded by Craggy. No sunset tonight. Too much overcast, still waiting for rain. The bzhing birds were singing. That's what we call a night bird that flies around calling BZHING. (I think it's actually a night hawk.) It's the sound of a warm summer night. We also heard a few rain birds... robins doing a particular pre-rain song. Very homey sounds for both of us.

We also were enjoying the sound of small children playing with parents a few doors down from us as dusk was turning to night. So nice to see so many children playing outdoors instead of inside on electronic games.

And then..... we saw our first lightning bug!!! And then two more. We're definitely home and it's definitely summer and it's been nearly 10 years.

Puget Sound is a magical place to live. The wildlife is unbelievable and the people (at least on Whidbey Island) are very gentle and loving. It's a photographer's paradise with no end of subject matter. I took two years of Qigong, which changed my life. We had to leave very dear friends... people who were more than friends really. It was a period of time that I wouldn't have missed for anything.

But it's good to be home again.

New Member of the Front Garden

Here is a new member of my front perennial bed home taken 2 days ago. Notice the little buds around the main blossom.


Here is the same blossom with three buds opened around it. This shows the true color of the rose.


And at last, may I present Cinco De Mayo, a truly lovely rose with a delicate but lovely scent.

New guard

Meet our new garden guard, Craggy.

Sunshine, Plants Growing, More Fun-Less Work

I just can't seem to do any better than to post every two weeks. Oh well. Even that is an improvement over some post times.

My gardens are finished...or as finished as gardens ever are. A true gardener isn't worth his/her salt unless she's moving things around and always planting new, but here it is.

The back veggie bed is going to town and is all planted.

That's 4 rows of peas in the far distance. They're doing great too. Also there are a couple ringers (3 store bought pepper plants, 2 fennel, 3 sage plants, and one egg plant, plus a host of Walla Walla onion sets) The rest are my home grown seedlings, tomatoes, banana peppers, bok choi, cabbage, lettuce, chives, a bizarre type of spinach, cilantro, parsley and basil. I also just planted some garlic cloves that had sprouted. I know it's the wrong time of year but otherwise they would have gone to waste.





The totally tomato bed looks good.

The plants had gotten so tall and straggly that I had to plant them sidewise. They don't seem to mind and have straightened up again. There is full sun on this bed starting late morning and all afternoon.












Finally, we made a decision about the third bed.

I was getting pretty tired, physically. It's been a lot more work than I'm used to, but it's good exercise. Anyway we decided to again shorten the middle bed. We were running out of soil anyway. So it's a nice small workable size.

I've planted 4 rows of carrots, and 2 each of radished, spinach, pole beans, lima beans, and black beans. Now I have the fun of watching the seeds sprout.

All three beds are filled. I have just one problem. I have a cucumber plant (store bought) to put somewhere. But where?

We have already had 3 home grown salads.

It's fresh from the garden, unwashed and pure (I did wash before eating). Bok choi, lettuce, parsley, fennel, oregano, sage and 2 chive blossoms. Fantastic!!!!

I have more to tell, but it'll have to wait for the next post. Hope everyone is well and that all your gardens are growing as you want them to grow.