November Planting and Flowering

Creeping Blue Spruce, and light green-yellow barberry, and the camellia with pink blossoms.

Pulling up the end of the green tomatoes, not going to fry them.

Bouquet in the house today with snowberries, white little blobs, and pink Schizostylus, yellow pot marigold or calendula, red berrries on the cotoneaster, and the dark green leaves of the hellebore.
And of course the dark purple of the faded Autumn Joy, and the dark reddish pointed leaves of the purple heucheura.

That's it.

Spring in January 2010

Been so warm outside these days, really feels like spring. Grass is starting to grow, daffodils are up a few inches or more in places, primroses blooming and for sale at all the groceries, weeds growing, and we hear they are worried about getting enough snow for the Olympics next month up the road in Vancouver, B.C. And no, this warm winter in the Puget Sound Convergence Zone has nothing to do with Global Warming, or as we should call it, Global Climate Change. What I don't understand at all is why so many people who have learned to read and write and supposedly understand what they read have decided not to use their abilities to discern what scientists keep telling us. The glaciers are melting, that's a fact. But don't take my word for it, or the National Geographic's word for it. Go read for yourself. Ok, so now we just call it Global Change. Not just climate, or maybe not even climate, and certainly nothing to do with the weather. Changes in the global envir...

Rain in May, 45 temp, Dead Phormium

Its May 14 today, showery, a bit of sun is peeking through. Last night finishing up some sedum planting, it was downright cold and miserable. We've been wondering if the New Zealand Flax that spiked up very tall last three years will come back. I'm pretty sure it will, since dark green shoots seen, but the overall bunch of this phormium, with reddish green spikes, now looks like a rotting mess, since we cut it way back a few months ago. This spiky plant is used a lot in the commercial landscaping along the new housing developments around here -- and so far most are looking pretty sad. I didn't know this: "Phormium is also called New Zealand Flax, because the Maoris actually used it for making a type of linen clothing, as well as for ropes and baskets. "

Spring in the Rain Garden

Now that I'm making sure my plastic will be finally laid in the landfill, after being cast out of the recycling facilty if it does not meet the requirements, or after being recycled into park bench or decking material, and what's left goes in the landfill to stay forever, now that that's all figured out, I can focus back on my little rain garden project. Just visited a yard where the drainage is a real problem, lawn all squishy and mossy. But here we live on a hill, near the top at nearly 500 ft so we don't get drainage from above, except of course from the up the cul de sac to our east. A river of storm water runs along the front of the curb, and if I could just figure out a way to channel it into the yard, I'd really be in business. But back to the drainage from the roof of our split-level, and the channeling into this little swale. Here's a new picture of the daffodils and a few plantings. The red twigs were just stuck in as cuttings to root, but those...

The Convergence Zone

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