Garden

In My Garden – February 2022
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In My Garden – February 2022

February has seen the coldest days of the winter season with several days of hard frosts.

Frost on the deck

Frost on the deck – Feb 2022

Consequently signs of spring have been slow to emerge. There are a lot of bare spots in the perennial borders and I fear I lost some plants to the cold weather. It’s still a little too early to tell.

Perennial Island

Perennial Island

A few bulbs are beginning to show themselves…hyacinths, fuchsias, daffodils and species tulips.

The driveway is covered in pollen from the pine trees which turns everything yellow, including the cars.

 

Shanna likes to help with the washing.

Shanna and the hose

Shanna and the hose

She doesn’t like to waste a drop.

Casey wandered over to see what was up.

The hellebores are in full flower, a delight in this mostly drab time of year.

Remember my post about dreams of a row of bright bearded iris’ along the driveway? That was about three years ago. Well, I have given up the dream. They simply didn’t do well. It was probably a combination of damp and foggy summers, lack of water and redwood root competition. I couldn’t bear to simply chuck them so dug up as many as I could and have replanted them in half wine barrels where I have more control. It isn’t the right time of year so I doubt they will bloom this spring but maybe by next year.

Replanted Iris Bulbs - Feb 2022

Replanted Iris Bulbs – Feb 2022 and Casey

Here’s hoping that dahlia bulbs will do better in that same spot. It’s too early to plant but I have some coming next month.

Shanna likes to dig and hunt. So far she has caught two moles, a squirrel and a bird. The digging part makes her unpopular with this gardener. I am trying a new method of scattering red pepper flakes on her favorite spots. Maybe it will discourage the critters as well as her excavations.

The major acquisition in the garden is a chipper for the brush and tree trimmings. We have a lot to clear out before fire season starts this summer and fall.

Chipper

Chipper

My husband is having a wonderful time with the new toy.

I am unsure if I will plant much of a vegetable garden this year because of worries about lack of water. We had no rain in January and only a drop at the end of February.

 

 

 

 

 

In My Garden – January 2022
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In My Garden – January 2022

It’s still January, right? Whew! I am very late with this chronicle but wanted to slip it in under the wire and give you a quick peak around the garden before February creeps in (tomorrow, oh my!). There isn’t a lot going on, although I do see a few signs of spring. Mostly there are bare patches where plants are enjoying a winter’s nap.

Back Garden - Jan 2022

Back Garden – Jan 2022

A few plants are making statements.

Melianthus major

Melianthus major

One of the weirder common names for Melianthus major is the peanut butter plant, give it a sniff and you will quickly see what I mean. It usually likes sunny well-drained spots but these are happy with glancing sun under redwoods. I don’t usually give it much summer water, another selling point. It has the most interesting saw-toothed leaves. It can die back in winter, although not so far this year.

Winter blooming hellebores are putting out their first flowers.

Helleborus argutifolius, commonly called Corsican hellebore
Helleborus orientalis, commonly called Lenten rose

There are buds on my flowering current shrubs.

Ribes sanguineum, flowering current

Ribes sanguineum, flowering current

This vining pea plant is native to Australia. Although it can wander over the ground (hence the name happy wanderer), this one is happy climbing a short trellis near our front door.

Hardenbergia, also purple coral pea

Hardenbergia, also purple coral pea or happy wanderer

The calla lilies are showing new growth. I hope to have some flowers this year. They were planted at exactly the wrong time a couple of years ago and didn’t bloom in 2021. I was shocked to learn that flower stems go for over $5 each in New York. Here they grow wild.

calla lilies

calla lilies

The pollinator garden just looks sad, but if I look closely I can see the promise of spring emerging.

Pollinator Garden

Pollinator Garden

Here are Shasta daisies and yarrow.

 

Shasta daisies

Shasta daisies

This baby oak tree was started from a hitch hiking acorn in a pot I brought from our old Oakland home. It’s now about 2 ft tall and showing new buds. I has yet to product a single acorn, but seems happy.

Baby oak

Baby oak

The dogs are doing well, thank you for asking. Shanna has entered her crazy teenage phase but we are all weathering it well. I included these pictures from the ‘day after’ our New Year’s Day chili party in the In My Kitchen post from earlier this month. But perhaps you didn’t see them. Our Shanna loves ice and found the pile of dumped ice cubes from the ice chest containing the beer and wine. Whenever the other dogs would pass by, she would lay on top of the pile to protect it.

In My Garden – December 2021
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In My Garden – December 2021

I know I know…where have I been? Everything is okay, I’ve just been busy everywhere but in the garden. Actually I haven’t spent much time in the kitchen either. Grilled cheese sandwiches have been on the menu many a night. I am making a New Year’s resolution to be on line more frequently (and to floss my teeth every day).

It’s the quiet season in the garden, except for the weeding. There is always weeding and now is the time to get on top of it before they get big. But weeding is my least favorite activity and wet weather has thankfully put a limit on it. I will be sorry come spring.

I purchased a dozen bags of steer manure to enhance the soil in the bed that runs beside the driveway. The Spanish lavender bushes have done well but I can’t say the same for the Dutch Iris bulbs which are between each of the lavender bushes. I think I planted the bulbs too deeply, they need to have the tops of the tubers exposed to the sun and warmth. Also, maybe our weather is just not warm enough for them. They did very well in the sunnier climate of the Bay Area. But, Fort Bragg is both foggier in the summer and quite a bit cooler. So, the plan is to dig them up, add the manure and some bone meal to the soil, and replace them with Dahlia tubers. The existing dahlia tubers I have in another bed need dividing, but I am also expecting an order of new tubers from Swan Island Dahlias in Oregon. Dahlias are very successful here and will (hopefully) make an amazing display along the driveway, stay tuned.

Another benefit will be a longer display of flowers. The Spanish lavender blooms earlier than the French, usually starting in May. The dahlias will bloom later in the summer and early fall.

Lavender

Lavender – May

You can see here that the Spanish lavender was in full bloom in May but the French lavender is just starting. It reaches its best in June and early July.

The good news is that we have had some rain, not nearly enough yet but much better than last year. The dogs are enjoying the puddles. And Shanna should be named ‘pig-pen’ as she loves the mud.

 

Shanna

Shanna @ 7 months

Adding an outdoor shower when we remodeled is one of the best ideas we had. The dogs have had the benefit of a warm water bath.

I have had a couple of shipments from Annie’s Annuals (although they are all perennials). Fall is the recommended time for planting her in California. The cooler weather and winter rains give them a chance to put down roots and become established. That is especially important for low water or drought resistant plants.

I came across an interesting article in DIY Home, a fall garden guide. It contained some helpful tips on getting your garden ready for spring.

So, here I am with a quick walk about before it’s January.

The vegetable garden has mostly finished except for lettuce and arugula.

Lettuce
Arugula

I didn’t plant much chard or kale this year, I’m not sure why. I miss them.

The garden is mostly green this time of year although there are still some flowering plants.

Pineapple Sage

Pineapple Sage – a hummingbird favorite

Cuphea

Cuphea micropetala
“Candy Corn Plant”

The Cupheas bloom almost non stop in my garden, I have several varieties. They have proved to be prolific, low maintenance, and drought tolerant. Both the hummingbirds and the bees adore them. Over the past 3 years the Candy Corn variety has grown into small bushes, they are positioned just below our bedroom windows. We can hear the hummingbirds chittering in the mornings as they sip nectar from the flowers.

House and beds from the back

House and beds from the back

You can just glimpse the Cupheas on the left side of the house. Everything is mostly shades of green this time of year.

I am working on an inviting seating area overlooking the pollinator garden (which mostly looks like a bunch of weeds this time of year).

I have scattered some new wildflower seeds and look forward to seeing what turns up come the warmer days of spring. I will give you an update each month as the garden comes to life.

Seating area
Pollinator Garden ????

You can see the lavender plants along the driveway in the back of the picture.

The wreath came from the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens. Volunteers gather in early December to make them. Isn’t it gorgeous? You need to get there early to choose the best. All the greens are gathered locally.

I wish you all a wonderful holiday with family and friends. Stay well and safe. I will see you in 2022.

Happy New Year!

In My Garden – November 2021
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In My Garden – November 2021

Well, it’s been good weather for ducks this past month. I was surprised to see this one walking down our street when I went to pick up the mail. It could have been Jerimina Puddle-Duck from Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit. Did you know that it has been 119 years since that book was first published? Those beloved children’s stories are timeless. I quickly jumped out of the car to take her picture before she could waddle away. I don’t know where she came from, but it was too perfect.

Jerimina Puddle-Duck

Jerimina Puddle-Duck

A sudden and intense rain storm created a short lived pond on the property, it was much enjoyed by the dogs in an impromptu pool party.

Quinn encouraging Casey and Shanna to come in

Quinn encouraging Casey and Shanna to come in – come on in, the water is fine!

 

Casey braved the water

Casey braved the waters. That’s my hubby laughing at their antics.

 

Shanna

Shanna finally took the plunge, quickly running to the other shore. She wasn’t sure about the entire thing.

The rain cleared for a day and I cut back many of the perennials and scattered wildflower seeds in the pollinator garden. The seeds are already sprouting with all the wonderful wet weather. We placed a bench where you can see the pollinator garden.

New Growth

New Growth in the Pollinator Garden

Viewing Bench for Pollinator Garden – November 2021
Pollinator Garden -November 2021

The second picture above is the current view from the bench. There isn’t much to see at the moment. There will be though. I am looking forward to taking my morning tea or evening glass of wine on that bench come spring.

Meanwhile the stormy weather has produced some amazing and unusual cloud formations. This was the sky earlier this week, a portent of an impending storm that was to hit later in the day.

These are Cumulus clouds, puffy white or light gray clouds that look like floating cotton balls.

And because of the rain we’ve had a bumper crop of mushrooms this season. I’m taking a mushroom ID class later this month so I hope to be able to identify them.

Above you will find a picture of just a few. Thankfully the dogs don’t seem to be interested in eating them although I notice quite a few have been nibbled by other creatures.

The tomatoes and zucchini are now finished, we had a long harvest this year. Kale is flourishing also chard, beets, arugula and lettuce.

Kale

Kale

Arugula

Arugula

The hummingbirds are happy. The resident Annas are the only species that overwinter here on the coast. The battling Allens have migrated south for the winter. Sages are blooming, also the alstroemerias.

Pineapple Sage
Alstroemeria

I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving. Our own will be filled with many expressions of thanks as we gather for the first time in two years. I am thankful to all of you who have seen me through the long dark months of this pandemic and other struggles in this country. Thank you for your kind comments, emails and texts. They have and still do mean a lot to me.

Please be safe, get vaccinated.

Stormy seas on the coast

Stormy seas on the coast

In My Garden – October 2021
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In My Garden – October 2021

The garden is finally winding down for the season. The days are shorter, nights cooler and the sunlight is somehow special. I found this description from the NY Times archive:

Spring sunshine is the awakener, rousing buds, opening leaves and flowers to clothe the earth again and bring life to the winter‐dormant world. Summer sunlight is the ripener, the hot accompaniment of growth and maturity, of fertile egg and seed, the insurance life in summers to come. Winter sunlight is a token rest, of the long sleep, the short day; it is proof that blizzards blow themselves out, that ice eventually melts, that no winter lasts forever.

But autumn sunlight is simply perfection of the day, glory of the season, the year’s high achievement, somehow. It summons one to the outdoors, where even the autumn leaves partake of it. The maples shimmer, the birches glow, and when they drop their leaves their splendor is sunlight at their feet. Roadside grasses ripen with sunlit heads of seed. The sky is clean, clear and the sun itself is benevolent, the autumn sun making an autumn day a special moment in time.

We don’t have much in the way of colorful autumn leaves here but the first windy gale of the season brought the old redwood needles onto the driveway.

windy day needle drop

windy day needle drop

As in the kitchen, we are laughing at the antics of puppy Shanna. Her ‘Harry Potter Broomstick’ otherwise known as ‘old mop’ finally broke apart and was relegated to the trash heap. That did not deter her as she immediately found a substitute, a long branch that fell out of a tree during the windstorm. It’s even longer than the ‘old mop’. Here she is swinging it around and whacking everything in sight, including poor Casey.

Look what I found?
It’s even longer than the old mop
Whack
Casey “Let me in!!”

 

Quinn

Quinn “leave me out of it”

The broccoli and cauliflower are finished, I harvested the last two heads of cauliflower this afternoon. They are starting to bolt, much to my initial disappointment. But I found, that when roasted, the more open structure results in many more crispy bits…my favorite. It’s an unexpected benefit.

Cauliflower

Cauliflower

Our grass (probably more weeds than actual grass) is greening up with the cooler weather, dewy mornings and early rain. We’ve had over an inch of very welcome rain this month.

I moved a bench closer to the pollinator garden as well as a couple of half wine barrels that I will plant. I’m looking forward to having my tea or coffee and watching the bees come spring.

Pollinator Garden – October

There is not much growing here right now as California natives go dormant in the summer. There is (supposedly if the weatherperson is correct) a big rain storm coming next week. I have some more wildflower seeds to plant before the rain.

Here is how it looked in the spring of 2019.

Wild Flower Meadow, Fort Bragg CA

Wild Flower and Pollinator Garden June 2019

This is the newly planted area, I have high hopes once we get to spring. I’ve put in a variety of colorful perennials that should have a long bloom period.

New plantings October 2021

The pineapple sage is a welcome nectar source for the hummingbirds. We have had swarms of them all spring and summer but now only the native year-round Annas remain.

Pineapple sage

There is still a little color in the garden.

The native bumblebees were late to show up, and seem to have abandoned us early this year.

Native Bumblebee on Scabiosa

I have seen and heard a dozen or more flocks of Canadian geese flying south. It makes me wonder if we are in for a cold and wet winter. Fingers crossed.

Shanna, Casey and Quinn wish you adieu.

Shanna, Casey and Quinn

Shanna, Casey and Quinn

My constant companions in the garden.