Fort Bragg garden

In My Garden – October 2022
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In My Garden – October 2022

We’ve been busy cutting things back this past month. The redwoods and tan oaks needed limbing up for fire safety reasons. Instructions say the lower branches of the trees surrounding the house need to be removed until they are at least 10 feet off the ground. Normally the branches reach the ground, looking like skirts. (See the picture below.) The trunks look quite sculptural with them removed. Before the house was built in the ’70s the area was logged. All the redwood trees on our property are second-growth, the daughters (they are clones) surrounding the mother tree.

I love the redwoods on our property, their roots stretch and intertwine under the entire acreage. I imagine them talking and giggling along their root ‘telephone’ lines, laughing at the antics of our dogs as they chase their balls into the threshold of the forest, under their skirts, tickling them. And carrying away needles in their fur, the footprints of the trees.

Where did that ball go?
Redwood trees

Our property looks quite different without the branches reaching the ground. We plan to leave the skirts on the trees that are on the outer edges. A puzzle for the dogs to find their balls.

back of the garden
agility field

I am currently followed throughout the garden by the chirping of hummingbirds. At a time when most of the garden is starting to sleep, the salvias are blooming like crazy. I can watch the hummingbirds sipping nector from the ‘honey melon’ “Pineapple Sage” that is throughout the garden. This is a smaller version of the much better known Salvia elegans “Pineapple Sage'” which can reach 4-6 feet in height.

Salvia elegans 'Honey Melon' "Pineapple Sage"

Salvia elegans ‘Honey Melon’ “Pineapple Sage” and Shanna

Salvia elegans "Pineapple Sage"

Salvia elegans “Pineapple Sage”

Both plants, in my garden, have bloomed nonstop since May and usually continue through to late November.

This one is Salvia purpurea ‘Lavender Lace’. It’s just starting to bloom but continues till spring. A great source for nector during the winter months. This salvia can also get quite large, you can see the sunflower bending over it. I have left it so the birds can eat the seeds. 

Salvia purpurea 'Lavender Lace'

Salvia purpurea ‘Lavender Lace’

The hummingbirds also love the cupheas and they bloom year round in my garden. This one is very happy in a half barrel. Cuphea ignea x C. angustifolia is also sometimes called bee plant as they love it. The fall chill has dramatically reduced the numbers of bees so I haven’t seen many lately.

Cuphea hybrid ‘Starfire Pink’ (C. ignea x C. angustifolia)

Cuphea hybrid
‘Starfire Pink’
(C. ignea x C. angustifolia)

The Allen’s hummingbirds have the garden to themselves since the other two species we see in the spring and summer have migrated to warmer climates. I expect them back around March of 2023. It’s comforting in this small world of my garden to have trust in some things when so many things seem to have gone crazy and are out of my control. I try to concentrate on this when I feel dread for our larger planet and nation.

The Rudbeckia in the pollinator garden are still going strong. They have been blooming nonstop. I hope they reseed new plants for next year.

Pollinator Garden

Pollinator Garden – October 2022 Rudbeckia triloba

The patch is looking quite messy right now but I leave the grasses so the birds can eat the seed.

Only a quick tour through the vegetable garden is left. I have seeded arugula and some winter salad greens which are said to be cold tolerant. We will see if they actually come up. But the carrots have sprouted, also radishes. I have hope.

Arugula and Radishes
Carrots

That’s not fungus you see but Sluggo. We have slugs, giant slugs right now!

I love comments. Thank you for joining my on this little walk through my piece of the world. What’s up in your own garden?

P.S. I know arugula is misspelled but can’t seem to correct it!

 

In My Garden – September 2022
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In My Garden – September 2022

This is going to be a short one since it is now early October. These pictures, however, were taken in September.  It’s been a busy time in the garden, lots of cutting back and some new plantings in the pollinator garden. It’s not going to really show much until next year. Hopefully there will be lots of butterflies, bees and other insects in addition to the hummingbirds in 2023.

The native bumblebees were late this spring and summer, most likely because it was so cold in the early spring. At least it was cold for us. They are still buzzing around although their numbers have decreased. I cut back the Spanish lavender and they have been on the flowers for the much smaller second bloom.

Here is the pollinator garden in September, with three new birdhouses. Last spring there were two and we had chickadees and wood swallows nesting in them.

Pollinator Garden September 2022

Pollinator Garden September 2022

It looks a little sad since the Shasta daisies have been cut back. But there are lots of clumps of sweet William, columbines, yarrow, and salvias just waiting for spring. The grasses are providing seeds for the birds.

We still have some lettuces that are ready for the table in the vegetable garden. But I pulled out the last of the zucchini and directly seeded lettuce, carrots, radishes and arugula.

New bed seeded with greens

New bed seeded with greens

They doesn’t look like much yet since I just planted last week.

This container has newly seeded carrots.

Carrots

Carrots

The screens are to keep out the birds and stop the dogs from digging. They love to dig in the new fresh dirt with worm castings and manure.

They keep me company in the garden.

Casey and Shanna

Casey and Shanna

Watching my every move, just in case I have a ball in my pocket.

The dahlias are beautiful.

dahlias

September Dahlias

They are perfect colors for fall. I have been asked about the time it takes to deadhead them, but I bring armloads into the house. It’s no trouble at all.

The rest of the garden is slowing down, things will look much better in the spring. Natives, of which I have many, go mostly dormant in the dry summer. I do water but try to slow down this time of year. Mostly I am tired of watering but it’s also better for them to start to sleep.

An exception to that tendency is the Cupheas. They bloom all year, much to the joy of the hummingbirds.

We are enjoying the crisp fall weather and had our first rain of the season a couple of weeks ago. There are V’s of Canadian geese flying south, a sign of the coming winter. We hear them, honking encouragement to each other, before we see them overhead.

And that’s a peek at my garden. What’s new with your own?

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

May 2021 – In My Garden
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May 2021 – In My Garden

As I said last month, spring is where it’s at in Northern California. Everything is blooming after the winter rains, trying to attract pollinators and set their seeds before the dryness of summer puts an end to things. I do water a portion of the garden through the summer, but this year it will be much less. Our lawns turn brown and dry, being without any summer water. Being summer dormant they will return to green come late fall. Our experiment with barley seeds didn’t turn out very well, the usual long winter rainy season never really happened. The new sprouts dried before they really had a chance. It has been the second driest winter in a century. As if there wasn’t enough to worry about, now we add the possibility of a dry well and a bad fire season.

But, in the meantime, the garden is glorious. Pink and blue columbines are almost 3 feet tall, the red and orange geums are in full bloom, salvias are putting out red and blue stalks of flower that attract hummingbirds, and the buzz of native bumblebees fill the air. It was a dry but cold winter, the bumblebees have been late making their appearance.

Grab a cup of tea or coffee (or a cool glass of rose) and let us wander through the garden. Starting with the veggies, my friend Linda provided me with some healthy starts of tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini.

Tomato, zucchini and cucumber starts

Tomato, zucchini and cucumber starts

I’ve planted the tomatoes in the raised beds under plastic to keep them warm.

Lettuce is still abundant, this soft head with a bronze blush is one of my favorites.

Lettuce

Lettuce

 

Nasturtiums

Nasturtiums

These apricot nasturtiums have found the way into one of the larger pots, and then they would their way into some botanical gin and tonics. Just the thing for celebrating the first BBQ of the season.

Botanical Gin and Tonic

Botanical Gin and Tonic

We are mulching the garden with a heavy layer of chips from trees we had taken out a couple of years ago. I’m hoping it will cut down of the water required in the flower garden.

The rhododendrons, lily of the valley bushes, and azaleas are blooming.

There are native wildflowers.

And the red salvias are still blooming like crazy, drawing lots of hummingbirds to the garden.

Back Flower bed

Back Flower bed

Columbines…these were originally seeded from my first packet of wildflowers.

And of course there are poppies.

 

Thanks for joining me today. I’d love to hear from you.

In My Garden – February 2021
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In My Garden – February 2021

Well, it is still February although admittedly near the end. My In My Garden – March 2021 post will not be too far behind. Spring is finally just starting to show its face around here. It has been an unusually cold winter for these parts, although not nearly as cold as those poor souls in the southeastern part of the U.S. Still, it has delayed the emergence of spring by a few weeks.

I spent the early part of February packing and moving into our second home in Oakland (see the March version of In My Kitchen, which is yet to be posted). So I didn’t spend much time in my Fort Bragg garden. In Oakland, which is over 3 hours south of here, spring has definitely sprung. The tulip magnolias are blooming and folks are walking around in the shirt sleeves. Not so here, we are still bundled up.

There are, however, some first signs of spring.

Muscari – grape hyacinth
Hyacinths
Hellebore
Hellebore

The pollinator garden has early daffodils.

Pollinator Garden - Feb. 2021

Pollinator Garden – Feb. 2021

Following is a picture of the front garden. Remember from an earlier post we decided to seed the front garden with barley seeds. The tip came from what they used on the dunes in San Francisco when they created Golden Gate Park. Our soil in the front is mostly sand and of very poor quality. Anyway, the barley has quite successfully seeded itself. We’ll have to see what happens later in the season.

Front Garden - Feb. 2021

Front Garden – Feb. 2021
Barley is emerging

In the vegetable garden the cabbages are heading up and the baby kale looks very healthy.

Cabbage heading up

Cabbage heading up

Baby kale

Baby kale

I was going to compare this year’s garden to the same time last year but, it seems I never got around to writing one in February of 2020. Who knew at that time that we were on the brink of a major pandemic.

Be well everyone, get your vaccine when it is available, practice masking and social distancing. Things are looking brighter but it is not over yet. We need to look after each other.