Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

In my day, never was longer.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

When do the post office & the dmv weigh in on the wuhan virus?

“woke” is the new caravan.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

If you are still in the GOP, you are an extremist.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

Second rate reporter says what?

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Pacific Northwest Glory (Part I)

Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Pacific Northwest Glory (Part I)

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Pacific Northwest Glory

Such a treasury, it’s gonna take two posts to do it justice. Many thanks to commentor Mike in Oly:

Given it is the time of year when everyone is itching for spring to start but it is just taking its sweet time I thought I’d send you some pretty pictures of flowers and sunshine for the Sunday garden chat.

Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Pacific Northwest Glory

Blue Boat Planter

A selection of photos I took at my dear friend’s garden in Ilwaco, WA. She and her partner tend their small garden just blocks from the port of Ilwaco, in a very interesting microclimate. The flat landscape required mounding for the flowerbeds in order to deal with excess water from the Pacific Northwest rains, and the cool damp climate limits the plants that can thrive here.

Blue & White Explosion

Burgundy Poppies

We visited in late July, at the height of summer in Washington. It was a warm sunny day and every corner of the garden was decadent with the exuberance of life. The gardeners’ hard work had paid off with beautiful beds overflowing with blooms in delightful combinations of colors and textures. And the fragrance wafting from mass plantings of lilies! It was truly magical.

Pink & White

Scooter the Garden Cat

We were accompanied on our visit by garden cat Scooter, who supervises all garden activities.

************
Sign of spring here just north of Boston — the first yellow blooms on the most protected daffodil clumps, next to the south-facing front door & heat-leaking basement window. It’s been such an abnormally snowless winter, the flowers actually look more beaten-down & tattered than in past years when they were ice-coated while in bud, but at least they’re blooming!

What’s going on in your garden (planning), this week?

Herb Pots

Reader Interactions

93Comments

  1. 1.

    Mary G

    Wow, gorgeous! Love the deep magenta poppies, and the boat. Scooter’s humans do a great job.

  2. 2.

    opiejeanne

    These photos are wonderful. Thank you for sharing this beautiful garden with us.

    The daffodils and crocus and grape hyacinth are blooming right now, the tulips are not close to blooming, I noticed the clematis have new sprouts emerging so they’re not dead after all. They always look dead in the winter.

    We’ve lost almost every hybrid tea rose, and almost all of the lavender hedge that surrounded the rose garden. I blame the high water table. I suggested planting a willow in that garden and got a funny look from mr opiejeanne. The antique climbing roses, a modern climber, and a newer hedge rose are all doing fine, although one lost a bunch of canes to something. Maybe we should add a foot of compost and dirt to this site, to give the plants a fighting chance.

    I’m perusing the seed catalogs right now, and discovering what has survived the winter, although that may change after Sunday night and the below freezing temps for the next couple of nights. It has rained so much that the lawn is treading water and we’ve only had a couple of days that we could stand to be outside, but I have a promise from mr opiejeanne that he will repair the stupid greenhouse so that it functions again. It served as a self-serve bar for the youngest’s wedding in 2016 and he modified it somewhat for that purpose but it doesn’t function as a greenhouse right now, plus the windstorms damage it every time there’s a big one.

  3. 3.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Damn. Just damn. A bounty for the eye. Once again I am filled with garden envy, an emotion usually reserved for Marvel’s pictures.

  5. 5.

    Lapassionara

    This is a spectacular garden. I second OH’s emotion.

     

    and good morning all. I did not change my clocks last night, so when I woke it took me a moment to realize that it was really 5 am, not 4 as my clock said.

  6. 6.

    WereBear

    Got a notice last week. The bears are waking up. We really will have a very early spring. Which isn’t good news, except for the short-sighted.

    So we don’t yet have crocus, and I invested in state-of-the-art ice cleats, the Yaktrax Diamond Grip All-Surface Traction. Because it’s messy ice rink time right now.

  7. 7.

    NotMax

    Winds have been so fierce they’ve all but torn apart the entirety of the wooden shed structure behind the cottage, which houses the water heater.

    Frankly, it was crappily constructed, vertical lengths of TREX boards slapped up and attached haphazardly and a flat roof made of scrap leftovers, all those pieces having over the years warped. So yours truly now has a project for this week. Rather than make a whole megillah out of it using something like clapboard am seriously thinking of going a less complicated (and more economical) route, using T1-11 (plywood type, not composite) bolstered with corner batten strips – can reuse the TREX for those – and a corrugated fiberglass roof set on slope of 1½ inch rise per foot run. The toughest part will likely be putting together a door from scratch, as none of the existing framing measurements are anything like standard. Three walls, each 34 × 74 inches.

    Carpenter people, thoughts? Suggestions?

  8. 8.

    Sab

    What a beautiful, and unusual, garden.

    I had plans for this, my day off. But what with the 60 degree sunny prediction I might just have to clean up the leaf covered back yard.

    Might go feed greens to the ducks at my dad’s nursing home.

  10. 10.

    Sab

    My cats thank you but I don’t. I am in the middle of tax season and my tuxedo cat is very annoyed with my absense. Everyone is annoyed with no playtime. And evening meals missed ( they didn’t finish wet breakfast).

    Upside is my empty bed in room with envirospaceheater is available for cat naps.

    Spouse does litter, so that is good.

  11. 11.

    satby

    Wonderful pictures, thanks for starting Sunday off on a happy note Mike in Oly!

    @Sab: it’s supposed to get almost to 60° here too, and I also have a goal of getting the leaves off of the beds where the crocus and daffodils I planted last fall are supposed to come up. The earliest daffodils are barely peeking up, so it should be perfect timing. Debating whether to uncover the young shrubs since we have no hard frost expected for the next week. Probably will. And if the nice weather holds through tomorrow I can weed and mulch the iris bed because I already see clover starting there.

  16. 16.

    NotMax

    @NotMax
    When I say torn apart, I mean found pieces of it scattered across the lawn. What was the door is a completely lost cause.

  22. 22.

    bemused

    What a gorgeous, knockout garden! Feast for my eyes. Itching to get out in my gardens but it will take awhile for the 3 to 5 foot snow accumulation in northern MN to melt away. Sigh.

  27. 27.

    MagdaInBlack

    I always enjoy sunday morning garden chat with my coffee. This morning I have an extra with my coffee. My little local grocery carries pastries from a Russian bakery in Chicago. Yesterday I picked up something called spartak, which, being a farm raised midwesterner, I had to google.

    Russian Chocolate Honey Cake. I invite you to look it up, because Oh Dear Lord ! such amazing goodness ?

    Gardens, sweets, coffee and a lovely sunrise. Im good with this.

  28. 28.

    Geminid

    @NotMax: Pre drilling the screw holes is often worth the little bit (pun) of time it takes. (not a carpenter, but I’ve learned from some good ones).

  30. 30.

    NotMax

    @Geminid

    Last time I worked with the stuff was 1967 or ’68 as part of a small crew putting siding up on a hotel,and memories of nailing are not all that pleasant.

  31. 31.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    I opened BJ, started to scroll, and had to go back to the top to see whose garden this was because it’s gorgeous, Mike in Oly. There are raised beds for residents here but the tarps are still spread over most of them. When I look from my study window, I see three with the tarps half pulled back, so that’s either a sign of spring or a sign of eager gardeners.

  32. 32.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @NotMax: Yeah, it’s fine. I just resided some rental property for a friend with it. Just be sure to keep it off the ground, the more the better. Code is 8 inches, but from what you say I don’t think that is possible.

  33. 33.

    Quinerly

    @Baud: plans a little screwed up yesterday. But I left with him around 3:30pm. Crazy time to start a 1000 mile trip with a puppy, I know. As I said, he is traveling well. No whining, no barking, no accidents. Oh, and he recognized me immediately when I got out of the car at my friend’s place. I had wondered… He was actually with them longer than I had him before Gallup and Farmington. He’s a good boy. ?

  34. 34.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    It’s International Women’s Day, so for every book my publisher sells today, they’ll donate 25% of the profits to women’s and trans charities. You can buy from Amazon but if you buy directly from their website, they make more, so will donate more. Shipping to the US is 3 pounds but no sales tax or get the ebook. My book (The Wind Reader) is on that page, of course, but they have some other pretty good stuff too.

  36. 36.

    debbie

    Thanks for the beautiful photos. I can’t believe Boston’s daffodils are out before Ohio’s!

  38. 38.

    NotMax

    @OzarkHillbilly

    Existing framing, which I really, really want to leave be, sits on concrete. If it’s not anchored to that, it will be by the time I’m done.

    Main thing is to keep out as much rain as is feasible.

    ;)

  40. 40.

    satby

    @NotMax: You probably know this, but get the filler foam for the ridges in the fiberglass roofing to seal it completely. I had that done in the pergola roof at my old place, which helped keep things like the framing dry too. The guy who lived here put that roofing on a small patio pergola but didn’t use the foam fillers and the whole thing is slowly rotting away. It’s on the repair list.

  41. 41.

    JPL

    The gardens are so inviting.    I want to curl up in one of the chairs and enjoy the sunshine.

  42. 42.

    Sab

    Already commented once, but the more I see those photos the more amazing that garden is. And you said it’s a small lot?

  43. 43.

    Immanentize

    Happy day when we all are suddenly an hour older!

    Great garden pics, thank you. Does anyone know what is the fourth plant (white and purple flowers)? Me like.

    It’s sunny and will be in the mid-50’s today. I saw three crocus bloomed in my yard. The forsythia and getting buds and the rhododendron are pushing up their blooms to be. One solid March freeze ought to kill them all.

  45. 45.

    Sab

    @Quinerly: I knew you were thinking about adoption. Missed that you decided. Congrats. There are lots of new homes for pups, but slightly fewer excellent homes. Lucky pup. i am so glad the pup is a happy traveller.

  46. 46.

    Gvg

    @NotMax: paint it really well when done including the bottom edge, especially the bottom edge. It will last a lot longer. Caulk any cracks or splits in the siding before painting.  Check the slope of the land around it and make sure any water will flow away from it or around, and not puddle against it. Mulch, gravel or thick plants where the roof edge drips to the ground because bare dirt splashes and sticks to the wall bottom after every rain and contributes to rot. Besides looking bad after you have done so much work, it does lead to latter rot. That is why so many siding houses older than a few years, have the bottom 2 feet of siding cut off and replaced. If you look where the dripping rain falls and do something about it, you won’t have a lot of work again in a few years. My first house taught me a lot.  The front and sides had gravel mulch near the house which absorbed the falling rain off the roof. Never needed to repair that siding. Back roof dripped onto a concrete porch and had been already replaced before I bought it, then I had to do it again and thought about why. For that I had to do gutters. Every house since then I have learned to look where the rain goes, and plan. Recently built a shed. First rain after paint I realized I needed mulch because of all the mud splashing on my hard work. That fixed it.

  47. 47.

    JMG

    Just saw a fox strolling through our back yard. Looked very healthy and well-nourished, another indicator of our almost snowless winter so far in Boston area.

  50. 50.

    Gvg

    @Immanentize: 4th picture for me is white and blue to my eyes or my computer screen. It’s an agapanthus. Usually they are either just blue or just white. The combined color ones are newer, rarer, harder to find. Sometimes Lowe’s or regular nurseries have them. I know Plant Delights has at least one for sale. I was looking at their on line catalog last night. I never buy from them because of their high prices but I enjoy the catalog and with a plant name from that, I can usually find a cheaper source.

  51. 51.

    Sab

    My Mom died in March in 2012. She was eighty-four. We had a very weird warm spring. Every possible plant was in bloom. Magnolias, tulips, daffodils, snowdrops. A whole Spring packed into three weeks.

    I was happy because Mom loved gardens and got to see her last Spring, which she would have missed if Spring ha been on time.

    On the other hand it caused disruptions locally. Corbin Bernsen rented a local house to make a direct to DVD movie. It was supposed to be filmed in Ohio snow, and instead they got Ohio Spring on steroids. Oops.

  52. 52.

    Immanentize

    [I feel slightly bad dropping into a garden thread with this, but Harris endorsed Biden this morning….]

  57. 57.

    Immanentize

    @debbie: It was a warm not snowy winter and the breezes from the ocean always warm thing up a bit.  I think we are now approaching a zone 7 climate.  More Virginia than Maine.

  59. 59.

    Immanentize

    @MomSense: I certainly am one of them.

    ETA. As for knowing what one has, I suspect the government will never let us find out.

  60. 60.

    MazeDancer

    What a fabulous garden!

    Must take serious work. Feel certain Scooter helps immensely.

    Thanks for sharing the great pics.

  63. 63.

    Immanentize

    @MazeDancer: It is really true that pets help immensely.  I know that Woof and Percy are always supervising OzarkHB. And my cat Toast is always ready with suggestions and shows me where he likes a nice sheltered path for prowling or a good shady bush for lounging.

  71. 71.

    Nicole

    I’m a little cranky on the morning of Daylight Savings Time, because I’m tired, but I’m looking forward to the extended evening sunshine tonight, when it feels worth it.

    I had a fine little life lesson this week- I mentioned on Thursday that a friend won the ticket lottery to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on B’way ($40 each for two tickets, one to each part) and invited me (bless the same-day ticket lotteries, for making B’way slightly more affordable). Neither of us were crazy about Part 1; I felt like I was watching Harry Potter fanfic, and I don’t like when plays are structured like movies (i.e., lots of short scenes in different locations) although the stage effects are really cool, since, being stage, they’re all practicals and I had more than one “How’d they do that?” moment.  That said, my friend fell asleep and decided she didn’t want to go to Part 2 and gave me her ticket.  I decided to take my 9-year-old to the show on Friday night, after giving him a summary of the plot points from Part 1.

    He loved every single second of it, and while they say misery loves company, I think joy is every bit as infectious, because, thanks to him, I shut off the critic part of my brain and also had an excellent time at the second part.  Every time his jaw dropped open and he turned to make sure I’d also seen what had just happened, my heart, like the Grinch’s, grew three sizes.  It was great.  My friend texted to ask if Part 2 was any better, and I told her to wait a few years until her kid is about 9 or 10 and then go see it both parts again with her.  My husband’s going to start entering the ticket lottery so hopefully he and the kid can catch both parts 1 and 2 together. :)

    After a week designed to make one bitter and cynical, it was a good way to end on Friday night.  Now I’m off for a run in Central Park to enjoy the crocuses.

  75. 75.

    Sab

    What with the maple that replaced the cherry tree, we have a shade garden. Ordering shade plants now. What a variety of weird but attractive plants.

    Going to reinstall my twig fences to stop the roving cocker spaniel.

    Never noticed twig fences before. Our Nepali refugees use them to great effect. Good planter walls. Also high fences around the gardens. Been doing that for years. Cannot believe I never noticed.

  79. 79.

    MomSense

    @Sab:

    Shade plants are my favorite!!! So many amazing ferns, hostas, astilbe, heuchera for starters.  Chartreuse hostas, with heuchera like blackberry ice or forever purple, with some white astilbe will create sunshine in a shade garden.  Texture and color that last all season.  You will love it.

  81. 81.

    Sab

    @mrmoshpotato: You have it there!

    I haven’t ever actually tried it. Mostly drink the non-seasonal. Why is Conways Irish Ale orange in the glass? Perhaps because ale is naturally orange,

  82. 82.

    Sab

    @MomSense: Gotta get those cocker resistant twig fences in place. He is like a little roomba, inside or out. Stomps over and hoovers up everything, edible or not. Typical cocker.

  83. 83.

    Sab

    @MomSense: Got my plant catalogue. Ordering all those shade plants today. Might have to cal about soil.

    Clay here. Can dig and install a pond without thought or notice. Lots of clay.

    Plant soil is more complicated.

  84. 84.

    Aleta

    @Immanentize: It is really true that pets help immensely.

    Yes and they can even help you out philosophically.   For  example a helpful cat can point out that all your effort to make the bed right now will not get you anywhere.

  89. 89.

    currants

    Late to the (garden) party as usual but thank you for those gorgeous photos, Mike from Oly!  So bright and alive and lovely.  My favorite (so far) might be the blue photos (the top one and the rowboat).  Thank you!

  90. 90.

    Mike in Oly

    I’m so glad you all enjoyed the photos. I had so much fun taking them. This garden really is a treat. The gardener is a professional who has spent decades at her craft, so no surprise that it is so perfectly stunning. It is just a normal city lot wide but is a bit longer than usual so goes back a good deep ways. The plantings are designed to hide the neighbors from view and maximize planting space. The plants are unusual and fun cultivars, many rare and/or new. There are witty literary and artistic touches all about. I deeply love visiting here, especially on a warm sunny day. That area is usually fogged in most days.

  91. 91.

    ziggy

    Those are opium poppies, aren’t they? I’ll have to try growing them again this year, I used to grow them years ago, and they are very easy here in the NW. Gorgeous!

  92. 92.

    Mike in Oly

    @ziggy: Yes, papavar somniferum. Very easy to grow from seed, and if you can find a few different colors/forms the bees will make incredible things for you by combining genes. I suggest growing them out of sight of the street tho. I’ve had them snatched before.

  93. 93.

    Barb 2

    Washington? Blue sky? Can’t be.

    Well August maybe a few blue skies. Don’t mind me it is now March and the endless gray days persist until sometime after the 4th of July. But then we have had green tomato summers……….

    Beautiful gardens and lilacs are always nice up here in The PNW.

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