Jewell 2009's Blog at GardenStew.com

Maintaining a Garden Through Time

Jewell — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 15:20:39 -0400

Author: Jewell
Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 7:20 pm (GMT 0)

Last week-end we are took out an Alberta Spruce in the front yard. It was one of the first trees we planted on this city lot after we moved in. It had been a little live Christmas tree that had moved from rental to our current home all those years ago. As Alberta Spruce tend to do with age, it repeatedly tried to revert to the big spruce tree that its genes were made up of. It was time for it to be removed. As we deal with the needles and pitch that go with its removal I began thinking of all the changes our front yard has had through the years.

Alberta Spruce trying to go to its natural form ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

We moved to our little home in 1983. It was basically a bare lot with a lot of blackberry brambles and some very old plantings of rhubarb, horseradish, elephant garlic, autumn crocus. We found a few other gems hiding in places around the yard that hadn’t been mowed more or less kept up for a few seasons. Pulling brambles and mowing the yard we discovered several fruit and nut trees. Before long the yard became a grassy oasis perfect for children running around. We had an asphalt drive way laid and wire fences are planted with ivy to become hedges that surround most of the yard. The neighbors plant baby fir trees on the south side of our lot.

The front yard had a huge rambling rose that took over half of the front yard and not much else was there. We removed the rose bush by cutting it at the base of a ten inch trunk. Its sprouts are still around. On that side of the yard a four-way cherry is planted shortly after the removal of the rose.

old rambling rose ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

Fast forward a decade and the back yard has ducks in the orchard, garden beds close to the house for veggies and berries. The front yard had two more semi-dwarf fruit trees: granny smith apple and a four-way sweet cherry tree. Interlaken grapes stretched across the south side of the house. The fir trees block the neighbors and begin shading a portion of the lot. The tree in the front yard provides cherries that are wonderful and a neighborhood gathering place during the first days of summer. The front yard changes from grass to flower beds to grass again as the cherry tree changes the microclimate of the front yard. Plants come and go, but the hellebores have found a home they like and provide starts for beds through out the yard. The apple tree also adds summer shade, but the apples are not quite right for our climate. I’ve never figured out the right time for picking the apples and they often provide fodder for the birds in the winter and spring. Salal, lilies, Pacific bleeding hearts and deer ferns provide a little oasis beneath its limbs that shade the walkway to the front door.

I have had a love affair with heather during the last decades.

White heather - the honey bees love it ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

I love its seasonal flowers, especial in winter. I’ve learned it can get shrub high as it starts to cover the kitchen windows. I’ve learned that heavy trimming can kill it. One heather goes and new varieties are introduced until I have heather blooming throughout the seasons. Path ways between them are wooly thyme, then Irish moss and finally filled in totally with California poppies. Rock borders are placed around brick pavers as they are placed year each year until they wrap around the house.

Another few years pass and the cherry tree in the front yard is gone.

I am told there is no such thing as a semi-dwarf cherry tree and now I believe it. Maintaining the four graphed cherry varieties and keeping it off the house was too much work. The children who used to pick its sweet cherries are growing up fast too. The cherry tree’s twenty-four inch trunk is left. It is about a meter tall and is drilled for mason bees. A shade garden with hellebores, bleeding hearts, a variety of ferns and woodland plants had formed a bed under its branches. The woodland plants had a bit of a shock having their leaves unprotected during the summer months.

first spring after murdering the cherry tree ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

Two Japanese maples are slowly adding shade back to this part of the yard. A hardy hibiscus and heathers flourished with the added light.

now with new paths and a few more years added to the Japanese maples ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

Unfortunately so did some weeds. With such a large bed it was time this year to reestablish some sort of paths to get in and maintain the area. That part of the yard has once again had some transformations.

With the removal of the Alberta Spruce it is clear how big the heathers on that side of the yard have become.

Oh, my! The heathers are almost as tall as me! ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

Time to do some weeding, trimming and path laying here too. Volunteer heather plants and gayfeather bulbs need some readjusting to their placement. Ivy hedges need a good trimming. Gardens are ever changing. Once I always felt that I had a hard time getting a plant to grow and prosper. Now I weed plants that I would have loved to have bought or had given to me a few decades ago. Like me once a plant has found a home they are happy and prosper there.

Bye-bye Alberta Spruce.... new place to plant? ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

If I didn't garden in the rain then when would I garden?

Jewell — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 20:37:37 -0400

Author: Jewell
Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 12:37 am (GMT 0)

I am getting back into my 15-minutes-at-a-time gardening today. Of course that meant that I was in and out numerous times as my attention waxed and waned. It has been raining all day, sometimes in light mists and sometimes in torrential down pours. It is all in the timing.

Got a couple of dozen strawberries pulled from the muddy soil I should have been staying away from and replanted into 3 planters. Pulled a variety of weeds from patio and walkways. Sometimes I can get an entire dandelion root pulled out if I do the pulling in the rainest of days. Trimmed up one big fern that was covering a small rhodie and part of the patio/walkway. Of course none of this was done at one time, but off and on throughout the day. My expectations are low, but every dandelion and weed pulled now will make summer work so much easier. Found several dandelions that had flowered and were waiting for the sun to come out to spread their seeds…ugh!

In the fall we had a cold snowy snap that brought winter to our doorstep before the trees had even shed their leaves. That means that there is all of the fall clean up to do as well as spring chores. I am finding that the few raspberry starts planted last summer have multiplied and are trying to encroach into the pathways along with the sweet woodruff. Will have to decide if this will be a problem or an accidental reward. Narrower paths means less bark to order/buy. Am amazed at how last years plantings have taken off, and the phlox starts are coming up rapidly as well as several other perennials and perennial weeds. I guess the days I spend at work without windows may have had some sunshine that I wasn’t lucky enough to witness. The heather and heliotropes are at the best right now.

Have begun a few small beds by laying down cardboard and the leaves from the fall and a few light and fluffy fir branches to anchor it all. Really need to find a weed free area to get a deer fern, kinnicknick and native ginger out of a planter and into the ground. Decisions, decisions. Isn’t spring fun :)

To Buy Local or Mail Order?

Jewell — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 23:40:37 -0400

Author: Jewell
Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 3:40 am (GMT 0)

I am too cheap to often buy plants mail order, but last year there were two plants that I felt "I just have to have them!" They were the miniature pampas grass and the double helleborous "peppermint ice".

( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

I have had wonderful successes with bulbs the last couple of years mail order. I found daffodils that were spectacular to me. Frilly and of colors I had not imagined in daffodils.

Close-up of Sir Winston C. ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

Rosey Cloud double daffodils ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

I got both the pampas grass and the hellebore. It has been a bit disappointing with the pampas grass that will take at least another year to mature sufficiently to be placed where I would like it to go. Even then it will not be very big. The hellebore plant is blooming this year, but is still much smaller than other seedling plants I have moved around the yard. I still find it unique and a great addition to the yard. It's just that the pictures had led me to believe it was much more doubled and the color was pinker than it has turned out to be.

Helleborus 'Peppermint Ice' ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

dwarf pampas grass ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

Maybe next year it will come into its own. The hellebore was pricey. For the same price I was able to get three much bigger plants this spring at the local nursey for the same price. Not the same variety, but more doubled and the varieties of color were perfect for me.

Helleborus Orientalis "Mardi Gras Double Mix" ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

I realize that there is a lot in a name and I was buying the name, but last year I had a hard time finding doubled hellebores. This year...bingo...there are lots of choices. Of course nothing beats the little old seedlings that turn into nice sized plants with a little time and free of charge.

Seedling helleborus transplanted last year ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

helleborus seedlings transplanted the year before last ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

I am sure I will have another weak moment and buy plants online or from a catalogue, but I am beginning to believe local is better. Still learning after 40 years of puttering in the soil. Still changing my mind seasonally.

Time Slip Sliding Away

Jewell — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 19:13:52 -0500

Author: Jewell
Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 12:13 am (GMT 0)

I am sitting here at the computer putting off doing work that I should be doing (doing the weekly budget, correcting papers and school work, housework, and yard work).

paperwork *sigh* ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

Instead I am looking through those professional and imaculate looking gardens that abound out there on the Net. What a nice way to spend a Sunday morning.

Sitting here in my pajamas and worn out cashmere sweater I’m feeling comfy and cozy as I browse the Net for new-to-me blogs. Gardening blogs, of course. I’m feeling a little depressed looking at perfect gardens, and perfect houses with perfect plants and a few that are only slightly not so perfect. But none are on the scale of mess that mine are. The dobies have their toys strewn around the living room. Why did Santa bring them more stuffed squeaker toys? Didn’t they have enough?

Ciara ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

The slip covered upholstery is wrinkled, and covered in pet hair. Then there are the paper products that are stacked in the vicinity of the stove for fire starters. Maybe they should go out to the recycling bin. Oh, that is too far to walk and entails going outdoors. Maybe later.

Kota ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

If I am going to walk it should be to go get the vacuum and take care of the dust bunnies and garden soil that’s made its way inside.

Outdoors. (*deep sigh*) There are some piles of leaves that never quite made it to the garden beds. Then again there are some leaves that never quite made it to the piles of leaves. Between work and freezes and torrential rains the yard is a sorry state. Ciara, our digging dobie has probably created new craters out in the orchard area, and hopefully not in the garden beds or paths. The wind storms have knocked fir branches to the ground that have mostly made it onto beds. I still need to pick up plastic starter pots that were strewn around multiple times from storms. Need to solve that persistent problem this spring. One of the shelf units for plants refuses to stand and lays rejected on its side…again. Things that need to be done….sometime later (*another deep sigh*).
But then again I must be thinking spring and garden and yard. (*happy thoughts*) Can spring fever start about now? I haven’t even made it through fall yet. Emotionally I am still in autumn with clean-up to do and preparations needing to be made for winter. Some how I have manage to emotionally skip a season this year without seeing the passage of time.

relaxing ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

Instead I think I should go find that good book I had put down and slip off into another world...just for this afternoon.

Weather Patterns

Jewell — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 13:10:19 -0500

Author: Jewell
Posted: Fri Dec 31, 2010 6:10 pm (GMT 0)

At well past nine this AM the temperature is still well below freezing 16F/-9C. Unfortunately it comes with no snow and clear skies. A little more thinning of plant varieties again this winter as predicted.

old fashioned window with old fashioned ice (in the breeze-way) ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

We are experiencing El Nino and the results of solar activity on our local climates. Here in the Pacific Northwest we have had misty days (normal) and then torrential rains (12-24 inches in 48 hours) not normal with days like today that are sunny, clear and brrrr…cold (not typical either). The best was snow at Thanksgiving that closed business and schools. Living on the borders of a rain forest can spoil one to expect mist and moisture and gray fine days. El Nino changes all that.

It is good day to sit and read.

icy patterns ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

Cold Weather and a Little Breather

Jewell — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 03:03:59 -0500

Author: Jewell
Posted: Wed Nov 24, 2010 8:03 am (GMT 0)

Am doubly busy with the final year of a grant for technology in the classroom. What started out as my perceived desperate need for a document camera has given me a wealth of classroom technology. I didn't even know what a SmartBoard was and am now using one, writing/creating lessons and quizes on one and having a great time. (It's wonderful when it works and a bummer when something goes wrong. But that is a whole other story). The only problem is I don't have enough time to go around. I live at my computer at home and before/after school spend a few more hours in front of the computer than I would like.

Thanksgiving cactus and work station ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

I lurk around the Stew in odd moments at home. It is fun to see what's going on here. We are in the midst of a cold, cold snap with temps into the single digits F. here in the Pacific Northwest. I've gotten a whole week off for Thanksgiving because of weather and am in the process of decompressing a little. David got us 4 books for the 4 days we will be lounging.

4 books for 4 days ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

The day of the first bit of snow I gathered a few of the last hydrengas. The bushes were big and green with hidden blue gems amongst the abundance of big leaves.

last of the hydrenga blooms ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

Went out this afternoon and the garden had the faint smell of silage from the slightly defrosted green leaves. Tonight it is a waning full moon with no cloud cover and cold seeping down from Canada bringing those single digit temps. Some are suffering from too much snow and power outages in areas around the Sound. The roads are rather like skating rinks and people are encouraged to stay home during the holiday.

nothing like a clear moon filled night and Canadian cold ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

icy cold with a little snow ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

We haven't yet decided what our plans will be. I want to go up to the cabin for Thanksgiving. It's been a bit of tradition, but don't want to worry about frozen pipes here at home either.

While contemplating our holiday I've divided my favorite little fern (there are usually takers for that one) and trimmed up the philodendron (this time someone took the cuttings so I didn't have to start them). The poor little aloe vera needs dividing too. The hanging cactus has gone maddly wild. I'd trim it but I want to see if it will ever have flowers.

My 3 favorite house plants...hundreds have gone on... ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

divided ferns ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

cactus gone wild ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

The last bit of blooms to share is my little old orchid Sherry Baby. It really needs to be repotted, but that doesn't keep it from putting a display every fall and most every spring.

Sherry Baby's double blooms ... November rituals ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

reliable Sherry Baby ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

I hope that everyone that celebrates Thanksgiving has a good one. And happy seasons to all.

November Snow and Freeze

Jewell — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 17:04:56 -0500

Author: Jewell
Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2010 10:04 pm (GMT 0)

OK, so the way I view myself and the way I am are two totally different entities. As I creep toward my sixtieth year my body has rounded out and drooped in most every part. I’ve developed an alien’s body. I wonder who that thing is in store surveillance monitors or reflected from too large windows. I’ve been in the midst of a technology grant so sitting at a computer have become a part of my life as I learn new equipment/software and put it into practice.

My kid brother (only two years my junior) continues to rock and ice climb, run triathlons and plans a trip to France in March to revisit a climb in the Alps he made in the 70’s. I guess we all deal with passing time differently.

I wouldn’t even have thought about it except this darn Canadian cold and snow entered the region unseasonably and I had to have my studded snow tires put on my car for commuting to work. Roads are covered in ice in an area that seldom gets much real cold at these lower elevations. Guess the 12 degrees F/-11 C will continue for at least one more day. Although the road crews do their best, we simply don’t have the road equipment most areas of the country have. It is always a challenge those years where the weather produces snow and cold for that one week or so.

The waiting area at the tire center was packed and the wait was three hours down at the LesSwab where I always get my tires rotated. We live only a little over a mile from downtown so I figured what the heck. Walking beats sitting or standing around for 180 minutes or more. At first I thought I’d visit a shop or two, but some how shopping doesn’t hold the allure it once did for me. I crept through downtown watching for the slick patches of ice. I waddled my way along the sidewalk past the usual groups of young people. I past coffee shops and restraunts and headed up the hill. Too bad I had had that extra helping of left-over mash potatoes for lunch. Too bad I don't drink lattes in the afternoon. Too bad, so I'll just keep trucking on home.

Some how walking just seemed preferable to sitting. The sun was out which is a rarity for me to see since my work room has no outside windows. As I truddled along ice was my excuse for little old lady small steps.

It has been a few years since I’ve made the walk. Maybe even more than a few years. I really should do it more often, but driving is so easy. I probably wouldn’t feel so “old” and “teetering” if I made the walk more often. My fake fur 20 pound brown bear coat got mighty hot and the cotton blue scarf was too light weight. Body roasting and ears cold. It felt so good to reach my block and home.

Of course I came in and shed my clothes and plopped myself in front of the computer. As I sit here in front of the computer viewing the outdoors (I sit between south and west windows) I see couples walking, parents and children out and trying out sleds, the dog-owners out with their dogs. Yep, it feels good to be in out of the cold and enjoying the sun in the window.

It was kind of nice being out for a short while, but unfortuately I know I won’t make a habit of it. Gardening is my my main connection with the outdoors and who can garden in the ice and snow? Not me though I see plenty to do out my windows I'll wait until a warmer more rainy time to try.

Semps and Sedums: Who Could Ask for Anything More?

Jewell — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 21:17:25 -0400

Author: Jewell
Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 1:17 am (GMT 0)

Ok, I know that I am a bit compulsive..isn't everyone. Really if you love something then you go for it. Well, the semp and sedum bug struck me last year about this time. It is amazing how much variety there is in these plants. In just one short year.

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Semp collection ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

I am totally blown away with the varieties of size and colors as they have grown.

( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

wonton ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

2 different cobwebs ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

2 different semps ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

They are all that I have used as hanging plants this summer. Unfortuately most I emptied for planters at the school, so only have a few left to winter over. All the more fun to start with some new ones in the spring.

sedum and semps in coconut fiber hanging basket ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

semp and sedum basket ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

July and a Little Warmth

Jewell — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 20:17:34 -0400

Author: Jewell
Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2010 12:17 am (GMT 0)

We are getting some heat...finally. Here it is July 9th and there has been a change in the weather. Naturiums look like this...

nasturiums in July?? ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

Fern starts have become a real weed..

Lots of baby ferns of all kinds...a weed is a plant growing where its not wanted ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

Tomato plants look good, but

Tomatoe plants with few bloosom...and fruit..forget it ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

we'll forget it or hope for a long mild fall.

Even though I have been especially lazy this year (too many weeds to count), some flowers can't help themselves and with a camera in hand I went to find record their grace.

one of the beds of old fashioned daylilies ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

pot of lewisia and sedums ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

honeysuckle beginning its summer long blooming for the hummingbirds ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

A little tea rose hiding under the silver leafed heather w/lamb's ears in back ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

a very old white rose ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

pink hardy water lily ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

With a little careful camera placement there seems to be no weeds at all. :D

What happened to May...and now June???

Jewell — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 01:14:15 -0400

Author: Jewell
Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2010 5:14 am (GMT 0)

I feel like spring has passed me by, but then again we haven't had much if any warm weather. Only one or two days of 70F, and most of the time its been cool and in the 50's with wind and rain.

I have given away most of my sedum and semp starts. Have a few more for give aways at the neighborhood art and garden walk. I love the variety of semps I have been able to multiple from just a few small starts. Here are some of my faves.

Sedum hispanicum ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

my favorite semp ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

slightly different cobweb ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

cobwebs multiplied nicely ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

The ground cover pink flowering strawberries finally quit sulking and started to bloom. They really didn't appreciate our cold December.

pink flowering strawberries ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

The wild lupine is still loved by the native bumble bees. It is quickly finishing one cycle and starting another.

lupines toward the end...to tall? ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

Seeds to help continue the beauty ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

Well, this last photo is what I'd like to spend the next few days doing...when I'm not getting my fingers dirty. I wonder if Buddy will let me join him. Oh yeh, it's my bed.

A summer break and wind-down is in order. :D

What I really want to do...soon :D ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

Happy Gardening!

May Flowers

Jewell — Wed, 19 May 2010 13:52:26 -0400

Author: Jewell
Posted: Wed May 19, 2010 5:52 pm (GMT 0)

My fascination with sedums has not diminished as they spread and I keep moving them into different pots. The dollar store provided me with a number of small hanging baskets that are just right for more sedums. The cobweb semp has had such nice pink flowers I can’t wait to see what some of the sedums will provide in blooms. I love the foliage whether it is the soft blue gray or the varieties of green from chartreuse to dark, dark green. Here in western Washington they are certainly little care and root from the smallest pieces.

Backyard sitting area for sun or rain - New sedum baskets are thriving ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

Sedum bowl after lots of cuttings have been taken :) ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

Cobweb Houseleek and sedums ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

Planting for the climate and natural predators has been more by accident than fore thought in my garden. This year as the slugs feast on petunias, marigolds and some other annuals I begin to see how natural selection has played a major role in what I have in my garden. I am happy to report that phlox are not bothered by the slugs. Hopefully a new perennial takes its place in my yard. Leaping out of the ground this spring was a native lupine. Unlike the Russell variety it has not been bothered by slugs. I am hoping it will self-sew willingly in my beds.

4 foot lupine plant, must like it here ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

A promise of flowers to come ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

I am saddened by the loss of my dahlias. The single digit temps in December did them all in and a few other perennials. Usually we don’t have to lift the dahlias and fir boughs are enough protection. Have thought about replacing them, but might browse the garden center first or see what I can divide from other parts of the yard. This is a good sized bed that needs to be filled.

a bed to fill ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

I’ve moved a rose to each end of this long bed (about 30-35 feet) and also the perennial sunflowers. Am not sure what will like this area that is totally shaded for three quarters of the year as the fir trees in the neighbors yard get taller. The strawberries at its border are doing well and a few others like the Spotted Deadnettle, Gayfeather and Pacific bleeding hearts. Maybe there will be some lilies I can add to this area and some of the bare root phloxes that I have been waiting to start growing. Definitely have many possibilities for this bed.

Happily last years starter beds have filled in better than I would have hoped for in such a short time.

( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

The closing are a few perennials that are showing their stuff at the moment. Ain't spring grand! ;D

( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

Fragrant daylily ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

Small French lilac ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

Pink columbine ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

This is the type of snowball I like to see in May ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

A Year Makes a Difference

Jewell — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 01:59:38 -0400

Author: Jewell
Posted: Sun Apr 11, 2010 5:59 am (GMT 0)

The garden and perennial beds that were new last spring are filling in with woodland plants. Most of the perennials weathered the cold single digit weather we had in December. The holly fern is coming back from the base, but other wise everything looks good.

New bed on north side of garden space and garden 2009 ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

New bed of day lilies? April 2009 ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

Clematis and Daylilies have really grown ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

Fall crocus, sweet woodruff, and hellebores 2010 ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

I’ve divided the Shasta Daisies and fall asters. Some went into the vegie garden area. I also planted a bleeding heart plant into a shady corner by the hedge. Bare root phlox found a home along the trellis in the vegie area. I scattered some of the poppy seeds I’d collected last summer over the beds. Deciding where to place the wave petunias hasn’t been easy, but they also will probably be placed into the vegie garden area.

Vegie area is going to have a whole lot more flowers ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

I am not going to forget the vegetables, but there will be fewer. Planted some pretty rainbow chard today. There will be tomatoes, green beans, and sugar snap peas later. A plant or two of summer squash for the barbeque will also have to find a place in the yard some where.

Crazy is the only way to call the weather we have been having. Got our first snow of the year in April. The weather has been cold and rather nice except for the wind. So many things that were farther along and blooming last spring are still sleeping.

I have been collecting more sedums throughout the spring. Have also made a few more wreathes with them. It is fun seeing them and how different each one looks. Am wondering if I might be able to sell them at the Second Annual Art and Garden Walk that the neighborhood association is going to sponsor again this year. Last years was a lot of fun.

Sempervivum Wreath ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

Sedum and Sempervivum Wreath ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

Sedum planter ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

Driving Hwy 101 part 2

Jewell — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 01:36:51 -0400

Author: Jewell
Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 5:36 am (GMT 0)

I may not love communting, but the drive is beautiful and usually relaxing. This morning the Olympics were breath taking so I pulled over and tried to get a picture in the early morning light.

Driving to work ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

Olympic Mts. ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

Last week-end we went up to the cabin. I was supposed to be getting away from the TV and distractions to get some of my homework started. The evening was overcast, with blue spots in the sky. Guess that is supposed to be normal for most of the world. The Olympic Mts. were standing out crisply that day as I traveled along.

Olympic Mts. ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

With so much sky, grass showing chartruese green and brown left over from winter I couldn't help myself. A short side trip up the Skokomish Valley was the doctor's order for spring fever. Nothing like seeing fields of green grass. The geese were resting in a field and cattle were spotted about the pastures.

Skokomish Valley ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

Skokomish Valley ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

I continued up to the Hood Canal. The water was smooth and the day was winding down nicely. It was comforting to see the woods and feel the quiet of being out of town.

( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

Mini Christmas Lights and Starting Plants????

Jewell — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 23:37:36 -0500

Author: Jewell
Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2010 4:37 am (GMT 0)

plant starts and Christmas lights - heating the soil ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

I divided some different varieties of hens and chicks and sedums for wreathe making. I treated myself to a couple of little shelving units that were just too good a deal to pass up.

I’d been searching the Web for some ideas on adding heat to help encourage root growth. Found lots of ideas, but most seemed a little scary (I kept visualizing electrical shock and fire hazards). The idea of using mini Christmas lights (100 lights to a string) to help heat the soil seemed pretty reasonable though. (I had hit an after Christmas sale a couple of years ago and picked up 100 light strings for only 25 cents a package so have lots).

One person had described using the mini Christmas lights under some kitty litter in the container and setting the pots on a tray on top of the litter. That particular setup wouldn’t work for me, but it gave me some ideas. I decided to just lay the lights on the rack and place the plastic under-the-bed-storage containers on top. Although the temperatures had been around freezing outside the the soil for the pots in the covered racks is warm to the touch. The soil temperatures seem to be holding between 60-70 degrees F for the shelves with the lights.

Think I will add a third string of lights to the top shelf also. It is going to be a great starting set-up at minimal costs. Little mini Christmas lights….who would have thought?

light for heat? looks good in the dark also ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

Early Spring

Jewell — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 17:03:44 -0500

Author: Jewell
Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2010 10:03 pm (GMT 0)

The TV newcasters have had several articles on how early spring is here. They say that spring is almost a full month early this year and it is feared that the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival will not have any tulips left blooming in their fields if we don’t have a return to some cold, cold weather. The daffadils are having to be harvested already.

In the south Sound it isn't quite as early but this is how my daffodils look and I did find one blooming on a jaunt about the neighborhood.

daffodil almost ready to bloom ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

daffodil blooming on my neighborhood jaunt ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

My yard is full of leaves from wind storms, a very late and long lasting summer followed by record breaking cold weather. It isn’t as cold as we have had in the 27 years we have lived in this home, but it was cold with no snow cover getting into the low teens for several weeks. So far the only thing I have lost was the French lavender. Am curious to see how the orchids weathered, but it is too early to tell.
Plants like my hellebores are a little late, and I had never noticed how early the seedlings pop up. I have several areas that will need to have hellebore seedlings moved or weeded. Nature isn’t to be predicted in this region of the country.

white hellebore ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

hellebores aren't quite in full bloom yet ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

purple hellebore ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

100s of hellebore seedlings ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

Our cold nights (25-27F) have been followed by days in the 50s. We have a low that is pulling weather out of inland Canada into our region rather than off the Pacific Ocean. Most unusual since usually when we have weather pulled out of Canada it is a high weather front and snow comes with it. I’m feeling like I am living east of the Cascade Mts. instead of west of them.

Because of the firs on the south property line the fish pond is holding some ice most days. There was a week of warm weather where I did break down and feed the gold fish twice. They were very active and ate all that I gave them. Will have to think about thinning out their ranks this summer. With no raccoons or possum preying on them there are too many fish in the pond.
Deer have been in the neighbors yard. The deer that we saw last summer and fall have made this neighborhood their permanent home. City deer, strange, but what makes up part of the charm of this old neighborhood.

Here are a few more early bloomers. They weren't in my yard, but like everyone I saw sitting out in front of their homes today they are soaking in some vitamin D and sunshine. Just to let you know the ice age hasn't struck yet.

honeybee and white heather blooms ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

camilla blooming ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

From the Looks of This You'd Think I Had Lots of Seeds

Jewell — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:53:42 -0500

Author: Jewell
Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 5:53 am (GMT 0)

Gardening takes time and timing. Sometimes it doesn't all fall together like you think it will. This winter was one example with the hard freeze and a few lost plants that will make room for new plants (a friend after participating in a cookie exchanged decided to host a plant exchange so I am set...but that is another story...maybe).

Today I saw quite a few dried bean pods hanging on the vines along the fence for the garden. I flashed back to November. I wondered if they will self sow? Nature hasn't provided any warm weather for sprouting yet. Don't think I'll try harvesting them. Best to know when to step back and wait considering all-in-all.

For years I have collected and saved seeds from my rich, robust flavored scarlet runner beans I grow yearly. I thought of it as second nature. Kind of a comforting fall ritual. I was a little late in collecting pods and seeds this last fall.

A nice little harvest of scarlet runner beans ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

I spent the day picking pods and shelling beans. I had collected over a gallon of beans and they looked great. I would even have enough for a couple of big pots of bean soup. Or at least I thought I would. For the first time ever, I collected beans that were a bit damp. Bringing them into the warm house I learned that beans can sprout in less than 24 hours. Big oops there!

A few Cascade Giant Stringless Beans ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

Even my hubby's Cascade Giants did the sprouting "thing". Oh well, I figured I could just make soup out of them. They make great soup. Sprouting should just increase the nutritional value right? Best laid plans detoured but still looking promising.

I laid down for a little nap waking up to the aroma of burnt beans filling the air. I couldn't help but giggle (although I worried about wrecking my good soup pot) at the irony of it all. I quickly took them out to the compost and scraped the pot out. Guess this was just not the year to save bean seeds.

Oh well, gardening keeps us humble and helps to keep our sense of humor going. On the bright side my Hooker's corn actually matured for eating and seed saving. These small corn plants and ears are perfect for my small yard and a heirloom variety bred here in Olympia since the 1930's. My second planting in last week of July actually matured into pretty little ears that turn from white (that's the eating time) to purple/black (getting ready to dry). Lots of seeds to plant for this next year for these sweet little ears of corn.

Mature Hooker's Corn ready for drying ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

White turns blue for Hooker's Corn ( photo / image / picture from Jewell's Garden )

Yeh, it is the plant exchange that got me thinking seeds and reminiscing. At work we were talking of starting vegetable seeds and trading them as well as flowers, perennials and what-not-plants. A May Day celebration with hot drinks and pastries. It's never too early to start planning and dreaming. All because of a cookie exchange.

Reflections and a Cabin in the Woods

Jewell — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 03:06:23 -0500

Author: Jewell
Posted: Sat Jan 23, 2010 8:06 am (GMT 0)

Last week-end we slept, read, played with our new netbook (with no wi fi) and did a whole lot of nothing. The beginning of each year tends to put some of us into a time of reflections. I haven't had much time this last two years to spend relaxing or reflecting, just too busy. When we do make time for ourselves the Cushman cabin is where we go to sleep, read and fix way too much food from old family recipes for fruit cobblers, crisps, and barbequed lemon chicken. There is no TV reception, cell service or telephone. We have spent most Thanksgiving dinners at the cabin since we became its caretakers. It just feels like the right place to be.

Cabin in the rainforest ( photo / image / picture from Jewell2009's Garden )

It is hard to believe that we have had our cabin for six years. I have always looked at gettinging the cabin as finally having my three bedrooms and two baths with 1500 square feet of living space. Sure, it took the combination of two small houses to accomplish, but for some unknown reason I have never desired to have anything but a very small house (in town house is 800 sq. ft., cabin 700 sq. ft.). It fits us.

My sweetie, David and me ( photo / image / picture from Jewell2009's Garden )

The great recession started impacting us in 2008 which was the worst and we thought we would have to sell the cabin, but the real estate bubble had popped and no one was buying, so we took it off the market. 2009 began to show glimmers of promise, but still had huge uncertainties that were just a “fact of life”. There was only one of us with a permanent job. With 2010 we have hope and a renewed respect and understanding for how much we have and how lucky we are. Life doesn’t give certainties. Our little cabin in the woods is our little piece of the “good life” to enjoy when time permits.

moss grows so big in the rainforest and I am always amazed ( photo / image / picture from Jewell2009's Garden )

( photo / image / picture from Jewell2009's Garden )

Kota at rest...its the rain on the tin roof, we all relax ( photo / image / picture from Jewell2009's Garden )

Rain on the tin roof makes it impossible to stay tense. The gray-green rainy days with moss “leaves” the size of your thumb, newts, nuthatches, red squirrels, deer and a wide variety of woodpeckers and wildlife enriches our overly busy lives. Even the dogs relax. Sleeping with a warm wood fire and the gentle drumming of moisture falling from the trees and mist is a massage for the soul.

We call them red squirrels, but common names aren't "book names". ( photo / image / picture from Jewell2009's Garden )

lot surrounding the cabin where the deer sleep when we and the dogs aren't here ( photo / image / picture from Jewell2009's Garden )

Our first three winters we heard cougars or bobcats screaming as they chased each other through the early evening mating. The first time I heard the scream I thought someone had dumped a poor kitty. I opened the back door and called, “kitty, kitty”. A large cat screamed again. Realization struck. It wasn’t under the house but out in the surrounding area and bigger then I first imagined. A hasty retreat to the interior of the cabin with heart pounding I knew that was no ordinary kitty.

Oh well, my days of taking in strays had past and it was time to get back to a book. Yes, life has been kind to us even in the hard times. We get to visit a little piece of tranquility often enough to slow our minds and try for a more reasonable pace of life.

Nurse log with huckberries, lichen and moss ( photo / image / picture from Jewell2009's Garden )

Pets in the Winter Vegie Garden

Jewell — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 13:13:08 -0500

Author: Jewell
Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 6:13 pm (GMT 0)

I was sure our two weeks of low temperatures that dropped into the single digits for multiple days would be the undoing of my brussel sprouts and all-season cauliflower. The kale I expected to survive, but you never know…. The smell of decaying cole crops was heavy in the back yard, but my work schedule has me leaving in the dark and getting home in the dark. Our short 8 hours of daylight days mean I see little, since the backyard lights only hit the edge of the garden. I would have to wait until the week-end to see the damage.

The bench to use for getting into the vegie garden ( photo / image / picture from Jewell2009's Garden )

The dogs, Ciara and Kota had been slipping into the garden area where a hydrangea was just stems. I put up some old fencing to try and keep them out, but they were stepping on an old garden bench and stepping over. All this time I figured they were drawn by the reek of rotting vegies. Today I was surprised that they had been eating good vegies that were not rotten. They were enjoying tasty sprouts and the heads of some of my cole crop vegies.

Yum, yum, good ( photo / image / picture from Jewell2009's Garden )

Well, I was not real enthusiastic about harvesting brussel sprouts, so after munching on a few and gathering a few I pulled four of the dozen plants for the dogs. Ciara and Kota will enjoy them for some time and hopefully stay out of the garden leaving the rest to us. What else was I to do?

Ciara enjoying her brussel sprouts ( photo / image / picture from Jewell2009's Garden )

more, more ( photo / image / picture from Jewell2009's Garden )

Engrossed in finding the tenderest sprouts ( photo / image / picture from Jewell2009's Garden )

Yes the cold did damage, but it was mainly to the tender leaves at the bottom of the plants which rather surprised me. All the cole crops are now really, really sweet and ready for harvesting through the winter. The variety of kale I grew this year was much more susceptible to cold unlike the hardier varieties that I have grown in the past. It is still good, just not as sweet as the sprouts. Over all I am pleased and with luck, come spring I will still get some very early cauliflower….if the dogs don’t eat the plants before then.

Mulch, Mulch, Mulch that Winter Garden

Jewell — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 15:56:23 -0500

Author: Jewell
Posted: Sat Dec 05, 2009 8:56 pm (GMT 0)

It feels like winter with temperatures going into the low twenties. I have been slowly through the fall adding back to the soil with the bean and pea vines, cabbage leaves and other garden left-overs. I also have an abundant source of leaves from the filbert trees that almost overhang my garden area(ivy hedge trimmings are another biggy for me to use as mulch). This week-end the leaves are finally all down from the trees, and I will get out the leaf-blower and rake and get the last of the leaves into the flower and garden beds. I don’t want my soil exposed to the elements. The hard beating of constant rain will compact the soil’s surface and leach nutrients from the soil. I try to get a minimum covering of 3 inches of composting materials (and often twelve inches or more of light leaves – the worms break them down by spring) Where I have my soil covered in composting materials it lays like a warm blanket protecting the soil that is alive with worms and beneficial micro-organisms.

My leaf source for mulch is very close to my vegetable garden ( photo / image / picture from Jewell2009's Garden )

The first fallen leaves are already beginning to be worked into soil by quickly multiplying worms. It also helps protect my winter garden of primarily cole crops. I have a variety of Brussels sprouts, all-season cauliflower and kale as well as spinach, beetberry and broad beans. Next years project should be a portable cold frame to extend the cold hardy varieties of spinaches and lettuces.

I love worms! I don’t believe that the benefit of worms and their castings can be over emphasized. They play such an important part in soil fertility. Worms are naturals at aerating the soil with their tunnels. They make minerals available to plants since their castings (poop) contain a diverse microbial population that helps increase soil fertility. It is a fertilizer that is naturally occurring, free (unless you choose to buy it in sacks at a local garden store ) water soluble and immediately available to plants. Worms do it for you so you don’t have to do anything. “Yeh! for worms.”

In September I planted my over-wintering cover crop of broad beans. I start the cole crops in July. I am not sure how this cold weather will affect them, but it will be fun to see. My cole crops usually hold up well until the temperatures drop into the teens. Snow helps to insulate them, but we have had none so far this fall. I don't harvest unless the daily temperatures get above freezing. The broad beans definitely got big enough to help do some valuable nitrogen fixing to the soil and maybe add a little organic matter. We've enjoyed several meals with brussels sprouts and kale makes the most lovely vegie lasagna. Wish I had taken the time to mulch between the broad bean and beetberry plants, but didn’t think we would have such cold weather for such an extended period of time this early (a full week so far).

My vegetable garden as it looks today ( photo / image / picture from Jewell2009's Garden )

I love having a garden full of edibles even in the winter. It gives me such pleasure and comfort knowing I can still go out into the yard and get some fresh produce even when the temperatures dip.

Winter Garden Containers

Jewell — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 09:49:22 -0500

Author: Jewell
Posted: Sat Dec 05, 2009 2:49 pm (GMT 0)

What to do with my garden containers now that the temperatures have dropped and all the fall flowers are looking gone, gone, gone? I take care of the schools two large planters in the front of the building and have been trying to decide on what I could put in them that would look good through the winter. It is hard because plant matter that looks too good gets up and walks away. I hope it finds good home(s) when it wanders.

This last week I pulled the chrysanthemums, brought them home and put them in pots to hold over for next year. Don’t know how that will work, but it seemed a waste to just toss them. If they live through the winter in pots I will prep them for going back into the planters for next fall. The ornamental grass grew legs and walked off. I have five varieties I keep in pots for the patio area at home. A couple of pots need to be divided, so in the spring I will divide and hold some for planting back in to the school containers for the fall of next year.

But that still leaves me with what to do with the planters for winter. I’d put in evergreen trees, but am afraid someone might think of them as free Christmas trees. Just got to pick the right “somethings”.

I want to spruce up the large containers by potting them with a combination of colorful evergreen shrubs, perennials and flowering annuals with varied form and texture. I could start with something spiky, and fill in with intermediate-size shrubs with variegated foliage such as Gold Coast Holly. Maybe add some bold texture with a leathery-leafed hellebore (wish I had some hellebore left from what I gave away at the plant exchanges). I should check over the beds and see if I have any nice looking but crowded hellebores that I could pot up and take to school. There is already some Angelina sedum for a spiller effect along the outside with stems that weep over the pot. I wonder if a splash of color with winter-blooming pansies would work?

I will “have” to visit the “big box” stores today and see if I could round out the selection from some sale plants. Despite the challenges it is always fun to plan.