Nasty scenes and Messes

Here are the things that drive me a little crazy. They wear on me, ya know?
This out of control, out of proportion Blue Oat Grass...very healthy, nice and big, taking over...and dwarfing my trees! This must go.

See what I mean? Everyone hates an attention hog.

An otherwise lovely scene, but the dying foliage of so many bulbs, Iris and Crocus just about ruin it. I must re-arrange.


This whole garden bed bugs me. The plants are small, placed for their eventual growth, so there's a polka dot effect...not pretty. In fact I pretty much hate it and if the weather was cooler I would be taking action. Stay tuned.

Shriek! Ok this is partly my fault for not clearing out the mess...still.

Veg progress

Butternut Squash...what's up? Seems like they tried to die the day after I watered them. Weather has been weird but c'mon, please!

Kohlrabi...must be time to eat since it's cool weather veg & 90 degrees out.

Tomatoes with blooms and about 3' tall.

Lemon Cucumber.

Slicing Muncher Cucumber.

Pickling Cucumber.

New Plants!

My husband spoils me and takes me to the neighborhood plant sales all weekend long. Nice ladies who know their gardening stuff, surprising selections of flowers and natives, and the best part, excellent prices. I love it! Here are some newcomers:
Corsican Mint has been placed just about everywhere we could find. At .30 cents for a 4 inch pot...I had to go crazy and buy 60+, wouldn't you? It forms an inch thick mat you can walk on and smells of stingent mint (delicious).

Wine colored daylily.

Agastache. This is another first for me. Foliage smells like oranges...really nice. This is a few sprigs but my neiborhood garden expert tells me I'll be dividing a large clump in no time.

Zinnias...giants. I never can get these to grow because I forget to water them, so starting with a plant instead of seed is probably a wise move.

Thumbelina and Lilliput Zinnias, 6" to a foot tall. Come on butterflies.

Autumn Joy sedum...3 new plants. Amazingly, these were free.

Inside-out flower. Will have to wait to see the inverted bloom shape.

A couple Columbines.


Hostas.

Michaelmas Daisy, Purple.

Newbies not pictured:
Bishop's Cap
Michaelmas Daisy Blue
Michaelmas Daisy White
Artemesia
Pasque flower
Clematis
Autumn Fern
Coral Bells
Monarda
Oregon Grape
Perennial Sunflower
Zucchini Round
Early straight yellow squash
White squash
Kale

First Fruit

The strawberries are amazing! They don't get too much water from me and they are going strong. I am puzzled as to why no birds or slugs are getting them. Lucky for now...

Exactly one blueberry is on our new Blueberry shrub...I find this pretty amusing and yet I hope for more next year.

July Flowers

Flowers for a friend

The first bouquet of roses from the garden were happily received by a friend for her wedding reception at an historical estate in Seattle this month. It was an amazing night & the roses were very nice! I also tucked in some lilies and poppies at the last minute. You can never have too many flowers.

Beauty

The garden has seen a lot of action this month. Planting, design, transplanting, clean-up and of course, my new favorite: hammock time! For now, let's look at the lovely things...and soon again I will show the progress and changes.









Feverfew is new & will be so nice for bouquets.

Campanula Tricta-something. I better look it up. I just discovered Campanulas and I wonder how I missed them all these years.

This thing is killing me...it is so good...Sundrop...but look at the hot red, ahh!

Knock-out Rainbow rose. A good find, has replaced some ugliness in the garden, more on that later.


Newly planted pot on the back patio...sunflowers, creeping jenny, sweet peas, lettuce.

Peace Rose.

Ocean Spray. A native shrub that wildlife will be loving a few years.

Vine Maple in the compost garden...please grow soon so we can have some shade.

This is a happy spot. Growing Sunflowers, Thai Basil and Verbena Bonariensis.

Indian Prune tree...I think this one is so cool. With a frog house (half buried pot) at the base.

An unknown tree is growing...it came in on a freebie from a garden tour last year...I think she said it was a fig tree...or a cherry tree...hmm. Anyone?

The Salal I planted last year has survived! I thouht it was a gonner from my neglect but I have 2 growing under the snowberry tree now, quite happily.

Maidenhair fern.

Creeping Jenny.

The lovely native snowberry tree.

Euphorbia and Heather.

Just a fairyland picture here...with an emerging magic bean. At least, it's a precious bean that a friend carefully counted out for me from her stash.

Pastel semps, just when I thought you couldn't be more gorgeous.

This was apple green when I planted it...cool!

A fried guacamole hosta who suffered in a "shade garden" that turned out to be quite sunny in the summer time. Transplanted now & hopefully going to fare better.

A fern transplanted to a shadier spot. Apparently shade is rare in this garden.

A new box for composting! Definitely a beautiful thing.

This honey, my sweetie.

Kitten, I see you are as blissed out as I am.

A new mystery. This plant was spied through the hammock holes while I lounged last night...what could this be? I am guessing Chinese Lantern Plant...anyone?

The view from the hammock. This is where it dawns on me, I am the cosmos! What's in me is powering the bird that spirals, singing and quick.