Largeleaf Lupine coming up where I transplanted it last year…in a sunnier, drier part of the back yard. There are fewer slugs, there, too, which bodes well for the lupine. Now we’ll have to see about aphids.
The pacific tree frogs are back, they just started croaking the last day. They apparently love the incessant rain we’ve been having since this morning.
First year for White Camas! They have distinctive smaller, more delicate and more greenish yellow leaves than regular camas. Can’t wait to see the flowers. Seeds sown in 2009, they really should bloom this year.
No real snow except a dusting one morning. I shouldn’t complain, I HATE snow when I have to drive to work, which seems like always when it snows.The weather this weekend is 50’s and with lots of sun, especially Saturday. Beats the hell out of the weather in the Midwest and east coast these last two weeks (or ever, frankly), mostly freezing temps and lots of snow.
DOZENS of birds in the front yard yesterday, tons of robins, varied thrushes, junkos, finches and of course the chickadees. ? Maybe looking for any sunflower seeds left behind. Apparently the chickadees hide seeds in “thousands of hiding spots”, which explains the many, many little sites in the ground that looked like birds poking around. There were 3-4 birds in the pond at a time. Watched the varied thrushes do their winter thing and eat the berries from the American Cranberry trees and huckleberries.
We got our first snow today, of course it is a work day and I am on call. Can’t wait till I’m part-timer and don’t have to drive through the mess as much.
Varied thrushes hanging around the yard, they seem to dig the huckleberries. They are supposed to be hard to spot because they are shy, but they were all business foraging. This is not my photo, I did not have the foresight to bring my camera (or the camera to get this shot!). Chickadees also very active, working on a large holiday mosaic trivet honoring those critters. Next holiday, because it won’t be done by this one, I’m pretty sure:
But I have finished other bird mosaics. See below.
Brodiaea starting to pop up, spring won’t be long! Actually, the shortest day hasn’t passed yet but the sprouts always give me hope. I covered the self-sown containers with Bue-eyed Mary and Spring Blush with glass and plastic bag “cloches” to avoid frost damage. Some Hyssop and Gaillardia seeds have germinated, therefore they were covered with plastic bags, too.
Very first is western trillium, which shows up early fall. Now there are several other plants starting to break ground, like shooting stars: dodacatheon pulchellum and dodacatheon dentatum, Trillium chloropetulatum (fragrant), and a couple of rattlesnake plantains (though these are returning there are very few, small plants).
Collected Munro’s Globemallow seeds, looks like ~100 seeds or so. One of the two plants I had is not looking good after transplanting out of a container, so I’m back down to one. Last time I used the seeds, I got exactly one living plant from all of them. They need dry conditions and the containers aren’t ideal.
Almost all the leaves have fallen, so I did my yearly chores of cleaning out the stream and raking the steps. The chickadees seems to appreciate it, they were taking baths in the stream this afternoon.
We finally did the annual cranberry harvest, from two of the three plantings (the newest didn’t produce any). Record haul, slightly over three gallons! We should be in honey-dried cranberries all year!….or at least until we finish them all.
What a great summer, one that actually existed. November now well on its way, it’s time to accept that summer is over.
Most of the fall work is done – the dead-heading, pruning, digging up, sowing and planting/transplanting. Many new seeds bought at the native plant sale and sown outside in the yard and containers, such as mariposa lillies and other eastern Washington species (dry,hot summer and cold snowy winter), but no sense in listing those until they actually germinate next spring. I did plant out many one-year bulbs of small camas seedlings from last year, which makes me wonder: lots of authors advise you to leave those in the container an extra year, which results in larger bulbs but fewer of them than at this stage. So, will my numerous plantings of larger numbers of younger,smaller bulbs earlier result in more plants overall, or not? I guess time will tell. Other bulbs from last year include more small camas (dark blue-purple). hookers onion (rose pink), two kinds of light blue camas and Ookow, or Brodiaea Congesta (pink-purple).
Brodiaea:
First plants to emerge, some in the last week. Mostly bulbs poking up: Brodiaeas in December, Shooting star in January, White camas, Hooker’s onion and some kind of lily (looks like chocolate) this month.
Shooting star, White camas:
Dodacatheon pulchellum and camas cusickii are up, as is one brodiaea type seedling. Most camas and brodiaea are late, they should be popping up by now.
Lot of rain days this month, which bodes well for the huckleberries….they need June rains. The garden is getting very lush, and there are lots of flowers in bloom. The Globemallow that I transplanted into a large blue pot has lots of bright orange flowers. I darn near killed it but it rallied. Lots of daisies, penstemons, asters, columbines, irises, and sedums. And finally some Tiger Lilies!
ellensgarden.us 