Something is eating my Canna

One morning last week this canna leaf with its trail of perfectly round holes greeted me as I started my watering rounds. I'd never seen anything like it. So, I jokingly sent the photo to my daughter with a note that said that one of Eric Carle's hungry caterpillars had been eating through my canna. For those of you who have never read the book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, you are missing a treat. It's a favorite with both my children and my grandchild....and me, as well.

The mystery of what was eating my canna remained until yesterday as I was browsing through an old gardening magazine when I read about the Canna Leaf Rollers. The Calpodes ethlius or Geshna cannalis leave "a line of holes along an open leaf, as if it were attacked by a hole puncher." Mystery solved. Now I just need to remember to remove all the foliage in the fall so the darn things don't overwinter and attack the canna again next year.

Back Yard Garden Redo

I began a back yard garden space redo in June. The spot had originally been a lawn, but had become a weed patch over time.

This photo taken from the NW corner of the spot shows how it looked before I did anything to it.

And this is how it looked a month later in July. The grass has been hand dug and I now have a bare palette.

This is how it looks today. You can see the stepping stone path that leads through it and several of the plantings that have been made.

This shot is from the SW corner in June when I began the project. Notice the orange day lillies between the two arborvite. They will be dug and moved in the next couple months.

Next, the clean palette in July.

And how it looks today. There are 3 different colors of day lillies, a crocosmia, russian sage, purple lupine, mondo grass, nepeta (Walker's Low), oriental lilies, a orange/yellow yarrow, and a form of iris that I can't name, and several kinds of ground covers and sedums. The upended pots mark places for a couple more large plants that will be moved when the weather cools more.

And two more shots from the NE corner showing the pathway, which has now been set and will have creeping thyme and other ground covers between the stones.

In this one you can see my little 4 X 4 raised vege garden and two of the three compost bins.

So that's the full tour. There is lots more to be planted this fall - hope to get some spring bulbs in this fall and then lots of annuals to fill in next year.

Smorgasbord

My backyard is a veritable smorgasbord of color and fragrance this morning. The calendar may say spring but the temperature says summer. With the very warm temperatures my roses have exploded in bloom. Walking in my garden is a heady experience with all the intense scents that my roses give off. I am of the belief that if I'm going to have a rose in my garden, it needs to have a fragrance. I have such a limited space for them that I just can't choose one with only color and beauty. I have picked an eclectic bouquet to enjoy in the house.

Many other plants are in bloom as well - oriental poppies, iris, California lilac, calla lillies, clamatis, the Stella Dora daylillies, columbine, and honeysuckle (that one smells heavenly).My marathon weeding weekend has made the walk through the yard much more pleasant. I can see the flowers rather than the weeds now.

I love this time of year. (sigh)

Back home

I got back home last Sunday after being gone for about 10 days. I was amazed with how my garden had grown in my absence. Here's a photo of the front year that I just put in one year ago. I'm afraid I will have to dig up some things by next year as they have filled in so quickly. The rhode in the background in front of the house window is COVERED in huge pink flowers. It is nice to see the fruits of last summer's labors.

I missed a haircut appointment while I was gone and my hair became a mess. So, I finally got in for the overdue trim yesterday. I love the way Victoria styles it and have not been able to replicate it. So I took a couple photos so I could remember how good it looks when she does it.

Maybe some day I'll get good enough with the curling brush and the hairdryer so it will look like this all the time.

I finally have some time to get to work in the garden today after working every day this week. I'm just not used to that schedule, but we've moved into the CCC building while still treating patients at the old building. It's kept all three of us nursing personnel working full time to take care of both places. I'll be glad when everyone is moved over and we're all in the same place again.

Off to the garden.......

It's about time

That I update my poor lonely blog. I've been really busy with work, trips to Portland, and yardwork. Also am working on a baby quilt for my first grandchild.

This photo shows my little vegetable garden I've been working on. This area was all grass and weeds until I covered it with newspaper and some of the soil left from last summer's front yard re-do. I'm gradually adding compost, left-0ver soil, fertrich from last summer's project and dolomite lime. I had a soil test done on the soil here - it's in horrid shape so I decided on slightly raised beds so I could take my time enriching it all for the next few years. What you see planted here is a six pack of lettuce varieties, several tiny cilantro seedlings and two rows of carrots and radishes. The branch in the upper portion of the photo is my apple tree which is in full bloom.

The next area of raised bed will hold tomatoes and red peppers. The third area will be green beans, lemon cukes, and a zucchini plant. It's a small area but will keep me in my favorites for the summer. I plan on some rotation of crops as the summer progresses into fall.

The rest of the yard work has been weeding and spring clean-up. I have a lot blooming now and love this time of year in the garden.

March-Lion or Lamb?

I always hope that March will come in like a Lion and out like a Lamb. This year March seems to be conflicted. This morning started out with rain which was supposed to last all day. It's now a bit past noon and the sun is trying to come out. So, I took advantage of it and dashed out to my front garden which is looking like Spring! I'm always thrilled when I take a photo that turns out exactly like I want it to. I'm sharing it with you, my blog readers. Welcome to Spring in Oregon.

Winter landscape

It's been foggy for days and days. Today it rained and then the sun came out briefly. It's still very much winter here. I love this quote from Camas: “In the depths of winter I finally learned there was in me an invincible summer”.

And I might add that in the depths of winter I can also find signs of spring. I have two hellebores that usually bloom at Christmas time. It was so cold around that time that they were delayed for almost a month. Today I found this:

I transplanted this particular plant last summer so it would be in the shade garden. I wasn't really expecting it to bloom the first year after being moved, but it is. I also found that my raspberry colored one has buds on it as well. There is still hope for spring after all.

Finished for Now

The front berm soil enrichment and planting is complete for now. I have a day lily that is ready to bloom and is currently too close to the weeping Japanese maple. When it finishes blooming, I will divide it up and plant it about a foot from where it is now. But that will be the last planting. So this is what it looks like from the corner of my driveway and the street, looking East.
I will add some more small rocks on the East end to create a little walkway to a stepping stone that is next to the top blueberry bush so I can pick it - in a year when it will be old enough to produce berries. But other than adding a few little ground covers and sedums when the temperature gets out of the high 90's in a few days, I AM DONE. I'm pleased with how it looks right now.

Progress Report

I haven't been around lately because I've been busy in the front yard almost every day, and planting a bit in my shade garden, and working at my part-time job, and volunteering my time for the Master Gardeners', and sleeping. That's it for the past week or more. So here's a progress report:

Remeber this from May 3rd? Bare ground view from my front steps.

By May 15th it looked like this:

Note the large shrubs out by the public sidewalk - they will be gone in the next photo. And now this is what it looks like as of noon today.

It's been a huge amount of digging, amending, planting and mulching. I should have the last little patch done in just a couple more days. I'm really happy with how it looks. By next year it should be filled in quite a bit. Here's another view that shows most of the planting.

so that's it, for now. The next post should show the finished front yard. And then I can get back to work on the back yard.......

Planting the Front Yard

After a marathon plant shopping spree with a friend on Saturday, I finally started putting some of my front yard plants in the ground. But first I planted up two containers for the front. The first one is for the porch where there is no direct sun. The cement urn is from a neighbor who no longer wanted it. The pinkish leaves are a fushia calico, sport of Gartenmeister; with a fern pellaea rotundifolia otherwise know as a button fern, and there are several pink impatiens that are too small to see yet.
The second pot is for a spot in full sun. The main plant is Heuchera Dolce Creme de Menthe, with some Perilla Magilla purple, and Dicondra Silver Falls, and my favorite, Millions of Bells. I've usually not put so much in my containers, but have learned from my Fine Gardening magazine that they look much better when planted really full. So I guess I'll see.

For about four hours on Sunday and another two today I double dug the first section of the front new garden space. It's located at the corner of the driveway and the sidewalk, and is the point of the berm. The soil in my yard is awful - sand and black mud which are totally lacking in all important nutrients and have a 5.4 pH according to the soil sample I had tested a couple months ago. So as I dug the trenches, I amended with lime, biofish fertilizer and an organic compost. What a pleasure it is to now dig in that area to plant.

My plan is to have this garden be as drought tolerant in the summer and moisture tolerant in the winter as possible. So plants were selected with that in mind. In the photo you will see a small, reddish Japanese maple tree that will get about 5 - 6 feet tall and will be primarily upright with a bit of a drape, 3 carex that will have lovely brown tipped seed stalks, coreopsis - tickseed, a Phormium 'Maori Sunrise' that will get about 3 feet tall, and a day lily 'Stella d'Ora'. There are also a red creeping thyme and a draping ice plant by the wall. The mass of bright green to the bottom right is my purple scented violet that spreads all over my yard. It's easy to pull after it's bloomed so I just love it and encourage it to naturalize freely. In the right rear you can also see an established bed that has a red barberry, iris, calla lilies, pulmonaria, Asiatic lillies, a huge daphne, yarrow, and penstemon in it. I've been adding to that one for many years and it's really well filled in now.

Hope you enjoyed this garden tour as much as I enjoyed creating it.