Mulch!

Finally, after all this time we have a huge pile of mulch. Yesterday our friends Adam and Kevin came out to help us weed all the beds and get them mulched in for the winter. That should really cut down on the weeds (though I'll be pulling thistles for a long time yet). It looks fantastic! Can't wait to get the rest of the garden done, but of course looks like we'll have rain for the next week. Oh well.

Before:

During:

After:

Closer view:

The compost came from BCP and is the best stuff I have seen since the landfill stopped processing the city's yard waste into black gold. Really hot, fluffy and rich. It will break down beautifully. Best of all - there's enough to do the whole garden and still have a pile left for spring too.

Here's a couple other pics. Tuck in the dahlias and a lovely purple dahlia with white tips I got from my friend Patt.

Plant Swap

Daniel and I went to a plant swap yesterday. We started attending these events back in 2000 and try to go to at least one each year, just to see friends mainly. It is so much fun. Arranged off the Pacific Northwest Exchange forum at Gardenweb, most folks make prearranged trades and then bring extras to swap on the spot. We always end up with a big 'free pile' at the end that everyone sorts thru for goodies they can use. Potluck food is brought along as well, and has always been fantastic. I had nothing to take but some leftover irises and a few dahlia tubers, but came home with the car packed full.

I forgot the camera so no pics of Mark and Lanelle's beautiful garden. It has grown so much since the last swap held there 3 years ago. Got to see some old friends (missed you Doris!) and made some new ones. Our dear friend Kellie loaded us up with seemingly endless pots of vine maples, among the other treasures to be had. I am most excited about the 3 native dogwoods we managed to come home with. It will be great to get those in the mix of trees around here, as we were disappointed that none were to be found growing wild. Here's a shot of the booty. We'll be doing alot of planting today.



There's just one thing about the day that could have been better - traffic. Note to self: next time there's a swap at the same time as the Puyallup Fair and in teh same general area just beg off for another day. Dinner at Volaré later that night with Joey and terry was also a treat. Good food, good friends - all in all a great way to celebrate my b-day.

Garden visit with Weldon Neuschwanger

One afternoon my friend and coworker Ruth and I took a long lunch to do a garden visit at a friends house. Daniel met us outside work and came along. It was a short drive out to Tumwater where Weldon Neuschwanger and his wife Barbara have been gardening their property for more than 50 years.

Tucked at the end of a cul-de-sac on a bluff high above the freeway traffic (which sounds like a river rushing in the background), Weldon's garden is a densely planted and beautifully designed oasis that uses every inch of the good sized city lot. Narrow pathways - almost tunnels thru the shrubbery in some places - lead from room to room around the house, opening onto one gorgeous view after another. Overhead rises a huge dawn redwood planted from one of the first shipments of seedlings to be brought to America in the 1940's.

The garden abounds with heirloom plants, many with special family histories - numerous roses and peonies brought out from Barbara's mother's garden in the midwest are a special treasure. But on this visit we came to see the Mexican poppies bloom. They grow profusely along the corner of the drive, and are so lovely with old roses planted amongst them. Very difficult to get starts from, and never setting seed (not enough heat), they grow 7 feet tall and have large white blooms six inches across. The dahlias and hollyhocks were also looking amazing. No matter what time of year there is always a spectacular display at Weldon's.

Below: Daniel, Weldon and Ruth chat next to the mexican poppies (on right).

Below: Close up of the poppy bloom. A perfect 'fried egg'.

Below: Dahlias and hollyhocks.

Below: A very colorful honeysuckle still in profuse bloom.

Below: Daniel checking out the begonias, which summer in this shady outdoor room under old japanese maples.

Below: Across from the begonias is a gazebo sited amidst lush ferns and hostas and hung with bits of garden art.

Below: In the back garden is a lovely planting of hot summer colors.

Feels like fall

Cooler temps and turning leaves have lent a feeling of autumn to our area. Seems like we just waited for summer all season and now it's slipped away without ever really arriving.

Here's a few recent photos.

Joey deadheading the dahlias

Daylily 'Brien Lee' - loves those black buds.

A dahlia display with bowls of fruits and veggies.

And finally, the gorgeous geometry of sedum spurium

We're off to Mike's Dahlias in Shelton this morning to do some shopping for next years growing. I am excited to have some new varieties. Even though we added 28 last year, many turned out to be duplicates or just bad varieties (stems to short for cutting, lousy garden display, horrific color, etc.) and only a dozen or so remain.
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Late summer....

Warm evenings these past few days brings termites out of their buried stumps just as the sun dips below the horizon. This in turn brings out the little bats that fly in crazy patterns all about the clearing around the house snapping them from the air. We enjoyed sitting on the porch and watching their silhouettes against the sunset sky a few nights ago.

Someday a bat box for the big tree. Good pest control.

The Driveway

It's done! It's done! Hallelujah!!! I'm dancing around the garden on my tiptoes!!!

Pensinsula Sand & Gravel was out yesterday afternoon to deposit 20 yards (truck and trailer recorded a net weight of 26.92 tons) of 3/4" black driveway rock from the local (Kennedy Creek) Quarry.




It was applied in a "rutspread" manner - meaning that blocks were set in the center of the dump gate to place the gravel only on the ruts of the driveway. You can see the two pieces of tubafor on the lip of the trailer's bed.


The center strip was not gravelled, except for along the bend, and that was simply a fortuitous accident. The blocks fell out right at the befinning of the bend, and the driver didn't stop until he had finished the bend. I was pleased, as that area needed a bit more rock anyway.


The 20 yards were enough to cover the entire length of the driveway - just. LOL! I am so relieved on a number of accounts... my little Honda Civic won't bottom out, nor will Julie's car. The gravel should help with the mud pit and water flow problems, too. I suppose the proof of that will be had during the soggy season. Hopefully, the protective layer of gravel will assure that tires don't kick the roadbed rocks out anymore.

I watched Mike drive out this morning, and was just a little sad to see the first set of tire tracks laid down on the fresh gravel. It's not so new now... but it's gorgeous all the same.

(And just so you all know, Julie rocks like the red-headed and tattooed love child of Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. Thank you Julie)

Mustela frenata

Have you ever seen a long-tailed weasel? Me neither. Until last night, that is.

Long-tailed weasels (Mustela frenata) are apparently native here, according to the Burke Museum at the University of Washington.

This fellow was very cute. I first noticed that there was this reddish brown creature hopping playfully about the end of my driveway, up by the county road. I figured it was a squirrel, until I realized how large it was, and noticed the strange tail sticking out behind it. As I continued down the drive, it continued to hop about, from one side of the driveway to the other. Eventually, it hopped a short way down the neighbor's drive. I noticed it hopped like a ferret, which I thought unusual, as I had never seen a rich red-chocolate brown ferret before, and certainly not one out in the wild around here.

I wanted to know what kind of creature I was looking at, so I jogged back to the house. Yes, I jogged. Highly unusual, I know, but this was a very exciting moment. Arriving breathlessly back at the house (it's a long driveway, you know), I did a Google Image search for weasels and WA. The image of Mustela frenata was a perfect match!

Of course, since I was just out for my evening stroll down to the end of the road (you know, checking out Mt. Rainier, splash about in the sound, contemplate the beauty of my neighborhood), I didn't bring a camera. What a shame! Luck would have it that by the time I made my way back down the driveway, the little dear had gamboled away.

I am hoping I see this little fellow again - and here's to having a camera on hand!