Yesterday my family and I watched a pileated woodpecker feeding its young from a snag directly behind our fence. I noticed the bird and we quickly grabbed our binoculars for a better view. The young bird fell down the tree occassionally and had to scamper back up. Then the parent would peck LARGE holes in the snag and feed the young bird. It was amazing to see! The two birds were on the snag at least for 30 minutes while we watched and we have no idea how long before or after. It was a treat for the entire family.
More garden news coming soon, mainly maintenance!
I was out of town for 10 days right during the big heat wave here in WA. Fortunately I have irrigation and somehow even the hanging planters and other plants in pots survived. Though I am guessing I got home in the nick of time. Of course, after I got home there was only 1 more wamr day and now we’re back to cloudy and in the 60’s. It figures.
Anyhow, after catching up on all the watering and weeding, things are looking good again. I added some more plants to my new left slope planting bed and will have to get the list of plants posted soon.
Otherwise, here’s what’s blooming, and it’s a lot!
- Lady’s Mantle
- Iris
- Peonies
- Clematis
- Columbine
- Snapdragons
- Pin cushion flower
- Hardy geranium
- Roses
- Weigela
- Poppy
- Allium
- Azalea
- English Daisy
- Sea Thrift
- Rhododendron
- Mountain Laurel
- All ground covers
I am glad that I arrived early at the plant sale as I actually caused plant envy as I grabbed the last BERBERIS linearifolia ‘Orange King’ I also found many wonderful grasses and miniature plants for my fairy garden. The plant sale was crowded and has a wonderful selection! I’m planning on going again tomorrow as it was a bit tricky navigating the sale with a curious 2 year old, but we had fun! My daughter especially enjoyed meeting Mister Magoo, a blind baby lamb just 6-8 weeks old that a Master Gardener brought with her. Very cute!
Just some work this weekend on the new slope perennial bed. I added some liatris and california poppy volunteers from elsewhere in my garden along with 3 new snapdragons and flowering sage that I picked up at Home Depot. After adding some new edging stones to better define the bed things are really coming together nicely.
This coming weekend is the Lake Wildernes Arboretum’s Annual Plant Sale and I am looking forward to some nice plant finds. They are advertising new, lower prices which will be awesome being that their prices were already low! Mainly I’ll be looking or some additional miniature plants for the fairy garden, some nice alpine plants which are always a welcome addition and then anything that might work in the new slope perennial butterfuly garden.
On an intellectual level, I know there will never be an “end” to gardening. There are always plants to move, cut back, weeds to pull and new ones to plant. Occasionally though I only think one project ahead and then think I actually see an end. But really, there is no such thing. Currently, my “end” was planting the dahlia tubers. First of all, since I am planting these on my slope and it involves a pickax it is a much tougher project than I gave it credit for. Think pickax, lug soil up the slope, the tubers and then mulch and water with a finishing touch of slug poison. So far I am only a third of the way done. I would probably be farther along, but I have two small children and a Monday through Friday traveling husband. So most big work only happens on the weekends. Then, I completely forgot about my next two projects, getting the fountain de-winterized and running again and installing stone steps strategically on the slope. Oh yes, and time to get out the garden art and bird baths. Yes, plenty to keep me busy all summer.
So, to catch up, new plantings, some dahlias, sedum and some red NAME.
Also, the Fairy Garden is now open!
I convinced my children that the fairies moved back after wintering in California. They wonder however why they never see the fairies, even though they knock on the doors. I tell them that the fairies go to school and work during the daytime and sleep in their homes at night but they wouldn’t mind if my daughters play with their Disney fairy toys in the fairies’ yard as long as they are careful.
Finally, here’s what’s newly blooming:
- corydalis
- dicentra
- lilac
- creeping phlox
- lamium
