Taming the wild garden part 2

No those aren't in th box. I know where huge patches are growing in the woods of the twin flower. Very nice little ground cover. I have ordered mitella for the nursery but no seeds. I will keep my eyes open for them. Love the pictures of your garden. Crappy windy rainy day out here. Heidi

thanks heidi, on both accounts. I would like to find both of these plants for the wild area.

I think they would work great. I like twin flower alot how about galax and shortia both of those are very nice ground covers and evergreen with nice leaves and flowers. I love shortia can't have enough then there are some of the hepaticas but most of the ones I like are very expensive, What is that christionsons nursery in England mail order I think they have some of the best. Heidi and Dragonfly

Thank you all, I'm enjoying them alllot nice to be warm.
Guess i've got to get me some ghomes now, to match my hat.

Careful tills, they are prone to hatnapping - gnomes have an odd sense of ownership.

galax, shortia, hepatica now on my search list. Christiansons I don't know - tick, also on my search list. (I must get one of those little tiny blackberry thingies so I can search during boring sessions - Anna Freud use to knit during supervision sessions - quite right).

I love it Laurie!

Carole, I ditto Laurie with hope that Steve regain some stability in his health.

There are so many posts lately, I can hardly keep up. Congratulations to all who have new babies in the family!

Funny Laurie
I looked at the ones we have and they all have red hats, I'll have to get the ones I like and paint them blue

We have a bizzard goning now I just got home was hard driving home couldnt see the road.

Here's a picture of my far less elegant steps than Laurie's. I'm on a fairly flat acre, so only a few steps are required to walk down off the patio. I'm attempting to get Irish moss growing between the paver stones.

Thats going to look cool, Have you thought of that plant that can walk on can't think of its name, saw it in a cat.

Mauryhill - that looks great. I have a similar spot; need to figure out whether I want to do timbers or stones . . .

MHF! There is nothing inelegant or less than! Those are marvellous - and planted up they will be wonderful! Grow on1

Katie, you can always use my solution when a choice is presented, use both! (or is that eat both?) Well, same principle.

tils, Blizzard - hmmmmm does this mean 'oh no, can't get to work....sigh' or are you charging ahead and risking life and limb to get the store open? the first one please - the gnomes need you.

Heidi, the only Christianson's Nursery I can find seems to be a famous one at Mt. Vernon Wash? Any other clues?

No thats not the one. They are very nice and for some weird reason the owners of christonsons come over here and visit me every year. It is a perons name and maybe google hepatica. Nancy Heckler who has a beautiful garden here and Has been in Martha Sterwart Magazine orders from them. I ill check on it I might be off with the name.
Also I love you patio I is great. The little stones make the diiference Heidi

Thank you - much appreciated

Laurie - I do like the way you think. I'm thinking that, in the interest of progress, I'll cut some timbers to 4 ft lengths and then imbed them in the little slope and anchor them with spikes, as you have done. That will still leave the tops (the "treads", I think, with normal stairs) and I'll be able to decide whether to add slome slate pieces or flat plantings (or, again, both!!).

My biggest challenge is getting started . . . but it will make a big difference when I do as, right now, with the wet clay and me and the dogs traversing that path daily, it's just a slippery, almost muddy, mess.

Went to work, snow melted off then it froze, the yard and my road was nothing but ice, once I got on the main road all was fine. They never do anything to the back roads around here.

Katie - I am glued to my seat awaiting pictures! this sounds good. (muddy slopes, dogs, and throw in a squirrel to chase with me joining in - steps are a very good idea!)

AND you got home - more important tils. ;)

Well, I can certainly come up with the before pics right away. :-)

Mary - we had no ice up here, which seems unusual, since we're in the foothills of the Cascades. My morning windshield didn't even look as though it had gotten into the low 30F's.

We've had lots and lots of wind, though. Lost power for a few hours in the middle of the night on Wednesday. The trees have been dancing nonstop for two days now. Fortunately, with all the wind we've had over the last year or so, there aren't many "weak" limbs or branches falling into the yard. It's crazy how much trees shed.

Soferdig is driving from Seattle back to Kalispell on Saturday night, so it would be good if we all held our breath for him until he gets over the pass. First, of course, it has to be open, which it hasn't been much in the last month and secondly there is such a risk of avalanche this year that he'll be in the midst of it for that 30 miles over the top. Safe travels, Steve!!

I keep a bonnet on my windshield so I don't have to scrape ice, just take it off and go, best thing I ever bought for 2 bucks. That morning I have to peel it off the windshield it was frozen to it, when I got out to Kingston there was no ice or in Lynnwood, Kitsap Co. always gets it worse, most of the time.

Let me think, should I tell them that I was out gardening in my t-shirt yesterday, and we all sat for a 15 minute sunbath during the tea break. Shhhhh, nah, it would be tooooooooo cruuuueeeelllll.

yours sincerely, her with tiara.

(oh, yes, and its another glorious glorious day today - oops, that just slipped out).

Not funny, but at least someone is enjoying it, have fun

Glad that someone has found the sun! Soak it up for all of us Laurie!

How warm is warm Laurie? It wasn't too bad today a little windy though. Heidi

Laurie . . . actually today was pretty nice here. Not much of the rain that was promised. Walked through the expensive nursery here and looked at the $42.00 hellebores - said to be Heronswood creations. Just couldn't bring myself to do it - but they are beautiful.

But, Susy, I splurged on Monrovia's Symphoricarpos 'Kolcharm'. I'll try to remember to do cuttings and save one for you!!

Katie what is that one haven't heard of it.Do I need it? Heidi

Yes, you do. :-) Look: http://www.monrovia.com/MonroviaWeb.nsf/8c104835579b67e18825685f006acdf8/18586a76b3b3773d852570f4006937c3!OpenDocument

Takes the standard snowberry and cranks it up a notch,

ooh, that is pretty! That'd be really cool! Thanks!

($42 Hellebore-wow, but I bet it was beautiful!)

This message was edited Feb 10, 2008 8:46 AM

42.00?? oh brother!! I guess that's another downside to having Heronswood closed forever.
I just got one from Heidi for less than half that. 'Kingston Cardinal'.

Hmmmm, hellebores are a bit on the expensive side - but they are slow growers, up to 12 months to germinate, and 5-7 years to blossom. Thats a lot of nursery time. You just can't hurry them up.

No kidding. And I'm sure, being Woodinville, there will be a few people who won't hesitate to drop a little $$.

They were beautiful, though. No two ways about it.

I think I was told that you cna get them to bloom in 2 years. H does that. They were light liquid fertilizing every week. The ones at my nursery are two years old and snow bunting is blooming and green heron I don't think Kingston kardinal will this year but nice leaves and the yellow one will bloom. Food food food. These were tissue cultured last year. I learn something everyday.

Well Laurie I guess I have missed this one. I love your garden. It is a lot like mine with the sloping angles everywhere. I am going to copy your Foxglove in my woodland garden in the stairway. Any plant you have to walk around brings interest to the garden traveler. Your woven sticks is kind of tedious for me. I have no patience to do all of that weaving. I am a guy so havent learned how to braid my hair. We all should post our working clothing. It gives us the value of humility in our garden endevors. My DW hardly ever takes pictures so I have many of her but few of me.
Kathy I have snow berry bushes growing everywhere here. They are native to our area. The only problem I have with them is the dull leaf that gets ugly in the hot summer. Also they get bugs here. I have removed several hundred of them in my woodland garden addition. They take over here. Ours don't have that much pink on them though. Yours are probably different.
I have an entire file of my DW's butt while gardening. She is going to kill me but here she is hard at work

Heidi, tissue-cultured as in cloning? Or truly something fancier? I'd like to expand my collection of hellebores and I'm willing to wait.

Ooooh, poor DH. My dad was an amateur photographer, so I have literally 100's of me growing up - in my curlers, sleeping, in my nightgown, in my sweats - pretty much anything dorky. Thanks, dad. :-) My mother always said it was because, to him, I was always beautiful. Awwwww. Yeah, nice try, mom. She didn't seem to feel that way when he was snapping shots of her in the same. I think she was just glad to pass the baton. LOL

Steve, I have seen some pretty bad looking leaves on Snowberry. This one is "supposed" to be better. We'll see. I have a good, shady, cool spot for it. Clearly, it's at its best when there are berries and no leaves!!! Remind me of this if/when I'm complaining in a couple of years.

Glad you're home safe from your travels.

Oh I wanted to tell you that I like tyme the best to walk on because it smells so good. It makes me stop and sit when I walk through the tyme. This is a pathway of varied tymes. This picture does not show the path but it is flat sandstone large pieces leading to the fire pit.

Steve, meant to tell you that you inspired me to pick up a Rhus typhina "Bailtiger" this weekend. Love the way they dot your garden. Makes everything else stand out.

Yes tissue culture or cloning. Many plants are being propagated that way now, so more can be available at cheaper prices.

What is Rhus bailtiger Is that tigereyes the chartruse one?

Here is one behind the Delphiniun.

Tiger eyes. I like that it's a little more ocmpact, golden, has fall color and is xeriscape. And I'm into chartreuse right now. I have one Dart's Gold Ninebark planted and I just realized that I have another in a pot - pathetic, yes, but I'm thrilled. It has the most awesome bark and grows quickly - it's a little heavier trunked than Diablo.

Nice picture with the delphiniums, Steve. I have a couple that have overwintered in my little greenhouses. I had planned to put them with the roses, but maybe they "need" to go with the sumac.

Steve, which Delp. is that?