I can't wait till my garden looks like this again!

It was funny. My Tyler never seen a dog this big, but wanted to play so bad.

Well here we are, well on our way to the Holidays and this is what my beloved garden looks like today.
Susan

But Wait! There's still color in the area! I guess nobody told this Verbena and Stock that it's time to go. The Stock is volunteers from last year.
Susan

Susan, thanks for taking the time to post this progression. Your garden is truly lovely! I am often envious of the gorgeous plants that can be grown in cooler climates but wither and die quickly down here. But, after seeing your photos and how long you have to wait to see those gorgeous blooms, you DESERVE to have some elusive lovelies up there that can't be grown elsewhere simply as a reward for weathering all that cold for so much of the year! I noted that you had snow last year on a day that we had a swim party! =P

=P, Thank you! I am already anxiously awaiting Spring! I planted 16 Bearded Iris (blue, pink, purple and burgundy) last Sat and ordered 70 Gladiolus bulbs (16 Hardy and 54 reg in colors ranging from green, pink, purple, combo of pink, white and yellow, burgundy and blue)! I'm going to be chomping at the bit ALL WINTER! LOL!
Susan

btw-look what else I found still in bloom and happy as a Lark! This Aster.

And this Chrysanthemum struggling to hang on!

Gotta love those plants that are still hanging in there. Eastern Washington had 68 degree temps yesterday. Did that happen to you?

No, just got up to 58 here.

Baaaa Ton Ruuuuuge you are so unkind to those of us who have to swim during the 2 weeks in late summer where the mountain lakes are tolerable. Up here in Sitka there was lots of snow in the mountains 500 ft up and a heavy hail storm to freshen up the plants decision to go to sleep. Though today was cold climate beautiful with sunny mountain tops and bright morning sun.

Well, Susan, it looks like you're in for the long haul of winter again. I look forward to more shots as it progresses. By the way, where are the milk cans?

Margaret, yes we are. I will definitely post progressional pics again this year. The milk cans are safely tucked away on the porch in a "No Dog Zone". I'm going to remove the plants from the pots tomorrow and put them on the cans again for safe keeping for the winter. I'll take a pic when I'm done. I think I'll plant shade loving plants in them next year. The plants I had in them this summer didn't do well in the shade and since the GK's are the ones that painted them for us I need to keep them under protection.
Talk to you tomorrow.
Susan

Yes, Susan, it looks like you've captured almost the full cycle of seasonal changes. What a neat idea.

Thanks Katie.

Susan is that an ash shute for a fireplace behind the tubs? I love the rock work in that wall. Keep posting color for us locked in the brown months.

No, that is an old milkhouse. The vent is to help keep the floor cool in the summer months when the milk was stored in there until the truck came and picked it up. Here's a pic of the entire back wall that faces west with the sheep trough in front of it..

This is the north side that faces the house, that poor old Honeysuckle is slowly but surely dieing every yr.
All of the items on top of the roof have been dug up by us over the yrs after we moved here, we just started putting the items on the roof and just started a collection. The original dairy farmers that lived here buried EVERYTHING! They did that as there wasn't a refuse pit in Bend at that time so they would dig a hole throw everything in it and when it was full they would cover it up and dig another one. You'll see what I mean in the next pic.

This is obviously the front that faces east. No, we haven't dug the car up that those plates went to LOL!!!

And last but not least the south side with a small window and below it another vent. It definitely stays cool in there, those walls are 2 ft thick and there's insulation in the attic. The insulation used to be Juniper duff that worked very well but was starting to fall through the tiny cracks in ceiling so we took all of the duff out (what a chore) and put regular insulation in it.. Very low ceiling, about 6'6" and the doorway is about 6 ft.

That shed is a charmer.

Thats way to cool, (funny). Love the junk on the roof.

Tilly, thanks for the early morning giggle! =)

Nice milk cooler shed. We had those in Michigan where I grew up. Love the rock work and the dig ups. We do a similar thing with things we find in our garden digging. Hang them from the open basement ceiling. Very ancient Honeysuckle plant. I would plant a clematis to climb and color the dead wood.

How I'd love to have a shed like that. I've thought of building one but wouldn't have a clue how to go about it and my main fear is that it would fall in on me just as I was sitting inside the completed structure with a congratulatory glass of champagne.

Margaret - what's stopping you! Honestly, if you have a good source of stone (as in lying around in the ground) - get yourself off to the local library and do a bit of research!!! Go girl - as one of the women on this thread who has her own cement mixer, my feeling is the only thing stopping any of us from building anything is pinpointing the start date!

Maybe you could start with a retaining wall just to get your rhythm going, and then......... well, we all look forward to following progress!!

(Can you tell I'm into another of those big musclely projects? - Its winter, what is a girl gardener to do? Yes yes, I have photos - a progresion. Will post as soon as I get back into town).

Laurie, now I'm intrigued! Your projects are always amazing.

Thank you all for the compliments and yes Margaret I fully agree with Laurie do the research! Keep us posted. Here's a couple pics of the milk cans and painted pots that I said I would post. Here's the first.

And from the opposite angle.

Great Idea Laurie! We men love to build BIG ROCK BUILDINGS. Uggggggh Urrrr. Me go build rock building in warm spring weather.

Thank you Soferdig! You build BIG ROCK BUILDING, but why wait till warm spring weather?!

Must sit in Igloo and keep woman warm. Hmmmmmm

ROFLMBO!!!!! All you MEN ARE ALIKE!!!!

This message was edited Nov 17, 2008 9:34 AM

This message was edited Nov 17, 2008 9:39 AM

I'm sorry Soferdig did I bruise your ego? DH is no different believe me! Love him to death for it too!!!!^_^
There's nothing better than a warm snuggle on a cold winters night. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!^_^

This message was edited Nov 17, 2008 11:44 AM

Men have no ego problems. We just need to have woman keep us encouraged all the time. LOL

LOL
If you didn't you all would be lost.

Tils, most of them are lost anyway - they just don't know it and we are too polite (and lovin) to tell them. Fragile egos, and they don't know that either.

Holly - plans, sheesh. I have camera sitting her next to my computer with out the connecting cable!! Bah. I do have photos though.

So I DID bruise your ego! LOL!!! ROFL!!!

LOL Laurie you are right, we just have direct them in the right path. in a good way. I just love your projects can't wait for the next one. And why did you leave your cord behind? Can you take the chip out and put in your puter?

Gardener, I like that setting, kudos to you.

Steve, Women rule, Men drool. LOL

TILS!!! Take what chip out and put where in the computer!!! This is what you do, my little photo wizard - I stick to the rules: remember cable, read instructions, no variation! Yikes - think about what a computer does? Noooooooooooo.

Yes Women do rule and men accept the fool, for this is the tool to keep things cool.