Hey Tilly, I know what you mean about a long way to go, and about junk piles and old automobiles. That is the story of my yard too.
Here is one of my before and afters as it is underway. The tree is a ginkgo that my dad grew from a seedling, and planted with me 8 years ago. After he passed away (2 years ago) I decided to plant a memorial garden around it. The first photo is digging up the ground around the tree to get all the tough-as-nails grass out.
This photo is of the next summer with the plants beginning to grow up...enough for me to tell some plants need to be moved around, being bigger than I thought, or placed awkwardly (that is my challenge- not such good visual/spatial skills). but the ginkgo tree my dad planted is much happier to have the grass away from its trunk and getting lots of love, attention and a bit more summer water.
Hello, hello, (she says rushing in and throwing her scarf and coat over the dog who is sleeping in my chair and won't move - nothing like typing while sitting on a growling terrier) - I am one of the remiss - I have been caught up in mending leakages (real and imaginary), earning dog biscuit money (which arrives in large wadges of small denomination, and then none at all) dealing with a newly widowed father that seems to have gone off his trolley, re-discovered sexual desire, and is taking up with a 38 yr. old tottie (true) while stalking all of my mother's life long friends. Interesting. And gardening - in mud. consequently, I have few photos to show (perhaps I could show one of crazed gardener - but that would require DH to take the snap, and goodness knows which country he is in right now. Although he is due home, at some point. Ahh, it is his birthday today - he'll definately be home - never one to miss a birthday celebration he has declared that he has a birthday week, except when it falls on a weekend. Then he writes letters to the editor about being cheated of his extended celebrations. Lovely being married to an eccentric).
Just to make things more interesting, and in light of NOT having enough to do (my solution to leakage is make more projects up) - I have yet again signed up for the Breast Cancer walking marathon (May 16th - so plenty of time she says waving a gay hand in the air), and volunteered to open my garden in June as a fund raiser for two plant societies (along with my extremely experienced and sophisticated plantsman neighbours). Okay - this means weeding, close weeding. I don't do close weeding - I do beat back the worst of it and admire the rest, and then start another project.
So hello to all that I have missed - Thank you Tills for plumping us all out of our slumber with feet stretched to the fire, dozing nicely - hello to those I haven't met before - and complete kudos to Balvenie for writing one of the most hiliarious pieces I have read in a long time - I couldn't stop laughing.
I will return. right after I walk the dog (poor dog - maybe he'll stop sulking and get out of my chair), and get the last of these reports sent out. Hello, again, to all. I have missed you. xo.
And may I also send a most warm welcome to your new President.
Lynn, love your greenhouse, if your hubby runs out of projects, Hint! Hint!, Jim
Laurie, sounds like a mountain of stuff. I just checked in on my way off to work. So happy to hear from you. ^_^
Be back tonight.
Holly love the story.
Laurie, I don't know how old your dad is, but mine is 89 and if he could drive, he'd be at the local topless bar. God forbid that he meet some sweet young thing who might realize he's got some money! Fortunately, he is (so far) being wise enough NOT to get behind the wheel.
Robert, Gwen's Aga is doing fine and sends her regards.
Ladybug, Maybe I will post some stuff on the kitchen garden in a separate post. You used to have an Aga and now don't? How can you even cope? LOL I am so attached to mine, I don't think I could cook on another stove.
Galega, We have 2 of those brilliantly-colored Japanese maples, planted before we moved in. They are stunning!
Tills, love your wishing well!! That woodland area is coming along nicely. Isn't it fun to watch it unfold?
Lynn, your house and property are lovely. I'm wanting to see more pics!!!!!! How nice to have a handy husband. Mine isn't much good as far as handyman stuff is concerned. I don't think he enjoys it. He can sometimes be motivated to build something but not too often.
Maury, the 40x60 area was already in when we moved here. It had a couple smallish areas blocked off with pressure treated lumber and that was it. A few roses plunked down here and there willy nilly. I immediately started envisioning French parterres and English potagers, which are basically the same thing only I see the parterre as being more formal with more ornamentals and the potager as being more a kitchen garden. So I have an elaborate plan which combines both.
Tills, is that adorable yellow bird house bench in your garden? That is soooo cute!
Regarding garden tours, why don't we 'feature' one of our gardens each week. We can post photos, tell what's going on with it, plans for the future, etc. Each person can start a new thread on their week.
Tills, you wanna go first?
Hi all. I just saw tillys thread on the 'most recent' . I will join the PNW forum if you need more participation ^_^ Just kiddin ^_^ I think alot of forums are slower in the summer. Now that the time of the cold and the dark is here/or coming things should get busy. Thanks for letting me pop in. CYA
Gwen, we still have the Aga- 4 door, garnet red (love it). It hasn't been shipped from NC yet, need to clear the garage for off loading until we can 'redo' the kitchen to accommodate it. Hard to plan for given that this is a new house and there's nothing wrong with the kitchen other than it doesn't have an Aga. Kiddos can't wait for it to move into this house. I've had to relearn to cook...
I'd love to see your kitchen garden and hear ideas on a separate thread when you get to it.
Garden tours would be great - just put me at the bottom of the list as I've not got a garden really yet. Lots of ideas from great posts here on the PNW forum, some great plants from the plant swap (gifts to me) and bulbs or daylilies waiting for spring. Not much to see here at the moment, but I'd love to see everyone else's wonderful spaces.
Hello to all and welcome to Lynn. Your home is beautiful. I agree this fall has been one of the best ever. I've been cleaning-up beds, planting things still in pots, and putting about 3" of compost on everything. I think of this every year and sometimes do some beds, but this is the first time I've done it all. Dahlianut, we would welcome you here on PNW also. We'll do the whole pacific coast and learn a lot.
Thanks willowwand. I'm on the other side of the big rocks north of Soferdig (although he never seems to be home, perchance cuz I threaten to visit? tee hee) so I don't think I qualify to be PNW but my folks live in the PNW so I can be a PNW cousin ^_^
Although I am relatively new (a few months) to DG and a new gardener - welcome Lynn. I like your greenhouse and am trying to figure out how to set up a temporary one until I can convert that old carriage shed! I'm afraid my little city garden does not compare with the spacious gardens you all have. However, I'm not sure I could handle anything bigger!
Now that the rainy weather is here, and the election is over, I look forward to reading about everyone's garden issues! Being a transplant from California I have never lived in a place where you need to bring plants in for the winter. Today I moved plants from the porch into the house. Everything else in the yard looks like it should remain outside since there are mostly medium to large shrubs, lilac, rhododendron, etc. The trees are beautiful colors but as the leaves fall I can tell it will look really bare soon. What do the rest of you do to make a bare winter garden more attractive? I kind of like it looking bare since it keeps you in tune with the changing seasons but I would like to see a little something!
I am looking forward to the garden tours. Your before and after pictures are particularly inspiring. You have put a lot of hard work creating the new gardens. The reflect so much love and caring and they have personality - much more interesting than the magazine photos of some gazillionaire's garden that was created and maintained by someone else. What do you have planted in them? I am new, so I don't recognize everything. I like to know what everyone has planted in their gardens.
What is an Aga?
Here is a picture of the area next to my greenhouse in front of the big ugly propane tank. I planted this in August 2008. This area was covered with blackberry vines so bad, you couldn't even get to the tank. That is Summer Chocolate Mimosa, 2 Mexican Orange, California Lilac, NZ Flax, Black & Blue Salvia, Gayfeather, a pot of Bamboo, 3 Black Lace Elderberry's ( they lost their leaves). Uh oh, I think I overplanted!!! They just look so little and cute and lonely by themselves, I forget they grow up.
It's just amazing where you can tuck in a greenhouse on a city lot Portland1. I took this pic this morning. First snowfall.
Love your new bed Lynn, I'll bet it was a lot of work to clear the area to plan in if it was blackberries. We're working on that now with some help. Only thing nice about the BB so far is they attract the deer, bear too but we've not seen one yet. I'd like the deer to continue to enjoy the BB not the lovely 'new' plants we've planted.
An Aga is an enameled coated cast iron English Baker. They come 2 and 4 oven, fired either by natural gas or propane. Slow cooker supreme.
Snow! I love snow and rain and all the weather everyone else complains about.
I have an Aga, but a new version 44" duel fuel - not the version commonly used in England. I first found out about Aga stoves when I was working in London and a friend had one that he absolutely loved. I love mine. See attached photo.
ok Portland1 I'm coming to steal your kitchen. I have a gas stove but not an Aga. Can you say 'upgrade'? hmmmm now where will this fit in with the 'rip out the driveway to make a new dahlia bed' project I wonder? You PNW foks are dangerous! I'm already getting way too many fabby ideas.
Dahlianut - is your greenhouse heated? It looks great there by that big tree in the snow. I would have to sacrifice some driveway space.
Dahlia I just finished renovating an old 1905 house and had to gut the kitchen. The space is small so every inch had to count. It's very functional and I love being in it. The Aga I got about 18 months ago when I was living in San Francisco and was going to remodel my kitchen there. When I decided to move to Portland I brought the Aga with me and designed the kitchen around it. I'm not fond of shiny slick kitchens so this stove suits me!
Portland I have a heater that I use in the spring. Thermostat controlled so it shuts on and off. Once my seedlings have germinated I turn it right down. Makes for strong stems. Also I have a polished (polished for my bare feets gardening shoes) gravel floor which absorbs the heat from the sun and casts it back at night so I don't need the heater much once we get into April because we get so much sun. I just harvested the last of tomatos last week although we've been frosting and dipping below since September and I don't use the heater in the fall. I had to have the arborist cut a third (ouch) of the large Mayday tree you mentioned which extended right across the back of the lot to my garden shed (right in the pic) to put in the greenhouse but it is a good fit. As a dahlianut and a huge seeder it is well worth the loss of space for me. I will post a pic of it crammed with seedlings and dahlias in April. It's a riot. Where there's a gardener, there's a way no matter what your zone I always say ^_^
Hi all,
I'm sooo envious of the Aga stoves! Someday in another house or after a major remodel I will have one I hope, not that I even cook much anymore but I love the looks of them. Portland you have a beautiful kitchen.
My house is an old farmhouse built in 1905, a big kitchen but not set-up very well, all the other rooms are small.
Sofer you live in my old stomping grounds. I lived outside of Plains along the river. Flathead Lake was a childhood hang-out, my moms cousins lived in Essex. Still do I think. I love MT just don't miss the winters so much. I did love how well the vegetable garden grew there though.
My gardens look pretty crappy right now, but I'm looking toward spring, ever the optimist...
Linda
Lookin' pretty green and luvly to me thistledownfarm says mitten-clad dahlianut.
Dahlianut,
Yes, but taken in April! I love your cute greenhouse and the cool old building. Brrrr your snow looks cold. Supposed to flood here in the next few days, lots of rain coming.
Yuck!
This is June. Hurry up spring......
Linda
hi... I cant believe it took me this long to find you all! guess I've been a bit busy :o) lol!
hope you dont mind my lurking on your thread here :o)
AnjL
Glad to see you 1AnjL. I just adopted myself into the PNW forum tee hee. Thistledownfarm no worries. Only 6 1/2 weeks til spring!
Portland, love your Aga! It fits perfectly in your kitchen, everything looks wonderful. I love white, just can't keep it looking so clean with kids, dogs, cats and DH.
Mine is the 'old' version. Hoping to add it to my kitchen here in the spring. I'll see if I can dig out a photo from the old house. Best part of the kitchen!
Snow, love it but I'm hoping it waits a bit longer as we're still working on outside project. Rain could wait a bit more too.
Thistledown, if you're interested in Agas, you might inquire with a dealer on used/cleaned stoves. They are often a much better deal than brand new. They are easy to clean and reinstall if the enamel is not damaged. Fire right back up and work great. I believe they are referred to as 'reconditioned'. In this economy, folks might be trading them in. The dealer in Charlotte did almost as much business in reconditioned material as she did new. Worth a try if your in the market.
Dahlia you can get me to fly home if you are coming to visit. I will have more time home next year and you are always welcome. I am sorry I missed the snow. I too love it! Can't wait to get home and enjoy the white beauty.
Linda I spent a lot of time working in Plains and Thompson Falls. A very nice community of people there. It is quite a retirement community now. It is a great place to grow the best Sweet Corn. One of the people I worked with is famous for the sweet corn they grow there.
Hello hello hello!!! To all! Welcome back all who have been away for awhile, and all newbies, too, plus all people from other parts of the continent! There are so many posts to read that I have to take my time going back through them. Some thoughts off the top of my head:
Balvenie, you must be a morning person because I always look forward to daylight savings time. But love your nekked trees! Haven't heard that term in a long time.
Lynn - you have this new greenhouse and are already into plant propagation?? Lady, you are in trouble already!! LOL!! You are going to go down hard, I predict. The joys of plant propagation are endless. ON the otherhand, you have 5 acres. There is a LOT of gardening that can be done with that amount of land. If I had that amount of land, I would be crippled by now because I would never stop.
Laurie!!! Where the heck have you been??? Whenever you've been away for awhile and then breeze back in I get this vision of a door simply blowing open, a gardener hastily falling into a chair for a brief moment of typing, then said gardener blowing out the door on the next breeze! All without removing your gardening boots and hat. Words like 'Dahling' and 'must scurry off', and 'so terribly busy, pet', "simply STACKS of bulbs waiting to be attended to'....etc. Hairpins falling asunder, etc. (Bear with me, please. I'm trying to paint a visual here. ) So very, very nice to have you back! I know your garden open will be a huge success.
Sofer, I would love to see your place and also Glacier Nat. Park. I wonder if I could swing it, at least with my son? Not many years of traveling with him left (she said with teary eyes).
Jim, a doctor who asks you to give up gardening and cement work is simply dreaming!! Clearly this doctor, though well meant, doesn't understand the issues at hand. Keep wearing those respirators. I have to wear a good quality mask when doing cement work, even outside, because of the dust. It's pretty caustic stuff.
Just finishing up with the greenhouse work here and making room for my large pots of brugs, which I cannot bear to cut back at this point because they have buds on them and they took so very long to get going this year. I'm storing them in the greenhouse rather than the garage this year, hoping to keep them from dropping all their leaves and going dormant. Also, getting seed starting stuff ready. ONce again, I am a seed glutton. I really must do something about this complete and total lack of willpower. REally, I must.
Hope Carla is O.K. and recovering from the surgery.
I am laughing, in 2 days time we have gone from 0 to 68 in, Garden tours to GHs, to stoves back to garden tours then then. Thats why I love you guys. Oh forgot Nekked trees and old stomp grounds and sitting on the poor dog LOL . What I would like to know PIX, is how in the H### you can keep up so well, Like I said somewhere above, 'I am always the one that gets lost' But I do find my way, at some point.. LOL
Lets define garden tours, are we looking at before and after of projects done? Pics of around the yard during spring and summer? Or now, that could ugly one one side I have 2' for big maple leaves on the other some leaves but all the plants have gone to bed under ground.
And Gwen, I would like to be first, but I think are new comer Lynn, has already stepped up to the plate, you go Girl>>>>
Holly, I have not hear from her in a few days. Robert was going to call her. I have not had time. Robert any news????
And I want to welcome all the newcomers, most I know from other treads, you are very well welcome to enjoy PNW with us.
Lynn, years ago when I had a propane tank that look like that, mine was green, we called the big green monster, I planted a box around it and planted some plants to hide it, didn't really work out the way I wanted, so I got some paint and made it into a big grasshopper. Was funny when the guy came out to fill the tank, he was laughing so hard he kept dropping the hose, said I did a very good job. 'then why was he laughing?' I didn't have a camera back then so I have no pic of it was sad when they took it away, have all elect. now.
No Gwen the yellow bird house is Carlas, I wish I had it, Its so cool.
Bea, Loved the tread, from the past never thought to do that. like going back in time, Thank you.
What did I miss??? sorry if I did.
So happy to see us and newcomers (which they will be us soon)
"Wondering"
Tilly,I did talk to Carla. She has had a terrible time with spinal problems for a long time and is now recovering from some additional treatment. I suppose the best thing we can do is keep in touch and see if she needs any help with her garden or other things she is unable to do.
Looking out my window I see wet. I see rain. I see cold, dark, damp, soggy, slimy, slippery. For those of us born and raised in this climate I have to say 'well things are back to normal'.
I like the garden tour idea. Come look at the garden, have some refreshments, pull a weed or two, have some refreshments, get to meet new people, have some refreshments. A nice way to spend a warm dry sunny afternoon.
I do hope the surgery will be very successful. And that reminds me that I was going to check out my seed supply in the greenhouse for a name of one of the seedlings I gave her last year. Must do it now, in spite of the rain, before i forget.
Balvenie, I love your idea of the garden tour... with refreshments!!
Tills, I don't keep up. It's a myth. You'll notice I didn't refer to even half the posts people put up. Always makes me feel a bit bad when I don't respond to each one, but sometimes this forum is just toooo active!
Here's a photo from sunnier times. The rain is torrential just now.
Portland1 I love your kitchen but I adore the range hood. How neat is that? I'm the kind of cook who mostly dusts my stove instead of cleans it.^_^. But our chandeliers match.
Pixydish, thanks for the encouragement, I'll heed your advice, Jim
Willowwind the hood is a stock hood I ordered and then had it powder coated white. not expensive. I love to cook and use my stove constantly!
It is cold & rainy here. However, I am enjoying it but will get tired of it around February.....
I love the tank painted to be a grasshopper. Such a great idea!
Pixydish -- I'm a very bad, good, ummmm..... addicted seed collector too. I've already ordered more than I can plant for next year and I have yet to receive even one 2009 seed catalog. It can get pretty scary here in the spring.
Linda
OMG, Linda. We'll need to have a work party just to get all your seedings potted up!!
Ah yes, Linda, I see clear signs of addiction in you. Only thing is you actually have a business selling the plants!! I generally end up pawning them off on unsuspecting gardening friends. My place looks like a run a nursery in the spring, only I don't. My goal this year is to keep the actual number of seeds per variety down to a mild roar.
Hello everyone,
Tills, your propane tank story cracked me up. I am not that creative. Are those pictures of your kitty?
Portland1, your Aga and kitchen are beautiful. You must be a great cook. I nuke Costco food.
Linda and Pixydish, We should get together as we are not that far from each other. Linda, you are so organized with your seedlings. I planted some seeds, and took cuttings, thought I would remember, and now I don't what is what. Pixydish, your flowers are so pretty, and you are such a good photographer. I would love to see your greenhouse and get some ideas.
Galega, that picture of yours is so colorful. It looks professional also.
I feel bad, I wanted to address everyone who welcomed me, but I will have to do it another time. We had a Costco hotdog for dinner tonight, and it is now haunting me.
Hostajim, if you or any one else needs some help, let me know. If I can make it over, I would be glad to give you a hand. I am not working right now. I am 56 years young, so there is still a lot of work I can do. Just don't put me on your riding mower, I hit things with ours!
These are a few of the rose bushes we transplanted last January. It was freezing cold, we dug up 20 rose bushes, brought them home, the ground was frozen a good 10 inches deep. The poor bushes just kept looking worse and worse. I trimmed them a couple of times, ended up cutting them almost to the ground, and then just as I had given up on them (end of June) Voila - all but one had a little tiny green speck of life. Only one died, and all of them grew & bloomed (they are still blooming). Even the deer left them alone (they went for the hybrid teas, instead).
It's been pouring buckets in Lynnwood, Thought the parking lot at work was going to flood, hate to see what the park next door looks like as they got all are water LOL.
I just got a message from Carla, She is not doing as well as she would of liked, the disease has progressed, and she is doing fine. And wanted me to send Hellos to all of you.
Lynn both the kitties are mine I have 4, you have met 2. Top of thread is Tilly, and the Handsome 'wondering' Is (don't Laugh now) Ratso. Thats how I came up with my DG name. LOL You have yet to meet the Queens... Love the story on the roses, never know what they will do or not do.
I like Roberts idea of touring, as long as there will be a place to have are refreshments under cover, wouldn't be very tastie, a little to watered down. LOL Then we have to get the purple flying bus ready. So we can go and visit, Laurie and dahlianut. Many be I should of kept that a secret. Mmmmmm.
Where is Buckly????
And Pix what do you mean by " unsuspecting gardening friends" I remember that car load I got last Nov. LOL that was the most fun I ever had. Potted all those plants off the tailgate of my Bros truck and had my little GH so full you could barely walk to water them. That was a stressful winter for me, so afraid they would die. LOL I did lose a few.
Linda, are those in a GH ? now?
This is the little creek that runs thru my property, DH is trying to keep the bank in check. and of course Miss Sassy, making sure he did it right, She is always rechecking his work. She is so bossy. LOL
