Laurie's Garden Tour

Laurie....Here's a picture I took last summer of the 'sentry' standing guard.

Oh, sally, that just brought forth an unrestrained "ohgoossshhhh" - you lucky lucky woman! And on top of a chinese red lacquer gate (in my imagination, having been reading chinese murder mysteries!) I'm looking forward to the tour.

If I tilt my head far to the left, right about there, Okay got it. Like it Mmmmmmmm want it.

I am now not sure about the Iris, I like the thought of something I can plant out there, but then again the seeds and I can't walk out there to dead head them. And I am on a Salmon run, which I have seen them, maybe 3 times in 25 years. Guess I have to rethink that. 'Darn It'

Yes the flying purple bus, its been in storage so long. I will have to get all that know it to help me get it started again. You know alot of the new DGers now nothing about the bus. And the fun we had with it. LOL

This was a big long day, just got home. left the house at 11am. thank goodness I'm off tomorrow, no wait, I have a conference call at 8am. No rest for the wicked, I'll take the call in bed LOL

Have a goody for you, home today and took some pics to share with you. Went out today to look at what I my have lost after this snow thing, to tell at this time all is fine.
And this little guy (from you) is still standing strong. I was worried I may have lost him, but he is doing just fine. Stronger than the rest. LOL

Tilly, great heuchera. Is that "green spire (or spice?)" I like it.

Sally, the pic of the "sentry" keeping watch is great.

Laurie.... any idea when the 'flying purple bus' will be up and running? :-p

Ok, since folks were really good at guessing the little creamer jar.... Does anyone know what this is??? Really, I don't know. I know that it is an insulator, but I don't know what kind, from when, or what it was used to unsulate. The other thing that is sort of a dilema about it, is that it will actually hold a magnet to it. Usually insulators wouldn't attract anything since they're not supposed to carry a charge. But, you can hold any size of magnet to it, large or small, and it hangs on tight. I found this one about 8" below the surface when I was digging in the garden.

RC: Heuchera 'Green Spice'

i love it. mine don't look that happy right now due to having been under snow. Yours is grat!

Green spice is lovely - I'm going to have to look out for it. Thank you Katye, that is exactly what I need. On my list. I'll leave it to tills to tell you the name of hers - But Tills, it is looking good - good motling on the leaves, and they are the hardiest little things. Really grow all year round.

redchic - I'm going to show DH the insulator, he's an energy guy, especially electricity, so lets see if he can tells us. I'm guessing that this is for the stabilizer wires which run from the poles to the ground. I suspect the glass interceptors (I just made that up, but that is what they look like to me) has something to do with breaking the charge either up or down.

I need to go get more photos of the wild area, or I can go straight onto the vegetable area - any suggestions? I'm just about to pack up and head back home, so if weather permits I can take the camera out this afternoon.

A walk on the wild side, sounds good to me. Hows the weather so we know how to dress. LOL

RC, my little guy had a nice flight to get here, there where 4. my other one is still in the GH, haven't found the right place for him yet. Pix's has the others. They my be the only ones in the US. Not sure tho.
They made the trip in a biscuit tin, and arrived safely.
Its call Brown Finch, born in England.

I like the Spice, on my list too.

I think I found what I want for the field, and it native. I just got the Kitsap Conservation District news letter. The tree sale edition.

http://www.wnps.org/landscaping/herbarium/pages/camassia-quamash.html
Lots of other stuff to.

Well I'm waiting. Give us some comparisons with what you showed us to what it is in summer. Or the veggie garden or the next photo or the next bottle of wine. You brits are so relaxed we Deuchlanders can't wait any longer.

Easy Steve, Easy now.

No photos of the wine, please - just send it.
Very thirsty here & in dire need of sun.
I have detected a bit more light in the morning and in the evening, perhaps by a minute or two. I'm tired of working dark to dark - anxious for March...

We have had lots of sunny days (though short) I have gotten my fix by out in the yard or out in the garage building my sailing canoe for next summer. It is almost done and fine tuned for a long sail down the North Saskatchwan river next summer. My dad died this last summer so I couldn't do it. I am anxiously awaiting summer (early) for the big flowes to make my decent faster than anyone else. Or not. Just want to adventure.

Looking good, Steve! Nice and easy!
I'm getting ready to start tapping my toes, waiting impatiently. More photos. Now. Please. Whoops, don't really want to be seen as demanding or queen-like, so I'll try again: Please, madam? May we have more photos of your lovely land?

You guys are so funny. Take a deep breath. The poor woman has to have a chance to travel back home from the big city, and possibly drink a cup of tea before launching more of her fabulous pictures.

Tills, I think Camassia is the perfect plant for a wet meadow area. I recently put in 50 of them from a bulb sale this Fall. I've never grown them before, but it seems like that environment should be just what they are used to in the wild

Camassia gets my vote too, excellent choice. And steve that is a stunning little boat - looks like the one in Where the wild things go (hmm, is that title quite right - Holly, you would know).

I am just going out side to join the landscape guys - I have taken new photos of the wild area, and will try and get them up this afternoon after it gets dark.

Katye - i think you are right about the slight shift in daylight - although, it could just be that the clouds parted before they closed in again.

Tils, still need that extra layer - we have warmed up a bit, but I've still got two layers of fleece over thermals.

I like Camassia, too. Mine don't seem to bloom for very long, though. Maybe I don't have them wet enough.

I must show my DH the pic of the sailcanoe. He enjoys canoing with our sons and his brother. His brother wants to canoe the boundary waters of Lake Superior one day. They ahve been on canoe trips in the Adirondacks and down the Delaware River.

Well, we got snow this morning. It looks like someone sprinkled confectioners sugar over the ground. That will be it, I think, for this weather front.

To the wild garden. I'm afraid this doesn't look like much at this time of the year - I must work on that. And some of these are repeats for those of you that were here last year when I did the first set of steps and just had to crow! But just before we go, look at how well ththis reflects - IT WORKS!

And before Gwen asks, this is the side of the house away from the road - this is the new side - built between the wars

to the right of the trough is the older woodland bed. This is primarily a shrubbery, but it does get a mass of snowdrops, and in the summer there is quite a large planting of papaver patti's plum running from the steps to the right of the bed, almost to the centre. Last summer I started growing wild strawberries - I used mignonette which doesn't set runner - to use as ground cover. I'm planning on growing another lot this winter. Amazingly they blossom and fruited first year from an early sowing. Along the bottom of this bed, just above the horizontal path that divides it from the wild area I have helleborus slatey blue growing. (remember to find picture). I have some three year olds in the nursery that I'm growing from seed. My plan is to get a blanket of hellebores across the bottom.

HELLEBORES!! Just love them.

This is last year - they are up this year, but haven't opened yet.

I've brought the steps up to the lawn area this year, by request of DH - he does get tired of sliding - I know this looks as though it is flat, but it is actually a quite steep slope

this is the entrance to the wild garden - the bed on the right is the first one I made - it is approximately 4mtr/13' across, and runs from the top of this area almost to the bottom - about 20mtr/60'. The entire bed is a lasagne bed and after two years has settled into being only slightly raised from the old surface. It has worked brillantly - blocking out some pretty tough pasture grass, and leaving lovely friable dirt. Both last year and this year we mulched the entire bed with leaf mulch (we stack it up at the bottom of the fence on the right - enormous amounts of it (we actually go out into the field and rake up what piles up along the fence line).

Most of the planting along here are hardy perennials, so there is next to nothing to see at this time. The top is planted with gladwyn iris, stylophorum lasiocarpum (the shade poppy - I really reccommend this for heavy shade - lovely warm yellow poppy with gray green foliage) thalictrum delavayii album, and helleborus foetidimus Mrs Jekyll - the scented hellebore, which are about to blossom for the first time. I'm waiting. It is said that a single blossom can scent an entire room - so.....get on with it!

Below that I haven't planted out the lobelia siphilitica which is still in the nursery bed waiting to go out - and there is dianella casa blue, and a shrub that I can not remember the name for the life of me. But behind it is one of the rodgersia that a friend gave me. Further down are gillenia trifolia, cornus canadensis, and vancouveria. then a planting of pachysandra running right across the bed left to right. More thalactrium - this time blue, and running right along the path top to bottom are cyclamen hederafolium.

and I need more suggestions for deep shade, and about a million more plants to fill this space. It is big - the pachysandra alone is 120 plants - I grew most of them from cuttings, and we have done similar growings for the stylophorum and the gladwyn iris (all from seed). It is just prohibitive not to grow them ourselves. And this is one of three beds, all three about the same size - in this area. It is a big project and will take a while to really fill in and have presence throughout the year. Hopefully I can update this in about 5 years, and it will look a bit different.

The path along the right hand side is bounded by a lovely stand of old beech trees - the one at the top is a copper beech which has the blackest leaves imaginable during the summer. Spectacular tree, and its does turn copper in the autumn.

I know some of you have seen these, but for those new to the thread, the trees all look like this - the fold in their trunks are from being laid as a hedge - the young plants are cut half way through and then laid and tucked into each other to make an almost impenetrable hedge for cattle or sheep. Sadly we all use stock fencing now - although hedge laying has made a real comeback, and alot of people who are replanting their hedges are laying them - with the extra security of a backing of stock fence.

coming back round the bottom of the bed, and looking up the stepped path you can get an idea of how much of a rise there is from the top to bottom of the garden

And the same view last spring - isn't it sweet, it looks like bunnie-wunnies and decorated easter eggs should be sprinkled through out. (I'm not that nice - no bunnie-wunnies allowed!)

Back up at the top, and back to January and looking extremely dull - to the right of the photo there is a new bed that I have been stacking up all autumn (you can see the dark earth, and I think there is a better view of it in one of the earlier postings) - there are a few shrubs in here - 3 salix (noid from a friend), a scented current, hoheria, and a couple of drimas (or is that drymas). Lower down bordering the stepped path I have planted several bayberries, and again gladwyn iris. All except the drimas are grown from cuttings or seed.

to the left of this path is the third bed, and the one that gets the most direct sun. This one is only about 12mtrs from top to bottom. I have cornus at the top, and wrapping around the slope to the outside of the bed, and below that are.....I can't remember. How could I forget - one of my pear trees! At the bottom is a large stand of penstemon: firecracker, red soldier, and blackbird. At the bottom on the inside of the bed is a planting of primula veris (cowslip), primula florindae (the clove scented one) liatris, aquilegia vulgaris (the large blossomed white one), and iris siberica snow queen. These are followed by achillea cassis, cephalaria gigantia, and peucedamun verticillare.

This message was edited Jan 15, 2009 6:46 PM

Now, I need to clear some photos away, and then I can start on the vegetable garden. this will be the shortest bit.

Back round the front of the house, and up the path to the green house - planted in the lawn are several heritage apple and pear trees.

this is the greenhouse last spring - oops that went off without its photo

This message was edited Jan 15, 2009 7:07 PM

left side

right side

Whose DH was lusting after the trough? How is this for morning coffee - its an old bandsaw bench from one of the local timber mills.

to the left and up three steps are the vegetable beds - there is a block of 5 beds, all 2.5mtrs by 3.25 mtrs, and then three longer beds near that border the fence side, and a raised strawberry bed next to the path

and this is what they look like in summer

and one of the long ones

and the shed

where I keep my wheelbarrows. THE END