PNW Garden Photos of 09

Thanks Willow. THat's great that your newest neighbors were so nice about that Ivy! I love your approach to the ivy too! I try the black out method (except pulling then plastic) on smaller, less established patches, it works pretty well. I haven't had luck with the more established patches doing it that way.Doesn't even phase it. I agree about the creatures in it. I refuse to walk through the big patches of it without boots on because of snakes! I know that they're little, but still......... lol Hopefully you didn't pay that much in taxes, so as you weren't paying your preparer that much!

That's crazy! how could they not have known about scotch broom!?? It wasn't one of it's relatives? I'm still afraid of those too, but I know others say it's ok.

I would hope the weed board would know the difference. I don't know what area is was.

huh, I just saw the Lowes here the yesterday, it's fairly new and I didn't know where it was at until yesterday. I think I'll go by there before I go to work and see if they have it.

Lowe's generally has nice plants.

My understanding is that they're pretty similar to Home depot? Or at least the store in general is? So, I haven't went there because I like Jerry's (not a chain store though) much better than Home Depot. That and Lowes is on the other side of town, I don't have any reason to wonder over that way very often. But, if they're better or different than Home Depot, I might give it a chance! lol. But, I love Jerry's. I feel like a kid in a candy store there, well... If I had the money to by whatever I wanted there I would feel like that! lol

OK guys, you succeeded in freaking me out enough that no matter how cute, my little english ivy starts will be hitting the compost pile!

Judi, I feel sorry for you with the neighbors with the ivy/trees. It's hard to believe that a plant could be as destructive as to push a fence over...until I saw the stems Mom cut on the ivy that was crawling up her cedar tree. I swear that some were almost two inches in diameter...looked like trees rather than vines. Could easily flatten a fence with all that weight..especially if it collected wet snow! Hopefully you never have to deal with that.

Redchick, sounds like you lucked out with neighbors. That is always a wonderful thing when you have purchased property that you intend to stay at for a while.

Willow, you are right, Lowes usually has nice plants (depending on the store). Every once in a while I stumble across something unique there, but I shop there mostly for the annuals. They still sell them in the smaller sizes so I can afford to buy what I want for the pots that I do each year. I got totally hooked on their 99 cent "basket accents" that had lots of callibrocha and other trailing accents. They were smaller than those at HD, but I could buy three times as many, and they grow quickly with the right love!

Here's some information on the invasiveness of Ailanthus.

http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/plants/treeheaven.shtml

I think the HD or Lowe's often depends on the management. The Woodinville HD has some really nice plants. The Redmond HD and Lowe's aren't so great. I keep checking at Whole Foods and other grocery stores for the Shooting Star Hydrangea. People in other parts of the country are finding it at Whole Foods. Why doesn't mine carry it?

I, too, have an english ivy problem. And now I'm trying to get rid of Lamium 'Archangel'!!

Hey, Julie - do you ever see Lynn. I'm wondering if any of those cuttings I gave her took. There were Physocarpus 'Diablo' and 'Dart's Gold', Magnolia stellata, Salix, Forsythia, Clethra, Lonicera. It would be great if she got something out of it.

Rj..... Yep, I agree. I think that I'm very lucky with neighbors!! And I'm glad that you're rethinking the Ivy issue! somebody 70 years down the rd. is really thanking you!!!

Katie... good luck with the Lamium!! That's not fun either. As for shooting star hydrangea. It's real name is hydrangea mac. 'Hanabi' , but I think that I saw that mentioned one other time in one of the other threads, so maybe you already knew that. In exceptionally close second that is sometimes easier to find is hydrangea serrata waterfall, aka fuji waterfall. I can't tell them apart.

Thanks, Shelly. The hydrangea seems to go by many names - it's hard to find in nurseries and is not inexpensive. But I keep hearing about people who are finding it in grocery store floral areas for not much, so I'm going to keep looking. LOL

The Trilliums are out and are enjoying this sun. The patch next door has about 30, but it's hard to traverse with all the vine maples and fall (I always thing about Lewis and Clark and how difficult their travels must have been when I'm trying to make my way through - and the forest hasn't even leafed out yet). I'm going to clear a path to them this weekend so I can enjoy them.

Kathy, I agree with you on the HD/Lowes management making a big difference. Went to the Lowes in Auburn a few years ago and was stunned at the wonderful plants that I found. It is very rare that I go into a box store and come out with anything but annuals, but I came out of there with a cart full! Our Federal Way Lowes just turned into a super Lowes a couple of years ago, and I was all excited that they would carry the same kind of wonderful inventory. No such luck...tables and tables of the same old thing :(.

Funny you should ask about Lynn..I was just able to take a time out in the yard a couple of days ago and walk her garden with her. She has been an extremely busy bee lately with all of her planting! She has been bummed that the hardwood cuttings she was babying had been taking a lot longer in her cloning machine than she had expected, but when we inspected them when I was there we saw tons of little (and some not so little!) roots coming on quite a few things. You will have to d-mail her for specifics as she has so many kids in there it would be impossible for me to even guess what has rooted and what hasn't, but I will tell you that she was definitely doing the happy dance! She is babysitting for a few days now, so don't know if she has puter access, but she will be back home next week.

Thanks, Julie.

Frankly, I didn't think Lynn would have anything at all if they didn't root in the first couple of weeks, but it would be great if they all stayed viable and it was just a question of time. I am so loving my physocarpuses right now - the bark is beautiful and the leaves come out so fresh and with such a lovely shape. The Magnolia stellata (did I say I could have 100 of these and that it wouldn't be too much) is blooming right now and is exquisite. It looks like it should be a high-maintenance plant, but it's at the base of (and I mean smack dab against) a mature fir tree and takes absolutely no care from me. My only complaint is that the owners who put it in put it on the far side of the tree, so you can't see it right off. I didn't even know it was there for a year. I'm trying to root some cuttings of it right now, but don't know how likely it is that they will take.

I read this as, "It is very rare that I go into a box store and come out with anything but ANIMALS, . . ." and had to do a double-take.

Who's prettiest? Princes Irene or Me (Henny)?

Kathy, LOL! No I am forbidden to go into those kinds of stores as I WOULD come out with a cart full of animals!

Beebonnet, they are both beautiful!

Don't put your ivy starts in the compost! Put them in the garbage or into a plastic bag until they die.

I MUST attack my Bishop's weed this year. (101 times) It is the worst thing I have left. I have pulled ivy, vinca, strawberries, english daisys, columbine, honeysuckle. There I have admitted some of my mistakes ^_^ Oh and violets. Those are just the ground covers I've tried.

Beebonnet..It is a hard choice..They are both beautiful.


My princes Irene are just blooming now. My first year with these. They have very interesting coloring.

Pansies with ruffles

The color red is hard to capture, but I came pretty close to the true color with this Anenome pic.

This was amazing to see this afternoon. This tulip will be kept warm on our chilly nights!

Beebonnet - what a great combination of colors. I love that picture. You should enter it in the photo contest this year.

Patricia - have you been overrun by columbine? So far I've enjoyed them - maybe one day I'll have too many. I do have bishop's weed, as well, from my SIL. Neither of us had any idea how well it would do here - my place is just too temperate and it doesn't dry out enough to stress the Bishop's weed. I will be digging mine out this year, too. It's pretty, but scary.

I'm okay with the violets so far - I just try to keep them cut down where they are in clumps so they don't get too lanky. :-)

Bea - I love the love in your tulip picture.

kathy..glad you can feel the love. It was such a sweet thing to see!

I have the native columbine and out by the garage under the magnolia they just took off. They were so thick it was ridiculous and tall also about 3'. I still let them go to seed but I pull bunches every year. Other places they aren't so bad.
The violets are deep purple with dark leaves. They spread by seeds and roots and make a mass that cuts off everything else. I let them grow in some places also. But I'm getting to stove-up to sit on the ground for hours and pick that stuff out. I'm to the point where I don't want to figth with plants anymore. 'Simplify' is now my motto.

That rooster photo was really neat. His comb is a perfect match for the tulips

Great pictures all! I love all the tulip and daffodils Bea.

Those Ailanthus trees sound a lot like Norway maples, which also pop up all over and crowd out natives. They should all be removed. Even though they are a nice looking tree, especially in the fall, they don't get on well with their native neighbors. Burning bush is just as bad, as well as barberry, and I think all three are now banned in this area or will be soon. Banned as in it is illegal now to import, propagate and sell them here.

Portland1, that's too bad about your neighbors. I have a friend who also has inconsiderate neighbors. Lately they have been raking up all their dog's feces from the winter and putting it in a pile with leaves and sticks along her property line bordering on theirs. They have removed almost all the trees and shrubs on their property. They don't want anything to take care of. She has another neighbor whom she has told about the bittersweet vine growing on his side of the chain link fence. He said he would remove it, but has done nothing about it. she does what she can to remove the ones on her side, but she can't do anything about the ones on his side. He also has a huge Norway maple on his property.

Ugh, Shelly, Japanese knotweed?!!!! Horrible! I have seen very large stands of that stuff. Boy does that take over! Glad I don't have it at my place.

I have seen the Lowe's and HD are very similar, though there are some things I can find at one store but not at the other, so I always check out both places. I have found a lot of nice things there, and prices are reasonable.

Okay, as I'm reading the posts I see that Ailanthus is the Tree of Heaven. I used to live in Nevada and had some on rental property where I did a lot of gardening. I ended up calling it the Tree of Hell. What a horrid thing! And the foliage smells not too good, either. I can smell it just thinking about it. I think it grows in every climate, I swear! I have seen it here, too, in Boston. Keeps sending out runners. My neighbor in NV had no trees on her property when she moved there (it is a desert, after all!). She love the Ailanthus, especially how it grew so fast. She talked me into giving her some offshoots of mine. I told her she would be sorry she did that. She planted a lot in her front yard. In the winter it looked like a forest of sticks, and that's what she called them, 'sticks'. Anyhow, she didn't live there long enough to really see them take over. I pity the poor people who moved in after her.

Oh, Henny, I think you're the prettiest!

Nice pics, BeaHive!

Oh, Willow, I just love all my vinca and columbines! I have way too many violets and have been trying to get rid of them. I don't like the vinca in all areas, but there are a lot of areas it looks great in. And it looks so nice with my daffodils.

A bit of info on violets and why they are so hard to get rid of. They produce seed twice in the year. First from the flowers and then again in summer from the base of the plant, without ever flowering. I had read about this, and then I observed it in my violets here. It's the oddest thing. That's the only plant I know of that will produce seed without a flower.

Karen

I have to say I love the vinca flower - but I'm not one for groundcovers, no matter how successful - so I use vinca only in pots. We don't have a barberry or euonymous problem in the PNW, I don't think. It must be a climate thing.

My Magnolia stellata today:

And another - a no fuss plant. It's at the base of a fir tree and I don't water it at all in the summer and it doesn't care.

I'd have 10 if I could.

Pretty magnolia, Katy.

Karen

Kathy, the Magnolia stellata is beautiful. That is the small one, isn't it? And you've got it under a Doug fir? And it's fine????? Hmmmmmm......

Thanks, NFD!

I know, Sue. Crazy. I didn't plant it there, earlier owners did. But I don't think they were the kind of people with time to garden; it was landscaped that way. I would have put it on the other side of the tree so I could see it every day.

Anyway, I moved in in the fall of 2003 and I don't think I noticed it in the spring of 2004. I think it was 2005 before I saw it. The roots literally come out of the base of the tree and I literally don't do anything to.

I'm not really sure which one it is or if it would be bigger if it didn't have to fight with the tree (I think it's probably using the tree, actually). But I love, love, love it. (Have I said that before?)

I was at Wells Medina for lunch today. Going back tomorrow for a Physocarpus 'Dart's Gold' & thought hard about the M. stellata. They have lots of them, and they are all nicely shaped/sized. I saw some in a neighbourhood that had been pruned to a more upright shape, and look quite good that way. The others I have seen were more rounded. Beautiful either way.
I thought one would show up nicely in front of conifers. The white flowers would be visible from a distance.
I had a Magnolia 'Butterflies' that was in a moister area - it died. I was wondering if they'd do well in a drier location - looks like they do fine, especially since you never water yours.

Willow, LOL..different garden, same (and then some) mistakes. My first garden was in Federal Way, where I swear the soil is absolutely infertile unless you use additives. I never really knew what an "invasive" plant was until I moved out here! I have done almost all on your list, but will add lamimum (Kathy, I feel your pain) and montbretia. I have the columbine, and it wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't a spider mite magnet in the summer. The more exotic versions don't seem to be as strongly affected.

Kathy, I love my Magnolia stellata as well, and mine isn't up close and personal to a tree, but it gets no water other than what mother nature provides in the summer, and it has been doing wonderfully As far as I can tell, they are pretty tough plants! If you don't have success with your starts, try them at another time of the year. I have found that that can really have an affect on how well things root. Some do good in spring, some in summer, etc.

Katye, I would definitely try a Magnolia stellata in the area you have in mind. Mine has not been watered since it was planted, and it is doing beautifully. Will still be a few weeks before it blooms, but will share pics when it does.

I can't say enough about Dart's Gold. I love it!!

I may head to Flower World this weekend (see my thread on their 10% off deal) and get myself another Magnolia or two. Can you tell I'm head over heels?

My SIL has sandy soil (the lot was covered with loads of sand as fill) and the difference between what she can grow and what I can grow is very interesting. She's in N Seattle and I'm in the foothills, so that makes some difference, but she had drainage and I have water retention.

Kathy, thanks for posting the picture of Magnolia stellata. I have seen these around town and was wondering what they were. We have a big one at the post office and it was just loaded with blooms a few weeks ago. I love the little streak of pink. When I have room one day I must have one of these.

Bea....fortunately there are many different versions of magnolia stellata! Some of them are actually fairly small. If that's not small enough, they can be pruned to be small. I've seen some that are easily 30 years old and 5' tall at best! Your pictures were great!

Katie.... I love your magnolia!!

Pretty Daffs, Karen. Yep, I have all of the worst invaders on the property except for one: Kudzu. If that every shows up there.... I think that I'll just cry! Again, my "before" picture of the Japanese Knotweed is from years ago and in a box somewhere. It was dense on only about a 1/3 acre on my property(seedlings show up everywhere), but that that was the outskirts of about a 1.5 acre mess that wondered over from the neighbors property.It has taken EIGHT Years, with help, and of very diligent battling to get it knocked back to a managible amount. The first 3 years I tried digging, pulling, poisoning, and none of it even phased it. Then someone from that county came by and told me that the timing was essential and if I did stuff to it at the wrong time.... it would be comepletly ineffective. And that it was very hard to come by stuff on the market that I could use (restrictions due to proximity of the river) but, that the county had some of the newest stuff that was legal to use. So with them showing up as least once, sometimes twice, a year to spray and cut and me spraying and cutting in tandem with their work.....IT WORKS!!!!!! AND.....I spent much less time battling it too! after five years of that (every year it would come back a little thinner)...last year was the first year that I didn't aggressively tackle the heartland of the knotweed!!! I still cut off the flowerheads of about 3/4 of an acre of it to keep the number of seedlings down and the county made one visit. But other than that I just went after some small remnant parts here and there and then tackled all the seedlings, which is still a job, but at least it's just pulling.

Beebonnet, Happy to have your here! That picture was good and really cute!

This message was edited Apr 17, 2009 7:30 AM

Oh wow that magnolia is just beautiful set against that tree. Another thing to add to my list of 'must haves' - the list is getting very long!

lol, don't worry... your wishlist will be pages long in due time! :-p

Judi, Aren't you glad you signed up for DG? LOL. I need to get organized though. I write down the names of 'must haves' then can't find them. I started a notebook a few days ago. Drew diagrams of the 2 big gardens, cuz I would like to put in more bulbs in the fall, but never would remember where the daffs were, so, hopefully this will help.

If only my budget fit my wish list.....

Good morning! It's raining but not too cold. Yesterday I moved some herbs that made it through the winter and planted a few new ones so they will like the gentle rain this morning.

I am looking for a job and have been glued to my computer for days. There are absolutely no architecture jobs anywhere and many many archs have been laid off. My retirement $$$ needs boosting!!! OHSU has lots of job openings but I don't fit into any of the categories. Since I was a nurse before I went back to school to study architecture I have an RN license but it is from California and it is inactive. I know so many people are needing jobs and this is very disheartening. I want to work for a non-profit but they don't have money to hire! There is a wonderful organization here called Outside In and I so want to work with them but they have no money. Any of you in the same position? Feeling the frustration?

Jan23 I did the same thing and started a notebook. I used to have little yellow stickeys everywhere with the names of plants but now have them in the notebook. And like you I know where to put bulbs in the fall. Haven't done diagrams or drawings yet because I am waiting for everything to appear - this garden is fairly new to me since I bought the house at the end of last summer. What else do you put in your notebook? I need to learn all the tricks from all you experts!

Jan, Diagrams do help tremendously. I am trying to go one step further and take photos of each of my gardens in each stage of bloom (will be better for me as I have kindegarten drawing skills) so I will know what is where, and then make notes on them as to what I want to move/change so I will remember when the proper time comes. I learned a long time ago that my method of just putting something in the ground and assuming that "I will always remember where I put that" just doesn't work. :)

Judi, I feel for you with the job thing. There is a lot of that going around right now. I have a lot of friends who have lost jobs over the last few months, and I run a small business that has been slow due to the economy and have been having to cut back hours for my guys every once in a while. It hurts everyone...hopefully it will turn around.

I am very compulsive with my garden information (at least have learned to be over the years). I have a very very long want list (Like Redchick says...pages...) I also keep all of my mail order receipts, nursery receipts, etc so I know what I bought and where I bought it from. Tags tend to grow legs in my yard, and I like to know what I have. I also like to know if the things that I have purchased from XYZ were healthy, scrawny, etc so I know where to look if I want to pick up something else. I also have lists of combinations or plantings that I saw that I want to try some day. Then there are the catalogs from my favorite nurserys just in case I don't get another one. And a compiled list of garden tasks to do by month...when to spray, when to fertalize, etc. As you can probably guess, it doesn't all fit in one notebook! BG