It is October and the garden just keeps on going. Finally ripped out the beans and the summer squash but the tomatoes, eggplant and peppers aren’t ready to give up yet.
Oct. 4 harvest. Time to make eggplant parmigiana.
These mums in the corner bed are a bright spot of happy while the rest of the yard is starting to fade.
Even with being so busy, I still try to spend as much time in the yard as possible — usually just de-stressing after another ridiculous day. Pretty pleased with how the backyard beds are looking — Thanks again to the regular watering from new irrigation. Front yard, on the other hand, looks like a dead dry mess. Guess I need to irrigate it next year.
I overhauled this bed in the spring. Turned out very pretty!
The full view of the corner bed. Magical nasturtiums indeed!
This mallow is a new addition this year. Mom had them in Colorado and I always like them. Turns out I still like them and they are a new favorite. Hope they go to seed and I can spread them to other spots.
The bed along the back to the house filled in very nicely this year, thanks to regular watering. Lovely lilies and back-eyed susans.
The herb bed is also looking very nice this year. The monarda didn’t do as well as last year but the black-eyed susans have been stunning!
Another recent addition. Sunshine coreopsis. Loving it!
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The weather continues to be awesome. Spent a lot of time clearing out dead winter stuff, weeding and enjoying all of the lovely things happening in the yard.
There is a slope along the back fence-line that doesn’t really look like that big of a deal — until you have to mow it! And all of the “grass” on it is crabgrass and weeds. My poor little reel mower and my body hate it with a flaming passion. It didn’t take too many times with the mower before I knew it was the future home a flower bed.
Starting point when I was looking at the house back in 2012.
Last spring when the north fence came down, I used the north end of the area to “store” the broken fence panels. Then it became the home of the sod I dug out when creating the new bed and walkway along the back of the house. I have been slowly trying to kill off the grass and stockpile “dirt” to fill it in later. The project has been on the agenda for about 8 months but I was always too busy, or it was too hot, or there were bigger priorities on my gardening calendar. Then this winter, I got serious about it.
There is a slope along my back fence line that is a total pain in the ass to mow, so I decided to put in a retaining wall and level it out. This is mid-February — blocks laid out just to make sure I don’t suck at math again.
Blocks hung out for a few weeks until I had time in the middle of March. Then with my trusty black truck and diligent wheelbarrow, we got to work.
Didn’t take any pictures of actually making the wall but I followed the usual basic steps — Dug out trench for blocks, leveled it, filled with 3 inches of paver base, tamped, and set the block. After the first layer was done, I unloaded the wheelbarrow straight on to the wall. It went pretty fast. Only had to stop a few times to cut end blocks. 130 blocks total.
I leveled it out sod and other random dirt the best I could and then laid newspaper on top of it, then held the paper down with old fence boards. The wood planter box here is built on top of an old satellite dish base that I couldn’t find anyone to rip out for less than $400, so it became a planter. Cucumbers did great there last year.
Lily Dog is an excellent supervisor!
Now I had to wait a few weeks for my April vacation to get some dirt delivered. In the meantime, I was hoping the grass and weeds would die back under the newspaper.
A big-ass pile of dirt — 4 yards of 4-way garden mix.
Took a solid 3 days to move and pretty much broke my body.
Retaining wall bed and new 4×4 planter filled. Also topped off my existing beds. Still had way too much dirt, so there is huge pile of it on the other side of the yard. Figured having too much good dirt is not a bad thing.
Put in irrigation to all of my beds. Filled in with plants. Since I spent almost $800 on the blocks, dirt, irrigation, there was no budget left for plants (expect for garden veggies), so I had to make due with moving and dividing stuff all ready have. Might be kind of thin this year but it is going to look great in the long run. And I don’t have to mow it!
Mom and Dad came down the second week of my vacation and helped me put in some irrigation and then I divided and moved a bunch of plants to start filling it in. It looks great and is kind of in the shade in late afternoon, so I can sit on it and rest.
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We have had amazing weather the last few weeks and the yard is bursting to life. Today, on Valentine’s Day, it was over 70 degrees and it was crime to not work in the yard. Spent the day clearing out … Continue reading
So, traveling back in time to the first year I lived here and my first trip up to Whidbey since living here and the truckload of booty Mom sent me home with, she gave me a clerodendron. She actually first got this vine that acts like a tree from Morning Side, the farm camp place she and Dad lived as caretakers for over 2 years on Vashon Island (this could be a VERY long story, but let’s not go there today.) Anyway, she sent me home with some starts and I planted them in the back retaining wall bed next to my awesome iron gate. Things get really tall in front of there, so I hadn’t checked on them since this spring.(want a peak at what it was doing then, look back at March posts.) I assumed all was well.
On this trip to Whidbey, part of the goal was to help Mom out with whatever she needed (payback for all her help this spring and also a chance to snag whatever she needed to get rid of through division, pulling, etc. — I’m not very subtle in my mooching). She wanted to clean out the bed around her pergola, which had a bunch of lavender, peonies, and, yes, the clerodendron (among other things).
Mom’s Pergola. Super pretty. She is working on a new option to get rid of the mesh fence.
This is a clerodendron. I really love it and am wishing mine was this awesome!
I officially fell in lust with the clerodendron and wanted to bring home a few more cutting since I felt that the ones she had already given me weren’t enough to satisfy, well, my lust. But the more we talked about this plant, the more I started to have the feeling that we weren’t talking about the same thing. Mine had lantern-like white pods in the spring and wasn’t being aggressive like what Mom was describing.
Last thing I did before leaving to head home was dig up a few clerodendron runners. I got home and unloaded the truck and discovered watering them would have been a better idea. They looked pretty sad. Fingers crossed they will make it.
But now that they were on the brain, I wrestled my way back to where I thought my clerodendron was planted. Hmmm … leaves are different, seed pods where those white lantern flowers were. I snapped a photo and sent it to Mom.
This is not clerodendron
Nope, not clerodendron. In fact, “Oh, that is really nasty, highly invasive stuff. You should get rid of it right away,” she says. “And it has really deep roots.” Thanks Mom. Thanks for the nasty invasive weed! On the other hand, she did send me home with a truckload full of other awesome things, so I forgive her. Still chuckling over the fact I have been nurturing a weed for 2 years — Not the first time and probably not the last!
It is being a lovely been a lovely year for lilies.
Yellow with yarrow
Lily with lily — kind of blurry
peach in back house bed with Shastas
Yellow at end of berm near sidewalk.
Purple in front berm
Yellow in back house bed.
Orange and yellow in front porch strip.
Orange-ish with magenta mums under plum tree.
Orange in front
Purple in front
Lily dog — my favorite Lily!
Summer is always the worst time at work because everyone wants to be on vacation, meaning those of us left in the office are swamped. Thankfully the yard is taking care of itself and looking very lovely.
The beans are going nuts. And the new bed along the back of the house is filling in and looking cheerful.
The cucumber and winter squash bed is doing great and producing. Letting the argula bolt was a very good idea.
Some cute color in the front porch corner
Rose bush is looking really nice this year. Hoping I am finally getting a handle on the black spot.
New hostas are being a favorite under the front window.
First big squash harvest! Also lemon and regular cucumbers, beans and the first of the grape tomatoes! Oh, and an eggplant.
The red monarda has been a showstopper this year! And the hummingbirds are loving it — and that means I’m loving it!
Every time I go outside there is at least one, and usually more, hummingbird enjoying the monarda!
More highlights of yard cute right now …
Siberian iris and mom daisies in the front yard
The shasta daisies Mr. Kern gave me are blooming and being super cute in the front yard
The front bern looks lovely right now
Lovely yellow coreopsis at the berm end.
The pink monarda is also blooming but the hummingbirds don’t love it as much. looks cute with the lavender and feverfew.
Latest big harvest.
Harvest — radishes, strawberries, beets, basil (trimmed off to encourage bushiness)
Feverfew is one of my favorite flowers. It is a comfort flower for me — reminding me of my childhood. My mom always planted it on the northside of the Loveland house outside my bedroom window. It has a very distinct smell — some people think it is gross but I like it. Plus it is cute and cheerful. When I started planning my first real yard in Portland at the rex Hamilton I searched everywhere for starts or seeds and couldn’t find it anywhere. Finally Mom brought me some she had saved from the Loveland house. It didn’t take long for things to get out of control.
Then when I moved to this house I somehow managed not to bring any feverfew plants with me and I felt like I was in the same mess. Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately) because of its tendency to spread seed like crazy, some plants came up in one of my pots. And next thing I knew it was everywhere — which in my first year garden I didn’t mind. This year, things are starting to look a little more established and the feverfew started to go bananas! Coupled with the chamomile that came up from seed from a plant Kaitlyn had put in one of my pots I have little white flowers with yellow centers everywhere!
The herb bed is overflowing in huge feverfew and chamomile.
The purple and red looks cute with all of the white little daisy flowers
The rest of the yard is looking lovely too. The Garden has been in for a month and so far, so good. Should be getting radishes soon.
The peppers are looking a little washed out but the beets, 2 tomatoes, carrots and eggplant are doing well.
Radishes and 3 tomatoes
Potatoes are still going crazy
squash, beans, arugula and onions. Pole bed with winter squash and cucs is looking a little washed out too. Needs nitrogen.
Bonus shoots of steps and Lily.
This little project is ending up really cute
Lily loving the sun
The Overall[s] Adventure 
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