Garden Plans

It's landscape planning time for the rental house. I need to keep it simple. Low maintenance. Deer proof outside the fenced area. I've ordered one peony and yesterday went to Desert Northwest to get some manzanita and a Leptospermum namadgiensis. Leptospermum is a magnificent shrub and there is a perfect spot for it in the retaining wall bed we just put in.

This is my Leptospermum. With Hattie.

And solo. It looks like a sprawling monster here, but is elegant in person. This species was discovered growing in the Australian Alps of Namadji National Park in 1988. It has only been found on two mountains and the ridge between them and is still rare in garden use. Bushfires recently ravaged 80% of the park so my plants will be treated especially well, doing my part to help preserve the species from the other end of the world.

Tiny flowers grow the length of gracefully arching branches.

Summer colors coming into my garden, too.

Fence project finished

Construction done! Now there's a nice little private yard for the rental unit. Bob still wants to stain it but that will be another day. I can start landscaping any time without the deer dining in. This is the entrance on front of property.

The Merlot Redbud, Pacific Fire Vine Maple and Red Flowering Currants in picture below survived their first winter. Going to spread a lot more wood chips and plant some Ocean Spray. This will be a yard that won't require a lot of tending.

A tiny yard with two big entrances. This is the alley entrance.

Madness

I have really done it. Poor Hattie. This is not what a farm dog does. I now brush her teeth. Every day. With a tooth brush and beef flavored tooth paste. It's the cutest little brush. At first she recoiled from the smell and ran away. I would dab a tiny bit on her teeth and let her go. After a few days of that I figured what the hell, lets give the brush a go. And she let me brush her canines! And she didn't hate me for it! Now I'm getting pretty much all the teeth, on the outside. That's the important part. And she wiggles and wags when it's over, so it can't be too awful for her. I can't believe I'm doing it, but before dropping another thousand dollars on her teeth I'll try anything.

A Few things

We had an unwelcome visitor yesterday. She ate all the tender new growth on my serviceberries then settled down for a nap. None of the irises, rhododendrons, peonies, yarrow, roses and other shrubs were bothered. We were lucky this time but now she knows, she'll be back. A deer-confusing extension is being added to the fence as I type.

 

The fish I dropped was glued back together and looks OK if you don't know where to look. There is still a replacement in the works. I need to make a few more things to fill the kiln. Lots of little boxes,  pounders and a slump mold for hand building.

The back fence and gate at the rental are completed. Work on the front section begins after my deer fence is in place. We're thinking about staining this to match the stained cedar shakes on the house.

Time of the Roses

The roses are beginning to bloom despite all the black spot and molds from the humidity and rain. I think this is the rainiest June ever. Definitely since we've been here.

I'm really pushing it on greenhouse space. Eight tomato plants, four beans, two squash, bunches of basil, six peppers, dill, oregano and a few kohlrabi are packed in here. We are considering adding a hoop house because things grow so much better for me under cover than outside.

 Lettuce is doing OK but the ducks have taken a liking to it and trim up all the heads as far as they can reach.

And here are the little devils acting innocent.

A pretty poppy.

Clumsy me. I dropped a fish while trying to hang it. It split into three pieces which I have glued together but there are a few chips that need to be filled and the epoxy I need for that is somewhat specialized and not available around here. I ordered through Amazon but tracking shows the package was shipped to Alaska and disappeared. So I will try something else then try to match paint to finish.

But this is really only an exercise in repair because I can just make another one!

New Favorite

Peony Krinkled White. It opens the palest pink. And it's much bigger than I expected!

Time to come in for these rain damaged flowers.

The Rain has Won

A bouquet of Red Charm's huge flowers flopped right over the supports. I had no choice but to put them in a vase. Next year I will get taller and sturdier supports, but I am secretly enjoying these blooms just as much indoors as out.

 
I'm suddenly getting many compliments on my garden and I haven't even paid out any bribes. The flower show was spectacular while it lasted. More rain today looking to cause trouble though.

 I finally broke down and ordered a Bartzella ITOH peony to plant this fall. I don't like to spend that much on one flower but it will be dedicated to Tux. With huge yellow flowers it will look good surrounded by the deep red plants in the Japanese maple bed.

 

And so the rain strikes again. A waterlogged Princess Victoria Louise Oriental poppy. This is the wettest June since we've moved here.

Raindrops

Flowers in the rain. I made a .GIF this time. Rain in June? It's nice that I don't need to water, but it's cold, fungi are thriving, and my veggies aren't happy.

Useless Stinky Lilac

Some time in the past, before we moved here, a lilac was planted next the garage man-door and for two weeks every year the scent is so strong it is nearly impossible to walk through it. If the wind blows, it's almost impossible to be in the yard. The scent is strong. And I do not like it. But something does and I spot one of these critters in it every year. The white lined sphinx moth. It hovers and flies like a hummingbird and it's the only thing that makes this plant tolerable because I get to watch this moth unfurl it's long proboscis and feed on the nectar. I've been closely watching the bumble bees in the raspberries, too. Another fascinating way to spend some time during the pandemic.

Notice that the sheep are looking sleek and relatively clean without their winter coats. They were happy to be plucked but now expect chest and back rubs whenever I'm around. Hattie is the only thing between them and my sanity. Humans have only two hands and there are five sheep to rub. A significant shortcoming on my part.

In Motion

A different presentation....

Build the Wall

We are beginning new projects on the rental house. Last week we put in a retaining wall and steps up the slope to the odd little enclosure on the side of the house. Later we'll be ripping that fencing down and enclosing a larger area to make a courtyard, then fencing the back yard to keep out the ravenous, destructive deer mobs that hang out there, and doing a little more landscaping. We had planned to do interior remodeling but will hold off another year for that and work outside instead. It's our coronavirus plan.

We used railroad ties from the 40's, same age as the house, to make the wall and steps. When the new courtyard is finished we'll backfill  the wall with soil to plant shrubs deer don't like. This project took a good bit of digging gravelly dirt and moving heavy, splintery beams in record heat. Which was 73, I think. Hot for us. It's the humidity.

The back stairs, which get the most use, need to be painted and I have the idea (I shouldn't entertain ideas! It means a lot of work!) to tile the stair risers. Making the tiles myself. So I'm thinking of impressing leaves or other interesting natural objects in the clay. Not sure of any of this yet. All I've done so far is measure the risers and collect leaves to make test tiles.