This is how it starts

I've always told myself that I can't be bothered with plants that aren't hardy to my zone. We have such a forgiving climate and we can grow so much, there's no point adding plants that I'd have to schlep indoors during the winter. Not because that isn't a noble pursuit but because I am forgetful and lazy and that would be wasting money when they eventually die.

But.

I went to Rare Plant Research a few weekends ago. It was my second year attending and my resolve broke. "It wouldn't be so bad to bring in a couple of plants in the winter," I thought. "Just one or two is doable." I imagine this is how it starts for everyone. I didn't help that Patricia and Megan of Plant Lust were there with Loree and any time I'd wonder internally "Do I need this?" Patricia would magically appear at my side and say, "Oh, you need that." Loree would nod sagely and into my box it would go. (She got the most beautiful bromeliad I have ever seen. I'm still regretting not buying one.)

I gave in to an Agave attenuata, which we saw all over Maui. I think they are one of the most beautiful plants I've ever seen. The color, the shape . . . okay, some of it is probably the memory of Maui. And no pokey parts! (If anyone is wondering, that agave spike that I had embedded in my fingertip did eventually make its way out.) I also picked up an Aeonium 'Salad Bowl', seen below in the orange pot.

Aeonium 'Salad Bowl' and Agave attentuata

I also purchased two black aeoniums: 'Zwartkop' and 'Moonglow.'

'Moonglow'

'Zwartkop'

Aeonium tops the list of things I wish were hardy in Portland also: echeveria). I also bought some cheapo blue Senecio.

Lastly I picked out an Aloe Dorotheae. As if I didn't spend enough money already, now I need to buy nicer pots.

I guess I need to pay attention to frost dates now, huh?

A gate. Finally.

Since we sunk the fence posts a few weeks back we haven't progressed much. I hung the stringers and outer boards on two of the sections but couldn't move further until we tore out the old corner post.

That post was almost completely rotted through and hosting quite a community of insects. Two summers ago, when I replaced that fence, I reused the post, feeling that it would hold up until we were ready to extend the fence, and it did.

This weekend we had to dig the old one out, re-sink a new post, then finish off the fence and gate. I took the boards off the front and watched in horror as gobs of insects emerged from their nest inside the post. The post lifted right out of its concrete footing and I asked Greg to get it as far from the house as possible, in case the insects I saw were termites. He dropped it right next to the house and I swear I've never wanted to marry him so badly, just so I could divorce him.

I flipped out, he moved it, we were cranky as hell with each other for a few hours. Normal home improvement stuff.

Next we had to dig out the old concrete, which wasn't too bad. We dug all around, then wedged a board under the lip, like a lever. Greg stood/bounced on that while I cranked with the pickax from another direction. And now we have this sweet concrete phallus to use as garden art!

This was an interesting project because I have built all the fences thus far, in some cases without any help. All of a sudden Greg had opinions on the building, and he was telling me to do things.

Anybody who knows me in real life knows that shit don't fly. Unless we're in an emergency and you're trying to talk me through landing the plane or delivering a baby in a taxi, don't tell me what to do. Anyway, I am the worst but we got through it. Greg is the engineer so he designed and prepped the gate. We hung it and leveled it (definitely the hardest part) and got it about 95% done.

Now we need to cut off the tops of the fence posts, rip down some narrower slats (we don't own a table saw), and stain and seal the boards.

I'm reusing some of the old boards to close the gaps on our back fence. As the boards have expanded and contracted in the sun and rain, the gaps have grown and we can see quite a lot of our neighbors' yard (and they ours).

I'm worried we'll forget to close the bedroom drapes and give our neighbors' kids an accidental anatomy lesson. So up the boards are going. They are wonderful neighbors but I'm happy not to see them through the fence.

But the thing that's making me happiest of all is the new gate, which means we have TWO entrances to our yard. We can complete one continuous loop through our front and back yards. Extending the gate also makes our backyard feel bigger and more spacious.

Before

Now

Next up: sod removal and the acquisition of a hammock to better enjoy the fruits of our labor. And maybe some sort of screen to block the view of the AC unit.

A funny thing happened with my High Country Gardens order

Well, my High Country Gardens order finally came. FedEx left them in full sun despite the cautions all over the boxes to leave them in shade. Thanks for nothing, FedEx! There were three boxes, which seemed like a lot for 15 plants.

(That's the sound of foreshadowing you hear. It's similar to the Law&Order bong!bong! noise.)

The plants took a week to arrive so they were really sad and wilted. I opened up the first box and my 15 plants were there. I glanced over at the other two boxes, wondering what the hell was in them. Then I realized that the box I had just opened had a SECOND layer of plants beneath the 15 I'd already pulled out. American Meadows, who has been struggling under the weight of their new acquisition, had sent me someone else's order. A big order. I panicked and texted Scott and he told me that the plants would never survive the trip back to HCG and to unwrap and baby them along with the others. They were mine now.

The packing slip included only the plants I'd ordered. There was no note saying, "Sorry your order was so bungled and late, here's a couple of plants on us." And who sends 50(!) plants as an apology? I unwrapped and watered all the plants, which took over an hour. Then I started reading up on what they'd sent me.

21 Salvia sylvestris 'Blue Hill'. You read that right; 21 of the same salvia.

5 Dalea pupureum

4 Ratibida columnifera 'Yellow'

9 Gaillardia (two colors)

12 Stachys coccineus 'Mountain Red'

I've called and called HCG, trying to get a rep so I can alert them that a customer probably got a shipment notification and never received their plants. I would be so upset if that happened to me. As before, no one answers the phone and their voicemail box is full. I spent an entire day putting plants in the ground, hoping they'll survive. It's a good thing I have so much empty space in my garden. Have you ever received an order that wasn't yours?

Silvery buns of goodness

Cotula hispida is described by Xera as "silvery buns of goodness."

Very aptly named.

Mark your calendars!

On June 8th Joy Creek Nursery will be holding a workshop called, "How to Form a Garden Community Through Blogging: A Workshop with Scott Weber [of Rhone Street Gardens] and Friends."

Have you ever wondered what the point of blogging was?  Guess what, there are lots of great reasons for gardeners to blog!  You can use it to show family and friends what you've been up to in your garden, or just to keep a record of your garden from year to year.  Blogging is also a great way to meet fellow gardeners in your area...and around the world.  Join some area bloggers as they discuss what spurred them to start blogging and what the benefits have been as a result.

The friends will be Loree of Danger Garden, Jane of MulchMaid, Ann of Amateur Bot-ann-ist, and myself. If you are reading this, you are a part of that gardening community mentioned above and we'd love to see you there! And if you have friends or partners who don't understand why you blog, drag them along. If you've never been out to Joy Creek, this is a great excuse to do some shopping or see their wonderful display gardens.

If that's not reason enough, Joy Creek serves cookies and coffee on the weekends. Caffeine + Cookies + Plants = Awesomeness. Please join us!

Mo' beds, mo' problems.

Last summer Loree gifted me the retaining blocks she removed from her yard during the great Bishops Weed expurgation. They sat in a pile in various areas of the yard, collecting spiders and looking terrible. My ultimate goal is to replace all of the retaining stones in the backyard with the same stone I used on the new shade bed but I spent way too much on plants last month and it's just not in the budget. I should use the free material I already have, right?

I started out a few weeks ago by dry fitting the blocks into roughly the area I wanted. Seeing that this corner was actually incorporated with the rest of the garden made me so happy. All of a sudden I realized how much this corner has been bugging me. But then I realized that I wanted to bring the line out a ways, so I had to remove some sod. And then I accidentally removed too much sod. I think I'm getting too good at it.

Side note: North Portland soil is much sandier than other parts of the city, where they have thick clay. Every time I get a plant from Scott I realize all over again how lucky I am, soil wise. His soil is sticky and unmovable and when it dries out it's hard as a rock. I've been able to see my soil improve dramatically (and quickly) by adding mulch every spring and compost every fall. My soil was badly compacted but I have almost no clay. I'm very lucky. The downside of North and NE Portland is that it was built atop a giant anthill. I could tell you horror stories of friends discovering ant infestations in their water heaters, so huge that grad students were brought in to study it.

Why am I telling you this? Because I discovered that every ant in Portland is living in this bed. I'll poison them if they come inside the house but out here they can do what they want. But, ugh.

Anyway, this area has been looking really good with all the ferns coming up, so good that I'm thinking about moving them.

I'm thinking about moving them forward and tucking another ninebark between the cedar and the pieris. 'Diabolo' grows insanely well in the northwest, sometimes reaching twenty feet (or so says Dan Hinkley). I don't think it would get that tall in a dry shady spot like this, but some height would be appreciated here. Or will the dark foliage just disappear in this area? I'm also considering a Mahonia 'Soft Caress.' Am I missing another shrub that would be good for this spot? Or should I leave it as is?

I'm badly in need of more plants to fill out this bed but I need to stop for a bit and let my wallet recuperate from April's shopping sprees and my trips to Rare Plant Research and Wind Dancer Garden. I thought creating this bed with donated stones would be thrifty but somehow I need to go shopping again.

Get opinionated on me. You all have such good suggestions.

I finally achieved what most gardeners can do in their sleep

At last, my clematis bloomed. People in the northwest have clematis vines that are threatening to eat their houses. They are incredibly easy to grow, unless you are me.

I have no idea what kind it is, as I planted it almost four years ago. I moved it a few times, then finally settled it next to my 'Moonlight' climbing hydrangea. Everyone tells me that 'Moonlight' needs no trellis and can climb anything but I seem to have acquired a specimen with a lazy mutation. It can't climb without assistance, so I have jury-rigged a system. The Corokia cotoneaster in a pot next to them is doing wonderfully. I think maybe I'm just vine-ally challenged.