Brussels sprouts are evergreen, if you neglect them all winter.
Just, you know, FYI.
Tag: garden
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Garden therapy
I had an absolutely terrible day but the sun was out and it wasn’t raining so I pruned the roses. I have TWENTY FIVE of them in the front yard and my sweet neighbor has been taking care of them for years. She came to me last spring and told me how much she loves those roses, and how she took care of them when my house was abandoned for four years, and oh-by-the-way, she wouldn’t be taking care of them anymore. She was cutting me off.
I rewarded her years of selfless volunteerism by not pruning them and letting them get leggy and unruly this summer. It was bad.
I made up for lost time by doing a hard prune. Really hard. I checked out a book from my library and downloaded a guide from the Portland Rose Society, all of which was too much to read, so I just tried to make them look like the pictures.And everyone on Facebook was like, “They’ll be great! Roses love that!” so I’m sure everything will be fine. -
On head injuries and birdhouses
This last Saturday I helped some friends who were laying tile in their family room. And by “helped” I mean I demanded that they invite me over so I could learn how to do it, incessantly peppering their contractor-father with annoying questions.
Guys, aside from not yet seeing the finished project, working on someone else’s house is so much fun. You don’t have to feed anyone, or clean up afterward, or even be particularly useful. You can just whack your head on a granite countertop while vacuuming and hope no one notices.
I actually did that. I’m clumsy! Really, really clumsy. I often run into things or accidentally slam my hands into passing objects, but I just keep walking in the hope that no one notices. I forgot I’d even hit my head until later, when I got a really bad headache. I spent most of Sunday in bed while Greg, like a saint, ran to the store to get me saltines and Advil. I think I actually gave myself a bit of a concussion this time (fun fact: you’re not supposed to take ibuprofen if you have a concussion!).
I went to work the next day and I was really fatigued and my head really hurt and my coworker was like, “Why are you so dumb? Go home.” I took a monster nap and slept a full eight hours that night and the next day I felt like a new woman. I was so well rested! I was in love with the world!
And I wanted birdhouses.
I’m very much like a magpie–I see something shiny and I become totally focused on it. Because of this, I don’t let myself buy something on a whim. I have to go home, think about it, and make sure I really want it. And nine times out of ten, something new and shiny pops up to distract me. But I’ve been thinking about this photo that a friend LeAnn Locher took:
Yanked with permission from Flickr.It’s been in my inspiration file for a while now. If you haven’t seen her blog before and want some serious garden inspiration, head over here. How great is that? The idea of putting just one birdhouse in my yard seems so lame now. I think some sort of structure over here would look great.
This corner has been challenging; it has TWO trees that previous owners tried to cut down, only to have them sucker back to life. It’s badly in need of evergreen elements. It lacks anything with height, except when I forget to trim the mystery willow (one of the trees they tried to kill) and it grows a bouffant.
Wouldn’t it look better with a pine there? Or maybe a wax myrtle, like the rep from the Audubon Society suggested? And ten birdhouses? Putting a bird on it is so over, guys. Put a BIRDHOUSE on it. -
Spring fever!
I’ve been so starved for action in the garden that I’ve been running into the backyard when I get home from work and scanning the ground for emerging bulbs. Since it was only January I was always disappointed.
But! Yesterday things were happening!
Simple minds = simple pleasures, you guys. February 3rd, I’m gonna kiss you on the mouth. -
Habitat! Sweet habitat!
I did it! The Audubon Society certified my yard as backyard habitat!
Getting this entailed a bunch of stuff (all of it here) including turning 5% of my available yard (and boy do they measure) over to native plants, disconnecting my downspouts, having a birdbath, practicing integrated pest management (no pesticides), and removing aggressive weeds (like all the Himalayan blackberry). I had to bicker a little with the woman at the end over heuchera and whether it’s native (turns out it counts as a native plant).There are a lot of benefits to getting certified (like insanely cheap native plants) but I mostly wanted the bragging rights. And I’m still enough of a hippie that I dig being part of a program that is trying to encourage habitat for native species. It also helps that native plants in the northwest are so pretty. I’m really excited for everything to start growing again this spring so I can see who decides to fly in and visit me. This last season was mostly hummingbirds (yay!) and crows (boo).The rep from The Audubon Society said my front yard would a good contender for a rain garden. A rain garden harvests the storm water from your property and, instead of dumping it in the sewer, directs it to a densely planted area that allows the water to naturally percolate into the ground, much like it would in a forest. They offer free classes in Portland so I think I’ll sign up and look into it.
Image lifted from here.I’m so excited! -
Great sadness!
The weather gods decreed that the sedum planter is yard trash.
At some time during the night that leaning bit of gate fell over, squished my mock orange and took out my little shabby chic drawer of sedums. You’d think I’d learn and finally put that bit of gate (which I intend to turn into a compost bin) in the garage but, no, I just leaned it up against the fence again.
Ha ha, weather gods! I have another bathroom vanity drawer in the basement! And I never learn my lesson! -
Will wonders never cease.
I planted pansies back in the beginning of march, when the tulips emerged. Pansies like the cold and I thought they wouldn’t last very long but, hey, they were only $1.49 at Freddy’s.
You guys, this one is still alive. It’s nibbled at and kind of mangy looking, but it survived the spring monsoon, incredible heat, and a ton of neglect.
I will probably reward its tenacity by accidentally running it over with a wheelbarrow. -
Why I won’t be quitting my day job.
Did your mom ever give you a haircut when you were little, and maybe it wasn’t perfect? Did you maybe give her grief about this for years on end, as if it didn’t just grow out in two weeks anyway?
Mama, I am so sorry.
I tried to trim my rhododendron myself. My bangs may have been a little crooked but my mother never left me with bald spots. They look so much worse in person.
I’m going to blame this on the fact that: 1. I have no idea what I’m doing and 2. there were SPIDERS THE SIZE OF KITTENS IN THESE.It was terrifying. I’m betting right about now that my neighbor across the street wishes I had just left the arbor vitae in, so she wouldn’t have to look at my house. I did mildly better on the mystery willow in the backyard.Before:
After:
It’s harder than it looks!
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Gardening on a dime
So remember all that dirt that sat in my front yard and how I just dumped it in the backyard, for lack of a better option? I decided to see if I could transform it without spending much money.
Back in August I went to Portland Nursery and visited their Island of Misfit Plants sale section. They had a heavenly bamboo and a flowering currant. I already have FOUR flowering currants in my yard but, hey, they’re fricking gorgeous and hummingbirds love them. And they’re pink. I love pink in the garden! I got the plants for less than $20 total. Not bad, right?
I borrowed some ferns from other parts of the yard, just to have something there. Fast forward to now, when that soil has had a chance to attract every bad element in the neighborhood. Cats have visited, weeds have established themselves, and that clump of bamboo, which sat untended for four years and didnt budge, sent out a runner.Son of a . . . !?!
I cut out as much as I could and called it a day. Bamboo, you may be tenacious but I am STUBBORN. I will move that whole dirt pile (again. later.) if I have to.Nature! It just does what it wants, am I right?
I have planted 21 ferns in my yard but this one popped up all by itself. Note to self: replace this deck next spring.
