2025: A Year in Review

It is true, 2025 was rough. Though my garden was not the focus of my year, it brought much solace and peace of mind in what was otherwise a traumatic time. In this spirit, I still celebrate the garden and I look forward to doing these year-in-review posts. Here is 2025 in the garden, month by month. Not necessarily the "best of" - more along the lines of a snapshot marking any significant observations, projects and memories.

A favorite and cheerful photograph from the year was of the edge of the labyrinth garden dressed up in vibrant orange, pink, reds and yellows.

JANUARY

Starting with January, a very mellow month by winter standards, we welcome the sun rising above our neighbor's property.

Acca sellowiana, Cistus 'Paper Moon' and Olearia 'Dartonii' appreciate the somewhat rare winter sunshine.

A quiet month.

FEBRUARY

Literally the only photos I took in February were after the single snow event we had this year. Ironically, I decided to drive into work, only to be thwarted by said snow and so made a humble, rather slow and slippery drive home.

A towhee resting among echinacea seed heads.

A tiny bit of color for an otherwise colorless day with Cupressus 'Donard Gold' and in the foreground, branches of Acer palmatum 'Sango Kaku'.

Miscanthus sinensis 'Malepartus' flowers looked quite lovely dressed in snow. 

February was also the month I spoke for the Benton County Master Gardener's conference about gardening in a changing climate. This year, in a couple of weeks, actually, I'll be speaking for the Willamette Valley Hardy Plant Group on January 13th if you happen to be in the Eugene area. The topic of my presentation will be 10 years of our gardening adventures here in Saint Helens and what we have learned.

MARCH

At this point with the Benton County presentation behind me and an upcoming trip to Italy in April, I boogied in the greenhouse and garden in general to prepare for our absence. Here, onions are grown from seed, one of many spring gardening chores.

Clematis cirrhosa 'Wisley Cream' brightens up our winter scene.

Bumbles were out in force this March, here visiting Arctostaphylos 'Sentinel'.

One of the earliest plants to bloom (besides arctos), Oemleria cerasiformis, oso berry, is always a welcome sight.

Ribes sanguineum's swelled buds will soon open to gorgeous dangles of bright pink flowers. I love these deciduous large shrubs for they are generally very forgiving and requiring little maintenance.

More vibrant color in Erica 'Rosalie' and another unknown variety behind the Agave parryi ssp. neomexicana. Leptospermum rupestre in the center.

Iris unguicularis had a rather long show, beginning in early January and kept going well into March. For the record, it's currently blooming in late December.

APRIL

March and early April were a mad dash in the garden for we were Italy bound. An anniversary and birthday present, FM took us to Rome and Siena. This is in the Roman Forum, a rather old snarly olive tree with ancient ruins in the background.

This is looking out the window onto the Vatican gardens through the museum.

Siena was gorgeous, but there's a black cloud over it for me for I was rather ill with Covid (my first and only bout) in a very cold and dark vacation rental. It rained a lot but there were some charming moments walking around this UNESCO World Heritage Site. Hopefully we'll go back someday to better weather.

FM did some heavy work in April, digging out sod to make another path for us. This path is now edged in steel and overall with the new path, the whole area looks so much nicer.

Lupinus albifrons was on fire this year. So pretty, so floriferous. I've had very good luck with them but propagated more from cuttings just in case.

MAY

May had good weather if I recall correctly. This newish extension to the labyrinth garden came into its own this spring with lots of volunteer Eschscholzia californica among other colorful blooms.

A symphony of greens in this part of the garden. Muhlenbergia rigens in the foreground. This is basically the same view as in the first January sunrise photo.

The labyrinth garden, Eriogonum compositum blooming lower center left with pale yellow flowers. This plant that I had taken for dead was smothered by a now-removed Ceanothus 'Italian Skies'. A year or two later the buckwheat re-emerged to my delight.

May was marked by weeks of hospital visits to my mother, caring for her five cats and driving back and forth. It was a blur.

JUNE

My mother passed away June 17. June was a dark month, not much gardening going on save for our open garden on June 7th for the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon.

A bright spot was adopting one of her kitties, Snix.

He is such a love. We are lucky to have him. Of her other cats, one was adopted by a neighbor and the others went into foster care with the House of Dreams cat shelter. We are very grateful. Two are still open for adoption if anyone is wanting to welcome a very loved furry friend into their hearts.

JULY

A swallowtail butterfly visiting a rose that originally came from my mom's garden.

Layers and colors in the meadow garden. Digitalis ferruginea are the tall spikes of apricot colored flowers.

Stipa barbata swaying in the wind.

A bright spot in July was the arrival of these two, Frank on the left and Diego on the right (officially known as Death Wish Diego Bandito Diablito - "death wish" for he won't leave his bossy big sister alone). We committed to adopting these brothers from the House of Dreams cat shelter well before we even went to Italy, before my mom became ill. That's the story of how we ended up with four cats.

Honestly it was a rough go with our resident kitty Annie who hated these two kittens.

Stress aside, five months later we are a (mostly) peaceable kingdom. These two and Snix get along really well. They are so good natured, so loving, so funny, we couldn't imagine life without them. Totally worth the volumes of stress we all went through. Annie mostly accepts them, she simply stays out of their way and all is well.

AUGUST

August was also a month of neglect in the garden for the focus of our lives was clearing out my mom's house and getting it on the market for September. It was 60 plus years of her life we had to go through, those of you who have been there know and appreciate the kind of overwhelming and sad task this is. 

House and garage sales aside, no real surprise, the garden actually looked after itself. Blooming in the center (for the first time) is Salvia 'Celestial Blue', my new favorite salvia, though we'll see about long-term hardiness.

A second noteworthy salvia is Salvia 'Brilliance', recommended by Dan Hinkley last summer while visiting Windcliff. It bloomed for months, literally.

More metal edging was installed by FM as seen on the right, a simple thing that brings me so much pleasure for the visual clean up it provides between nasty weed-lawn and garden.

The warmth of August brought out bright berries of Arctostaphylos 'Ghostly'.

SEPTEMBER

Hydrangea quercifolia 'Snowflake', one of the dreamiest of all hydrangeas in my book, happens to be one that does not require as much water as other species.

The meadow is in its frothy stage with those same Digitalis ferruginea now turning chocolate brown and adding an additional layer of interest. Stipa gigantea in the background.

Rosa glauca hips in the labyrinth garden. A favorite rose as its foliage is glaucus, its water needs are minimal and its large vase shape actually fits well into my drought-adapted garden, arching over perennials at its feet. It doesn't take as much space as one might imagine.

Sunset time in the labyrinth.

Artemisia versicolor has been a welcome surprise. I have had this plant for many years but it was poorly placed in damp, less well-drained soil but since I moved it to full sun with great drainage with extra gravel mixed in for good measure, it has exploded. A very patient plant awaiting a better location.

Another arcto with beautiful berries - this is Arctostaphylos pumila. I noticed many of my manzanitas were dripping with berries, I've never seen so many. Perhaps its the fact that they are maturing, it could just be ideal weather for them.

OCTOBER

October saw a good amount of rain and some pretty autumn colors. Miscanthus sinensis 'Malepartus' once more with Quercus hypoleucoides behind it.

We hosted the autumn Garden Blogger's Plant Swap this year on a rather wet but cheerful Sunday thanks to the fabulous people who came out our way. Here, the wonderful, gracious and generous Patricia (of Plant Lust) shows off a prize - a rather beautiful and large podophyllum. Score!

October was the month that our copy of Gardenista: The Low Impact Garden arrived. Ours is one of several gardens featured in this guide to gardening with a light touch, we were honored to be included.

October is generally a busy month for the veggie garden, surprisingly. We processed lots of tomatoes, canned sauerkraut, harvested beans, pumpkins, squash, onions, herbs and more. Despite the neglect it received this year it still offered up delicious and healthy food for which we are grateful.

NOVEMBER

By November our lives had calmed down a lot and we enjoyed some quiet days catching up in the garden when weather allowed. The autumn color was great this year.

Lagerstroemia 'Natchez' was simply brilliant.

At the top of the driveway looking due south, a variety of autumn colors are a welcome last hurrah before the somewhat monochromatic colors of winter arrive.

Fading daylight, fading leaves.

A scene I rarely tire of, Acer palmatum 'Sango Kaku' with Amsonia hubrichtii at its feet at the crossroads of meadow garden and gravel garden.

Cotinus 'Grace' was equally brilliant this year.

DECEMBER

One of the warmest, if not the warmest, Decembers on record has plants a bit confused. We finally got a hard frost this week, the first time since last winter when usually it comes sometime around Halloween. I'm grateful for the cold, though, as I was worried that we would be unseasonably mild followed by a harsh winter storm that would really wreak havoc in the garden. The gentle, gradual cool down is appreciated. 

Agave ovatifolia 'Frosty Blue' has grown by leaps and bounds this year having started from a tiny 2" pot two years ago.

Acanthus mollis has regrown since its summer dormancy, it doesn't quite feel like winter out there yet.

December 14th marks one year since Hobbes died. His and his sister Lucy's graves are adorned, marking the one year anniversary.

Closing out this year with a very happy sight: The tree dahlia, Dahlia imperialis bloomed. Usually it grows foliage and buds to the moon and back but a hard frost kills it down for the year. This was the year it bloomed.

But before that hard frost hit, we climbed a ladder and cut off the flower so we could bring it indoors and enjoy it for a week or so. I'll take it as a good, happy omen with which to end this year.

I am grateful for the love, the grace, the lessons the garden gives me. Through it all it gives and gives more. I can't ask for anything better in life than that which we have already.

That's a wrap for this week and this year at Chickadee Gardens. Thank you to all of you who have stuck by me all this time and for your support and kindness during what was a tumultuous life event, the passing of a parent. We appreciate you all and look forward to productive, beautiful and healthy gardens for all of us in 2026. Happy New Year, Happy Gardening.