Seeds, Chores & Blooms

What a delight it has been working outside during these past very mild weeks. Winter has not felt like itself around here, rather a perpetual state of, oh, I don't know, perhaps March? With a sprinkle of April thrown in? But with less going on. I feel sort of caught up on chores for a change and ready to tackle the veggie garden this year with renewed vigor. I've been busy in the greenhouse, too, sowing seeds and tending tiny little plants and watching them almost obsessively to observe any new growth. Normally this time of the year the greenhouse would be a little less active and I'd be more hands-off regarding tending plants, but as it feels like it's later in the year than it really is, I'm all systems go. 

There are also some flowers to observe mid-February, though I admit they are what everybody shows this time of the year. Even so, they brighten my days so I am happy to show them here without hesitation.

A favorite hellebore, Helleborus foetidus - not for its flowers but rather for its cool foliage that, yes, does resemble pot plants. I am often asked by visitors. The flowers are pretty interesting, actually, I don't know that I ever noticed the maroon banding on the edge of the petals.

On my greenhouse table where several borderline hardy plants live in winter. In summer they are all out on my deck. This is my happy place right now.

In the greenhouse we have a Meyer lemon tree (in a container, of course, as it's not hardy in the ground), this is the second tree, having killed the first. I've had this one maybe four years and this is the best it's ever fruited. At least 10 good-sized ripening lemons plus a ton of flower buds that smell delicious. When I first bought a lemon tree I put it in a terra cotta pot having been inspired by images of orangeries and beautiful old pots in fancy greenhouses. I quickly learned that they are too heavy to move around (for me), and move around one must do in my climate. A large rather unattractive plastic pot has made all the difference. Rather utilitarian but moveable.

The other day my friend Maurice was over and mentioned a mutual friend is now starting seeds using the seed snail method. I chuckled and that was that, no real intention of doing it myself. But then the next day on my YouTube feed I saw this guy - doing exactly the seed snail method of germinating seeds. I was sold - at least on trying it. The point is that they germinate well, are insulated and you can unroll it to easily prick out seedlings. It's space-saving and roots have a lot more space to grow than they would in a seed flat. Also, the intention is to reuse the bubble wrap over and over. I like that, I'm super pro-recycling. I am testing this method with a few flower seeds as an experiment. I'll report back! This method was apparently started by Farida Sober, check out her Instagram page here - I'm now following her and am intrigued by this method.

Speaking of Maurice (former owner of Joy Creek Nursery and a dear, dear friend), I was taking care of a few flats of cuttings for him in my greenhouse over winter. He came over last week so we could pot them up. There are now 23 additional flats of perennials in my greenhouse. We're full up! These are mostly hardy fuchsias, penstemons, diascias and other pretty flowering plants. They are going to be available at our Dirty Diggers spring plant sale that will take place on Saturday, May 9, so mark your calendars. If you're a fan of hardy fuchsias and penstemons that Joy Creek Nursery grew, this is a great chance to purchase them.

In addition to potting up Maurice's farm of cuttings, I've been sowing onion, leek, lettuce and arugula seeds as well as a few hardy perennials in the greenhouse. I love being out there this time of the year when the weather is just a bit too nasty to garden, but not so bad that the greenhouse feels uncomfortable. In other words, I'm sort of outside and still surrounded by plants.

Some of my propagules in the greenhouse.

Now on to a few chores. Having received a new load of wood chips from Chip Drop, we have been busy reducing the car-sized pile for use in the veggie garden and other areas as well.

FM has embarked on a new project that is 100% his idea. He wanted to remove all the sod from the very southern border of our property by the olive trees with the original intention of mulching with rocks and gravel to give a rock garden - Mediterranean look. Rocks are expensive and heavy, so we opted for wood chips. He's then going to build and place steel edging around each tree to create a box of sorts then back fill with gravel and rocks. The sod seen here will be gone eventually.

My niece and her boyfriend came over for a day to help us, we appreciate young muscles! I should have taken some pics of them in action. Anyhow, it's a slow, heavy process but something we're good at - plucking away a bit at a time.  

We're covering the newly scraped soil with at least 6" of wood chips.

It's a long stretch of grass, some 100 feet long all told. FM is my rock star. I can kind of imagine what it will look like when completed, I will definitely share updates. I know the roots of the olive trees are somewhat shallow so FM will use extra care removing the grass under them.

The pile is a mere shadow of its former self. We'll use it all and more (actually a few days after I took this photo FM has officially used it all, time for another Chip Drop).

Smallish project: FM also added more bits of steel edging. Here a very visible corner, right along our driveway, has been troublesome from the beginning. This will help a lot to corral that grass.

Another chore, weeding. I spotted what I believe to be Italian arum, Arum italicum, in my woodland garden. It must have blown in from birds, seeds, who knows but it's problematic and an invasive species. I have seen it infesting natural areas both here in Saint Helens and also in Portland. Its pretty leaves should not be trusted - it's very sneaky and difficult to eradicate. Get thee gone, devil! It's now in a plastic bag, tied up, in our garbage can. I'm also currently on blackberry patrol when the weather allows.

On to fun things, flowers. Grevillea 'Neil Bell', my huge, gorgeous grevillea has never really stopped blooming.

Daphnes are in full bloom, Daphne odora 'Aureomarginata' on the left having started later than its buddy on the right.

Daphne Perfume Princess (white flowered form) has been blooming for a few weeks. Its fragrance is lovely, kind of lemony. I am surprised how hardy it is and would have planted more had I known how much I would like it.

Edgeworthia chrysantha is finally opening up its flowers. I don't notice a strong fragrance on my plant, though others have described it as having one.

A slow grower in my garden, it's finally reaching a respectable size.

Last March while at an HPSO lecture, FM won one of the door prizes, a Helleborus x hybridus 'Cotton Candy Winter Jewels'. My teeth hurt looking at it, indeed it's cotton candy-esque. But pretty!

Helleborus argutifolius 'Janet Starnes' is always a good-looking plant. I was thrilled when I spotted a huge mess of tiny seedlings at its base - I'm potting them up to spread this all over the shade garden.

One last hellebore, a dark flowered and dark stemmed plant that I dug up in the Joy Creek Nursery garden beds at Mike (the owner)'s suggestion. I have bunches of these in the garden, some are white but these are the ones that I always end up photographing.

Hamamelis 'Jelena' has never been so floriferous. As with the edgeworthia, this is slow growing in my garden, getting a little better with each passing year. It is totally worth the wait.

Now for a few green things that made me smile this week. Pittosporum tobira 'Dr. Yokoi', a gift from a dear friend last year, is still small but so pretty.

Ophiopogon 'Nigrescens' with Saxifraga primuloides and moss pretty much looks like this year-round, a combination I get to walk by every day near our front door.

Polypodium scouleri colony in the shade garden. Wouldn't it be grand if this were to spread a little faster? I would love ferns covering everything. This evergreen fern is native to coastal regions of the Pacific Northwest and although it does appreciate moisture and shade, it does tolerate some dry conditions as long as it's not in sun.

Leaves of Osmanthus heterophyllus 'Sasaba'. Another small but mighty plant in the shade garden. Eventually it will reach heights of 7 or so feet tall, but once more, it's slow growing for me because I don't water it often if at all.

A favorite log slowly decomposing in the shade garden surrounded by Oxalis oregana 'Klamath Ruby'.

Cyrtomium fortunei, Polystichum munitum, Adiantum venustum, and Ophiopogon planiscapus along the mossy path in the shade garden.

Arctostaphylos 'Howard McMinn' in the open sunny labyrinth garden.

Arctostaphylos 'Saint Helena' (one of three), is looking happier now that the rather large Hebe 'Karo Golden Esk' was moved from its feet to another location in the garden.

Closing out this post with flowers from Arctostaphylos 'Sentinel'. All of the arctos blooming in my garden right now are an important source of sustenance for bumble bees who have, with such mild weather, emerged from their homes. The low buzz of bumbles on a sunny day is audible from several feet away, and when you are near the plant I swear you can almost feel them brushing your cheek as they bounce around. A delight and a relief to have something in the garden for them this time of the year.

For February, there seem to be a lot of chores around here. I suppose that is related more to what I eluded to earlier, that this winter has been especially mild and so we're outside more, nearly every day. Hopefully this means we truly are ahead of the curve. I can't think of any large projects for this summer other than perhaps topping off some of the gravel paths with a fresh inch or two. I know we'll likely come up with some wacky idea or another, it's almost guaranteed. Perhaps it's time to construct that Stonehenge replica we've talked about.

That's a wrap for this week at Chickadee Gardens. As always, thank you so much for reading and commenting, we do love hearing from you all! Happy gardening.