June

Right now is arguably the prettiest time of the year in our garden, depending on whom you ask. But it's a bit of a blur as we prepare for our open garden this coming Saturday. Rain is in the forecast yet we carry on, hoping some hardy folk will show up. Really, an open garden is a good target for us to complete many of our annual chores; so it's fine even if no one shows. A deadline looming has incredible power over me for some reason. After Saturday, we slide into summer with a clinky drink in hand as we lounge in our catio with The Furry Ones (our four rather active cats). I promise.

There are lots of flowers and so many birds right now. While I try to photograph the critters, they are not as forgiving as a fairly static plant. Perhaps I'll put together a post of some of the better photos soon. We had a pair of white-breasted nuthatches use our nesting box for the first time. It was a thrill watching them bring food in the form of insects to their babies. No more peeping from the nest box now, as it seems they fledged when we weren't looking. Stories like this bring such vibrant joy to our lives. Hopefully a bit of that joy spills through to you all with two dimensional images and stories.

OK, here's a snapshot of early June at Chickadee Gardens:

In the labyrinth garden, looking north towards Salix eleagnos subsp. angustifolia in the center. Ozothamnus 'Sussex Silver' is the other large silvery shrub on the right. Everything here has to be adapted to summer dry conditions. Surprisingly the salix has no issues with little summer water.

Diplacus aurantiacus 'Jeff's Tangerine' (syn. Mimulus 'Jeff's Tangerine) is having a great and floriferous spring, likely due to the mild winter. I have several of these throughout the garden and all are very happy this year.

A couple native sedum, Sedum laxum (pale yellow flowers) and Sedum spathulifolium 'Cape Blanco' (brighter yellow flowers). Both of these are indeed sun lovers but here in a bit of shade they are actually quite happy.

Ceanothus 'Cool Blue' which is supposed to be variegated has totally reverted to an all green leaf color. 'Cool Blue' is a sport of C. thyrsiflorus 'Skylark', so I guess this can be considered C. thyrsiflorus 'Skylark'? Whichever its name, it's been a very popular bloomer for the bees.

I believe this is a metallic sweat bee, with its brilliant green body, visiting a cistus flower.

Deutzia setchuenensis var. corymbiflora beginning to flower. This is a lovely and interesting deciduous shrub with slightly glaucus leaves.

Hypericum olympicum var. citrinum is a tidy, small shrub. It is semi-evergreen and its flowers are a pretty pale yellow. While most hypericums scare me a little for their spreadability this has remained a tiny thing at only 8 or so inches tall and about 20 inches wide. It's incredibly adapted to dry soil.

Eriophyllum lanatum in the foreground, Leptospermum ruprestre 'Higland Pink' catching the late afternoon sun in the background. Both are really well-adapted to summer dry conditions once established.

While snapdragons or Antirrhinum sp. are common and I am not in the habit of planting them, this little volunteer showed up at the edge of the veggie garden and I love its dark stems and flowers. I bought one several years ago, its seeds are obviously still around.

Some of the salvias are beginning to bloom, several of which will continue on for months, such as this - Salvia greggii cultivar.

The native buckwheats are blooming right now, a delightful thing to see. This is Eriogonum heracleoides, a semi-evergreen sub-shrub.

Eriogonum compositum, arrowleaf buckwheat. On a trip through the Columbia River Gorge to Idaho earlier in May we saw thousands of these dotting the highway. 

Penstemon 'Electric Blue', a plant I have learned not to water at all. I have had this and P. heterophyllus 'Blue Springs' and P. heterophyllus 'Margarita BOP' all several times over, none of which survived more than a couple of years. Crossing my fingers with this one which has been here for at least four years now.

The plant that ALL the kids are talking about (well, the birds and insects), Lonicera involucrata, twinberry. It is an audible buzz as you walk by and also an audible "squawk" or whatever the cedar waxwings say as they devour its dark-purple black berries. It is a large and rather gangly deciduous shrub, though its wildlife value is huge.

Crambe maritima has survived predation by the critter brigade. Apparently this is an edible (and delicious?) plant commonly called sea kale. It is native to coastal areas of England and is grown as a food by many.

Eriodictyon californicum, commonly known as yerba santa, the sacred herb. A native of California's woodland and chapparal areas, it was used as a healing herb by indigenous peoples.

A wider image showing its foliage. It forms a colony in time, so says the literature I read. What mine did was form a long main stem which fell horizontally and several shoots emerged from the lateral branch. This is the first time it has bloomed.

I am a lover of penstemons and we have so many fabulous Oregon native species. This is Penstemon serrulatus, Cascade penstemon, a very garden tolerant (water, wet, rich soil, etc.) species, a semi-evergreen perennial.

A wide shot of the meadow area where the above named penstemon lives.

The shade garden is looking pretty good this spring, lots of Oxalis oregana spreading its little heart out.

When I find branches that have fallen on our property that are particularly attractive I love to incorporate them into the garden. Here a branch mingles with Vaccinium ovatum, evergreen huckleberry and Hosta 'Guacamole'.

Finally a little crystal a friend gave me cast this beautiful rainbow, a sign to say Happy Pride Month! May it be full of joy and love and celebration for all.

June is a lovely month in the garden, no doubt about it. Though the chores are many, once they are checked off of our list, we can relax a little bit. Nothing like an open garden to get one motivated. Speaking of that, we hope to see some of you at our open garden this Saturday June 6, from 10 - 4 (we're open a little later than usual this time). We'll be here rain or shine, the forecast does call for rain. Darn. That's gardening for you. If you can't swing a Hardy Plant Society of Oregon membership and would like to come, drop me a line and I'll send the details. All are welcome.

That's a wrap for this week at Chickadee Gardens. As always, thank you SO MUCH for reading and commenting, we love hearing from you, our dear gardening community. Happy Gardening!