Projects, Observations & Stories

Come along as I bounce from plants to projects to delights all over the garden. There are stories to tell! June was an eventful month with open gardens, lots of visitors and with the cooler weather sporadically popping up, gardening, planting, planning and harvesting. The brief spells of really hot weather pushed out flowers and the veggie garden saw a growth spurt, but the back and forth weather is confusing. I guess that's my mood, so hang in there as we seemingly cover everything all at once.

One of my favorite scenes in our garden is the edge of the labyrinth garden with fairly new (two years now?) plantings at the outermost edge. It was intended to be boisterously colorful and that I believe we've achieved. This is in early June, it has since mellowed a bit.

A few days ago in late June, it looks a little less colorful. Granted this was on a dull, overcast day so the Eschscholzia californica (California poppies) were not open. The Phlomis russelliana yellow flowers are finished for the season; those tall pom poms will morph to a beautiful chestnut brown and change the spirit of the scene once again. The salvias will keep going, carrying this through summer into autumn.

This particular scene will likely not look any better this year. The strip of grass is the only piece of grass I actually care about keeping green as it's integral to tying this all together cohesively. The challenge has been that grass here, if it grows at all, goes dormant. So does clover. The grass has actually been dying out. I could never coax grass seed to take, nothing wants to grow here for some mysterious reason. So earlier this spring FM tilled it and added compost and seeded it properly with a fescue mix and caged it off to keep critters (and humans) out. I think it worked, the grass took and looks pretty good. It's an experiment. If the grass does die, the last resort is a wood chip path.

The newly sown grass path from April with temporary fencing to keep people from walking on it until it became established. It's not perfect but has filled in more than this by now.

A fun discovery, I had a Diplacus auruntiacus seedling pop up outside of my greenhouse earlier this year. It bloomed after much anticipation and I was totally surprised by its flower. It's the one on the left with the red, the one on the right is a typical Diplacus auruntiacus, of which I have many, in my garden. I have propagated the chance seedling and hoping to get a few more going in the garden. The odd thing is that I have no other Diplacus in my garden, they are all 'Jeff's Tangerine' or just the straight species so the red is a bit of a mystery.

Speaking of propagating, I had a bit of a learning moment. I thought I'd get a head start on propagating a few choice perennials and shrubs, cutting earlier than usual. Then the heat came and most of the perennials fried, even with regular mist and proper conditions. Also, I learned not to cut the hardy fuchsias too early, rather to let the new growth harden just a tad more, the material I cut was way too undeveloped and soft. I have since recut them all and they are fine, especially with the cool June weather. I'm no rock star at propagation, rather I'm learning from month to month.

Speaking of cooler June weather, while it's most welcome and seemingly more "typical" of Junes I remember from my childhood here in the Portland area, it's not the scorching heat we've been told is coming. We did have a couple very hot spells but straight after, cool, even rainy, weather followed. Mind you, I'm not complaining at all, I rather like the moody gray skies right now. I wonder about the super hot summer that has been predicted. For now I'm enjoying being able to work in the garden and not have to water every day.

I have always wanted a wildlife pond, but realistically with everything else on our two-acre plate, it's too much. After I saw this video, however, I was sold, I can do this on a small scale. I know how having water for wildlife is a game changer, even a little bit like this is helpful (besides the 11 birdbaths we already have). We had a Lonicera nitida 'Silver Beauty' in this spot for years and I have to admit, Lonciera nitida scares me a little after we dug out huge areas where it suckered and spread a lot (after many years in the ground, but still...). The cultivars are much more well-behaved but 'Silver Beauty' kept reverting to its all green growth which is the vigorous bit. Enough. It was time to say goodbye and in its place . . . a small pond.

We looked around for a while and finally found a good, real half barrel. The first task will be to leach out tannins from the wine it once held as well as to rehydrate the barrel so it swells and holds water. After about a week of topping it off it's finally sealed and full to the top. Now we will change the water weekly for a while until the water runs clear. It actually already does but I want to make sure it's safe for plants and whatever critters find it. The two pieces of wood are temporary in case a critter falls in and needs an escape route. Once the leaching is complete I plan on going to Hughes Water Gardens to pick up a few pond plants. Of course there will be fun branches and plantings and rocks around it to help it blend in and we'll use rain water from our cistern to fill it up. It's not a beautiful thing to look at right now, but stay tuned, the beauty will be when wildlife finds it.

An artsy project is in the works: the back of my blue shed has long had shelves attached to hold random garden pots, but I've wanted a mural for a long time celebrating our furry family members that have departed for the great rainbow bridge in the sky. FM removed the shelves and painted it a base color.

Now that it's dry and primed, the planning and design is happening. FM is building me a sort of scaffold, too. I'm excited! Stay tuned.

A rather curious observation is that every single Hebe (Veronica) that died in inclement weather over the years has resprouted from their roots. Every one, even a Hebe salicifolia var. angustissima that died some seven years ago (!!) is making a comeback. Hebe 'Great Orme' and H. diosmifolia are among the resurrected. Pictured is Hebe 'Patty's Purple' which I thought died a miserable death in January 2024. What a surprise!

This area dubbed the carex triangle has had challenges lately. Primarily, the smaller grasses are overwhelmed and covered by the very abundant Limnanthes douglasii, an annual wildflower that dies in June, leaving a mat of dead foliage and debris. The smaller grasses underneath don't stand a chance and perish, leaving large brown dead spots for the rest of the year. I decided to add a few taller grasses that will rise above the meadowfoam and play well together - enter Festuca californica (in the little black pots, not planted yet). They will hopefully be about 2' tall (plus inflorescences) when mature and will handle this rather sunny spot better than the Carex comans which grow much better and lusher in my garden on the shadier side of the triangle.

Here's the Limanthes douglasii from April, though very charming, overtaking some of the little grasses. Hopefully my solution of planting the Festuca californica in the areas made barren by the meadowfoam works.

Here is a fun plant, Grindelia stricta ssp. platyphylla 'Mendocino' with a little longhorn bee taking a snooze. There were several sleepy bees on this plant that has finally grown to a good size after three or four years.

Grindelia stricta ssp. platyphylla 'Mendocino', a wider image. This is a California native plant, well adapted to sandy soils and hot conditions. It's quite happy on our south bank as we call it, in open full sun.

Nearby is a recently added Grindelia integrifolia 'José's Giant' which is a Pacific Northwest native, obviously more upright than its cousin above. Both are fabulous for insects, by the way.

Romneya coulteri, fried egg plant, having a moment. This took several tries in my garden before I got a patch established.

This Lobelia tupa used to be gigantic. It took over several square feet of this area, so when it died a few years ago it left a huge hole. I've since tried to fill that hole in here and there with some success, but plants take a while in my garden to realize their fullest potential. I was thus delighted to see that a couple of feet away from the original plant it resprouted. Today it looks like this, complete with a hummingbird visiting and a "new" log behind it to help fill in the blank areas not yet covered in plants.

Speaking of hummingbirds, a rufous hummingbird visits Nepeta 'Walker's Low' in the meadow. Difficult to see, but just about in the center slightly to the right.

They also adore penstemons, this is one of my favorites, Penstemon kunthii. Sadly I did not capture a hummingbird visiting the penstemons this day.

Emerging flowers of Digitalis ferruginea, possibly my favorite stage of this plant. These rise and fall in the meadow garden and add height and even winter interest long after the flowers have faded.

Sweet flowers (literally, they have a light, very pleasant fragrance) of Luma apiculata, Chilean myrtle. This is an evergreen small tree or large shrub eventually reaching 10' or so unless we have a wicked winter. This can kill it back to its base in bad winter winds but will regrow from its roots (so I'm told). So far this has been a beautiful upright large shrub for me.

Crambe maritima, sea kale (yes, it's edible) has finally gotten fairly large. I look forward to seeing its flowers.

Another favorite penstemon, P. 'Rich Ruby', a very hardy and robust plant. I don't think it ever went dormant last winter. I really appreciate its juicy, saturated color.

FM's steel boxes around the olive trees are looking good! Though impossible to see in a field of wood chips, there are a few small Arctostaphylos 'Martha Ewan' planted in between the olives as well as a few low growing ceanothus towards the right. The south bank is starting to fill in.

Standing in the south bank looking out.

Rudbeckia glaucescens, waxy coneflower, native to southern Oregon. These were given to me by a dear friend Meagan of Sleepy Cat Natives. I'm thrilled to see them bloom for the first time. Give it regular moisture and it will be happy in nearly any soil, so I'm told.

Gorgeous flowers of Aruncus dioicus, our native goats beard. This is just about my favorite shade loving perennial, growing to several feet tall if happy and is completely deciduous.

Spiraea douglasii, a rather large spiraea native to my parts. While it's a fabulous and easy shrub, it does become quite large. I was first introduced to this years ago in our old Portland garden when going through the Backyard Habitat Certification Program around 2012. It was suggested as a good alternative to buddleia, (though I didn't grow buddleia) so I thought I'd give it a try. I was not warned of its ultimate size and I wonder if it ever did take over my old garden. The lesson is to do your research. Now I know how large it gets and happily added several to our garden out here in Saint Helens as we have room.

Its flowers are very pretty. A large deciduous shrub that is in my garden about 10' tall and probably 12 - 15' wide.

Tritela laxa (syn. Brodiaea laxa) which has finally given me a few volunteers near to the parent plant. This is a great grassland plant, too, loving dry hot summers.

Aquilegia formosa, an Oregon native columbine with surprisingly bright orange and yellow flowers. This has seeded about in my shade garden. While I did introduce a plant here years ago, we do have it growing naturally in other parts of our garden.

View looking south towards the south bank garden as marked by the large Cupressus 'Donard Gold' in the background. Many shades of green in there, something I strive towards - interesting foliage for year-round appeal.

I don't really know why, but this view just made me happy the day I took the photo. Osmanthus heterophyllus 'Rotundifolius' in the foreground, mossy path in the background. When visitors see the mossy path the first question is nearly always "should I walk on it?" YES, of course, we encourage it!

For years I wondered which geranium this was. After receiving one particular email from Beth Chatto Garden (a great resource, by the way, I recommend subscribing to their weekly newsletter), I think I've finally received my answer - Geranium oxonianum 'Rebecca Moss'. While the color does not translate well in photos, it is a most unusual pink color with a quality difficult to describe but unlike any other pink flower I have.

Dahlia imperialis has two stalks this year and is quite on its way to be another stunner come autumn.

Melica uniflora f. albida, wood melick is a small ornamental grass for shade, even dry shade. This was given to me by my dear friend Anna and I'm happy to say it's finally taken hold in a very tough spot of my garden.

Closing out this post with our garlic harvest. I had to get them out of the ground before it rained, plus they were ready. A pretty good year for garlic I'd say, especially as I took time to water them and even give them a foliar feed of diluted fish fertilizer. More harvesting of other veggies in our future, hopefully. Lately we've been living large on quantities of lettuce (though it's all bolted now), radishes, peas (oh my gosh, the peas! So so many!), the asparagus was epic this year, lots of herbs and, of course, eggs from our hens. I'm hopeful for a good season of all the rest, so far we're off to a pretty good year and look forward to tomatoes, beans, cucumbers and the like. Oh, and the blueberries that have ripened were stolen by the robins, the strawberries I'm afraid had a similar fate. Oh well, you win some...you give some to the birds.

There it is, a rather bouncy-all-over-the-place post highlighting happenings in the garden in June. If you've made it this far, thank you! You hung in there with me and my scattered self. Here's to a pleasant and mild July ahead, fingers crossed (and may the fireworks bypass us this year...oy, the poor animals).

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! Happy gardening, everyone.