Wordless Wednesday: Gardener Dreams (Astoria, Oregon)

The sun sets into the Pacific Ocean.

DIG Floral & Garden (Vashon Island, WA)

A few weeks back I promised pictures of DIG Floral & Garden out on Vashon Island and I have failed to provide those up until now. I am sorry for the cursory visit, but my ongoing hand injury recovery has really slowed me down.

Lobelia tupa.

Happiest dog I've seen all summer.

I have seen tons of blown glass balls and baubles galore at other places but this arrangement is just right.

If you're going to put a large round object in your garden make sure it's big and heavy. 

A few years ago these gabions inspired my husband to make his own at the family vineyard in California. His is much smaller but he loved that he could use rocks he'd been digging up in the vineyard to fill it up. (Note too the metal "picture" frames. They are actually recycled metal grates.) 

I think this is safely described as a bit surreal. The dissimilar objects remind me much of Lautreamont's famous quote concerning the beauty of a chance encounter between very different objects. Sometimes the odd couple pairings really do work!

If my mother-in-law enjoyed gardening, I would have to buy her one of these little handsome devils. 

I have seen simple tiered planters before but admittedly I've never really liked them. This one is completely different though because the pottery appears to have morphed its shape. It seems more alive somehow.

I have a sedum filled birdbath too so I am a bit partial to this one. 

Chuckle. 

Smile. 

Possibly a Tweedia.

Fuchsia 'Chang'.

More glass balls and this color pathway is maybe a bit less jarring. 

Surprising combination. 

These are aluminum banded planters that can be used many different ways. 

Their take on the Mediterranean theme meshes far better with my relaxed and not-so-technical side. It isn't Anglophilic or part of the Tuscanization of America. It find that refreshing. 

Now I want a totally new garden and it will have a special name inspired by this scene: Glaucous. I would even get my husband a well-trained Glaucous Macaw and train it to act like Kermit the Frog. The silliness of the idea makes it seem plausible. 

De nada!

Just in case anyone cares, that's a Beschorneria 'Ding Dong' blooming in the terracotta pot. (If you're reading this, I got that name just for you.)

This white chicken should stand beside my red wheelbarrow. I need some white concrete chickens right? That's not a want, but a need. Clearly.

The white glass baubles were also a nice touch. I still can't decide which colors I liked most though so that's why you get to see them all.

Nothing makes me happier than an Asparagus fern in a serene formal planter. It floods me with memories of the Alcazar in Seville.

This is meant to remind myself and others that if you have a Staghorn fern living unhappily in a small plastic planter, set it free!

Begonia maculata var. wightii. 

The DIG tour had to be quick because we had a ferry to catch. Two of our regular foster respite kids were waiting back in Portland for us so we had to dash off the island. That morning, the ferry had looked so mysterious and moody in the fog, but by the time we'd packed up, and arrived at the nursery, things were looking much better.

As we waited for the ferry, I sat and watched the Madrone trees.

Madrone, Arbutus menziesii.

Wordless Wednesday: Alpine Strawberries

Fraise de bois, Fragaria alpina.

From Seeds to Seeds: Seed Harvesting and Happiness

Happiness is not something I usually discuss publicly but today I am brimming with it. Sure, the world is currently a bit crazy—and I acknowledge and care about that—but right here at my house, it's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas. I joke not, seriously, and I mean this both figuratively and literally.

For me, seed collecting currently feels like opening tiny gifts wrapped in crinkly sun-dried seed pod papers. Funny that after that is done, I wrap them up in cute little origami envelopes and store them until they are sold in my online store! As many of you know, Christmas shopping often begins early and as usual, I am seeing sales from early shoppers. When I hear that folks are buying seeds for someone for Christmas though it makes me so happy. These are gifts that will give back in return if properly cared for by a gardener—sometimes for years!

Milton's Garden Menagerie (located on Etsy.com) has been a wonderful experience for a chronically ill woman who was terribly confused about how to take that next step in her life. At first I wasn't really sure what I was doing with it and I doubted myself a great deal, but now that it has been almost 2 years and as it nears a viable business status, I think I can say I did it mostly—for the love of seeds! Saying that loud and proud makes me happy today too. 

Each time I collect seeds it's exciting no matter where I am. When I collect seeds from plants I've grown from seed it is even more exciting. This year, for the first time, my gardening friend down the street is letting me harvest from her garden too. Since she is 100% natural in her garden I have no problem collecting her seeds—especially when they are from plants I have sold to her at some point. 

Here are plants I've grown from seed that I am collecting seeds from this year for my Milton's Garden Menagerie harvest:

Tube Clematis, Clematis heracleifolia.

Variegated Honesty, Lunaria annua 'Variegata'.

Heirloom White Single Hollyhock, Alcea rosea. 

Cardinalflower, Lobelia cardinalis.

Great Blue Lobelia, Lobelia siphilitica.

White Rose Campion, Lychnis coronaria 'Alba' or Silene coronaria 'Alba'. 

Maximilian's Sunflower, Helianthus maximilianii.

Sticky Monkey Flower, Mimulus cardinalis.

Bottlebrush Grass, Elymus hystrix.

Then there are the plants I did not grow, but from which I am able to harvest seeds from this year. 

Sticky Phacelia, Phacelia viscida.

Smoke Tree, Cotinus coggygria.

Blue Love-in-a-Mist, Nigella damascena.

Tall Alumroot, Heuchera chlorantha.

Lewis Flax, Linum lewisii.

Pale Corydalis, Corydalis sempervirens.

Adding to all the hectic seed collecting there are the other things too. On my most recent trip to the Seattle area I came home with this gem. It, along with many others, will be planted in the coming weeks. 

Blechnum chilense.

The fern is native to China and can grow up to 6' tall in some places. It is evergreen in my climate so I am very curious to see what it will do. It spreads by underground runners and I've read that it can be invasive but no word on this yet in my area. I guess I will have to see what happens and in the meantime I'll enjoy it as much as I can while it is still docile and not a screeching teen.

And during my copious amounts of free time I will begin working with my many Douglas fir cones. I need to make some new wreaths and holiday decorations because if I continue only using wine corks, someone is seriously going to think we have a drinking problem in our home.

More happy news to come in the following week so stay tuned!