More Plant Adventures along the Columbia River

Just about this time last week I was having a bit of a personal meltdown so I dashed out to the Columbia River Gorge to grab a burger and a piece of marionberry pie for dinner. The plan worked.

To say that the spontaneous retreat refreshed me is an understatement.

It recharged me and then some!

The whole escape made me feel significantly better and it gave me some much needed emotional energy.

There is still simply too much reorganization going on in my life. It is all finally coming to a close though and it is such a relief.

That evening I watched the sunset knowing I would be returning to the refuge of the Columbia River basin in just a few more days.

Here I am now, at the end of that trip. I'm writing this entry just before I return home to Portland.

The gas fireplace is lit after a long rainstorm and I can see nothing but green as I look out toward the river.

I'm sitting once again in my Dad's fishing "cabin" near the Washington Coast just north of Astoria, OR.

The blog has been here before, but I do love to post new posts from here.

(Oh, and please forgive the plastic flowers. Mom has not yet been here to plant the annual marigolds.)

Lady Fern, Athyrium filix-femina. 

No matter how Italian the place appears, and despite the house's awkwardness in the landscape, nature still intrudes upon the slumber here. Luckily, my parents think ferns growing randomly here and there don't need eradication. I appreciate that attitude and I suppose I share it too.

A river runs behind the house.

Dad struggles with this painful-looking giant exclamation point in the landscape. Having given the tree to him, I'm not a big fan of this sad Italian cypress. Oh how I wish it could just be put it out of its misery! So many other native plants could joyfully take its place. Don't you agree?

Piggyback Plant, (Tolmiea mensiesii).

Yesterday—for the first time in years—I wandered around the property in search of plant life.

Deep in my heart of hearts I aimed at trying to find the uncommon (or hard-to-find) terrestrial orchid Goodyera oblongifolia. No dice.

Deer Fern, (Blechnum spicant).

Though I did not find one, I found a lot of other plants.

Even so, I've decided that in the future I'll continue to seek them out in the area. Something tells me that it'll be fun to tell people I'm orchid hunting.

For the most part I just saw a lot of the usual while being cawed at by crows who didn't recognize me. Nature can be so unpleasant sometimes.

Big Leaf Maple canopy, (Acer macrophyllum). 

I enjoyed the pre-historic feel yesterday.

Sure there are neighbors around here, but I definitely didn't see any of them.

Salmonberry, (Rubus spectabilis). 

Too bad the skunk cabbage (Lysichiton americanus) wasn't in bloom. There is honestly nothing quite like the smell of it in springtime. 

I eventually meandered into the swampy area and it was here were my paper bag full of plants exploded at my feet while I was wading in the stream.

At least the local herd of elk didn't come through and run me over.

(They travel through our property on a regular basis and when we used to camp here before the house was built they would come through while we were sleeping. It was terrifying to hear the thud of their hooves upon the ground and the branches crashing as they thundered down the hill above, through the canyon, and onward toward the river. Splashing salmon spawning nearby was a whole other experience as well. There is nothing quite like having wildlife just outside your door.)

After many years of playing in the woods of the PNW as a girl you'd think I would have known better. Paper bags do NOT like to be dragged along through tall wet grass during long walks.

After calmly extricating my little boots from the mud I emerged into the meadow on the other side of the house.

Sword ferns (Polystichum munitum) and White Inside-out Flowers (Vancouveria hexandra). 

I left my messy bag and chose to go up above the stream to the upper portion of the property. By now I'd been futzing with nature for a few hours but I couldn't get enough. I was in a very happy place.

Cow Parsnip, (Heracleum maximum). 

Oxalis oregana growing through the thick carpet of moss. 

I made it back down to the house in time for dinner. I was covered in debris from my expedition, but overall, I felt ready to face the world.

Oh groan.

Time to finish packing.

I wonder what happened in my garden while I was gone.

To be continued...

Wordless Wednesday: My Garden Mythology as Seen by Examining My Roots (Home, on the Sandy River, and in the Gorge)

Achillea 'Moonshine'. 

Sicilian Honey Garlic, (Allium siculum aka Nectaroscordum).

Lamb's Ears (Stachys byzantina) and an Armeria.  

Dutch Iris, Iris x hollandica.

Miniature Climbing Rose, (Rosa 'Clove Love and Kisses'). 

Columbine, (Aquilegia 'McKana's Giant'.) 

Clematis 'Mrs. N. Thompson'. 

Growing up beside streams and rivers in the PNW this is how I learned to arrange rocks. Funny I still do this in my garden. (Note the fly fishing going on in the background. Fish are to my family as plants are to me.)

Great landscaping at the Bonneville Fish Hatchery in the Columbia River Gorge. (I think those white flowers are Queen Anne's Lace, Daucus carota.)

Salal (Gaultheria shallon) with a delicate white bloom—such a great native plant. 

Native rose growing along the Columbia River. 

Native Sedum. 

Oregon Iris, (Iris tenax) in front of the Multnomah Falls Lodge.

Green Walls—PNW style. 

My favorite little native Mimulus still clings to the wall at Multnomah Falls. This year the population looks a bit larger.  

Had to zoom into the falls to get a closer look at the exposed roots of this tree or shrub. 

Sketching Ahead, Studying the Lines

Italian ceramic piece that finally found her home in the garden. 

My little cabbage child now greets me as I walk to my front door. She is cheerful and light—and maybe a tad bit creepy to some of you. To my mind she is just what I need now as I continue to garden while my life sorts itself out and calms to the pace I find comfortable.

If I have to wear a mask, this is the mask I will wear because I think we all feel a bit naive and innocent sometimes—even as adults. Reentering the world after what I've been through still often has me feeling quite fresh and new. I don't ever want to be as crusty and hard as those I've seen who've worn too proudly the calluses life has inflicted. I want my sight to remain open.

Jack-in-the-pulpit, (Arisaema triphyllum).

It is with those eyes that I annually witness returning blooms anew.

I removed the planted ring of succulents from the bird bath but not I must center it so that the water doesn't all flow to the back. 

For the first time I'm looking at the garden in light of design and am making changes. I never wanted to design the place, but here I am doing a better job of it. Designing means making choices (a lot of them) and when you're very stressed, I've learned that for some of us, we simply stop being able to make many choices easily. For someone like me, that makes getting by while still feeling like yourself very difficult.

Mona sunbathes while I wait and wait for the Dracunculus vulgaris to bloom. 

It is funny to wait so impatiently for a flower to unfurl that smells so much like rotting meat, but it is truly quite a show stopper. Each year I like to remind my neighbor that if he smells something rather putrid out back its just my plants blooming.

Jasminum parkeri. 

This tiny Jasmine from Cistus Nursery was a really fragrant edition to my Mother's Day flower arrangement on the table this year. It has not been in my garden for long but I've already found that its compactness of form is quite nice in my small city garden.

Ledum groenlandicum.

My native plants never let me down during the springtime, although the heat we recently had blasted the blooms on a few of the plants. Luckily this Ledum really kept its head together. It had more blooms than last year and I think it really looked quite beautiful this past month.

Dark Columbine, Aquilegia atrata.

I sold seeds for this plant in my Etsy shop and then I ran out. Last year the plant didn't really do much or produce any seed, but this season, these will be back in stock. I like that when that happens.

Hybrid roses from the garden of Gina—my boyfriend's mother. 

On Mother's Day it made me very happy to receive roses from a seasoned gardener. I spent a week watching their tight buds open and the house was filled with their fragrance. They were truly a real treat for me since I'm unable now to care for my roses.

It reminded me of my old rental home in the old Italian neighborhood in SE Portland where I'd planted nearly a dozen hybrid roses and I pruned and pruned them as my health worsened. I learned a lot that year in the garden and it led me to where I am now.

Pasta with Peas and Bacon.

Lastly I'm going to close with more food. If you have any delicious fresh peas, I highly recommend making this pasta. (Sorry for not adding the recipe. I will do that more in the future. In the meantime, just do a search on this and you'll find lots of recipes. The one with lemon is good too.)

So, now it's back to the drawing board. This girl needs to continue to reinvent herself and a new form of employment is in order. Wish me luck!