Wordless Wednesday: Regrowing Backbone

Dianthus superbus.

Cow Parsnip, Heracleum maximum.

Cow Parsnip, Heracleum maximum, as "whisk".

Stylophorum lasiocarpum.

Campanula punctata.

The willow arbor gets a serious makeover. 

Where's the fire? Smoke tree, Cotinus, with Lychnis coronaria.

Centaurea montana. 

Yucca filamentosa.

Still working on the backbone of the garden. 

Weekend Parties and Their Gardens

This last weekend I attended two parties. One was a 60th birthday for my former employer, and as you can see, he has a thing for pink flamingos.

Both of the homeowners are colorful people so it's been fun helping them out in their garden during the past few years.

Then on Sunday I attended a "meat" party hosted by an old friend at his house in inner industrial SE Portland. Not too long ago I'd lived near this area and it was great to hear the trains going by all day. I also was able to see a few people I haven't seen in about 15 years.

There were other dishes too but this is Portland after all and I'd be acting deceptively if I didn't admit to there being bacon cupcakes and PBR.

Like my old rental house in the area, these two houses are also boxed in by warehouse walls. During the weekend the place is empty so band practice next door was not an issue. The two houses are occupied by friends so the garden is a bit of a shared area though I think Jerrod is the one who takes care of it.

I'd hoped these were edible old roses but they were scentless and that was rather disappointing.

Jerrod has planted vegetables here and there for his culinary needs.

It's been very rainy again so these probably don't look much like summertime in the city but here in Portland this is what it can be like sometimes.

After dinner several of us gorged ourselves on u-pick raspberries.

Oh, and if you're counting this post for cool Portland references, I should add that Jerrod's roommate John works at Renovo Bikes. Yes, that's wood you see there on that bike frame.

Welcome to my little slice of Portlandia.

Ok, Jerrod also made a fresh salad too with homemade Cesar dressing, so it wasn't all about meat... (He also made a horseradish sauce too with fresh horseradish. Yes, this guy is a foodie.)

Wordless Wednesday: Walking to the End of Spring

Possibly Lonicera periclymenum. 

Sambucus nigra 'Black Beauty'. 

Phacelia tanacetifolia.  

Most obnoxious Roses ever! (I kind of like them.)

Lychnis coronaria with Eschscholzia californica. 

Lychnis haageana 'Molten Fire'.

Pericallis. 

Fragaria vesca. 

Rosa 'Jeannie La Joie'. 

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!