September gardens at Point Defiance

I went to Point Defiance park a week ago and enjoyed the gardens - the borders and the dahlia, fuchsia, and rose gardens. I encourage you to visit sometime this month while there is so much blooming, and the borders look so good.

A few photos of fuchsias I liked:

Some pictures with bees in the flowers. The first is Actaea (Bugbane). The remaining are dahlias:

Rabbits!

I have a love/hate relationship with rabbits this year. We had not seen rabbits in our yard until last year, when we would get one or two who visited occasionally and just seemed to eat a little grass. I think the coyotes and hawks had kept them under control in past years. This year, we are getting more full grown rabbits and rabbit babies. They have been feasting on my perennials and annuals, and it looks like some will not recover. They especially like tender new growth.

This photo shows how they have eaten the lower sections of scarlet runner beans. They are recovering and giving us more beans than we can eat. Other plants aren't doing as well.

At this point, my strategy is to plant more plants, so there are enough for the rabbits to eat and for me to enjoy. I will also pay attention to plants they don't favor, and I may increase these. For example, they don't seem to eat salvias and agastache. I had thought they were leaving the hardy fuchsias alone, but it appears they've chewed out a section of a newly planted one.

I may need to try fencing some areas next year, to protect newly emerging plants.

An unusual bumblebee

I first saw this bee two years ago, and it is now a common site in my garden, especially when the Rose of Sharon bloom. It is a bit larger than the black/white and yellow/black bumblebees that are my most common bees. I like the rusty color.

 In the photo below, "Rusty" is settled in, and a black/yellow bee comes for pollen, then quickly leaves.

 They get covered with pollen!

Silene regia 'Prairie Fire' - Prairie Fire Catchfly

When blooming, the hummingbirds favor this plant above all others, including the scarlet runner beans and fuchsias. Silene regia 'Prairie Fire' is a perennial that likes full sun and does not require much water. In the tropical area of my garden, it gets plenty of sun and water, so it grows 7 feet tall! It must be well- supported with tall stakes and ties. I placed a large obelisk over it, then added additional ties as needed. Visitors to my garden always want to know about this plant, which is the tall plant with orange-red flowers in the photos below.

A few photos of the late July garden

Last weekend, John helped me with weeding out the watercress and horsetail from the stream. How nice to have help with this big job, so it only took about two hours. I'd weeded the upper half of the stream the day before - hoeing areas with small weeds and hand-pulling the larger weeds. And John weed-whacked some of the ivy trailing from the neighbor's side of the stream. Here are some photos of the garden.

My little garden helper

I can't resist posting a few photos of my oldest granddaughter in the garden.

Tigridia - a delightful summer-blooming bulb

I encourage you to look for Tigridia bulbs next winter/spring and plant some, so you can enjoy these lovely blooms. Each bloom only lasts for a day, but more come along. They are a nice surprise as you walk along the garden bed. They come in a few different colors.

 

Clematis - Jackmanii and Jackmanii superba

I have two Clematis growing on the south side of my deck. They are about 20 feet tall this year. I ran some cords from the second floor deck ceiling, and they climbed part the trellis up the cords. One of the Clematis is 'Jackmanii', and the other is 'Jackmanii superba'. They are different shades of deep purple, and the 'Jackmanii' flower is a little smaller with 5 petals, while 'Jackmanii superba' has 4 petals.

These are type 3 (or C) Clematis, so I cut them in late winter down to about 12'' from the ground.
They get daily drip irrigation. They don't like to get dried out (they'll quit blooming early).

For some of my other Clematis, I trim off many of the spent flowers. I think it may keep the plants blooming longer.

Godetia - annual flowers

This spring, I scattered a packet of Godetia seeds in the raised bed along the driveway. I planted wax begonias in front. The Godetia are in full bloom now. If I plant this combination again, I will plant pink or white begonias, instead of the scarlet ones.

It certainly was easy and inexpensive, so I will definitely grow them again from seed.

In the smaller bed that is just past this long bed, I have pepper plants - jalapeno, Gypsy bell, and Anaheim. They are all doing well. So far this spring and summer has been great for my veggies.

Pruning Nandina domestica (Heavenly Bamboo)

It is easy to prune heavenly bamboo. There is a group of cane-type plants that are pruned in the same way. Select some of the oldest canes and cut to the ground. New canes will develop. I limit this pruning to one third of the canes. This photo shows three of the regular Nandina domestica after cutting canes to the ground.

You can also prune canes part way, which will cause them to branch, if this is the type of shaping you desire.

A few photos and late May garden activities

I took a few photos from the deck this morning. The first one shows the driveway berm with the ninebark and spirea starting to bloom and the rose garden getting ready to bloom.

This photo shows my two new arbors installed next to each other, my tomato plants in their pots, and some of the beds around the lawn. We set up the drip systems for my large containers - the one by the pool handles my tomato and Brugmansia (Angel's Trumpet) plants. Another next to my upper driveway handles other pots that I have on top of a retaining wall.

We installed a new fountain near the Japanese garden. My Angel's Trumpet plants have flower buds already. This morning I discovered our "resident" rabbit has munched on some of the hosta leaves in my shade bed and some of my Scarlett runner beans. So far, I am not concerned, as there are lots of hosta leaves, and the beans should recover. The rabbit is getting quite large feasting on my plants.

 

May garden activities

Whew - What a lot to go in the garden in the spring! We spread 62 yards of bark in the last couple weeks. What an effort. Fortunately I didn't have to shovel and push wheelbarrows, but I sure did a lot of raking.
Doublefile Viburnum are one of my favorite shrubs.

 

My Gunnera are just getting going. They love their streamside location!

 This is the berm by the lower driveway.

We got two new arbors and placed them next to each other. I planted Thunbergia (Black-eyed Susan Vine) to grow up the sides.

Plants are growing like crazy, which is wonderful, but the conditions are also great for weeds. So I've been  after them regularly. I either pull by hand or hoe with my action hoe (also called hula hoe). Love this tool!

The Mason Bees filled nearly all the holes in the "house". I will need a bigger one next year. I might try to get my husband to help me build one.

 

 I planted my vegetables. Here is a photo of my peppers: Gypsy Sweet Peppers, Jalapeno, and Anaheim. I also planted Scarlett Runner Beans, Japanese and English Cucumbers. I planted tomatoes in pots: Sungold, Matina, Tommy Toe, Cherokee Purple.

 

The bumblebees are enjoying the Allium. 

 

The April Garden - Mason Bees and Emerging Plants

Just a few quick shots of the garden taken yesterday. I'm happy to report lots of Mason Bee activity! You can see a female adding mud to finish off another tube. There are more completed tubes than I expected this first year. I think more bees than the ones I purchased found the home. Yea!

I am doing lots of weeding (hoeing and pulling) of all the little weeds that enjoy the current conditions of moisture and light.

Rock garden area near upper driveway.

 

These little iris came from my sister and are doing wonderfully in a few places near the upper driveway.

These fronds are from the royal fern, and it is majestic when open.

Some small-sized rhodies and blueberries enjoy an area with very well-draining soil, as it is over an old rotten cedar tree.

Marine Hills Garden Club Plant Sale

A lot of my garden plants came from my garden club plant sales. Great prices for good quality ornamental and native plants. Our next plant sale is:

Saturday, April 26 from 10 am to 3 pm

 

Plant Sale in Federal Way

 

Marine Hills Garden Club has a great assortment of annuals, perennials and native plants for sale.

Come early for best selections.

 

Location: 29301  7th Place South in Federal Way

 

Questions? Call 253-839-4413 or e-mail judymcdonald41@yahoo.com