The Busyness of June

 The June Garden. Full of hummingbirds, flowers and work. Everytime you step outside, there is another bud opening and another weed taking over. My long-time garden goal was to be able to pick a bouquet of flowers every day of the year. And that's possible in our mild Willamette Valley. And it takes a lot of work even as I profess myself to be quite the lazy gardener. I can cull the paltry performers  to make room for plants that work for me.
My new-ish goal is allow the garden to become even less work for me. There will be more evergreens and less perennials. (Someone's gonna have to get even more ruthless!)

My 20-year old Sasanqua Camellia. My husband said I could not tack a trellis to the siding (since replaced) nor attach any permanent supports. I had stakes in the ground for the first few years but this is one of my successes. 
This plant blooms red blossoms with yellow stamens all winter.

We had an odd, rainy, winter with sudden cold snaps and my five Montana Clematis's all rotted off at the ground.  My neighbor's Montana variety also succumbed, but another one of mine by the hedge is going gangbusters.
We tore down all of the dead vines off of the pergola and my husband spent quite a bit of time repairing the pergola and re-staining it. We had to replace two of the lattice panels. It's lasted 20 years and will last longer with this maintenance. The clematis's are coming back from the roots and we will train them up and over the pergola but there will no shade this year. (boohoo)

No sewing right now. 

About the only way I get close to sewing is participating in the primo garage sale season of June.

Here's my haul from Friday:

 This wallhanging which might be re-purposed into a purse.

 A basket of 6-inch wool squares.

 A few pounds of lace.
A ziploc of RicRac.
I went to this garage sale advertising sewing machines and fabric. What I found was fabric priced at two bucks a yard and fairly basic fabrics at that. Nothing outstanding and nothing worth (to me) two bucks a yard. The lace, though, was an outstanding bargain. The sewing machines ($200 each) were  basic, newer Singer's which you can buy at Target/Walmart.  
Which, if I am not mistaken, is within range of what you would buy them new for and the new Singer's have no reputation to speak of, 
let alone buying them at a garage sale with no warranty. . .

 More lace and iron-on transfers.

This gorgeous blue bowl. 
I will probably put this on the back patio and find the right plant to highlight that blue.

Peony

This odd iris variety.
It grows the sword leaves the first year and blooms the second. Multiple blooms up the stem. 

 This is Iris time.

 My fir tree mulch - grows a prodigious amount of mushrooms.

 Ahhh. The White foxglove blooms.

 Borage. You can candy the blossoms and eat them on your salad. 

Kind of a prickly plant. The blue-pointed stars are spectacular.

 Anemone.

 Nigella. I've never heard a common name for this frothy foliage with beautiful blue flowers that dries wonderfully. The one-inch seed pods will pop, exciting young children, showering everything with tiny black seeds. They dry light brown with shades of rose and red. Makes a lovely winter bouquet.

One last image of our bare-naked pergola.
Framing our view of the runway and the farmer's field beyond.

***Thank God it started raining again. Time to go in.

*** Must be Rose Festival Time