Part Of My Yard

Happy May Day!

Busy weeding my acre this time of year in-between 12 hour split shifts at work and the wonderful April weather.

As you can see, Rusty, who is on better pain meds, helps supervise.

 I weeded half of this bed surrounding our patio. Then gave up moved onto another place that needed attention. I have to cut back the tulips and grab the artillery weeds. The blue on the left is lithospermum.

The house is on the left with the airplane hangar (doors closed) straight ahead.
I've lived on my acre for 26 years. Plants die. Plants get too big. Plants are amazing. We have fairly mild winters here in the Willamette Valley, but once every six years or so, we get hard freezes, ice, and significant snow. (No snow this winter except for one morning). Two years ago, the Lithospermum completely died back but I saw some green shoots near the base and babied it and here it is, lush as ever.

 Stepping back a few paces, this is the pergola with clematis (montana) climbing it. The clematis shades us in the summers and you can sit outside and not get too wet during summer showers.
These clematis rotted off at the rootstock one winter - oh, 7 years ago, but they are now almost where they were before - coverage-wise.

We use our patio most of the year. There is a swing set that needs new cushions sewn. Has anyone noticed that replacement cushions are thinner on the foam? The ones that came with the swing were very comfy. We cook outside on the barbecue and watch the planes take off in the evenings.

Most readers know I live on an airpark. The runway adjoins our acre and runs mostly north-south.    Bucolic.   Anyone use that old-fashioned word lately?

You need patience to garden well. Plants are a tad unruly, not always listening to your mindset of how they should behave. That's okay.

 
 

 I still need to pot up my hanging baskets. I'm slow this year. I am waiting on the high school plant sale for the little extras plants that go into the baskets (excuseexcuseexcuse).

Tomorrow is my day off and it's forecast to be 80', so this job jumped to priority one.

My upright green japanese maple on the other side of the house sends forth babies that I pot up for the patio. These babies don't seem to grow as tall. I have done some bonsai with them, twisted the 'stems' into circles, played with them a bit. These are getting quite root-bound so I will either give these away at the end of this growing year or compost them and start fresh with some new babies.

Looking left from the patio is my side yard. This is the yard I look at from my kitchen window.
The curve of the beds is lovely. The beds on the left used to be shaded by 40 year old fir trees but we had a little leaning problem and rather then buy a new house for the neighbors, we elected to cut them down.
 

So this bed went from shady perennials to a very sunny, needs to be edited still bed. I have replanted some taller trees for the bird habitat but also as a living fence between us and the neighbors.  It is very difficult to edit my plants. I've known them for years and someday's I can't be ruthless enough. I tend to let the columbines live.

 I tried a panoramic shot looking at the house.
All it did was give the house and hangar a decidedly weird curve.
That's the grass runway to the far right.

My kitchen window on the right. Just in front is my bird feeder and hummingbird feeder (empty again?). That's hubby there doing something.

 Looking southeast towards the taxi-way, aka our street.

 Another view of looking out my kitchen window.
My living fence is filling out nicely this April. 
My goal is to not see that house there.

Those are my hostas there in front which amazingly took to the sun from being in the shade prior.

 And from the street end, looking towards the grass runway -- past the fir trees we left growing taller.
 
Serous hummingbird habitat up there in the firs along with owls and other birds. (not to mention the bats). We had an eagle thinking about setting up housekeeping two autumns  ago.

Another panoramic - the entire side length of the yard - about 300 yards?

Strawberries blooming for June.
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***This is just my side yard. If you got this far - serious congratulations. This was a good place to put these photos for my reference.

Memorial Day Flowers and Sedums

Poppy

Columbine

Sedum

Another Sedum

 

There's Kale in my salad greens

My Patio view towards the Hangar

Zooming out. Swing is on the right.

 

 I used to garden under fir trees until we cut them down (falling). Mostly perennials.
I am slowly changing it over to shrubs and trees. Less work, I'm sure.

 The problem lies here. How cute is this columbine? How are you supposed to rip this out of the bed? I am such an easy mark.

 This is the fullness of Spring, all leafed out. Cleaned of weeds.
It is so not a Japanese pruned garden.
My inner self thrives in chaos and wants all the plants.

My goal is to screen out the dry rot view. Getting there slowly as my new trees grow up.
And maybe put some slug bait out so my Hosta leaves aren't in ribbons.

May Flowers

Wow! All of my Iris's are in bloom at the same time.
They are my favorite flower and I've only come across two varieties of Iris that behave badly.

The photo -at top- is one of my faves
with variegated broad sword leaves and a beautiful blue-purple bloom.


 
This ruffled bearded Iris appeared one spring and seems to like my yard.

 Lots of Purple Bearded Iris hang out under the fir trees. The top soil is drier which the iris love.

 Way down my yard towards the runway is the remains of the Leopard's Bane and some free-wheeling California Poppies.

 I just love Iris's.

 Then I see the sweet Columbine starting to bloom and I quickly ditch the iris for these cutie pies.

May and June is when my acre really shines. I used to have a garden goal of being able to pick flowers any day of the year. I've moved on towards less effort in maintaining the yard. Even though  I have all-season color, these next two months are stunning.

Someone was re-doing their yard and tossed these beauties.
They quickly found a home in Canbyland.

I don't know their name and I'm much too lazy to look it up so I call them my Free Rhodies.

 The light was a little crazy this morning on this peony. It almost looks like frost tipping the blooms. It's just closed up against the cooler night air. Peonies are in their element in the late afternoon showing off their Scarlet O'hara hoop skirts at teatime.

 Hanging baskets on the patio - I hung them up today. I potted them up a few weeks ago and I usually set them on the protected side of the patio so the wind and weird spring weather doesn't mess with them while they get going.

I pot my own. Most of the baskets that are sold right now are already root-bound - which means more blooms to entice you to buy. -- Which also means that by July 4th, unless you water them three times a day, they will start looking very sad.

I like mine to look good in the late summer and I'm also quite lazy. I don't want to water more than once every day or so. Who's got time?

My pots are old Rubbermaid brand water reservoir pots. They hold a couple of inches of water for the roots to suck up on the hot days. These pots are more than twenty years old. Most plastic pots only last a few years before the UV (aka sunlight) rots the plastic.

 I bought this Stearman weather vane many years ago for hubbies birthday. It's made from salvaged kitchen aluminum tart dishes among other things.

 And look at those strawberries. Blooming crazy right now - berries 2nd week of June. Not the (CA) ones with white middles. Our Oregon Strawberries are red throughout and much sweeter.

 More Iris's near the patio.

Rusty trying to "STAY" so I can get a photo.

Off to my sewing room to do something - not sure what yet. Then to watch The Avengers this eveing at the movie theater.

Glorious Spring

And if you're looking for my SewMamaSew giveaways this week (open until May 16 - friday):
SewMamaSew Giveaway #1 is here.

SewMamaSew Giveaway #2 is here

Iris

Strawberry

Peony

Nootka Wild Rose

Iris

Nora Barlow Columbine

Hostas

Iris

Viburnum

All these columbines were well behaved under the fir trees but when we removed the leaning trees and these beauties saw the light (all the plants, really), they became spectacular.

 And they gave birth to probably a gazillion babies - which is why they get a bad rap in orderly gardens.

Can't you imagine a fairy wearing one as a cap in the Frog & Toad books?

Weigela - variegated leaf

My favorite variegated leaf Iris. Soft blue blooms

This white Bearded Iris came from Aunt Ruby's garden

This rugosa rose came from an estate sale for a buck.
 Man-eating thorns but the smell is divine.
This is a white Rugosa but the buds have peppermint striping.

Simplicity rose started from a cutting from Creative Friend's fenceline.

To be honest, I'm not sure how I acquired a ruffly bearded Iris in the deepest purple. It's my second favorite Iris (at this time of year)

Sun Rose - Helianthemum

Patio pots started.

I spent a good portion of Sunday getting my patio pots and hanging baskets 'together'. Hosing down the patio, cleaning the table, moving pots to & fro. Trimming and tucking the montana clematis on the pergola as its starts growing and twining after blooming.

We just had a couple of near 90' days (May!) and it was delightful to sit out and be dive-bombed by the stinkin' guerrilla hummingbirds who chirped very clearly, "more syrup, or else".

Back to the usual 70' springy weather tomorrow.

My sister gave me the snail and the frog  and miraculously, they have not crashed and burned.