My buddy. He lives in the iris patch.

(Photos by Steve Rawley)

From our garden… raspberries in November ;)

(Photo by Steve Rawley)

33 Ways to Stay Creative

Also, I planted Himalayan Honeysuckle, banana plants and lilies-of-the-valley in my yard this weekend. Also chicks-and-hens. And two melon plants. I think that’s all. Oh! And we transplanted more daisies that walked on over here from the neighbor’s yard. #iheartvolunteerplants

There was also a lot of pickin’ going on — raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, peas… I’m sunburnt, tired and happy now.

I keep thinking I’m going to get organized and start a gardening file, so we don’t have to keep saying, What is that plant, anyway? Is it annual? Perennial? The one that starts one year and blossoms the next and then croaks? (Bi-… bi-… bi-something plants.) (Biennial. Duh.)

Yeah, turns out I am not that organized, so I’ll put it all here, instead. Lists, lists, lists. Enjoy your weekend, wherever you are.

— wm

(Photo by Steve Rawley)

I was showing off the yard to Steve — I watered everything today and did some weeding. The lipstick-pink peonies are blooming like mad, the raspberries are taking off and the strawberries are covered with white blossoms. The snowball bushes, day lilies, Japanese iris, herbs — everything is so happy and green and sparkly. May in Oregon is a beautiful thing.

We were admiring the chicks & hens, tiny ferns and succulents that are rooting in the rock wall, and saw this guy peeking out. That wall is like looking into apartment building windows, checking in on everyone. His friend, who was even tinier, was peeking out of the apartment window below. Too hard to get a good pic of him, though, so this one will have to do.

#iheartpacifictreefrogs

Happy weekend, everybody, and as we head into the summer season, remember:

You wave at clowns in parades; you don’t marry ’em and let ’em run your life.

xo

wm

(Photo by Steve Rawley)

January: Write and dream about plants.

February: Plant peas, garlic? onions? Prune roses, plant two daphnes out front, move the Japanese maple so it has more space. We’ll do “lasagna layering” — spread out a thin layer or two of newspapers over the grass we want gone, spread compost/mulch on top of that, then plant. Then remember to water, once the rain stops. We’ll be good until July ;) We live in western Oregon, after all.

March: Hanging baskets? Naw, too early. Primroses in pots.

April: Get good and fed up with the rain.

May: Hanging baskets, plant garden, watch it get soggy and drown.

June: Re-plant garden.

July: water, weed, pick, water, weed, pick

August: repeat

September: repeat

wish list: foxglove, coral bells, clematis, wisteria, snapdragons, crocus, daffodils, lilacs, Roses of Sharon, Sweet William, bleeding hearts, more columbine, hellebores, more tulips, more dahlias…

(Photo by Steve Rawley)

(Photo by Steve Rawley)

we have raspberries in the yard that are trying to ripen. i love December in Oregon.

— wm

grateful for the sunshine. off to work in the yard! won’t be long now until we’re planting spring peas. i’m really enjoying our herb garden, which looks like it may survive winter. parsley, sage, rosemary and two kinds of thyme! (pineapple and standard. get it? standard thyme? ha! ha! yeah i love a bad pun.) we also have lemon balm and oregano in pots. we have some ornamental oregano, too — v. pretty.

some of the herbs are in the ground, some are in pots. wasn’t sure if I was going to want to move them around or not, so we tried to stay flexible last year. I have a long rock wall with a few spots to fill in, up above. (here’s the picture from last summer. the area I need to deal w/ is to the left, above the strawberries.) the raspberries are taking over, the apple trees are a mess and may need to come down. (diseased fruit, diseased leaves — we keep treating with copper sulfate, but this could take awhile, or not be a success story at all.)

my mom is giving us a couple more hydrangeas and another snowball bush, too. now where to plant everything?

happy friday, y’all.

— wm

Great dinner on a hot summer night.

Today:

A month ago:

See the whole set on flickr.