Chores & Spring Blooms

 I still have no idea what this bushy plant is! It has really taken off since we took out the tree that was right next to it.  I'm considering taking a sample to the nursery to see if they know.

I mostly want to know if it's going to bloom, or just stay bushy and green.  If it's the latter, that's okay, I will probably just cut it back some so it doesn't completely take over. I should have tons of flower bed space, once our front and side landscaping projects are done, so I'm sure I could start a few little patches of it here and there. I just really want to know what it is!

 Looks like the traumatic transplant last fall didn't kill off this hydrangea after all. Phew!

The new growth is white, interestingly enough. I also really like how the bark kind of peels off along the main stem.  I'm excited to see if it will grow to fill this space, with some sunlight and rain every now and then.  I guess I should have known it was pretty tough, as it was surviving under the eave next to the driveway before. It probably only got occasional sunlight, and only as much water as was poured on it.

 Other than planting the blueberries, my main chore last week was getting this raspberry cane replanted.

It had to be taken out because it was right in the way of the gate/ramp for tractors.  Of course, it was the healthiest, tallest one that needed replanting. 

I kept trying to figure out where to start a new patch of raspberries with it, but in the end, I realized that it would be best to just put it with the others.  The only problem was that there wasn't any room in the flowerbed. Then I realized that the flowerbed itself basically cut through the middle of all the canes anyway, and really needed extending.

 So that's what I did. I pulled out the brick edging, dug up (most) of the grass in between, and extended the flowerbed into more of a rounded shape, cutting it off straight right at the gate. Viola! Room for rasberries and room for tractors. Perfect!

Maybe this week I'll have time to get out there and dig up the rest of that grass.

 

 These pretty tulips have brightened my day every time I've seen them!

Back flowerbed, next to raspberries.

 I'm not sure what this little white flower is, but it has been popping up all over the slope. I love it! I especially like how it has filled in some of the bare space between the violas and the apple tree.

These tulips will probably be orange and red. The ones right next to them are; the picture I took of those was just too blurry to keep. These are on the east side, in front of the fence, under the basement windows.

In other words, I never see them unless I specifically go looking for them! Pretty though, for that one brief moment!

Blueberries!

We had gorgeous weather a few days ago--sunny and in the 60's.

Perfect blueberry planting weather!

We got them for $25 each at our favorite local nursery, along with a couple big bags of acid-mix potting soil to help them settle in to their new homes.

I learned that you need at least 2 varieties for pollination. I got 3 different varieties: an early, mid-season, and late.

After much deliberation, I decided to plant them on the high slope, between the top garden terrace and chain link fence. They all are supposed to grow to be quite sizable, and try as I might, I couldn't figure out a good space for them on the lower slope. They need to be close enough to pollinate each other, but far enough apart to mature without having to be moved.

Luckily, there's a little path right at the top of the garden terrace, and you can walk on the top row of blocks from the terrace wall, as well. So hopefully, harvesting them won't be too much of a challenge.

 'Duke'

Planted farthest right.

Medium to large light-blue berries.

Blooms late but ripens early.  Early to late July.

Mature plants will produce 20 lbs of fruit (!)

Savory sweet. Full sun; moist, well-drained soils.

Zones 4-7.

'Patriot'

Planted middle.

Dark green foliage, edible fruits, showy white flowers.

6-12 ft height.

Full sun. Average water.

Firescaping, very wet areas, woodland garden.

Attracts birds (ya think?!)

Zone 3.

From the web: produces 10-20 lbs of fruit per plant. Height 4 feet, spread 2-4 feet.

Beautiful fall color, berries ripen in July. Protect blossoms from late spring frosts.

Cross between lowbush and highbush varieties.

Can withstand wet soils better than other varieties.

'Blue Ray'

Planted left-hand side, close to fence.

Blue-green foliage.

10-12 ft height, 6-8 ft spread.

Sun to partial shade.

Edible berries. White blooms from late spring to early summer.

Very acidic soil.

Requires consistently moist soil.

Zone 4.

From the web: Estimated mature height 4-5 feet, spread 3-4 feet. Largest berry on the market! Crimson fall color. Very sweet, light-blue fruits resist cracking.

I was going to get a picture of them from further away, but they completely blend into the hillside. I have to squint to see where they are from the kitchen window.

My only concern is the moisture needs.  I guess whatever we rig up to keep the garden watered could be extended up to the bushes for the dry end-of-summer days.

Garden Progress!

For my birthday this year, Jason rented a tractor and got busy on our landscaping and gardening projects!

Hooray for progress!

 Tearing out junipers on the side--carefully--due to buried cables.

 Drains put in on upper 2 levels, and gravel base.

Garden side-view: ready for wall-building.

 Blocks!

 2 kinds of gravel for backfill and drainage.

 The blocks delivered to the back yard.

 Building the walls.

 50/50 topsoil and compost mix to fill the boxes up, once they're done.

He also got a load of potting soil to use as the top layer.

And I bought some gypsum to sprinkle onto the clay bed first, to help break it up.

I think our vegetables are going to do really well!

As far as we got that day.

Closer view.

We will probably add one more row of blocks to the top terrace's wall.

The steps up the sides are intentional.

The plan is for the soil to be about a foot deep.

Now we need to finish the top terrace's side and build the bottom-level wall, so we can fill the top two beds. J will probably rent another tractor--smaller, this time--to bring dirt up from the front to the back.  The bottom bed can then be finished (sides and front) and filled.

We've still got a good 2 weeks until last frost date, so we're hoping to get this done in time for warm-weather veggies!

It's going to look really nice. It may never pay itself off in vegetables, though! Although, I will do all I can to preserve the harvest each year.  Maybe it will pay for itself when we go to sell the house someday...we can hope!

Spring blooms!

 2 sunny daffodils, on the far side of the house, far back corner.

I didn't even notice them until I went back there looking for something else!

There may be some tulips coming in the same spot, too.

I think this may be Western spring beauty, which (if it is) is a Washington state native wildflower. 

There's just this one up on the slope by the big aspen tree, and 2 more in front by our mailbox.

It's about 3 inches high, and the flowers have blue stripes down the middle of each petal.

Even though they are few in number I am grateful to see some flowers again!

By this time next year there should be more to see, if I have my way this fall.

Pruning and Planting

We had a gorgeous, sunny day yesterday, so we spent all afternoon outside working on garden stuff. Hooray!

One little chore we got done was pruning the raspberry bushes. There were quite a few dead canes, some of them hollow in the middle--bug hotels. Some pieces of the crowns even came right out of the ground with just a tug. I noticed quite a few carpenter ants as I cleaned up the canes, leaves, and other debris around the base of the plants. I hope a little better housekeeping will mean fewer homes for those ants right next to our house. Last year the berries we got were very small--I'm also hoping this pruning will encourage production of bigger berries.

I had also purchased 12 daylily bulbs from Costco last week when we were there, so we got those planted. 3 each of: Doublicious (orange with a double flower), Condilla (yellow with a double flower), + 3 each of Fire and Fog (red with yellow border), and On My Own ? (yellow, single flower).   I'm not sure if they'll make it or not--the one package seemed too wet, and several of the leaves were slimy. The other one seemed too dry, and they didn't really even seem alive.  Oh well. We'll see how they do and if it was worth it. I usually try to avoid purchasing anything alive at Costco.  I put them around the base of the biggest aspen on the slope back there.

We also raked out quite a bit of dead grass from around the aspen tree where we wanted to plant.  This hillside will become beautiful! I'm determined to make it so.  I can't handle the "dead bunch grass" look. Even it was green and alive, I see so much more potential for that slope.  We kept running into thin pieces of pebbly cement sort of half-buried, I assume to help hold up the soil or something. I pulled them out whenever I found them.

Next up: blueberry bushes, if I can figure out where to put them!

The Ways of Seedlings

I haven't planted very many things from seed. So I have been fascinated to see how these different plants grow. You saw the beans last post. Here's the other half of that seedling tray:

 L-R: violas, Marigold Mars, and Marigold Bonanza mix

The violas, from such a tiny seed, start out with those 2 round seed leaves, then begin adding more leaves from the juncture of the leaves, one at a time, the same round type.

As you can see, the marigold 'Mars' is a dud. I haven't had a single one germinate! I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, or if I ought to call the seed company and have them send me out another package.

The other marigolds, though, are going strong in all the trays. They start with the long slender seed leaves on a short stem. Then first put out the two larger toothed leaves you see there. It's kind of hard to tell, but after those first two, the leaves grow in groups of 4, with 2 pairs, each coming below the bigger main leaf.

This tray, L-R: hollyhocks, violas, cosmos, basil

So the hollyhocks' seed leaves are big and round in shape, then their new leaves come one at a time, also round, growing from the juncture of the seed leaves.

Cosmos resemble marigolds at first, with the 2 long, slender seed leaves, but their stems are all about 4 inches tall. Then the true leaves, as you can see, are very finely cut, coming out in pairs close to the seed leaves.

The basil has been very interesting to watch, too. The seed leaves are those larger, spade-shaped leaves. They originally were so close together they looked like one leaf, with two little eyes in the middle. Now they are growing apart and the true leaves are appearing, so far in pairs, right from the middle.

By the time the trays are at this point, you don't need to check your paper anymore for what's what. It's very obvious by their growth.  I have really enjoyed this learning process so far!

Transplanting the beans

 As you can see, the beans had outgrown these little trays.

The roots were already coming out the bottom holes.

Luckily, we've been eating a lot of yogurt lately!

I poked holes in the bottoms of the yogurt cups with a nail, then filled them with a mixture of the seed-starting soil plus regular potting soil.

They are fighting for windowsill space now, but all seem to be growing taller.

Beans grow fast enough that I'm sure I could have just waited and planted them outside this summer, but it has been fun for the kiddos to see them growing so big and tall. Fun for me too, especially with this cooler spring than we're used to.

Once we got the beans moved, we filled up the spaces again with more seed-starting mix.
This time we did: 2 'Baby Boo' miniature white pumpkins, 2 'Jack Be Little' miniature orange pumpkins, (one of each type in Jacob's and in mine), 1 delphinium in Jacob's, some delphiniums in mine (don't remember how many). I also put some borage in mine. Didn't write down which was which this time, so I guess we'll get a surprise.  So far the pumpkins in mine are just starting to poke through.

It has been a little harder this time to keep the dirt moist for the seedlings, since I can't cover the whole tray. This might be another reason to do all of one type of seed in the same tray. That way, they would all be ready to pot up at once, and then the whole tray could be used again.