A few more bulbs planted

I took advantage of the really nice weather this week (in the high 50's) to get more bulbs planted. I put them in the back flowerbed, in the big bare spot close to the house (which used to be all weeds). So there's several clumps planted in sort of a long row between the mockorange and the raspberries, with irises still in the front half of the bed.

Here's what I put in:
Narcissus 'Thalia': blooms mid-spring, supposed to be fragrant, pure white flowers.
Narcissus 'Tannus': white with yellow cup fringed in orange.
Narcissus 'Ice Follies': blooms early spring, white with pale yellow cup

Plus, two purple hyacinths ('blue ice'), and two giant daffodils (picked out by Jacob).

Hmm..I may have put the daffodil 'Trumpet Mix' back there too. It's all kind of running together. I'd have to check to see what I have left in the garage to know for sure!

I also planted a clump of crocuses by our mailbox--a mix of the light purple and darker purple. I may have put some in the back too, I actually can't remember at this point. I was getting as many in the ground as I could.

Still to go, if the ground is not frozen solid in the next few weeks:

--Tulips 'Easter Joy' mix: I'm thinking these would also be nice in a clump next to the mailbox, or in our newly finished flowerbed between retaining walls out front. Only catch is that it still needs dirt added before planting anything.

--Another 5 ruffly narcissus that were a gift from Colette.

--Whatever is left!

New Shrub and slope plants

In an effort to rejuvenate the back flower bed, we pulled out the dead hydrangea and bought a new shrub. Mockorange, or Philadelphus 'Belle Etoile', which is the Idaho state flower. It flowers in spring, white fragrant flowers 2" across. This variety is supposed to grow 5-6 feet tall and wide.

I also bought 2 hostas and a heuchera for the back slope.
Hosta 'Krossa Regal': 2 ft wide by 30 in. tall
Hosta 'June': 30 in wide by 12 in. tall.  Gold leaves with blue-green margin. 2001 Hosta of the Year.
Heuchera villosa 'Caramel': Evergreen, mounding perennial. Unique apricot foliage & light pink flowers. Right now the leaves are burgundy/green.

I put these three all on the back slope, sort of by the back apple tree behind the shed.  It already looks better, even from the house, just to have those different leaf shapes and colors back there.

I also bought a few more bulbs--mostly daffodils, with a couple of hyacinths, tulips, and another small handful of crocuses. So I will have more planting to do in the next week or so.

Bulbs for the slope

Bad picture, because I was too lazy to write them all down.

Oh well.

I just got them from Ace Hardware. Once I get all of these planted, we'll see if I have time and energy before frost to do any others.

So a quick rundown: Snow crocus, Glory of the Snow (Chinodoxa), Tulips (Easter Joy mix), Daffodil (trumpet mix), Wood Hyacinths (also called Spanish bluebells),  Allium, and Allium 'Persian Blue'. 

I just read that some gardeners on the west-side (Seattle/Portland) have found the wood hyacinths to be invasive. I'm hoping our climate over here is different enough that it won't be a problem. They would have to compete with the lupines, which are pretty well established, and all that poky grass, so maybe it wouldn't be a bad thing.

The first two are supposed to be very early bloomers, on to mid-spring, then the alliums in late spring.

I plan to put the early, shorter bulbs in front--perhaps close to the front apple tree or lilac bush. Daffodils and tulips only came with 5 in a package, so I guess I'll clump them. I may put daffodils in the flower bed where I had some annuals this year.

 Alliums not sure of yet--I think they're full sun, so I may plant them somewhere above the garden, or in the top-left corner. Something to brighten up those dead, weedy spaces. I can imagine a beautiful contrast in shape with the tall purple lupines up there.

It wouldn't hurt to get a few more tulips and daffodils, but I've been so busy canning and such this fall, that my flowerbeds and gardening--other than the vegetables--have gotten neglected.

I still want to clear out the back flowerbed and essentially start over, but they may have to wait until spring at this point. Maybe if I can get a good shrub in before winter to replace the oakleaf hydrangea, then work on the rest next year.

Yup, more tomatoes

I've decided to make tomato sauce (plain, not seasoned) to can with all these tomatoes.

So with that in mind, I bought some more pint-sized jars.

Today I blanched, skinned, and seeded all the tomatoes from the last picking which had finally ripened on the counter.  Not enough yet for sauce, so I froze one big gallon-sized bag, and one quart-sized bag. 

 Just in time to pick this many more today!

I'm picking them more and more orange these days, but I keep thinking it's going to frost any time now.

Plus one more regular cucumber, and lo and behold, 4 small lemon cucumbers. They are covered in black spiky hairs, and I have no idea if they're ripe. I'll have to taste one. Unless it is out-of-this-world good, I don't think I'm planting them next year!



Bell peppers, mini-pumpkins, and more tomatoes

No frost yet, so we continue to harvest.

 I had Jacob help me pick all the rest of the bell peppers. Look how many there were! I was surprised--just passing by, I thought there might be 5 or 6 out there.

I think these are probably the last of the green beans.

These adorable mini-pumpkins--must be the 'Jack Be Little' variety, since they're orange--are not much to show for such a huge plant/garden space hog. I think I've seen maybe 2 more out there. I'll have to think about that for next year.

Just look at all these tomatoes! More and more and more!

So far I've frozen some plain & chopped, made oven-roasted tomato sauce, and I need to try just oven-roasted tomatoes (you bake them longer until they're chewy and more dry.)

Can we be done with zuchinni? Please?