Monday, August 25, 2014

I deleted my August Luck blog post!

http://mulchmaid.blogspot.com/2014/08/august-luck-and-some-musings-on-mother.html

I accidentally deleted this blog post. I'm trying to recover it, but not yet having much luck.

Saturday, August 23, 2014

August luck, and musings on Mother Nature

If I do say so myself, I am a humble gardener. When things go right in my garden, I generally don't think it's my doing. What I usually think is that I got lucky. Lucky gardening and the beneficence of Mother Nature in my garden have been on my mind this week. Let me explain.


Last year I lost my huge and very favorite Agastache 'Acapulco Orange' to winter. Multiple web searches turned up no stock anywhere to replace it. Then a month or so ago, I spied a tiny seedling in the garden that looked like young Agastache foliage. I hardly dared to hope, but it now seems irrefutably to be growing into exactly that plant. I had assumed it was a sterile hybrid, but I got lucky.

I stopped by a Fred Meyer in Vancouver last week and found this four-foot Musa basjoo plant for the lofty sum of $4.99. Lucky, right?

I bought this Abutilon megapotamicum at Cracked Pots last year and I was sure I lost it over winter. The little sticks of its remaining branches were dry and sad looking.
It's lucky I didn't give up on it earlier, because now, not only is it most definitely alive, it is finally beginning to flower.

Ceanothus 'Victoria' blooms profusely in May. Then in August, when the last thing on my mind is its flowers, comes this: a single, sweet reminder of one of my all-time favorite spring blossoms. Thank you, Mother Nature!
This piece of August luck came in the form of a mystery: I have almost no idea what this is, nor do I know from whence it came, but I love its big, dusty gray leaves sprouting from the point where a patch of Lilium columbianum had lately bloomed. I'll hazard a guess this is a volunteer Verbascum of some kind. Time will tell the answer and meanwhile I'll enjoy the surprise.
Lewisia columbiana var. walloensis has been a non-stop summer bloomer in a gravelly part of the Northwest Territory. It's winding down now, but not without leaving a little present.
I recently discovered a little seedling of the Lewisia going for broke just in front of the Eriogonum compositum. It's just delightful when the plants you really love are the ones that really love your garden.

So is it luck, or is Mother Nature working extra hard on my behalf this month?
I'll take it, whichever it is!

20 comments:

  1. You're also pretty good at what you do, making your garden hospitable to surprise gifts.
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    1. I tend to call it benign neglect. ;-)
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  2. "It's just delightful when the plants you really love are the ones that really love your garden." Well-said! It makes all the inexplicable losses worth while! Exciting to see someone else growing Eriogonum. Yes!!!! One of my favorites, for so many reasons. PS Your banner photo is glorious.
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    1. I love that Heartleaf Buckwheat, Kate. I might get som more. The white under the leaves is fabulous.
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  3. It's both so give yourself some credit. My lewisia needs less soil and more gravel. Off to garden in the dark. :o)
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    1. Gardening with a flashlight - you're dedicated!
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  4. I'm pretty sure anything good happening in my garden right now is down to pure dumb luck. Hooray for all the good things happening there!
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    1. Not dumb luck, Alison - it's GOOD luck!
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  5. Such lovely surprises, and I agree with Miss Heather and Casa ...there's talent at work here, too :)
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    1. Garden surprises are the best!
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  6. "Fortune favors the prepared [gardener]" :-)
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    1. Prepared, me? ...hmmm, not so much!
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  7. Uncommon volunteers are one of the best surprises in the garden I think.

    Basjoo for $5?! Stick that thing into the ground and get the party started! (A single banana is a little sad -- you want a clump!)

    I also have a Verbascum volunteer that arrived out of nowhere. It's actually in a good spot too!
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    1. I don't know about in the ground, Alan. I lost one a few years ago and haven't dared since. This point in the year seems a bit tricky for planting a tropical.
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  8. Yay for the happy surprises! I always find the best way to get a plant to re-appear is to buy it's replacement...works every time ;-)
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    1. Now THAT is definitely Mom Nature at work!
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  9. This is one of the cheeriest end-of-August garden posts I've read. You must be doing something right to be this humble and wise in August!
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    1. I guess calling myself humble means I'm not. I'm reminding myself of Uriah Heep in David Copperfield...
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  10. I share all the above sentiments and will add that this bit of gardening luck couldn't happen to a nicer gardener.
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    1. Aww, Jenni, thank you! Same back atcha!
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Sunday, August 17, 2014

A shady and colorful southeast Portland garden

My friend Karin has a beautiful eye for color. And since she is an avid gardener, her color sense extends to the garden of her inner southeast Portland home.

Much of inner Portland has a wonderful tree canopy resulting in shady streets and gardens. Karin's garden is no exception. A hedge of arborvitea in the westside neighbor's garden limits her sun exposure even more.

So Karin gardens with shade plants, almost exclusively.



All the shade-lovers that would cook in my garden flourish in hers. I love the layered look of this variegated shrub with the Hosta, Podiphyllum and Pulmonaria.


When you don't have to worry about sun, you can grow the most light-sensitive plants, like this Fatsia japonica 'Spider's Web',  accented by a fire-cracker red Fuchsia Begonia 'Bonfire'.

In addition to colorful shade lovers, little touches of whimsey abound.




A row of de-constructed building elements rescued many years ago by Karin's father, a noted Portland architect, forms a gentle divider alongside the eastside pathway.


Her father also dragged home this stunning classical column that now drips with foliage.

Blue figures prominently in Karin's color compositions.


Though she is hardly afraid of red and pink...

... or magenta.

All her containers let Karin arrange and re-arrange for maximum impact.
Like this one, some groupings feature multiple bold colors.

While others are more subtle, but equally effective.
And some color combinations rely on a single strong contrast to make their point.
This shady garden is the perfect place for a summer gathering - it's always a few degrees cooler than the rest of the city.

Karin's garden beautifully illustrates the fact that shade gardens need not be boringly green; wherever you look in this garden, you'll find something colorful - and often whimsical - to delight your eye.