Gardening + Nature

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Einstein famously said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results.  This path and the surrounding area are a perfect example of his definition.  For the first eight years in our house, the hubster and I weeded and weeded it (I even spent a few weeks digging up ALL of the weeds, only to have the majority return the next year – heartbreaker), planted grass seed, watered, fertilized, and mowed, but got the same result.  More weeds, more ugly, more mowing, and a whole lotta cursing.

Then, only after being ostensibly whacked over the head by a giant imaginary hoe, we got sane and tried something new.  We planted a tree and two yellow flowering currants (friends of the birds and bees!), followed by a whopping sixty kinnikinnick plants.  Slowly but surely, the area and our feelings for it began to transform.  There was an increasing amount of green and shade.  We no longer had to fertilize, water, or mow, leaving more time for more fruitful projects.

This included moving some pieces of stone from another spot in the garden and watching a path emerge (though it is still a little wobbly).  Then there were more new ideas.  The placement of stumps, the moving of hostas, and the purchase and planting of more than a dozen native plants: strawberries, huckleberries, and bitter cherry trees.  No longer an eye sore, it is a pleasure to gaze upon it, as I often do now, from a perch in the bedroom.  I look at it and feel grateful for the shade, the clean, cool air wafting through the window, the sweet berries I’ll eat one day, and the blessed sanity of changing one’s path.

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Hello friends!   Thanks for all of the well wishes.  I am feeling better, though my head still hurts a bit, yuck.  Soon it will be over.  I just know it.

As I am generally a woman of my word, here are, as promised, more peony pictures!  The first one is of the Coral Charm variety.  It gets enormous and ever so pale.  By the time the petals fall, it is a gorgeous peach champagne color.  I love it!

Next is the lovely Buckeye Belle.  She is the hubster’s favorite, but, sadly, didn’t make but two blooms this year.  Everyone else is going like gangbusters, so I guess she is a bit shy.  Hopefully she will break out of her shell next year.

I have no idea what this last variety is called, as I didn’t buy the plant from the Adelman Farm, so I am calling them Bubble Gum.  They look the part, don’t they?  I love them in that bright yellow vase, too, so happy!

Gilion – hopefully yours have started to bloom, though not all of mine have.  I’m lucky to have a long succession of beautiful flowers.  It is such a treat!

And Lori, your hubby is right, with peonies come ants.  Without them, there would be no flowers.  I am just very careful.   Before I bring the peonies in, I shake them pretty vigorously, then blow off any hangers-on.  It’s not generally a problem. Sometimes one will slip by me, but I just take the offender back outside and that’s that.

Now that I’ve got our heads full of beautiful flowers, has anyone ever visited Schreiner’s Iris Gardens?  I just visited their website, and it seems they aren’t too far from Adelman’s.  My friend Sarah and I saw the most exquisite orange colored iris while out walking the other day, and I would love to have one.  Perhaps I will venture out this weekend, and see what I can find.  Field trip!

Here’s hoping everyone’s day is full of flowers…

Beautiful Bartzella

Cheery Coral Charm

So pretty together…

It’s peony season, my friends!  Aren’t they lovely?  I don’t have much to say about them, aside from the fact that they make me quite happy.  Oh, and by the by, there will be more photos.  As The Carpenters sang, “We’ve only just begun…”

This past Sunday, I got up early and roamed the garden while the hubster slept.  I love doing this.  I love looking at all that is growing, and sometimes dying, and admiring the work of nearly twelve years.  I love that there is birdsong and the buzz of insects and hummingbirds, and evidence of things unseen, like snail trails, and paw prints, and empty spider webs.  While there remains much to do, as I have such grand plans, I am always energized by my work in the garden.  I love the meditative quality of pulling weeds, mowing grass, watering, planting, the ceaseless cycles.  They remind me of my own body, mind, and spirit, and how there is always more to do, see, and grow, and that the effort is always worthwhile and beautiful, no matter how challenging.

Atlantic Poppy

Symbiosis: No Ants, No Peonies.

Armeria – like miniature garden pompoms cheering grow,grow, grow!

Verbascum

Caramel Coral Bells

Sunlight through the birch.  I am looking forward to when it is TALL.

A mason bee has set up house!

Yellow Iris smells so very good.

Deer fern

This is the slogan on a much admired bumper sticker here in Stumptown.  Despite it’s lack of originality (copied from Austin, Texas), it certainly fits the bill.  Portland is an interesting place.  We are a pretty liberal city, except when it comes to taxing beer.  We have LOTS of strip clubs.  We make and drink a lot of beer and coffee.  We love sustainable everything, and reduce, reuse, recycle.  We like bicycles and ride them plenty.  We are  friendly, kooky, and somewhat unpredictable.

This past Saturday is a perfect example.  We joined a group of friends to watch the opening game of our football club, the Portland Timbers.  We met up at Kells, ate good food, drank some Guinness, and then loaded onto a double decker bus that would take us to the match.  This cheery green bit of Ireland had a bit of its magic, too, bringing out smiles in passengers and observers alike.  On said bus, I met a guy wearing a “Poop on Stoops” t-shirt.  I learned through a rather lively conversation that he was not, in fact, advocating delinquent behavior only slamming the name of the Texas Longhorn’s rival coach.  Alrighty.

At the game, I saw firsthand how football (soccer) fans, who are normally mild mannered adults, morph into wild and woolly supporters, flipping off referees, vigorously waving flags and scarves, chanting obscenity laden cheers, all while consuming copious amounts of beer (for more read Among the Thugs – slightly dated, still relevant, and very educational).  It was crazy and comical, and our team won!

Being who we are, the we decided to partake of a Whiffie Pie instead of drinking further.  One pint of Guinness is enough for this gal.  The hubster said it best – like drinking a loaf of bread – delicious, creamy Guinness bread!  So we walked from Kells and over the Hawthorne bridge.  In a particularly dim section of our walk we saw an inebriated trio coming toward us.  I held onto my wallet and hoped for the best.  I need not have worried, for all they wanted from us was a sincere opinion.  “Did you think David Bowie was hot in Labyrinth?”  Seriously.  Since I do not watch puppet movies and the hubster would never ever admit to another man’s hotness, they were sorely disappointed in us.  Sigh.

Upon reaching our final destination and while sharing the sweet goodness of a cherry Whiffie Pie, we were rather taken aback when we saw a bearded lady, also buying a pie.  She wore a long skirt, had long beautiful hair, and a full goatee.  Will wonders never cease.  The cherry on top of our evening was a man riding a bicycle that seemed to be an advertisement for a strip club.  Wild Party A Go Go!

I love you, Portland.  Stay Weird.

p.s. In contrast, I am showing you some pretty flowers from the garden – Belle de Nancy lilac, dogwood, and my favorite red tulip.  I love springtime, too.

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