Garden | Gardening in My Rubber Boots

Feb 24

Front Shade Garden Project

Sunday was such a beautiful day we spent it working on our new shade garden. We really started the project in the Fall by setting newspaper and leaf mulch on the grass to kill it – and it worked perfectly. All I had left to do was till the soil (with a shovel) and remove any roots. It already had plenty of worms and organic matter from the leaves and newspaper.

Added slate under the Apple Arbor & tilled the soil under the Saucer Magnolia

I started the planting by moving shade tolerant plants from other spots in the garden. I added a Camellia, Azalea, 4 Hydrangeas and a Juniper bush (yes I kept it). Then I divided plants in other parts of the garden and added them here, including five variegated evergreen Irises, over 30 Heuchera and a couple Red Twig Dogwood cuttings (I’m experimenting).

To fill in the blanks, I purchased a couple plants too. They’re still hiding so don’t expect to see anything yet. I planted 4 Hosta ‘Avocado’, 4 Hosta ‘Revolution’, 4 Hosta ‘Frozen Margarita’, 4 Hosta ‘Summer Music’, a Hosta ‘Big Daddy’, a Hosta ‘Wolverine’, a Hosta ‘Abiqua Drinking Gourd’, a Heuchera ‘Pino Gris’, 5 Heuchera ‘Purple Palace’, Bleeding Heart ‘Alba’, Darmera peltata, and Astilboides tabularis. Those last two will get really big.

We still need to finish the slate sitting area but at least we have the stones all set out. I’ll post another picture this summer when the garden is showing off.

Feb 16

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Alley Garden – Five Years Progress

I don’t think I’ve introduced you to our alley garden yet. It was a bit of a nightmare when I moved in five years ago this month! The “garden” was full of junk, grass, weeds and dead trees – and who could forget the chain link fence, shabby garage roof and bad paint job!

Every year we seem to improve the garden a little more – with the exception of the “setback” we had a couple years ago.

BEFORE: Back Alley Garden

BEFORE: Alley Parking Spot & Garage (back of house & future veggie garden is beyond)

A couple years ago the alley garden was filled with Dahlias and other blooming perennials until I got tired of people stealing, damaging and driving over the plants! Yes, they still drive over them – even with the large stones we added. Initially I was going to fill the bed with traps and sharp objects but decided against it. Instead, I punished EVERYONE and removed all blooming perennials except the Irises. They seem to hold their own against the vandals and bounce right back if driven over.

I added a Smoke Bush, Lavendar and a couple Elephant Ears to fill the void. They look nice but it just isn’t the same.

Since this is an East facing garden, it gets plenty of sunshine. This year I plan to move a couple plants into the front perennial garden and replace them with a couple huge Elephant Ears and an Agave I recently purchased. I want this garden to look showy again since I’m not super thrilled with how bare it looked last year (picture below).

AFTER: Alley Garden, Garage and Parking Spot

I’ll keep you updated on the progress and promise to share this garden more often. Around the corner and along the parking spot is also where I grow our raspberries and blueberries.

Jan 26

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Tropical Paradise in Zone 8a

Over the last couple years I’ve become a huge fan of tropical plants with big leaves (and succulents). It all started after seeing a HUGE Hosta during the Queen Ann garden tour a couple years ago and reading an article about a Seattle gardener who successfully grew hardy tropical plants in his garden (I read this article so long ago I can’t remember where I read it).

Since I primarily grow perennials and veggies, I’ve decided it’s time to branch out and get a couple more tropical looking plants for the garden. Last year I grew four Colocasia (Elephant Ears) and LOVED them. I also have a couple big leaf Hostas that I’ve acquired over the years that are perfect for the shadier parts of the garden.

So far this year, I’ve purchased three more Colocaia and two Agave plants. I ordered my new plants from Plant Delights in North Carolina. I’ve heard great things about this nursery so feel pretty good about the quality of plants I’ll receive.

I also plan to purchase a hardy Banana tree and a couple Yucca plants. This is really the extent of my sunny tropical purchases since this will fill most of the available sunny spots in my yard (after I move some plants). I’m especially excited about the Agave and Yucca plants since they look great all year long and will add the needed ‘winter interest’ that’s currently missing in my garden.

I figure what I don’t have room for in the garden, I’ll put in pots for our new patio area. Tropical plants always look amazing in pots.

Jan 20

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First Bloom in 2010 – Helleborus

Helleborus

Update 2/15/10: I think the name of this one is Helleborus x hybridus `WD Elegance White’. It’s the only one I’ve found that looks just like it.

Jan 5

Elisabeth C. Miller Hort. Library

I continue to be amazed with the number of FREE gardening resources available to the public. Just this past weekend I found out about the Elisabeth C. Miller Horticulture Library in Seattle, the Garden Answers Knowledgebase AND the Plant Answer Line — all FREE to the public.

Aside from having to actually visit the library to borrow books, the other two resources are available online for everyone. Simply visit the library’s Web site and select your desired link:

http://depts.washington.edu/hortlib/index.shtml

If you’re on the road, you can even call the Plant Answer Line at (206) UW-PLANT. Just keep in mind, the folks manning the Plant Answer Line live in the Pacific Northwest (zones 7b – 8b).

If anyone local is interested in joining me, I’d like to make a trip to the library in the next couple weeks. I’m on a mission to find good garden reference books and can’t imagine a better place to do research.

I found these three wonderful resources from watching a Gardening with Ciscoe episode (a local Seattle gardening show) that originally aired on August 15, 2009; click here to see the show details.