Friday, June 10, 2016

Scenes From My Garden - Five on Friday


We've had a lovely stretch of late spring 
sunshine recently, and it has been quite hot,
but now we are back to our normal cool and rainy weather,
here in the foothills of western Washington state.

I've been so busy trying to keep up with 
everything inside and out, so the rain
is a welcome relief from gardening and watering chores. 

I've taken a few photos of  my gardens
 to share with you, 
along with Five of my favorite gardening quotes
for Five on Friday.

So come along, dear friends, my flowers
want to meet you! 


I'll start by showing you my viburnum hedge along
the back garden. These are commonly called 
'snowball bush' and very aptly named, don't you think? 

My blackberry patch and the nearest
 neighbor's horse pasture lie beyond,
before the land drops steeply towards a 
river canyon below. 

The late afternoon sun has illuminated the hills, 
turning them to gold. 
My pink rugosa roses bloom in the foreground. 


These are large, rambling hedges, about 15 ft. tall, 
that have spread from 3 tiny plants, years ago. 


Here you can see how small Kai looks under 
these tall hedges. White petals
carpet the ground like confetti. 



They make lovely arrangements.. ...


And they dry beautifully, retaining their creamy color. 

"Love your neighbor, yet pull not down your hedge."
- George Herbert -
Outlandish Proverbs (1640)


The pink rugosa roses form an impenetrable hedge
near the back of the house, 
across the lawn from the viburnum. 
Rose-bay willow herb, (not yet in bloom), 
and sweet box grow alongside. 
Yellow arch-angel and forget-me-not
carpet the ground. 

 In between, the sloping lawn is
bordered by woodlands on each side. 


These pink rugosa roses are very tall and have spread
happily, forming an impenetrable hedge. 
There is a grassy alley between the hedge and the house, 
and then the land slopes down so that when you are standing here, 
it appears the hedge is taller than the house! 
An illusion...... 


These roses are highly fragrant and make a delightful
base for potpourri. 


I love to collect the petals on warm, dry mornings, 
when the scent is strongest. 

Ling-Ling is my little helper :)

I will share my potpourri recipe in a later post, 
when the ingredients are dry. 


 These fragrant roses are disease free, and 
virtually take care of themselves, but
be forewarned - they have vicious thorns. 

I always search for them at the garden center
and have several varieties in various colors
growing on the property. 


All of them are highly fragrant. 
These types of roses need lots of room. 
You can see that the leaves are different than
other roses and never get black-spot or mildew. 
Unfortunately, I do not know the name of this particular
rose, as I planted it so long ago. 


Here you can see white rugosa roses growing
over the arbor. 


This beautiful rose has a strong spicy scent. 
I planted it to commemorate my Dear Mother, 
in 2011, and it bloomed for the first time
on the day my Dear Father passed, in June of 2012. 

It is a very special rose to me......

The name is 'Sir Thomas Lipton'

"Roses do comfort the heart."
-William Langham-
The Garden of Health (1579)


At the edge of the rose hedge, alongside the path, 
I have foxglove and forget-me-not. 


There is something so magical about 
these long spires of speckle-throated bells. 


Foxglove is highly poisonous if ingested
and is used for the drug, digitalis,
which regulates heart rhythm.


Although this plant pops up as a wildflower
here in Western Washington State, 
it is not a native, but was carried 
along by early settlers to grow in 
herb gardens. 

I always gather seeds to propagate new colonies
here and there. Most are in various hues
of purple, but can also be white. 


These tall beauties are biennial, 
growing a rosette of large, slightly hairy leaves
the first year, and prefer dappled shade.

"Perhaps if we could penetrate Nature's secrets
we should find that what we call weeds
are more essential to the well-being of the world,
than the most precious fruit or grain."

-Nathaniel Hawthorne-
Our Old Home (1863) 


And then there are the columbine.....


These grow in the garden by Ramblin' Man's tool shed.

Remarkably, they were the result of throwing a pack
of wildflower seed into the soil, many years ago.

They have multiplied and each generation is
slightly different from the last.


I have these little beauties in another garden
near the rose arbor.



This one was a surprise :)


If only they could bloom longer....
but it is something to look forward to each spring.


Columbine are short-lived perennials that
readily re-seed if they are happy,
but generally will not come back 'true'.

They can live 3-4 years or longer, in
partial shade and well drained, moist soil.

Beware, the seeds and roots are highly
poisonous!

"Flowers are the sweetest things God ever made,
and forgot to put a soul into."
-Henry Beecher-
Life Thoughts (1858)


Ramblin' Man's toolshed garden is where
I also grow Tansy for moth repellent sachets.


Sweet William blooms among the ferny
foliage of Tansy, which blooms later.


These cheery little pinwheels were also started
from that packet of wildflower seeds
many years ago.



They have happily reseeded every year.


They've even spread to the edge of the woodlands.


These bright little flowers are biennials
that form happy colonies of solid and striped
pinwheel flowers in many shades of pink.

They are carefree and hardy, and like
partial shade and moist, well-draining soil.

They can be top-heavy, so grow them
among sturdier plants, or offer support,
such as low wire fencing.

Let them re-seed if you want to have
these charming cottage garden flowers forever.


They start blooming as soon as the columbine are done.
Bird's foot trefoil (yellow) is also happy here.

"A garden is never so good as it will be next year."
-Thomas Cooper-
Horticulture magazine (Jan. 1993)


The last garden I will share with you is the
forget-me-not rock garden.

The rocks are hidden this time of year!


This garden can be seen from the front gate.


The center of the garden has a new
colony of Tansy and the native
bulb Camassia.

Three large clumps of sedum anchor
the perimeter.

Ramblin' Man added wire to the gate
to keep Kai from jumping over :)



The view from the toolshed. 


Here you can see the blue spires of Camassia. 
(The tall, thin spires are the wildflower, 'fringe-cup'.) 


Camassia is a native, edible bulb that was highly prized
by indigenous peoples here in WA state as 
an important food source. 

Buttercup and Tansy grow nearby, 
along with first year rosettes of foxglove. 



The starry flowers open from the bottom up. 

These come in all shades of blue and also white. 

They prefer moist soil and grow wild in 
open mountain meadows on the sides 
of streams or where glacial melt keeps
the soil moist. 

I plan on planting more of these beauties in the fall. 


"I've noticed something about gardening. 
You set out to do one thing and pretty
soon you're doing something else, 
which leads to some other thing, and so on. 
By the end of the day, you look at 
the shovel stuck in the half-dug rose bed
and wonder what on earth you've been doing."
-Anne Raver-
Deep in the Garden (1995)

Thank you for coming along on my garden tour, 
dear friends!  
Your sweet visits mean so much! 
xoxo

Today I am joining Amy from the blog, 'Love Made My Home'

Won't you join the fun?

40 comments:

  1. *sigh* everything is so pretty and beutiful <3 <3 <3

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  2. What wonderful gardens you have, all of your flowers are so beautiful. Thanks for sharing your corner of the world today.

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  3. What a beautiful garden! I love your different columbines and the sweet william. I planted some sweet william last year and this year it is gorgeous! Thank you for sharing! Have good weekend, Karen. Our temps are going to be in the 90s!!!

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  4. Dear Karen,
    your garden is so wonderful ! Thank you for all those lovely scenes from your garden! I LOVE the Columbines and I start now with seeds of different colours.
    Wishing you a lovely and wonderful weekend, filled with Joy !
    Hugs and blessings to you, my dear friend,
    Claudia xo

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  5. Lovely pictures, wonderful post. Thanks so much for sharing!

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  6. Picture perfect gardens! It's always such a joy to see your flowers. I live in such a very different climate from you and wish I could easily grow so much of what you have.

    Keep those pictures coming! :-)

    Marilyn (in Dallas)

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  7. What lovely, woodsy flower/herb gardens you have. I love it all. It's always a treat to visit here to see what's going on inside and out.

    Love & hugs ~ FlowerLady

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  8. Just such a lovely garden. It's interesting to see that you are about the same stage in the gardening year as we are in Jersey. I have never thought to collect my rugosa rose leaves for pot pourri. I will get busy and look forward to your recipe. B x

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  9. You certainly took us on a wonderful tour of your beautiful garden, and I really did enjoy your little quotes. Have a great weekend.

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  10. Hi Karen, your garden is exquisite! You have such varieties of lovely plants. It was a great start to my day to read your blog, see the beautiful flowers and read the special passages you included. I hope you have a wonderful weekend my dear friend. Pat xx

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  11. There is so much to admire and enjoy in your garden, it must be tremendously hard-work but with just rewards. The biggest being the rose who bloomed on the day your father passed, so special.
    Have a lovely weekend.
    Wren x

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  12. Beautiful scenes from your garden! It is so beautiful!! Too many lovely things to choose or remark on individual ones, they are all stunning! I hope that you enjoy making your pot pourri, I will look forward to reading more about it. Thank you for taking part in Five On Friday. I hope you have a great weekend! xx

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  13. Your flowers are wonderful, you have so many that will not grow here.

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  14. Your garden is gorgeous and I love your rugosa roses. I've seen them in the garden centres and they do have leaves that look disease resistant (definetely on my wish list).
    So many blooms all blending in brilliantly together.
    Have a wonderful weekend Karen :)

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  15. Hi dear Karen ,, tu jardín es realmente hermoso,,espero que tengas un bendecido fin de semana junto a los tuyos
    Cariños

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  16. Such a lovely garden. I see some plants I need to try and plant in my yard! Have a wonderful weekend!

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  17. Oh thank you for taking us on a tour of your lovely late spring garden. The roses are lush, the columbines are such beauties, and foxgloves are a treat!!

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  18. You are a wealth of knowledge Karen! I learned a few things reading this post. For starters, I just picked up some columbine this week and I didn't know they only last three years or so, and I certainly didn't know they (along with foxglove) are poisonous! Very interesting!

    You have a lovely yard with the most amazing mountain views, and it sounds like your weather has been similar to ours, even though I'm on the east coast. It's a great time of year to be outside :)

    Thank you so much for stopping by and commenting. It made my day!

    xxx

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  19. I've enjoyed meandering through your woodland garden and seeing so many pretty flowers along the way. The view from your house of the mountains is also very special. Thank you for coming by my blog and leaving a kind comment on a recent post. Have a lovely week.

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  20. Dearest Karen,
    WOW what a spring paradise you got growing around your lovely home!
    Those snow balls are a lot more happy in your region than in ours. They look absolutely stunning and seem to thrive extremely well.
    Our bush did bloom prolific five years ago and than it nearly died... http://mariettesbacktobasics.blogspot.com/2011/03/our-viburnum-tinus-viburnum.html
    How I admire your carpet of forget-me-nots; one of my most favorite perennials. Together in a tiny vase with some pink roses they make quite a show.
    My Mom especially would have loved those Sweet Williams; her favorite flower but Dad never liked them...
    Enjoy your abundance of spring blooms and especially your roses!
    Hugs and happy weekend to you both.
    Mariette

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  21. What a beautiful space you have. Snowball trees, ahhh, reminds me of my childhood garden. My absolute favourite

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  22. I'm so impressed with your beautiful gardens!! My favorites are the roses for sachet and the columbine [I grew up and raised my family in Colorado - which has the columbine as the state flower] ... AND the Sweet William. The sweet william has such a lovely spicy fragrance - a bit reminiscent of a carnation. And my grandmother had those all over her yard when I was a child.

    I so enjoyed you giving us the tour.

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  23. Dear Karen,

    Thank you for taking us on a tour of your most wonderful garden. Loved seeing all your gorgeous flowers blooming and especially loved the foxgloves, roses and the forget me nots.
    You must enjoy being out there amongst all the beauty.
    Happy weekend
    Hugs
    Carolyn

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  24. This was a wonderful tour through your lovely & wild garden Karen! I enjoyed very much. Have a great weekend!

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  25. Karen Your garden is just lovely and looks like an amazing place to sit out and just enjoy. You must spend lots and lots of time maintaining this. What a wonderful and peaceful spot along with your naturally amazing views!

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  26. Your garden is a joy to walk around.
    I enjoyed my tour very much, thank you.

    All the best Jan

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  27. Great garden, lots of green with a touch of colour and a bit on the wild side,
    Merle.........

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  28. Such a wonderful garden you have, Karen! All these beautiful flowers - such a variety of colors, shapes and textures they have. It sounds lovely that you're able to make your own Potpourri - that is fantastic! Enjoy this blooming season!
    Nina xx

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  29. Oh I just love strolling through your gardens Karen! So beautiful. And I think I can almost smell the sweet spice of those roses. Mmmmmmm....

    And all of your quotes are lovely and perfect when lost in your photos. Thanks for sharing it. I can't wait to read about the potpourri! Love that!! I need to do more crafts and things with flowers. Such a great idea.

    Blessings. xoxo

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  30. Karen, thanks for taking us along your garden areas. You have the most unusual flowers in Washington, and many of them are not seen in California. I love the forget-me-nots, and the bluish-purple color is so pretty. It's funny that you just threw some seeds out at one time and sweet flowers started to bloom. The pink little pinwheels are so pretty. And the white roses in remembrance of your mother looks very much like mine in my garden. I liked the quote "Roses do comfort the heart."

    Flowers truly are the magic in our lives, and I can see that you appreciate the ones in your own garden.

    ~Sheri

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  31. You have shown us some beautiful garden. Are the columbine the same as we might call grannies bonnets, they look like they might be. I have a packet of wildflower seeds I haven't sown yet, can't seem to find the right place for them.

    Diana

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  32. So many beautiful flowers to see in your garden. Some wonderful quotes, too. I love the George Herbert quote about the hedge. I'll be smiling all day! Enjoy your week!

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  33. An some lovely scenes too...you have a beautiful garden!
    Warm hug from Titti

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  34. Hello, your gardens and flowers are all so beautiful. Everything looks so lush and pretty. Wonderful quotes and images. I like your sweet furbabies too. Happy Monday, enjoy your new week!

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  35. Thank you, dear Karen, for this beautiful and inspiring post!
    Oh, your roses and columbines are something to die for. :)
    Wishing you a happy new week full of flowers! xx

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  36. Karen, your property and gardens are so beautiful! You have a great variety of flowers and roses all living happily there. It really is a lovely spot. Have a beautiful week!
    Pam

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  37. What a lovely collection of nature photos. I love your arrangements. I am particularly fond of the serenity of green and white in arrangements these days.

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  38. I truly enjoyed my tour of your garden! Everything is just so beautiful. I hope I can find the rose you mentioned. I have a bunch of knockout roses, but like you mentioned they get lots of black spots.

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  39. Your garden is magnificent!

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  40. Like that view from the front gate.

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Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are important to me and are very much appreciated. xx Karen

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