Done!!!

If I didn't return your phone calls this weekend, and there were some- my apologies- this is why. We started this project last weekend when we removed all the old plant materials and potted them up, ripped out the old rotting railroad ties and removed about a ton of landscaping rock and had it hauled away.

This past weekend, we built the walls, removed about a half ton of bad dirt, added about another half ton of soil amendments to the remaining dirt and replanted the perennials and added a few more. Whew! This area has been bugging us since we bought the house. So, we are thrilled to finally have it done.

The project also involved me learning to use a new power tool- a paver saw! It is basically a big circular saw that has water spraying on the blade to keep it cool while cutting through the wall bricks. Cool! I have to say that my performance with the saw was nearly lesbian in its precision, despite my squealing quietly in fear every time I turned it on.

Lily Season: Episode 1

Holy cow!! We've got lilies coming out of every corner of our garden! We got our first blooms the week of my cycling trip and things have been going wild with color ever since. Today, I'll feature picture of lilies that grow from bulbs. Tomorrow, I'll try to put on some pictures of our daylilies. I heart lilies! Enjoy!!

More Pretty Garden Things

These little guys come for a visit every year to munch on our swamp milkweed. When they get really good and fat, they spin a chrysalis and emerge a few weeks later as a beautiful monarch butterfly.

An extreme closeup of one of our clematis that grows up against our garden shed.
Another extreme closeup of a yarrow whose variety name is eluding me right now. It emerges a light cream color then changes from pink to terra cotta. Now that I'm thinking about it, Terra Cotta is probably the variety name.
I heart martagon lilies. These little beauties will grow in part shade and after a few years make a huge clump. The mature clumps are really impressive when they have masses of candelabras covered in these little red lilies.
This is a baptisia called "Twilight Prairieblues." It was a single stick when we ordered it two years ago. Now it is a clump of about 40 sticks all covered in these subtly colored beauties.

Greetings from the Northwest pt 2!

Hello again! Today we are flying back from Seattle to Minneapolis, ending our quick tour of the Northwest. We miss our dogs desperately so are happy to be heading back.
Thursday, we took the ferry from Seattle to Victoria B.C.. This was 2.5 hours of ferry time, which itself is not so bad. However, we were surrounded by a huge group of tourists from Alabama. They seemed like decent folks, a little loud with proudly thick drawls who started drinking the moment they stepped on board. One interesting thing- I did finally figure out who watches the Redneck Comedy Tour because they kept quoting Larry the Cable Guy, and boy howdy, were they howling at that stuff. Fortunately for them, there wasn't a piano wire or anything else capable of providing a good strangling in my hands. Nor could I get enough distance between the ceiling and floor to hang myself, so I suffered silently- or at least as silently as I ever suffer.
From Victoria we cabbed it to The Butchart Gardens- the gardening envy of every gay man on earth only without the plant labels. I'm not even going to try to describe how stunning the gardens were. Let's just say we spent about 4.5 hours strolling around taking it all in. The only slightly disappointing bit was the Japanese garden- this after seeing the Portland Japanese garden. It was still quite lovely, but very non-traditional in its form. After the gardens, we tooled around Victoria for a little while, then sat with our Alabama friends for another 2.5 hour cruise.
Yesterday, we trotted around downtown Seattle. When on vacation, I feel obliged to do at least one stupid tourist thing. So, this time I chose the Space Needle. Yawn. Pretty view, but geez, $16?? After that we ate at Mama's Mexican Kitchen which seems to have the coolest wait staff I've ever encountered. We heart Blithe the waitress. She recommended we visit the Puyallup Fair and so we did. This is a massive version of the Minnesota State Fair that goes on for 3 weeks. The crowds were spread out a lot so getting around was easy. We watched a 12 year old girl win the largest pumpkin contest with an entry that came in at 1161 pounds- a new fair record. The strangest thing we saw was the 4-H cat display. Girls, and maybe some boys, created cat homes from kennels. Strange, especially since the cats were in there too. Another interesting thing- you know how we have lines for Sweet Martha's Cookies? The Puyallup Fair has LONG lines for hot scones filled with butter and raspberry jelly. 3 later I was hooked. Yum. All in all a fun day.
Today, we return the Jeep rental and head back at about 3:00. Goodbye, Northwest! (One day I hope to say that to the airline of the same name.)

A Rainy Weekend

It is finally raining! After only 2 or 3 short bursts of rain since June, we have now had two solid days of nicely paced rain. Southern Minnesota is another story where six have died in flash flooding since yesterday. Let's just say I'm grateful for what we got- - which means... the yard and garden should look great for Fall Fiesta next weekend! (Don't say it. I know I'm a little shallow about it.)
Yesterday and today, I've been shopping like mad picking up some outdoor lighting, some decor items, lots of food and lots of beverages. When I got home this afternoon, I multi-tasked. Do two tasks count or does it need to be more than two?. I'm counting it anyway. What, you ask, did I do? I made carnitas, which I am still making now- its a long process- and I got crafty and made some some lovely paisley table confetti and some multi-colored, stunning (?) tissue paper poof balls. Fabulous.
Today I also learned that broken digital cameras can't really be fixed in a way that makes economic sense. That stinks. So, I upgraded slightly from what I had, which wasn't much, and plan to get in some play time with the new camera tonight.
I'm still all creaky and sore today from last week at work. Not sure that the coming week is going to be any better. My boss described a reporting function that I'm working on (and is due on 8.30) as possibly the most important thing I'll do all year. He obviously didn't take into consideration my skin care regimen. What was he thinking? Anyway, I'm hoping this means I can coast for the remaining 4 months of the year, which is unlikely, but a nice fantasy none the less.

Look What's Blooming Today

It has been trying really hard to rain today, but can't seem to do much more than spit. Of course, the plants under the heaviest tree cover are still parched. I'm probably going to do some more supplemental watering there this morning. Tree cover has one key advantage for hosta lovers like me- it really minimizes damage from hail. I've had summers in other homes where my hota get shredded by hail and look like hell all summer long. No fun. This year, we've had maybe two good thunderstorms and almost no rain in between. *sigh*
The top picture is a hosta called "Sum & Substance." My gardening friends will say 'well, duh," as this is probably the most popular gold hosta in the world. For those of you not in the know, it is a glorious variety that has the potential to be huge- about 3 feet high, six feet wide with leaves up to 18 inches across at maturity. Though it is common, it is still a favorite.
The lower picture is an heirloom lilium variety called 'Black Beauty'. Though it was only introduced to the market about 50 years ago it has been around for a while longer. Once established, this lily is pretty much indestructable and multiplies pretty rapidly to produce nice sized clumps. Love it!

Look What's Blooming Today

Despite the horrid drought, our gardens are looking pretty good. Our water bill not so much.

So here are two things that were blooming today. On top is a daylily called 'Hyperion Elite'. The color isn't retouched. It really is almost neon yellow- think the big oversized shirts you ladies wore with belts and collars up in the 80's. Much prettier in the garden. The bottom picture is of our hardy hibiscus. The day before we had about 15 of these flowers going. They can be up to about 10 inches across. They remind me of clown flowers- like when you walk up to them they might squirt you or something.