- Gardening adventures, Permaculture and Edible Forest Gardening Adventures, Photos, Vegetables, Vegetarian
My Gardens Today
Entranceway with Running Dog April and May are months that I often don’t remember when reflecting back at the end of the year. Spring is such a busy season. When I was raising children, and when I was working as a school librarian, these months rushed past in the haste towards summer break. As a gardener, Spring is one season when I turn into one of those Garden Designers London and since it is also the season of intense growth of both weeds and desirables, insects and increasing dryness, and for me and so many others, the inevitable allergies that keep me out of the garden for days. So I thought I’d post photos of my gardens as they stand today, in the middle of April, on threshold of Summer.
By the Front Door I’ll start at my front door and work downhill. The walkway to the front door is lined with purple lantana and a mixture of red geraniums, honeysuckle, butterfly bush and Double Delight rose. It is being enjoyed by my very silly old dog General Mischief, who just realized that I was going to let him into the house. He looks a bit like a vampire dog in this photo, though!
By my front door I have a collection of miscellaneous plants, as most people do. Two staghorn ferns given me by my mother have attached themselves in a very satisfactory way to the chain link fence. There is also a dark red ivy geranium, needlepoint ivy, some bulbs just out of bloom, a traveling (or Egyptian) onion (it’s seeds are bulbets grown on the flower) that my brother gave to me, and some sedums. When I water here I usually disturb a Pacific Chorus Frog or two. I’ve thinned and weeded and replanted this collection, but there are always more that magically appear.
Front Pond The front yard pond is full of algae, but that is all right for the moment. I don’t want a crystal clear pond; I want habitat. Because of the clear blobs of frog spawn and wriggling tadpoles hiding from the hungry mouths of the mosquito fish I keep the algae until it is no longer inhabited. Waterlilies (even the monster one! Look at other posts for an explaination) are blooming with last weekend’s sudden heat. In the foreground are Jewel Mix nasturiums with heirloom tuberoses emerging, a grey mound of lamb’s ear which has begun to pop up where I don’t expect it, and rosemary by the bird feeders. Our kitchen table has the view of the feeders, and it is from this yard that we count birds seasonally for Cornell University’s Project Feederwatch. Oh, and try not to focus on the weeds, please.
Side Gardens On the South side of my house I’ve painted the wall a Mediterranean blue to reduce the glare and create a colorful backdrop for flowers. I keep annuals in this bed, along with some bulbs and a rose that is still small that my daughter gave to me. In th photo just blooming are naturtium, alyssum, foxglove, pansies, and a delphinium that fell over and started growing upright again. My library window overlooks this yard. I was trying to keep the color scheme focusing on apricot to show up well agains the wall, but I end up planting whatever I want in here. Cosmos have again reseeded and are starting to grow rapidly; they’ll block the window by summer and be full of goldfinches. I’ve also planted a couple of bleeding hearts that I picked up in one of those bulb packages at WalMart. Usually the plant is pretty spent and they aren’t worth the money, but I somehow think that I am rescuing the poor thing. These came up but haven’t yet bloomed.
Lady Banksia Along my driveway is a Lady Banksia rose that has taken off, along with a bush mallow, a Hidcote lavender, and a late daffodil. Farther along the driveway (not shown) is a Pride of Madera (I love that name!) that is going gangbusters, a small liquidamber, rockrose, a mixture of natives and incidental plants such as a tomato that survived the winter, a Joseph’s Coat rose, and an established pine tree with a crow’s nest at the top. There are other roses and plants here, too, like a prostrate pyracantha for berries, a white carpet rose, native milkweed for the Monarch butterflies (perennial ones; the annuals are usually gone by the time the butterflies migrate here), an apricot penstamon, aloe vera, and probably the kitchen sink, too, if I root around long enough. I love tinkering around with this mess of plants, seeing what will grow and trying new combinations.
Raised Vegetable Beds In my raised vegetable beds the peas have been producing well. The shorter ones had been nibbled by crows as they were emerging, but after I put a rubber snake amongst them, the nibbling stopped. Potatoes are nearing harvest time, and I’ve already snuck out a few new potatoes and they were very good. Sometimes I’ve had potatoes with brown fiber in them and a bitter taste; no doubt due to irregular watering and soil problems. I worked hard on improving my soil and giving it a boost with natural fertilizers from Gardens Alive. There are so many peas in the garden because I planted all my old packets so that the roots will set nitrogen in the soil.
I also have growing carrots, broccoli, cilantro, parsley, endive, salad mix, parsnip, strawberries, blueberries, breadseed poppies, horseradish, asparagus, bush beans, fava beans, a yellow tomato and a red slicing tomato, garlic, shallots, red and white onions, Swiss chard, leeks, collards and basil. Most are just small guys right now.
Seedlings In my temporary nursery area I have sprouting pickling cucumbers, zucchini, quinoa (first time!), more basil, Dukat dill, cantalope, and a cooking pumpkin. I’ll sprout more squashes and maybe popcorn and sweet corn soon.
View up the Middle This is a view of the middle of my property, from the lower end up.
Palm Tree Walkway This is the palm tree walkway as it stands now.
Pre-Pond And this is the lower area. Notice the stakes in the ground and the tractors? They are there because today is the day the ponds will be excavated! The rain-catchment ponds, permanent habitat pond and swales will be carved, shaped and filled in the next two days, fed by water from a 4-inch well augered in the lower property. I have hired Aquascape to create habitat and rain catchment ponds; the demostrations of their work look as if humans hadn’t messed with anything. In about an hour from now, the action finally begins! After the ponds are installed, then the final plant guilds will be established, the minor amount of irrigation installed, and that will be that! I’ll keep you posted on pond development! - Birding, Gardening adventures, Heirloom Plants, Permaculture and Edible Forest Gardening Adventures, Photos
Brief Garden Updates
Palm Throne I spent the day making two birthday cakes for my two children, both of whom will be flying in from different directions tomorrow. Recipes will be the next thing I post! So for now, just a few garden updates. As you can see in the photo above, I have yet another palm throne, this one at the entrance to the garden. These are so fun. As the palms decompose, I can always plant in the seat!
Six loads of rock A total of six truckloads of rock have been delivered, and are piled in various areas on the property. At about 12 tons a load, that’s over 700 tons of rock! These will be used to surround the ponds, line the dry streambeds, and as interesting features in the natural garden.
- Garbage Can Enclosure
Jay finished the enclosure for the garbage cans, and it is pretty ritzy. Those incredible hinges are hand-made and you can see the imprint from the blacksmith’s tools on them. Jay had several sets and I had to have them. I go nuts over skilled craftsmanship, such as woodworking and metalwork. Right now there is only a latch on the outside, so it would pay not to close the door while inside. It would be a little climb and a long reach to get out again.
- Frond Fence
Along the radically improved and stabalized area above the embankment, some of the chain link and posts used to hold the soil were showing. So today lots of pond fronds (hey, we have a lot of them!) were being attached to the exposed fencing as camafloge. It looks great in that area. Also, little birds like house wrens love nipping between old palm fronds, and they’ll provide some hiding areas for the Western fence lizards, too. The stairs were made from railroad ties, and the area around them planted and then mulched with palm chips.
In the bulb beds, one of my favorite daffodils has opened today, and unfortunately I was snapping photos in the evening and the close-ups were blurry.
At the bottom of the bulb photo are Hoop Petticoats, and at the top, Little Witches, which I wrote about the other day. The little center unruffled hoops are so unique; besides Rip Van Winkle (which haven’t bloomed yet) these are my favorite.Also, Double Delight rose has bloomed. It is a double delight because its coloration is gorgeous and ranges from almost pure reddish pink to almost all white with some red on large, softly ruffled blooms. It also is extremely fragrant; my daughter said that it smelled the way rose water tastes, and that is perfectly true.Meringue Mushrooms coming up soon!
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Heirloom Plants
- Fragrant Antique Freesias and Cyclamen
Little Witch Daffodil I am so fortunate to live here in Northern San Diego County, where Spring has come and gardening weather is wonderful. I may be a cold-weather wimp, but that’s okay. A morning filled with the scent of freesias and the repetoire of a mockingbird in love fills and feeds my inner self. I wish that I could waft that incredible fragrance to you from the photo! I was born in New Jersey, the youngest of five, and we came West when I was five years old. My mother never wanted to even look at snow again in her life, and my dear dad made that possible. I published a fiction story some years ago in the premier children’s magazine, Cricket ( http://www.cricketmag.com/CKT-CRICKET-Magazine-for-Kids-ages-9-14), called Taking Tea with Aunt Kate. In it I wrote about a lush, mixed-up garden. The illustrator for the story lived in some cold state, and emailed the editor with alarm that I had daffodils blooming at the same time as squash was in the garden. It took me a little to convince her that our narcissus bloom in early Fall when squash is still being harvested, and daffodils are still blooming when we can transplant squash starts out in the Spring.
Early Louisiana Jonquil 
- Van Sion (1620)
Despite the fires, drought, and cost of living, we live in an Eden most of the time, in my opinion. But I’m well off the track of what inspired me writing this morning.
I revere heirloom plants. I became involved with heirloom varieties when I was a Senior Park Ranger for the County of San Diego, and was in charge of the newly restored Rancho Guajome Adobe in Vista. http://www.co.san-diego.ca.us/parks/ranchoguajomeadobe.html . If you haven’t visited, you really need to. Its right next to the Antique Gas and Steam Engine Museum http://www.agsem.com/ and open for tours on weekends and for special events. The most common comment has always been, “I’ve lived in Vista for years and driven past this place almost daily and never knew it was here!”
Tommies crocus (1847) Anyway, for the Adobe’s grand opening after it’s restoration, I was asked to create a Victorian wedding area using period-appropriate plants. In about 8 weeks. And, in one of the fastest group efforts ever, I did. Since different areas of the Adobe were built and interpreted for different times, I researched and planted gardens in the inner courtyard and in the front which reflected the plants available in San Diego at those times. The gardens have changed plant materials over the years, but have been lovingly kept by docents and staff. Two wonderful resources (among many) which I still shop from and refer to today, are Old House Gardens Heirloom Bulbs https://www.oldhousegardens.com/index.asp , and Heirloom Roses http://www.heirloomroses.com/index.htm. These are two mail-order plant suppliers who research and care for their stock, listing introduction dates and histories. Old House Gardens is particularly warm and fuzzy to deal with; they add personal notes onto the orders, want feedback about how the bulbs do in your area, and make sure that you know if
Cherokee Rose 
A cutting from the Cherokee Rose planted at Rancho Guajome Adobe circa 1880. So in my gopher-populated garden at home, I have been building bulb beds which are set on landscape fabric (to try and keep out the Bermuda grass which can grow anywhere) and lined with aviary wire. This is the time of year when these beds make my heart soar, because one after another these incredible flowers tell me more than anything that Spring is here. Daffodils aren’t supposed to be appetizing to gophers, so in January I bought a couple of bags of the common King Alfred variety (45 in a sack for about $7!) at Home Depot, and planted them all over. I got them in the ground a little late, so I may have to wait until next year for blooms. I love the explosion of daffodils all over Santa Ysabel and Julian.
Rosa rugosa, our native rose I have far too many roses planted; but I have to confess, one of the real perks of the permaculture work that is being done on the rest of the property is that I get to have more roses! 🙂 My side yard has the destinguished personages of Agatha Christie, William Shakespeare, along with Double Delight, Blue Girl,
Blue GirlMirandy, and some big red rose that was here when I moved in. Two Damask roses (which they use to make Attar of Roses) that my nephew gave to me are in the front, along with Rosa rugosa (our native) and some unidentified ones. The driveway is filled with artistocratic names along with Joseph’s Coat, and beginning to work its way up the post that stands outside the bedrooms is Kiss of Desire. (Sigh). In the back are many more which were here when I moved or came to me free and unlabeled, including two spectacular red roses which are side-by-side, are now enormous and lush, and whose bloom colors clash so loudly you could hear it inside!
Although they aren’t native, many of these heirlooms need to be saved from extinction, are often much hardier than any modern hybrids, and are gorgeous and unique. They have to be hardy, because my plants need to thrive on some neglect. I also fertilize them with Roses Alive natural fertilizer from Gardens Alive http://www.gardensalive.com/ . Organic fertilizer doesn’t build up salts in the soil or destroy the soil microbes that are essential for good plant health.
Unidentified David Austin rose About the recommendations: I don’t work for any of these businesses. I recommend them as a friend, for I have found them to be excellent in my dealings with them and they support good causes. I hope that you enjoy their breathtaking catalogs! (I actually have to go through the catalogs a little at a time because I get too excited and my heart rate goes up and I want all they have!).
Ice Follies daffodil So this was a long post, when actually this beautiful bird-song-filled morning I just wanted to bring you photos of Spring flowers, to brighten your day. Also, I’ve been trying to learn this user-friendly (ha!) blog thing, and I think I’ve made it possible to leave comments without you having to go through so many hoops (to prevent spamming.) I’d love to hear what you say! Have a great day.
Cineraria 
Wisteria chinensis