Monday, April 24, 2017

The Glory of the Garden

I am totally in love with blue flowers right now. These forget-me-nots are so lovely.
 
Rainier Cherry blossoms
 
 
Weber's Parrot tulip
 
Tulameen Raspberrys
 
Huge pink rhododendron. I planted it 38 years ago!!
 
 
Kwanzen Cherry Tree...aka the eye candy
 
Hosta's growing like crazy right now. They love their new location.
 
Below you can see photos of the side of the yard where the Hosta's and Hydrangeas were doing very poorly. I transplanted them all last weekend. It is now so full of weeds over there that I am going to level everything and just seed it with grass. It fascinates me that nothing, but nothing will grow near that cedar hedge {hidden behind that fence}...except weeds. And they are the healthiest looking weeds in the yards.
 
 

The Glory of the Garden

OUR England is a garden that is full of stately views,
Of borders, beds and shrubberies and lawns and avenues,
With statues on the terraces and peacocks strutting by;
But the Glory of the Garden lies in more than meets the eye.
For where the old thick laurels grow, along the thin red wall,
You'll find the tool- and potting-sheds which are the heart of all
The cold-frames and the hot-houses, the dung-pits and the tanks,
The rollers, carts, and drain-pipes, with the barrows and the planks.

And there you'll see the gardeners, the men and 'prentice boys
Told off to do as they are bid and do it without noise ;
For, except when seeds are planted and we shout to scare the birds,
The Glory of the Garden it abideth not in words.
And some can pot begonias and some can bud a rose,
And some are hardly fit to trust with anything that grows ;
But they can roll and trim the lawns and sift the sand and loam,
For the Glory of the Garden occupieth all who come.

Our England is a garden, and such gardens are not made
By singing:-" Oh, how beautiful," and sitting in the shade
While better men than we go out and start their working lives
At grubbing weeds from gravel-paths with broken dinner-knives.
There's not a pair of legs so thin, there's not a head so thick,
There's not a hand so weak and white, nor yet a heart so sick
But it can find some needful job that's crying to be done,
For the Glory of the Garden glorifieth every one.

Then seek your job with thankfulness and work till further orders,
If it's only netting strawberries or killing slugs on borders;
And when your back stops aching and your hands begin to harden,
You will find yourself a partner In the Glory of the Garden.
Oh, Adam was a gardener, and God who made him sees
That half a proper gardener's work is done upon his knees,
So when your work is finished, you can wash your hands and pray
For the Glory of the Garden that it may not pass away!

And the Glory of the Garden it shall never pass away !

Rudyard Kipling

Monday, April 03, 2017

Two days in the Garden.

This weekend I torture tested my elbow. Remember I had a terrible bout of Tennis Elbow last summer and fall. I couldn't pull a single weed or even use pruners. Nothing. So I have a very unpruned and weedy garden to contend with this year. I have spent two weekends cleaning the gardens. Today I finished all the pruning, fed everything in the greenhouse and dug up two roots of a peony and a fringed Shasta Daisy that I love. My garden has quite a few bare spots, so this will help fill them in. I walked about the yard with my new Canon camera and took these photos. I am enjoying it very much!!

Moms pansy reseeded!!
 
Greenhouse, cleaned, pruned and fed. I left the door open today to circulate fresh air.
 
Tulameen Raspberry patch.
 
Amanda's Rosemary
 
'Frost' Peach blossom
 
Greenhouse bed. Martha Washington starting to bloom.
 
Meyer Lemon
 
Meyer Lemon tree. The Buddha in the back ground was on the deck. I carried it myself and placed it. I am guessing but I bet it weighs about 70 pounds.
 
Tomatoes coming up. Sungold and Black Krim.
 
Miniature Rose. I bought it because I have never smelled a mini rose that smelled like an old rose like this one does. It will be going on the deck in the big pot!!
 
Tete a Tete narcissus.
 
Shiro Japanese plum. Most delicious plum I have ever tasted.
 
Closeup of Shiro Plum blossom
 
My garden all cleaned out and pruned. Ready to go.
 
I dug up a division of the Ogilvie Peony for my garden.
 
 
This three foot pot was in our front entry. I wanted to move it to the furthest back corner of the yard. The bamboo and the water in the huge pot meant this pot weighed at least 100 pounds. I could barely raise a side of it off the ground. I went to the shed and got my UFO shaped slider. I wrestled it onto the slider. It was brutally heavy even pulling it. Then I had to wrestle it again up about ten inches onto the deck under the willow. I cannot believe I did it myself. I am worried about how my elbow will take this level of abuse, but so far so good.