Arbor Summer 2007

Okay, It's been almost two years since I last posted on this blog. I have decided to return after a long hiatus. My reasons, mostly being my need to keep writing on a regular basis, also it helps to have a place to communicate my thoughts. I feel the pressure even more now . . . . given the state of the world. My garden is a good jumping off place. It is both a refuge, a gentle balm, a muse of sorts, although sore muscles might not agree, and a place to clear ones head of all the crap, That is, of course until you come indoors, turn on the news, and it all comes back.

It looks like my last post was all about an arbor in the process of being built. I am happy to say the arbor is finished, well almost, hubby promises to build seats. This will happen when he is finished with the new fence surrounding our 110' by 120' property. No, the grass no sooner approaches ankle height when a new project awaits in the wings at "Land Faire." Meanwhile, we are using an iron and wooden garden bench.

New Arbor

A bit more progress on the arbor since earlier this Spring. The ladders in the first picture depict my husband's construction prowness. I have no idea why he needed the super tall ladder. The second picture is my attempt to show the arbor off in a more artistic light. I'm not sure what I think. Hopefully the arbor seats will be finished before Christmas.

The Final Solution?

The Pox on Californians! . . . . After that a thousand more on the French! The bane of my gardening experience Slugs, those slimy creatures that gobble mostly prized plants, my Hosta collection, and expensive lilies, were usurped several years ago by Snails from France via California. They proliferated like crazy, then hopped a ride on nursery stock headed for the Pacific Northwest where they found the climate even more to their liking. Slugs and Snails are one and the same family except snails climb making them doubly obnoxious garden pests. Yesterday I found them feasting on the new shoots and buds of my favorite Rose. I even found them climbing my "North Pole" apple trees. My normally organic garden is carpeted with Cory's Slug Killer. Forget the organics. They're not working. Woe is me. This shouldn't be happening in August. On the other hand, this fellow might have the perfect solution. Garden Snail Risotto:. . . ."And into the pan they go. Reluctantly ignoring their silent snail screams, I boil them gently for ten minutes. Rather strangely, the water turns yellow, but I can’t find any reference to this on the Internet - I’m hoping it’s not some kind of toxic gastropod secretion, but only history will tell." Yum.

Wetlands

I am driving through the rain to my mothers house, and as usual, dead animals litter the bypass I travel on. This road runs dead center through a "Wetlands," an area set aside as a wildlife habitat, and storage place for flood waters. House and apartment construction butts up against the edges of the Wetlands. They spew god knows what into the pools of water created by the river and storm run off. I can remember when this area was grasslands dotted with pools of water filled with birds and ducks. I wonder at the planning that put a bypass down its center. It pisses me off. If we need a bypass, why not erect a fence to keep wildlife off the road? How effective is a wetlands/wildlife refuge with a freeway running through it? Whenever I drive along this road I imagine what this fence would look like. I see a tunnel, similar to a 'Slinky,' covered in chicken wire. It seems like a logical solution. Put us in a cage. I know this is fantasy, anyway a fence wouldn't help. There's still the oil dripping off the roads, polluting the pools, the chemicals leaching off the lawns, from surrounding buildings, contaminating the water.

Now the Alaskan Wildlife refuge is threatened by greedy American oil concerns. Argh! It's hard not to think about this crap, even when I'm in the garden, my own refuge, a place I can usually zone out, forget about the inequities we commit, . . . against eachother, . . . . against the environment. Folks, we're digging our own graves. We have to get active if we care. We have to protect what we have, and I'm not talking about our new SUV's.

Goodbye To an Old Friend

A surprise warm front has everyone out in their gardens, or at least those lucky people who have discovered the joys of puttering in the dirt, and watching things grow. My garden has filled in much faster than I expected because of the low 70 degree weather. It's filling in too fast for me. I can barely keep up. Of course big changes are in the works. The old arbor that divided the garden into two seperate areas was torn down recently. The timbers were rotting, and the lattice was breaking apart. Now a brand new arbor is taking it's place. Meanwhile, several residents of the old arbor, roses and clematis, are tied up and pulled out of the way of construction, waiting to latch their selves on to anything they can find. Worse still, they have sprouted new growth and leaves, which means these thender shoots will most likely be damaged when I tie them into the new arbor.

I was looking through some old pictures of my arbor. What a wonderful feature it made. It was not only the center piece of my garden it was a shelter from the summer sun, a place to rest from gardening chores or to read a book. When the weather was nice, we would enjoy lunch or dinner with friends around a wooden table placed in the center. It seemed like the arbor was always in bloom with roses, clematis, and pots of flowers at its feet. I shall miss my old friend, but I must confess, I am looking forward to the new arbor. This is the old arbor in summer.

Off With Their Heads!

I have nearly finished pruning my roses, a daunting task, of which I'm glad to see the end. Every year, beginning in winter, I set out to complete this chore before the first buds break on the canes. I arm myself with my trusty Felcos, my goat skin gloves, and several layers of garden clothes, for padding. Like knights in fairy tales, facing down dragons, I bravely battle the giant Ramblers in my yard. When they are tamed, I turn, a more refined hand, to snipping and clipping the smaller rose denizens, such as my dozen or so Mini Roses. I grow close to two hundred roses in all. They range from mini's to shrub to climbing roses, and to wildly rambling roses, with a few species specimans thrown in for good measure. I learned to prune this diverse group of plants by growing them for over twenty five years, and from a little help from friends, rose addicts like myself. If you would like to learn some really good pruning tips, in a much shorter time, read this great article on pruning roses from my favorite rose site. While you're at it check out my favorite rose nursery the Uncommon Rose.

White Clematis montana with Climbing Rose

Perfect Partners

A sunny day, plus a visit from my garden guru, this woman knows how to create garden paradises that truely make you feel you died and went to heaven, has me outdoors this afternoon. Nothing like a garden friend to inspire. The task at hand is mundane, an old arbor, one of the smaller of eight in our garden, recently repaired and now waiting for a good rub down with Purex water. This, to remove the green mold. When this is finished the white paint underneath will look new again, at least I hope so. On either side of this arbor are two plants of Rosa 'Veilchenblau,' often referred to as the as the blue rose. It's often found in old gardens, such as mine, as it was used as an under stock rose. I am quite fond of the pair of them. When we moved to our present home, we found it on the ground in two huge humps. I could not bare to remove it, as it was in the way of a projected path so my husband built an arbor for them to arch over. About eight years ago I planted Clematis, 'Etoile Violette,' one of the wonderful viticella clematis, at the foot of one rose. Only one is needed as it will leap over the arbor to clothe it completly. It's deep velvety, purple blooms break open just as the violet to grey-blue flowers of Veilchenblau fade. 'Etoile Violette' makes a perfect partner to grow through roses because you can whack it way back. This frees up the rose for easy pruning in winter or spring, and you're minus ugly, dead looking Clematis foliage. Oh yes, the best part? 'Veilchenblau' is nearly thornless and has very pliable canes that bend easily over an arbor.