glowing potential

MY LATEST grab from Value Village. I love to snoop around there, finding 5-dollar goodies to tear apart and create with. This one will turn into a little vitrine and hold some kind of tableaux. Perhaps a little skeleton band. :B

chrismustime is here

I HAVE THE beautiful reds from the frost to adorn my trees and leaves, and make a gorgeous wintertime display just in time for christmas. Now if we would have snow, perfection. Photos TK--my son nicked my camera for a holiday idea but I'll get it today. little steenker.

on fire

THERE WAS A FIRE in my kitchen
this morning. The sun popped out
for awhile and made this store-bought
parrot tulip above my sink glow from
yellow to deep red.

not always bees

BY NOW I've figured out, you may have too: My blog is not exactly about bees. I love to write about my beloved garden, and I need to get some pictures up of the changing colors and frost-bitten flowers. I want to stay focused on what happens in the Wenatchee garden too, as I am convinced I will be there, at least someday. Along with my gardens other dreams are calling. I have approximately 8 different projects going, and my goal is to finish 2 of them before Christmas. They are mostly 3-dimensional, or repurposed books, and paintings. This is that time of year when I get pensive and review my year, and my heart.

the last sprouts

MY DELISH BRUSSELS sprouts grown in my backyard by mr. sun, ms. water and the bees. I get a kick out of growing my own. ;B It's November and I cooked them last week. Hope to get a lot more next year from heirloom seeds.

my shrine today

THE WARM COLORS emitting from this corner and the low light washes everything with that dark fiery red. It's lacquer red. Cinnabar. I'm crazy about it. Especially with blacks and silver. I took down the little black shadow box and painted the inside of the door that red. So it has that color in daylight.

our path

AT BOTHELL LANDING Ophee and I have a great path to follow by the Sammamish river, host to herons, otters, ducks, geese and beautiful trees and views

borrowing the view

Shakkei: Japanese term meaning borrowed scenery - the art of incorporating a near/distant view of mountains/river/trees or buildings into the garden composition.

I ENJOY THE very near Sammamish river about 100 yards from my house. The giant cottonwoods, and many trees and wildlife here are mostly due to the river. Ophee and I need to walk a few steps to get to Bothell Landing, which is where we see myriad trees and plants, now in gorgeous fall color. We also visit ducks, herons, otters, geese (including an old farm goose who has adopted a gaggle of Canadians for her flock), and feral chickens.

the humble yet glorious...

ROSA RUGOSA. Plain old wild rose. Gardeners get too excited about all those hybrid teas and grandifloras. Rosa rugosa has masses of vivid blooms all summer, provides a great shrubby form for hedges, and turns rich colors in the fall (observe!), finally leaving nice big hips for the birds when it snows. A perfect plant.

all the gold in the world

...CAN'T COMPETE with the morphing colors in my garden. Each of these plants are different, yet the frosty nights are giving them similar cool-weather jackets. Click to see up close: from left to right, top to bottom:
weigela 'french lace', sedum 'angelina', wisteria 'texas white, honeysuckle 'baggesen's gold', sorbaria, spiraea 'magic carpet', bamboo 'nigra', choisya, golden hops, lamium 'anne greenaway', goldthread cypress, sword fern, artemisia golden, spiraea 'goldflame', cotinus 'golden spirit', golden barberry, pachysandra.

ferns: perfect symmetry

WHAT MORE DO I need to say? These are sword ferns, native to the Pacific Northwest.

seed time

ONE OF THE THRILLS of autumn. Seeing plants and trees set their unusual seeds of every kind. And the colors, rusty roses and patina greens, are so rich. Here are my crocosmia 'Lucifer' pods. And a canna pod. I do love the pods.

answer to my question

I WONDERED whether to blog only one garden; but I can feature both here; a tiny urban garden tucked behind a busy Bothell hi-way, and the quiet, funky garden my dad lovingly created in Wenatchee. I'll drive back and forth, so fuel concerns. Perhaps I'll even get a Smart car for the trip. This Hermes model should do. ; } But it's a beautiful drive, as you see from this Hwy2 pitstop. I can see 3 times the beauty.

the other garden

MY SISTER AND I closed up dad's place for the winter. I can hardly wait for the spring, when planning and planting new gardens will begin.

painting a spring foto

A PEONY ARRANGEMENT from dad's springtime yard for a painting I'll start in november.

Ant's eye view

JUST A NICE SHOT I wanted to post. If you were a snail, perhaps an english rose and yew trees would look more like this.

why this is boring

CAN'T DECIDE whether this chronicles 2 gardens: a wenatchee farmlet, a small urban garden in bothell, or both. I'll have better posts when I make up my mind. I'll have interesting urban gardening experiences to post, with more juicy, useful info. Quite different gardening zones, both with pros + cons. I want pollinators next year + more extensive vegetable beds. Bees, chickens and others to make green food would have more room in wenatchee. My tiny perennial garden is near seattle. I need a pro/con list. I'm making a trip over to Wenatchee this weekend to see more of the October changes. Meanwhile: why I love rusting hydrangeas in autumn...

cotinus in container

COTINUS "GOLDEN SPIRIT" (smokebush) moved into a container, cuzz it was getting too much water in the ground. I've seen this plant for 90 bucks online! Hope I can keep it alive. Maybe it's too new, too untested. We'll see.

ophee in the garden

I'LL GET THIS outta my system. More photos of Ophee-nutz patrolling her garden. I have so many of her, so here are a couple more. We're inseparable. Now on to garden stuff.

colors only god can see

THE HANGING BASKET has geraniums in a color so vivid, the camera polarized it. The combo can only be described as magenta/orange/red violet (click for large view ya know). The pinks at left are calibrachoa and not as bright, so true. Little red mini-rose did the the same with its vivid red blooms.

objets d'art

I REVERE OBJECTS around the garden--statues, birdhouses, buckets. Whatever has the patina of life. There's a little flag with a skelly in a lounger, now faded from sun, a perfect gift from my friend Yasuyo. They all give me a moment to pause and think.

summer light

HAD TO SHARE these colors from the late summer light. That's my Pat Austin rose again. I don't even like roses THAT much, but this one always knocks me out...it's a really juicy tangerine color and fruity fragrance.

kirengeshoma palmata...

...AKA YELLOW WAXBELLS. Not a xeric plant, but I had to try one. Here are the first bells growing on a small specimen I got for 9 bucks. Also attached a catalog photo. I'll get a better pic of mine next year.

joolz to eat

MY VEGGIE GARDEN is getting outta control, but look at the beautiful colors...and we can eat it. It's a thing of wonder and beauty! And here's lovely Apis Mellifera (nearly hidden in sedum Autumn Joy), who, without her pollinating, no beautiful greens would be possible.

september light

MISTY COOL LIGHT made the garden look sortof dark this morning. My little japanese flag from
Yasuyo-san fluttering from the arbor says, "Just resting my bones," and features skelly in a lawn chair. I hope it's not a sign that summer lazing is over.

bee-stung boston

OPHEE TRIES TO eat bees. And pays the price. Here she looks like a cow, with puffy lips. Poor little kook. Benadryl saved the day. Good to have around for our pet pals.

a cluster of bitties

MY SISTER CALLS these tiny birds 'drumettes' — they're only as big as an appetizer. I'm trying to get a shot of them visiting the feeder, but they're too shy for me to get close. Not giving up! Their behaviour, like a school of fishes, means you rarely see one solo. The females have light eyes, as opposed to the males' dark eyes. Now that Autumn is near, they're showing up in clusters of 20 or more at a time.

apricot poses as rose

What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. – Wm Shakespeare

IN THIS CASE, the name should be not rose, but apricot. The juicy sweet fragrance of this English rose, Pat Austin, is a dead ringer for one.

back to the flowers

THE PERENNIALS coming on since July have provided me gorgeous color, but more importantly, good stuff for the bees. From top to bottom, sedum Autumn Joy, campsis vine, hydrangea.