Watching, Waiting, Changing Plans

Last Saturday was a bit wet and windy but being a typical pacific northwest type, that didn't stop me from playing with a chainsaw and transplanting huge plants.  Who knew that Osmunda regalis (Royal Fern) could grow ten feet high and require a hand truck and lots of grunting to move?  One gets used to being wet after a time and is surprised that, upon finishing up for the day, his clothes are literally dripping water.  Of course that could have something to do with the blow to the head I took from a large limb.  I was only dazed for a moment and didn't bother going inside to assess the damage until I noticed blood on my glove after I touched my face.  Oh, you know, the head is highly vascular and so bleeds a lot even if wounds aren't deep. Later, while throwing the remains of removed Persicaria 'Dragon's Blood'  on a bed to act as mulch, I discovered that hornets must have built an in-ground nest as while I was fluffing the foliage of the sword ferns to cover the persicaria mulch, there seemed to be some activity.  It was nearly dark and I didn't think much of it until the stinging started.  Just a little light gardening...

Boots and gloves from last Saturday are still on the back porch, too encrusted with dirt to come inside.

This Saturday was going to be much more genteel with a visit to a few gardens that will be on a fall color tour benefiting the Chase garden, planting bulbs and stopping at a pumpkin patch.  A couple of days ago, warnings started coming out about a series of storms that would hit the area.   Thursday night will bring high winds and heavy rain  which will die down around  dawn on Friday morning when up to  six inches of rain will fall some areas.  While Friday will be windy, it will be a relative lull before Saturday's storm which has a one in three chance of being an event that will "be long remembered."  

"Some of the strongest Pacific Northwest windstorms on record can trace their origins back to western Pacific typhoons. Such is the case for the potential high wind event in parts of Washington, Oregon and British Columbia this weekend. 

In this case, Typhoon Songda, which earlier became one of the northernmost super typhoons on record with sustained winds of at least 150 mph, has now gotten caught up in the Pacific jet stream and has lost its tropical characteristics." 

Buckle your seat belts, batten down the hatches, and hold on!  The friendly folks on the news are reminding us to have plenty of emergency provisions on hand and city workers are busy clearing debris from street gutters so that water can run smoothly to storm drains.   Something tells me that I won't be previewing gardens, playing with pumpkins, or planting tulips.

I decided not to do a huge bulb order this year but instead just picked up a few locally.  Additions this year are twenty each of  Princess Irene, Christmas Orange, Orange Queen, Happy Generation, Oxford, Ida, and Flaming Flag.   Sit tight chubby cute little bulbs for a fairer weekend.

Here's hoping that we get lucky and the storm decides to settle down before it makes landfall.