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Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.

Friday, May 26, 2017

The Awful Truth - It Gets Worse

People often ask how I have time to work several jobs, post five times a week, and have time to garden.  The answer is, I don't as you'll see in the pictures that follow:

First up is one of the many special gifts my pals at work gave me during teacher appreciation week: That was two or three weeks ago and these poor annuals are crying out to be planted.


You must be tired of seeing beautiful, tidy gardens on the interweb.  This is surely the antidote to that. WARNING If clutter and disarray  bother you, you may wish to avert your eyes now, read no further, simply leave the computer and ask a friend to shut it down.  

 The table in the back of the house where guests sit in the summer is full of plants.  I'd made a little dent in this.

 then came some more nursery visits.last weekend.  In case you wondered, the chairs are full too.

Brugmansias are out of the greenhouse and have made the transition nicely this year but they displaced the evergreens that were in the pots for winter. Now where did I put those last summer? 

You may remember the Danger Gardenette which looks something like this in the summer:

And similar to this in the winter: 


May brings this awful reality.  Most of the winter plants are moved away but the summer plants haven't journeyed out of the greenhouse yet.  All of that bamboo litter needs to be removed before the migration begins. 


Some of the begonias started inside have made their way into these hanging baskets (from a 70% off sale at Fred Meyer.  With my Tuesday senior discount added to that, they were a steal in January.)

Just don't look down!


It was time to re pot this staghorn fern as it wasn't doing all that well. A closer inspection revealed that mealy bugs were the culprit.  Out came the rubbing alcohol before potting it up. (A little alcohol for the gardener would surely help as well.)  Let's hope it makes it.

Close ups are much nicer as one can omit so much.

Nothing says welcome to my garden like a nice tangle of hose to trip over.

I believe you were  warned  not to look down.  When I get home from work, I take a little break and then dash out to get a few things done like cutting back, pruning, planting.  In the garden, I have a bit of attention deficit disorder and go from project to project, not fully finishing anything.  It all will eventually get done, perhaps by the first frost.

This Aechmea blanchetiana has been with me for three years now, wintering in the greenhouse.  Once it gets more sun, it'll turn golden yellow and orange.

speaking of bromeliads, here are a few of my long time specimens and some of the new ones from Rare Plant Research.  I kind of want to do a bromeliad area here but don't want to get rid of that glorious Adiantum pedatum which has taken some time to achieve that size.   What to do, what to do?

It's a jungle out there!


I don't know how these allium ended up here.  There are others planted around but these just appeared a few years ago.

Meanwhile, there are still more begonias that should go outside soon.


The miniature hosta collection grows.  I'm scared to plant them in the ground as that's a bamboo rhizome pruning area and they seem quite happy in pots.  The new ones in plastic will be potted up in terra cotta pots one of these days.

How about having a seat on a bench.  Oops, more plants.  Someone needs to get busy!

Often new plants get dropped over the front gate from the car.  Hooray, Clematis florida sieboldii was found yesterday at Watson's!   Should I power wash those bricks or just enjoy watching the moss cover them?

No path is complete without a bale of potting soil ready to fall on anyone who passes by!  By the way, if it falls on you, it's your job to carry it to the greenhouse. 

So, there you have it, the awful truth of my garden at this time of year.  The good news is that I have today, Saturday, and Monday off from work and plan to use all three days to do nothing but work outside.  I hope you'll also have a weekend full of gardening fun!

21 comments:

  1. Oh my. Been there, done that. Can be a bit overwhelming if you look at the whole. You're right. Close ups are much less daunting. Maybe if you offer cheese and wine break you'll garner some volunteers? :)

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    1. Oh, I'm not overwhelmed. For me the joy of gardening is in the doing so I make sure there's always a lot to do. If everything were finished, there'd be no reason to go outside and play. Also if there was no yard work, I'd have to do something like (heaven forbid) clean the house.

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  2. Time to roll up your sleeves and dig in, Peter. I'm expecting perfection when I visit for your NPA Open Garden.
    But then I realize perfection is not your motivation. This is truly a plant lover's garden, and the variety and contrast of texture and color and form creates astonishing beauty. You'll get there.

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    1. You're right, Linda! I'm always astonished by folks whose gardens look pristine at this time of year. I'm always super busy in the spring and gardening takes a back seat. For me there really is no destination but simply enjoying the ride.

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  3. We all have those dirty little secrets. Somehow it's always more fun to buy the plants than to get them into the ground. You need a good long holiday weekend - and I hope you're going to get that!

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    1. Oh yes, this weekend will be grand but things really will start looking better once June 22 hits and I'm on vacation from two of my three jobs. Then it's all gardening!

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  4. I lover your jungle. If you plan to "use all three days to do nothing but work outside", then this post is the "Before", and I should like to see the "After" come Tuesday morning; I'd say the moss of the bricks should be low on you priority list :-)
    A truly lovely gift for teacher's appreciation week!

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  5. Fun weekend ahead for you! Enjoy...

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  6. What a great post. It shows what reality is like for a busy (and slightly obsessed) gardener.

    My garden, while smaller than yours, is not much different. The entire north side of the backyard is off limits to visitors since it's such a mess--even though there are some really nice plants there, all in pots waiting to planted elsewhere eventually...

    Thank you for the reality check. I loved it.

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  7. Definitely leave the moss on the bricks. I plan to spend a good portion of my long weekend out in the garden too. I still have plenty of planting to do.

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  8. Loved these views. Like most of us your garden is always looking good and not so good in equal measure. That, as you note, is why we take close up pix. It has rained 21 out of the last 26 days here. So there are bags of potting soil, leaf mulch, pine needles and debris everwhere you look. May is an impossible month becase there is so much to do and such a desire to sit back and enjoy it all and put off the work a bit longer.

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  9. It looks great to me. The more the merrier. Yours is a merry garden. The golden Aechmea--oh, my!

    Have a wonderful holiday weekend out there.

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  10. Your honesty and sharing is admirable. I too have a pot addiction, lol! I am totally running out of room for places to put plants. And my yard is full of small vignettes! I am a designer and I think people expect something more artistic. I excuse myself saying it is a test garden. In truth I am a total plant geek!!! Have fun this weekend play with plants!

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  11. I love your honesty, Peter, now I don't feel so bad about being so far behind on my gardening! Hope you have a great weekend in the garden. May we leap ahead on the to-do list!

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  12. And this post is precisely why you are so beloved, Peter. The plant fever is strong in you, and your nerves stay steady under the strain of a big plant lust. Golden hops in photo with lime green chairs? Just thinking if I had a spot for another one (I don't). Sure looks fine in your garden.

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  13. A truly confident gardener is one who will show the world all that is imperfect and incomplete. Your garden may not be the tidiest, but it is a place of joy. And I also vote to leave the moss on the bricks.

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  14. We all have our dirty little secrets ;) seriously I naturally just zoomed in on the plants and appreciated the vignettes, before reading what you have to say about it. Now if I can only do the same to our own place...

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  15. Would it help if those of us in the same situation would show our own messes, I mean gardens? It sounds to me like you might want to reduce the number of potted plants a little. I let some things die (on purpose) last year and I feel better with fewer to worry about now. Also, invite some gardener friends over for a work day (or few hours) and reward them with food or wine or both. I would gladly carry that bag of soil all over the place for a glass of something. :)

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  16. Your posts are always a delight! Who cares about a little clutter?

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Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I love to hear your thoughts.