Calendar Archives - Oceanside Garden

Gardener’s Log September 2022

With the end of September, autumn is upon us. The evenings have more of a nip to them. My first signal is the blooming of the cyclamen and happened about 10 days ago.

Garden Progress

At this time of year, attention is focused on preparing for winter rather than new construction. That means not a lot of progress to report this month. Lots of propagation been going on – especially for plants that are a little tender. This ensures that in the event of another hard freeze like we had in February, not all will be lost again.

A significant improvement has been added to the website. There is now an overall garden plan, that is clickable. It may not be the prettiest drawing, but it does allow you to see each of the areas of the garden. There is a brief description of some and more in-depth description and progress report on others. Each of those pages has a list of the plants currently in that area.

Work has started on clearing the dense growth of Holodiscus in that area that will become Nature Island. While it is a native, the Holodiscus completely dominates that area. While it blooms in summer with puffs of white, it is fleeting, quickly goes brown and the seeds everywhere. Birds do like to eat the seeds, so not all of it will be removed. In addition, this plant readily regrows from the base.

The main trees that will take their place are Vine Maples. These are not only native but a variety with different leaf colors have been chosen. Being deciduous, it will allow for more underplanting than would have been possible with the Holodiscus (almost nothing survived under that – not even Salal!)

A lot more to go yet, but it has certainly changed the character of the area as it was an impenetrable visual barrier before.

Visits

Had a wonderful visit to Dancing Oaks nursery in Monmouth. You can read all about it here and we did come home with quite a few plants. In addition to everything that was on my list, two plants that were grown from seed that Fred, one of the owners, collected and imported from Tasmania. These will both become large trees, which we don’t really have room for, so I hope they do well in pots. They were Leptospermum glaucescens, the blue-green tea tree, and Notelaea ligustrina, the silkwood.

HPSO Plant Sale

The next day, we had fun at the Salem Hardy Plant Societies fall plant sale located at Sebright Gardens. We picked up a whole bunch of interesting plants, including a number of natives that are destined to go into Nature Island.

We got there at the crack of opening time. I did a very quick first walk around all of the exhibitors. I know that there will be some plants that disappear immediately and that was certainly the case with Carex pyllocephala ‘Sparkler’. After acquiring one of only three available, the number of people who came up and asked what is that, and where did you get it? It is easy to understand why – it certainly does grab your attention.

Carex pyllocephala 'Sparkler' — Carex pyllocephala ‘Sparkler’

Another plant we did manage to get was one we first saw at San Francisco Golden Gate Park. It was Alstromeria psittacine ‘Vareigata’. We had been captivated by the flowers on this when we saw it – quite unlike most Alstromeria. When we got home and I started to investigate, it can get to be a pest because it spreads by rhizomes and event he smallest piece can resprout. Then I spotted this variegated form of it. I hope that this will weaken it a bit such that it doesn’t become so problematic – plus the variegated leaves are very attractive. I will keep it in a pot for a while to see how it does.

Alstromeria psittacina 'Variegata' — Alstromeria psittacina ‘Variegata’

We did not have time after the plant show to tour Sebright Garden. This is certainly on the list for the next time we are in the area.

Leach Botanical Garden

Later in the month we visited Leach Botanical Garden along Johnson Creek in Portland. The Leaches were plant explorers and part of the garden contains some of their discoveries. Originally called Sleepy Hollow, it has been over 20 years since I was last here. It has undergone a number of changes. Back then, the gardens were being preserved by volunteers until the city took interest in it and started to invest in it.

It now has a much larger parking area, display garden and amazing elevated woodland walk which were not present in previous visits. Many of the paths have been significantly upgraded. Unfortunately, although the bridge to the South Bank got washed away in some winter floods and has yet to be rebuilt.

In my mind, it is not a true botanical garden because it is poorly labeled, and is more just a collection of plants.

What’s in Bloom

The big excitement for this month has to be the blooming for Protea venusta. While it is not perhaps the most remarkable of all the Proteas, it is the first one that I grew from seed, imported from South Africa. It took just over 3 years to get to this stage and I am very happy.

While a little early, the first of the plants for the Winter garden – Calluna vulgaris ‘Verenka’ – has come into bloom and hopefully will continue throughout the next few months.

The late season bulbs are also blooming including Colchicum and Cyclamen.

Weather Summary

Most of September has been very dry and the garden has become quite crispy. We only had 1.51″ of rain this month as compared to 5.13″ last year. Thankfully, in the last week we had a reasonable front come through that gave us about 1″ of rain. But now we are forecast to become warm and dry again. It does look like we will really get an Autumn this year – something we were cheated out of last year.

The maximum temperature this month was a high 94.6F – perhaps the hottest day of the year. This compares to 84.7F last year. Low temperatures were similar at 58F. The average this year was a couple of degrees warmer at 59.4F compared to 57.6F

Gardener’s Log – August 2022

My apologies that I did not put out a Gardener’s Log for July. Summer was busy with work, plus a visit down to California that had me wandering around Golden Gate Park, including the Japanese garden, the arboretum and the conservatory of flowers, the UC Santa Cruz Botanical Garden, UC Davis, A brief stop at an arboretum in Redding, plant shopping in Half Moon Bay, and more. This month we also did a visit to the Wonder Garden in Manzanita to collect some cutting materials.

But perhaps the most amazing visit, was that someone came to visit me. The curator for UC Santa Cruz Arboretum came to see my garden. It was not an official visit, but she was interested in seeing what success I was having growing Protea in Oregon. As retirement loomed for her, her eventual location was to be influenced by where she could continue to grow her plant friends. She was very gracious, although I am sure she probably found a lot of things I was doing wrong. But that is part of the joy when you attempt to do something that so few have attempted before you – there are no books, no searching of the Internet, no authorities that have made their learnings available to a wide population. Perhaps some of it exists in Horticultural Journals, but they are not accessible to me.

Garden Progress

Not a lot of construction has happened through July and August, partly because of some health issues that are slowing me down, partly because there is more maintenance to do during summer, and partly because you have to spend some time enjoying what you have created. Some progress has happened in the Fairy garden, but still a lot more to do there. The water basin is now installed. Rather than using a lining for this, I sunk a 70 gallon storage box. It will then be covered with a wire mesh and small stones, such that raccoons and other critters cannot get into it. I am still not sure if I will try to grow any plants in there – time will tell. I did one rock run this month, but do not have enough to finish off the waterfalls. Hopefully I will get some more in the next couple of weeks and then I can start getting them foamed into place before we start getting into wet weather.

I have been happy with the garden this year – especially the new Mediterranean Garden and the Fuchsia wall – which has done better than I ever imagined. I probably do need to think about feeding them more than I have – that is something I am very bad about in general. While I do mix a slow release fertilizer into my potting mixes (except for the Protea), I always forget to fertilize in subsequent years or top up with liquid feed when they are in rapid growth.

The cutting bench is full, and I have yet to process the cutting I just took from the Wonder Garden and still need to get all the Fuchsia done, and other plants, that act as backups in case we get another really cold winter. I am also hoping that I can have a few more plants to sell next year to offset how much I spend on new plants.

Selling plants on ebay really is a bit of a pain. I am astounded by the attitude of so many people who are looking for every way they can to claim a refund, or blame me if they kill the plant because they did not follow directions. You would think plant people would be better than the general population, but it appears that they are no different.

What’s in Bloom

During summer, there are many big, blowsy, and dare I say almost vulgar things in bloom – and don’t we love them all! Lilies, Dahlias, Daylilies, Bougainvillea, and then the annuals putting on such a show, such as Fuchsia, Lantana, and Verbena. I love them all as much as anyone else, but I am always drawn to the less common, or sometimes more diminutive performers. Ceratopetalum gummiferum ‘Fairley’s Coral‘ is one such marvel. This plant is new to me and was acquired during my trip to California.

Ceratopetalum gummiferum 'Fairley's Coral' — Ceratopetalum gummiferum ‘Fairley’s Coral’

This is a large bush or small tree that in Australia is called Christmas Bush. Of course, that is the middle of summer for us and so it is more commonly called Festival Bush for us. The floral display starts with small white blossoms, but as they fade they turn red and then persist on the plant for months – often well into fall apparently. This plant is only 18″ tall at the moment, but can you imagine this when it is 15′ to 20′ tall and covered like this. We will have to be a little careful because it is only hardy to zone 9b, but this may well be worth pampering.

This is the time of year when the Grevillea start blooming, and perhaps one of the most colorful that we have managed to keep growing is King’s Rainbow. The bicolored flowers are quite amazing and the red of the anthers has a metallic sheen.

Grevillea 'Kings Rainbow' — Grevillea ‘Kings Rainbow’

Before you call fowl, I want to add a fern onto my blooming list. I know – ferns don’t bloom, but is we judge something by putting n a colorful display, nobody can complain about the emerging fiddleheads of Blechnum spicant. The combination of red stem and yellow center is quite amazing.

The last one I want to feature this month is a plant that continue to struggle for us a little (Polygala dalmaisiana), in that it has a very sparse structure, but it has the most remarkable flowers, unlike anything else I can think of, except perhaps an orchid. The combination of the deep purple and the almost coral-like white feathers emerging from the end are almost other-worldly. Then it has the little striped ears and horns. Just amazing.

Weather Summary

After all of the extreme weather we had had this year, August was relatively normal. It was slightly hotter and dryer than last year, but not by much. Last year, the high was 77.4F, the low 48.2 and the average 58.6. This year the high was 80, the low 50 and the average 60. Rainfall last year was 1.11″ and we only had half of that this year, coming in at 0.51″. The anemometer is still not really working. It does provide data at times, but now sure how reliable it is. If it is to be believed, we did record a gust of over 80 mph this month, with a wind speed of over 50mph. It certainly has been blustery at times.

Gardener’s Log – June 2022

It has been a busy month in the garden, and I am certainly happy with the progress that has been made this year, despite the weather. It is funny because every day when I look at how much progress I make and I am disappointed. But when I look back over a month or two, I am amazed at how much I accomplished. To think that the work area out front, the Winter garden and the Mediterranean garden are all completely new this year (cleared from native undergrowth) and lots of progress in the Fairy garden, plus the Fuchsia wall. Some of the Fuchsia have just started to bloom, but I will wait until next month to feature what I have done there.

Garden Progress

Workspace

The front working area is now finished. All benches have been constructed, the coldframes are finished and the paths laid. While I know there will be tweaks over time, I am very happy with the way everything has turned out and it is far easier to work on the plants now, rather than having to bend over all the time. There has definitely been less damage done by deer, as they trample over the plants hey don’t like to get to the ones they do.

Mediterranean Garden

The pedestal for the sun dial in the Mediterranean garden has been built. We took a trip to the rock shop and I chose a large crushed rock which has very sandy colors as the mulch for this area. We just bought one back so that I could see how it looks and I am happy with it. The stones are about 1″ to 1 1/2″ and contain no fines, so hopefully it will act as a good mulch. I also think the colors pick up the ‘rust’ in the basalt used for the walls and to retain the slope, and yet still provide a contrast. Many more bags are required, next time we are in town.

Other areas

We also picked up some cut slabs of grey rock. This was also for a defined need and an experiment. The defined need was for the bridge in the Fairy garden. It has meant that I needed to get the bridge sides in and the waterfall liner put in before much of the waterfall has been constructed. That may be something I regret later.

I also tried replacing the slate slab on the top of the pedestal with a cut slab and it certainly did not look right. The rough slate is back, but that cut slab will not go to waste. These are the prime candidate for the paving material through the contemporary garden. With the front finished, demolition of that area will probably happen later this year. While I have plans, I also have some trepidation about how to deal with the terrain in that area.

What’s in Bloom

With so much in bloom this month, it is tough to know which ones to highlight, so I tend to favor plants that are new to me. This is the first year we had the native Iris douglasiana bloom and it certainly put on a good show for quite a few weeks.

Cistus have loved the weather this year and they are now full of blossoms. This is a new one to us and is a solid pink/magenta – Cistus x pulverulentus ‘Sunset’. It has more silvery, fuzzy leaves and the colors together make a very nice contrast.

Cistus x pulverulentus 'Sunset' — Cistus x pulverulentus ‘Sunset’

An existing plant that is doing very nicely this year is Fabiana imbricata. The long, swooping branches are filled with tiny blue trumpet flowers. It is an absolute picture.

Fabiana, imbricata 'Violacea' — Fabiana, imbricata ‘Violacea’

But the most favored bloom has to be the Banksia ericifolia ‘Compact Form. This is the first Banksia to bloom in the garden, and one of the few that survived the cold this winter. Half of the floral cylinder has been blasted by the cold, but the bottom half has fully opened. Glorious!

Weather Summary

At last, a weather month that behaved almost as it should. It was a little wetter and colder than last year, but not by a significant amount. This year, the high was 90, the low 45 and the average 56.6. Last year it was 101.8, 46 and 58. This year’s rainfall was 6.88″ compared to 1.93″. I will take that any year. The garden is certainly getting to the dry stage where water runs off the sand rather than penetrated into it.

Gardener’s Log – May 2022

After an awful April, we had high expectations for May. April had record rainfall. May had even more! April was cold. May was only slightly warmer and considerably colder than previous years. While we did have a few dry days, there have not been many. Then for the last weekend of the month, we had the worst Winter storm of the year. All that means that progress has been slow, but not stopped entirely. Now we have June gloom to look forward to.

But not everything is bad. Some plants have been slowed down, but none-the-less are blooming well. Some plants have put on a much better show than they have in the past. This could be because they are a year older, or they had such a warm year last year, or the abundant rainfall this year. Not sure. For example, the Venus Dogwoods, that anchor the streambed garden, have had a couple of dozen flowers in previous years. This year, there are well over a hundred. They are about 2 to 3 weeks behind what we would typically expect. Rhododendrons have liked it.

Birds are an important part of the garden and at this time of year or resident birds are augmented with the migratory ones. I love it when the gold finches, western tanagers and other colorful birds come through. The other day they almost looked like flowers in the bush. Attracting birds requires several things. Along with food (both natural and supplemented with sunflower kernels), we provide water, and natural areas where they can get cover. For those that stay here, nesting boxes and materials.

Garden Progress

How many times have you finished up, after a long day of working in the garden, to be disappointed with the progress you made, even though you have the aches and pains to tell you that you expended serious energy? Of course, sometimes that energy was not perhaps used in the wisest of ways, but we all learn and sometimes have to relearn many times until we realize there must be a better way. But then, when we look back over a period of time, we are amazed at how much we accomplished.

That has certainly been the case with the garden this year, especially now that I can put in a few hours per day before I need the Ibuprofen.

Engine Room

The front continues to have its makeover. This is what many people would call the “engine room” of the garden and it is where all the growing and propagation happens, as well as quarantining plants as the come in, or just the time taken to decide where they are going to live. This transformation only started this year. Before that it was just a sea of gravel, a large, overgrown Escallonia hedge and plants sitting on the ground, making them difficult to care for, and often attempting to root into the gravel.

After installing the path being along the bench area on one side of the house, I decided it would be nice to extend it over to the other side. The frames for the cold frames are in. To help with thermal balancing, they are sunk about 8″ below grade. The path was then extended all the way to the emergency supply dump and eventually will go around the back of that to the compost bins. One bench remains to be built.

Mediterranean Garden

Some progress has also been made on the Mediterranean garden. The central feature is a sundial that has been placed on a pillar. It has been made to look like the greenhouse and then has a piece of slate on top that both softens the structure and also provides a color connection to the paths and rock walls. I hope to be able to get a few more things planted in there as soon as the weather allows.

I will need to cut down some of the Sambuca and Ironwood because they are both casting too much shade into the area at the moment.

What’s in Bloom

May has seen some outstanding Iris and Rhododendron blooms this year. Perhaps the most spectacular display has been from the Venus Dogwood trees. This year the number of flowers has increased dramatically.

Rhododendron 'Coral Mist' — Rhododendron ‘Coral Mist’

Weather Summary

This May has been the coldest and wettest May we have ever had here – by far. I looked back over all the years we have been here, and we have gone from just having an inch of rain to a maximum of 5″. This month, we recorded 13.22″. As for temperature, the average appears to be around 55F and this year we could only manage 50.3F. The highs were also low and infrequent. This year, we only managed to break the 60F mark three times. Last year, even with 10 days where the weather station was not functional, we doubled that number. The year before, 20 days were above 60F.