A Look Back at 2014

Bloom Day came and went, and I didn't get a post up.  It was the first time I ever missed a Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day in six years, but all I had to show was a measly store-bought poinsettia.

Christmas approached, and I meant to wish everyone a Merry Christmas . . . but I was busy shopping, cleaning, decorating, cleaning, wrapping, cleaning . . . that I missed posting again.

Now that the holidays are nearing an end, there is finally time to sit back and reflect on the year that has passed.  Like the Facebook posting that so many of us participated in, 2014 really was a great year, especially in the garden.

2014 certainly didn't start off on a good note, however.  We had one of the coldest and snowiest winters on record, with snowplow drivers putting in hours of overtime and school officials worrying about the number of snow days adding up.  There was plenty of time for completing indoor projects and poring through seed catalogs.

But as the weeks dragged on and winter showed no signs of leaving, gardeners in my part of the country started to get antsy.  Not much to do but keeping the bird feeders filled and enjoy the birds visiting outside my window.

In late March I made a trip south to visit my daughter in Dallas. Thank goodness, spring had arrived there!  I spent a day visiting the Dallas Arboretum during their annual Bulb Festival, where my longing for spring color was satisfied, temporarily.

Back at home in early April, the first signs of spring were beginning to emerge.  Crocuses, blooming much later than other years, were the first to brave the cold, besides the snowdrops.  But winter wasn't over yet--a snowshower in mid-April glazed the opening hyacinths and early daffodils, making me wonder if winter was ever going to end!

April 30, 2014

But the longest winter ever finally gave in to spring by the end of April, as the many tulips in my garden began to open alongside late daffodils.

Regular readers may remember that spring is my favorite season of the year, and that I absolutely love tulips!

I probably spend more time just wandering through the garden in the spring than any other time of the year, marveling at each new bloom that appears.  In fact, my idea of heaven is an eternal spring--filled with tulips.

One downside this past year was that deer and/or rabbits also discovered my tulips.  They destroyed only a small fraction of the tulip population here; still, I hope that next year they will find tasty treats somewhere other than my garden.

But, of course, it's not just tulips and other spring bulbs that attract attention this time of year.  'Jack Frost' Brunnera and other spring bloomers are favorites, too.

The shade garden in early May shows not only tulips, but the bleeding heart, Brunnera, and emerging foliage that took over the whole area by late June.

When summer arrived, it was time for the lilies to put on their display.  Some of the newer lilies like this Oriental, 'Stargazer,' put on a growth spurt this year and were more prolific bloomers than in years past.

The older ones continued to multiply and reminded me that it is past time to divide them--a job that has been put on the to-do list for 2015.

Despite the already crowded conditions in the Lily Bed, my friend Beckie and I took a trip to our favorite daylily farm in August, and of course, I came home with several new beauties.  I found temporary homes for each of them in any bare spot of soil I could find, but I realized the idea I had for a new garden bed was more than just a dream, but a necessity for next year.

The summer of 2014 was one of the best years for gardening in my memory.  Plentiful rainfall throughout the season created ideal conditions for growing, and rarely did I have to drag out the hoses other than to water containers.  There were only a few days of miserably hot weather--unlike the norm--so that I could enjoy working in the garden nearly every day.  The only negative I can think of about this summer is that it wasn't a good year for butterflies.  They were conspicuously absent for most of the summer, although the coneflowers, as always, brought out the few there were.

And speaking of coneflowers, it was a fantastic year for them, When I say I had a lot of coneflowers, I mean a plethora of coneflowers!  No wonder it's one of my all-time favorite flowers--they make me look like I have a bright green thumb:)

I always enjoy pleasant surprises in the garden, and this past summer included several of them, including the surprise appearance of gray-headed coneflowers, Ratibida pinnata, which I have tried to grow for several years.  Some variety of Helenium also appeared in the Butterfly Garden for the first time; I'm not sure if they were seedlings that took a long time to mature or seeds I scattered in a previous year and long-forgotten, but whatever their origin, I was so happy to see them.

One of the highlights of 2014 was definitely attending the Portland Fling in July.  Three wonderful days of meeting new gardening friends and seeing so many fabulous gardens was an experience I will long remember.  The only negative to the whole trip was the heat the first two days, but gardeners can be a little creative in finding ways to cool off:)

Another memorable road trip was much closer to home as Beckie and I travelled to Janesville, Wisconsin in September to meet up with Beth of Plant Postings for a tour of the Rotary Botanical Gardens.  This is a botanical garden definitely worth visiting, and it was so much fun to meet Beth in person.  In fact, we hope to do it again in 2015 and hope some other nearby bloggers might join us--we'll keep you posted!  (And I promise I'm going to write a post on this garden very soon.)

Summer slowly morphed into autumn, and the 'Limelight' Hydrangea grew taller than ever before.

As summer perennials faded, annuals kept up the color.  Different varieties of cosmos bloomed all summer long up until the first frost.

All the rainfall through the summer and into the fall meant a banner year for annuals, including one of my favorites, the 'Zowie Yellow Flame' zinnia, still blooming here in mid-October.

Fall also brought the butterflies at long last.  Although my attempts at growing milkweed this year were a failure, the butterflies found the zinnias an attractive alternative.

The asters put on their usual show in September, sharing space with goldenrod as the two took over most of my Butterfly Garden.

In mid-October I had another surprise as two tall plants finally burst into bloom in the Butterfly Garden.  Several readers confirmed my suspicion that these are Aster tataricus, a tall late aster, but I am still scratching my head over how they came to be here.  I'll probably never know.

Not a surprise, but a plant that certainly made me happy--after years of waiting, the Japanese Anemones finally leapt this year and produced an abundance of blooms.

As if to make up for the awful winter, fall was a glorious time, full of beautiful color and mild weather that lasted longer than most years.  There was ample to time to plant spring bulbs and complete fall chores, though I always seem to think of more I wish I had done.

But all good things must come to an end, and on October 30 we had our first killing frost.

Although the frost brought an end to the annuals and other blooms, there were a few vignettes of beauty that lasted awhile longer as this photo, one of my favorites from the past year, shows.

We haven't had any measurable snow this winter; the light covering above occurred a week before Thanksgiving.  December has been more like a typical November, rainy and gloomy, though we had a beautiful sunny day on Christmas Day.  The year is ending on a much milder note than it began.

Mild temperatures through the summer, an extended fall, and most of all, plentiful rain meant 2014 was a wonderful year to be in the garden.

Oh, and did I mention that we have a new grandson born just before Christmas?  Yes, indeed, 2014 was a great year!

I hope that you all had a very Merry Christmas, 

and I wish you all health and happiness and, of course, 

the best gardening season ever in the coming New Year!

The Many Faces of Portland--Part II

When I wrote my last post about Portland--Part I of its many faces--I jokingly said that it might be a month before I finished the sequel.  Little did I know how true that would be!  Fall activities have pushed blogging to the back burner, and I'm still learning how to navigate Windows 8.0 on my new computer, especially locating and editing photo files.  But enough of excuses--it's time to look back on more impressions from this summer's Portland Fling.

The Historic side of Portland:

I confess I really don't know much about the history of Portland, but it's hard to travel to Oregon without being reminded of its significance in the Westward Movement.  When I made my first trip to Portland--a four-day road trip--in 2009 to help my daughter move there for grad school, I couldn't help but think of the hardy pioneers who made this long and treacherous trip, not in days but months.  Pioneer Square in the heart of the city, where the above sign is located, commemorates the courage of these early pioneers.

When we traveled to the coast the day before the Fling, Daughter and I found many more historical sites.  Near Astoria at the northwestern tip of Oregon, the Astoria Column stands out as a reminder of early exploration of the area.  Built in 1926 and financed by the Astor family, the column overlooks the mouth of the Columbia River.  Modeled after the Roman Trajan's Column, the tower's murals depict significant events in the early history of Oregon including Lewis and Clark's expedition and the discovery of the Columbia River by Captain Gray in 1792.  That's my daughter at the top who, even though she's in good shape, said she was winded by climbing the spiral staircase of this 125-foot tower.  Needless to say, I stayed on the ground.

Throughout state parks and other points of interest, there are reminders of the famous expedition of Lewis and Clark in 1804-1806 that paved the way for later travelers along the Oregon Trail.

One of the goals of the expedition was to find a waterway across the western part of the continent suitable for commerce.  The Wreck of the Peter Iredale in Fort Stevens State Park is a reminder of the importance of the shipping industry to Oregon.  It has stood grounded in the sand for more than 100 years, even surviving a bombardment of Fort Stevens by the Japanese during WWII.


But back to Portland and the Fling . . .

The gardens of Portland are Eclectic:

Some of the gardens we visited certainly had a unique style, such as the Dry Garden above located in the Portland Japanese Garden.

Others reflected the individual style of the gardener.  I just had to stick this photo of JJ's garden in somewhere.  No surprise the pots are orange, since that is the dominant color in her garden, but they were huge! 




But what is most noticeable about the gardens we visited in Portland is that because of its temperate climate, they can grow just about everything.  From a Southwestern style of cacti and succulents as found in Danger Garden's front yard above . . .




. . . to a more Midwestern feel with prairie and native plants at Scott's Rhone Street Gardens . . .


. . . to a little bit of everything, found at Floramagoria above.

Portland's gardens are Inviting:

Danger Garden

Every garden we visited had cozy seating areas where tired bloggers on sensory overload could catch their breath for a minute and chat with others or make notes of creative ideas they had seen and wanted to remember.

As inviting as the gardens were, sometimes they could also be a bit dangerous:)  Loree's Danger Garden is appropriately named as a few bloggers found out first hand when they became a little too curious.  A few had some minor battle scars after getting too close to Loree's collection of cacti.

But those skirmishes were isolated incidents.  A seating area at Floramagoria even provided a cozy fire.

No fire needed on the warm day we visited the colorful Ernst garden.

Another large seating area at Floramagoria provided the perfect spot for lunch on a rainy Sunday.

And a favorite spot for several of us on the sweltering first day of the Fling was the patio table at JJ's garden shaded by a misting umbrella.  Yes, I did purposely stand under the spray and got a little wet; it felt wonderful! (Notice those big orange pots in the background again--this gives you a better idea of their size.)

Portland's gardens are Wildlife and Eco-friendly:

This sign greeted us as we entered Chickadee Gardens and gave us a clue on what to expect within--a garden filled bees and other pollinators.

This garden was jam-packed with plants, including a green roof above the garage porch.

 

More friendly plantings at Floramagoria

With its own beehive in the side yard.

If you look very closely, you'll even notice a bee on a waterlily at the Chinese Garden.

A stand of tall Rudbeckias at either Cistus or Joy Creek Nursery

 not only attracted me, but the bees as well.

There were feline helpers in many of the gardens we visited, but one of the more unusual "wildlife" visitors was this chicken at Scott's garden.  He belongs to a neighbor down the street, but apparently
prefers the offerings at Scott's and frequently comes for a stroll through the garden.

 

Bloggers always seem to have their cameras ready, but what is fascinating these three?

Why, the famous Danger Dog himself!  I wonder if he knows the celebrity status he has achieved through the blog Danger Garden:)

Although the Fling is all about gardening and having the chance to see one fantastic garden after another, it's all about people, too. I was delighted to see some familiar faces from other Flings I've attended, meet some bloggers for the first time whose blogs I read, and to meet so many new people.  One thing is true about garden bloggers--there is never a shortage of things to talk about!

A few of the Friendly Faces in Portland:

At JJ.'s garden

With 80+ bloggers in attendance, gardens were photographed from every angle.  Forgive me for not identifying everyone in these photos, but there were a few people I didn't get a chance to talk to, and even more whose names I'm afraid I may have forgotten in the last two months. 

At the Fuller garden . . . I think

At Scott's garden

One name I won't forget--Claire, who was my seatmate on the bus for one day and whose distinctive red hat made her stand out in the crowd. 

Janet of The Queen of Seaford kept her Facebook followers up to date with posts from the "front"--here at Scott's garden again.

 

Alas, her face isn't visible here, but this is Michelle of Veg Plotting taking a break at the Chinese Garden.  I was so excited to finally meet "VP", one of my first commenters over six years ago.  Michelle was one of five bloggers who made the long journey from the UK to attend this year's Fling.

 

 

When they weren't photographing the gardens, bloggers always had time to chat and swap ideas.  Taken at the Chinese Garden again, that's the irrepressible Tammy of Casa Mariposa on the left, who is as fun-loving and delightful in person as you would expect from reading her blog.

More familiar faces to many--and one new one--Jean, Gail, Charlotte (of the UK), and Lisa wait for the bus outside Scott's garden.



 

And finally, one of our hosts--the super-organized and very patient Scott in front of his Rhone Street Gardens.   So many thanks go to him and his cohorts in organizing a fantastic and memorable Garden Bloggers' Fling this year!

 

 

Readers who also attended the Portland Fling may notice a couple of omissions here and in my previous post.  I wrote about both Old Germantown Gardens and Westwind Gardens earlier, which you may find here if you missed it.  I left a little early from the garden tours on Saturday and even earlier on Sunday to spend some time exploring other parts of the city with my daughter.  As a result, I didn't get any photos of the McMenamins Kennedy School and completely missed the Kuzma and Bella Madrona Gardens.   I also deliberately omitted most photos of Scott's garden because I hope to do a separate post on just his garden one day--no doubt that will be in the dead of winter!