Summertime

For the last week, my husband and I spent our first week off together in three years. We escaped to the San Juan Islands off the Washington coast and stayed lakeside in a canvas cabin at the Lakedale Resort. The weather was perfect, the pace was slow and we returned truly relaxed.

My favorite stop was the Pelindaba Lavender Farm. 25 acres of lavender in full bloom and by some stroke of luck we had the place all to ourselves as the fog lifted in the morning.

Did you know that lavender only requires water in its first year while getting established and no fertilizer at all? And deer don't bother it. Of course, the bees love it too - what a great "crop" to grow!

One of the more surprising parts of our trip was to the town of Roche Harbor. Not only are the views breathtaking, but the town is so charming. After walking around the formal gardens, having lunch and stopping for ice cream it dawned on me.....we were in one big resort. Everyone had the same logo on their uniforms. It was like Disneyland for adults - with multi-million dollar boats in their marina!

I'm not really sure why it bothered me - no little tourist town could spend this much money on gardens and have every little storefront and restaurant occupied. Someone had bought this entire town and turned it into a destination - otherwise, it probably would have died when they stopped mining lime there decades ago. Regardless, we spent an entire afternoon there and really enjoyed ourselves.




And of course, my toes had fun too.

Wordless Wednesday

My beautiful new Datura discolor from Annie's Annuals is blooming! Enjoy....

I Have an iPhone and I Know How to Use it

Okay, I've had some fun at my own expense mocking my lack of photographic prowess. I enjoy taking pictures with my iPhone - I can hold it in one hand and a drink in the other while blaming the lack of quality on the equipment. However, I have the day off today and decided it was time to start learning how to work with my chosen tool. Also, I'm totally jealous of my friend and coworker Ashlee's photo collages and wanted to have some of my own. So - here is my first effort.

Look out now - not only do I have an iPhone, I almost know how to use it....

The Opposite of My Garden

Three years ago, my in-laws moved from Cedar Ridge (literally on a ridge straight up a hill from Sonora) where the deer and antelope play - well, the deer do anyway - to five acres just outside of Sonora where the hills roll a bit more gently and the deer don't use their front yard as a playground. They installed a beautiful "waterwise" garden and I have enjoyed watching it fill in everytime we visit.

I snapped some iPhone pictures last weekend to share here. Since this garden is the complete opposite of mine (soggy shade), there's quite a few plants I'm unfamiliar with, so I'll just post the pictures and let you enjoy!

Also, my husband's cousin's girlfriend (did you follow that?) made this homemade lemonade with fresh fruit. Too cute not to share...

Through a Dirty Window

Walking downstairs in my house, there is a small landing halfway down where the stairs turn and go the other direction. That landing is eye level with this window which has a pretty unremarkable view most months out of the year. Except for when my neighbor's hydrangeas are blooming - which happens to be right now. He keeps them pruned to exactly the height of the fence so the happy blooms peek right over the top - where I can see them everytime I walk downstairs. So I snapped a pic with my favorite photographic equipment this morning (my iPhone of course) to share. Now, I need to get out there and clean that window so I can enjoy the view while it lasts!

Summer Challenge

Remember when you were in school, you were given a list of books to read over the summer to be ready for the next grade? Or maybe it was just something for your parents to hassle you about doing so when you went back to school in the fall there was still a brain cell or two left in your head? I've always enjoyed reading, but as an adult (and without the required reading list), the volume of books I consume in a year has been replaced with a volume of TV watching that nobody would be proud of.

Seriously, if I'm at home, the TV is probably on. I'd like to think it's on in the background while I do other, more important stuff, but most of the time, it's on and I'm sitting in front of it. When we got our first DVR years ago, I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread - and it would enable me to spend far less time watching my favorite shows, right?!? Wrong. It just allows me to keep up with more than ever before.

I'm always telling myself that there are so many things I'd like to do more of (garden, read, blog, bike ride, etc, etc, etc) and not enough time to do it. Then, a few weeks ago, it dawned on me - STOP WATCHING SO MUCH TV!!! What the heck am I watching half the time anyway? Like I need to see another episode of House Hunters or Yard Crashers. Really - why don't I go crash my own yard? Or read or go for a bike ride or take the dog to the park...heck, I could even clean the house or do laundry during the week which would free up some weekend time - what a concept!

So - here's my challenge for the summer: No TV on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday evenings. I can catch up on the DVR on Thursdays or weekends.

I started this week and, already, I've been doing all of the things on my aforementioned list and my house is pretty clean too! I actually don't think this will be too difficult since I'm replacing TV with things I truly enjoy. In fact, I'm keeping a list of all the books I'm reading this summer - if you're interested, there's a link on the side bar of what I just finished, what I'm currently reading and what's on deck. Now, if anyone asks me in the fall if I kept up on my reading over the summer, I won't have to lie and say that the dog ate my list.

A Little History

Last weekend, Dennis and I had some company over for a BBQ and, for the first time ever, were able to sit with all of our guests around one big table. No kids in the kitchen, adults in the dining room, nobody leaning against the island or balancing a plate while sitting on the couch. One. Big. Table. A picnic table.

This isn't just any picnic table, this is my grandparent's table that has been used for fifty years of bar-b-ques before its inaugural dinner at my house last weekend. My Grandpa Roy built the table from a kit after tiring of his four children dragging the freestanding benches from his prior picnic table to other places in the yard - no doubt to assist in tree climbing or some other adventure that the benches were not intended for. He passed away when I was ten years old so my memories are of begging him to play his harmonica or seeing he and my grandma dressed to go square dancing.

As an adult, I've gotten to know him through the stories my family has told - most are related to his many projects (he was a contractor). Some of my favorites include his theory that hallways are a waste of square footage (I tend to agree) and the argument over a sliding glass door or a single door leading to the patio of the house they built that my grandmother still lives in. She swears she would have left him if he put in the slider - he must have taken her seriously since there is no sliding glass door there to this day. And finally, the idea that if your children are going to beat up the things you own, you might as well do it first.

I know you've seen it on the HGTV shows - the hosts explaining that you can make a new piece of furniture look weathered and aged by beating it with chains and cutting it with a knife. I guess my grandpa was just ahead of his time. My parents have a coffee table and two end tables he built years ago using this technique. Not only did they stand up to his children, but to my brother and I as well.

So - getting back to the picnic table - after fifty years of use (and no doubt abuse), the wood had rotted beyond repair and I asked my grandmother if we could have it to fix up and use in our yard. She was happy to let us have it, provided we could lift it. And she wasn't kidding - the frame is steel and that sucker is heavy!

Finally, last weekend, Dennis took the old wood off and put the brand new redwood on. After admiring his work for a few minutes he decided something wasn't quite right. He disappeared to the garage and came back with a knife, a heavy chain and a sander. After a bit of "damage", he declared it done. The finishing touch I'm sure grandpa would approve of.

Mother's Day Garden Tour

Okay, so I've gotten behind on blogging (again) but really wanted to share some photos from the Placer County Master Gardener's Annual Mother's Day Garden Tour. This is the second year my mom and I have attended and the local MG's really do a good job organizing this event. This year's theme was Country Gardens which I was very excited about. Although I don't live in the country, I grew up there and my parents still live on 12 acres northeast of Lincoln. Plus, I love to see what people can do with a little bit of shoulder room in their gardens.

We managed to make it to all of the gardens this year and although we got rained on a bit, it was better than last year's hot day where we gave up early to go drink wine instead of hiking around in the heat! So - here are some of the highlights that I captured on my state of the art iPhone camera :-)

This was so cute - a little track with a cart on it sitting on a granite outcropping, planted with succulents.

I covet this - a Hakuro Nishiki Willow. I've really been wanting one and was excited to see this one. Hmmm...where to fit it into my yard.

This was so impressive in person - a little difficult to capture with my high tech photographic equipment though. Just below their back deck, mixed beneath the oak trees, a huge flower bed filled with annual and perennials. I can only imagine how beautiful it looks as the summer continues.
Using rose bushes for clematis to grow on - brilliant! I went straight to Eisley's Nursery after the tour and bought a clematis to experiment with in my own yard.

The next place we stopped was created by two Master Gardener's and was truly a "gardener's garden". I can't believe I only took two pictures here - I think I was just so enjoying looking around, I didn't pull the phone...excuse me, camera out of my pocket.


Our last stop was truly the best stop. This place was staggeringly beautiful and had surprises at every turn. It was nestled into a small valley at the site of a small cottage that had been built about 100 years ago. There were plants the owner thinks had been there for just as long which was really impressive. When you first enter the garden, there is a small shaded courtyard that leads you to the front of the cottage.

In the photo above, we have just reached the corner of the cottage where you look down on a beautiful pond. After climing down a fairly steep slope, you arrive at this peaceful pond area.

After enjoying the pond, we realized there was a small walkway that led to acres of additional gardens! The photo below is from the opposite corner of the property, looking back towards the house. There was a fairly formal lawn area, a terraced rose garden, a greenhouse surrounded by veggie beds, and a bog garden that followed a natural stream. It just went on and on....This snowball viburnum was one of the plants estimated to be 100 years old. To give you some perspective, I could stand underneath it - it was that big!

Finally, after the tour was done, we headed straight to Eisley's with lots of great ideas fresh in our minds. In addition to my new clematis, I picked up this new book, hot off the presses. The authors spent one year going to the Saturday Farmer's Market at the Auburn Courthouse and then hosted a meal every Monday for friends. The result is all of their recipes, organized by the week with lots of great information about buying local seasonal food.

Cruisin'

When I saw this photo of an old bicycle and basket used as a garden planter from the Chicago Flower & Garden Show, I knew it would be a great idea in our front yard. I thought it would be super simple...find an old bike, get a basket and fill with plants. As it turns out, old bikes are either a little hard to come by or they are the item of the moment because everything I found in antique stores and online was over $100. For an old, rusty, falling apart bike....I don't think so.

By today, I was ready to give up on the idea but decided to cruise my own bike (with a basket) into Old Roseville to see what I could find and voila! - an old bike right in front of The Tattered House. Turns out, they had just picked it up on a trip to San Diego and hadn't had a chance to do anything with it yet. I was happy enough to snap it up (for way less than $100) and finish my project.

Check out the results - and if you take this project on yourself, keep in mind that the full basket does have some weight to it, so you have to figure out how to anchor everything down - it doesn't just stand all cute on it's own. I used u-shaped stakes between the spokes of the back tire and dug a small trench to sit the front tire into.

Now, I've realized I need some flowers along the edge of the bed to add more color, but my neglected front yard is slowly becoming a bit less neglected with the addition of the cruiser planter.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day - February

This is my first Garden Bloggers Bloom Day to participate in, although not for lack of interest in the past on my part. The 15th of the month just always seems to come and go and I forget about getting out in the yard to take pictures until everyone else's wonderful posts show up in my feed at which point I figure I'll just wait until next month. Well, I've finally remembered - and it doesn't hurt that it's a beautiful, sunny holiday that has me hanging out on the patio, encouraging me to take some photos! So, here's what's blooming in my Zone 14 garden today:





I have three Camellias that came with the house. One has finished blooming already and the other two are just getting started. Camellias are a big part of Sacramento history although the long-running Camellia festival is now defunct, but you can still see them blooming everywhere this time of year and I like having a little piece of that in my yard too.









My little Meyer Lemon has been blooming like crazy and the local hummingbirds have been enjoying it too. I hope this means lots of lemons in my future!











Lots of blooms on my earlier blooming azaela - the other two don't bloom until April or May.








Uh, yeah...still alive. I finally had to move it outside - it just didn't look right on my dining room table anymore, but I just don't have the heart to throw it out. So instead, I'll let it die a slow death here on the patio.







And two of the newbies from this weekend's trip to Green Acres, one of two Hellebores I picked up and a pretty little Bleeding Heart to mix into the rocks around the pond.

Now, I'm off to enjoy more of this beautiful "spring" weather!

Location, Location, Location

We've lived here on Lathwell for three years now and, other than the fact that the landscaping made for a fairly private, shady yard, I didn't give it much thought when we moved in. I've never lived anywhere in the Sacramento area that didn't have a yard full of blazing hot sun all summer long and was happy with how considerably cooler this yard and patio are than at my last house where, after a long hot July day, it was still impossible to cool off on the patio after dark since the concrete absorbed the sun's rays all day and held onto the heat all night.

However, I've come to realize that this suburban yard started as any other in our area and while the previous owners took the time to put in some plantings that would later provide the shade and privacy I so enjoy, they filled in most of the beds with things that probably worked great at the time, but have now become unsuitable in the more mature landscape. So, that brings me to where I am now - a gardener with a shady yard, who knows nothing about shade loving plants, having to pull out mature plants that aren't adding much to the landscape and start over.

Here's my list of current "issues":

1. The Fruit Trees. The apple - next to the fence, definitely has to go. It is in a bad spot and most of the branches are now going into the neighbor's yard (where the sun is) and he lops them off (which is probably why it's leaning like that now). I don't think there is any hope for this guy.

The orange, on the other hand, is healthy but only produces about a dozen oranges a year, probably because it's in full shade. At about 7 feet tall, I'm hoping to prune him back and move him - I just have to figure out where to....

Once these two move, and I take out the non-working sink in the corner, I'd like to make a little patio with a picnic table surrounded by fragrant plants back here. Now that's a good use for a shady corner!

2. The retaining wall. This area runs along our entire back fence and has 7 VERY large photinia which makes for a wonderfully leafy privacy screen. This "hedge", coupled with a six foot fence and two large Chinese Tallow Trees, are what combines to keep everything in complete shade, no matter the time of day. Mixed in below the photinia are four Fortnight Lilies. In addition to not being particularly interesting, mine can't manage to stand up straight and never bloom. I've been slowly digging these guys up, dividing them, and giving them to my friends with sunny yards but I need some good replacement plants. Suggestions anyone?

3. The Roses. This argument could go either way - the roses do okay and certainly bloom in the summer, but would probably do much better in a more sunny spot. They tend to send up very long shoots that will reach above the lower tree branches and then bloom 15 feet in the air. I plan to remove a few of them that are in the really deep shade and gift them to my friends who've been begging for them.

4. The Sunny Bed. Okay, so I have one. It's in a good spot too - right next to the BBQ on the patio. The Crepe Myrtle does give a little shade, but not too much. This would make a great little kitchen garden, I just need to pull out the boring shrubs (I don't even know what they are). This is probably the best bed for my little dwarf Meyer Lemon too.

In the background, you can see two of my raised beds. They were there when we bought the house, but have turned out to be useless since they receive all day shade from the tree on one side and the fence on the other. I don't have a clue what I want to do over there. *sigh*

Obviously, I have enough to keep me busy for years and dreaming up new ideas is part of the enjoyment of gardening for me. My biggest plan though is to make plant choices that I can enjoy for many years to come....in the shade.

Fantasy vs. Reality

Looking back at my Earth Day post from last year, I'm reflecting on what I accomplished in 2009 and what my plans are for this year. This really is the best time of year - everything holds the promise of success, with none of the reality yet attached. In my mind, everything I set out to do in the new year will be bigger and better than I can imagine. My garden will fill in and bloom beautifully, we will complete multiple home improvement projects around the house and our team at work will exceed every goal we have set. I'm going to stick with that theory for as long as possible, and who knows, maybe it will all be true! In the meanwhile, here's wrap up of how I did against last year's plans....

1. Fantasy - Grow veggies and herbs in three raised beds. Reality - Too much shade! I knew one of my beds was overly shaded by an apple tree, but didn't realize the other two get too much shade from the adjacent fence. I got a few green beans, but otherwise, nothing - and I do mean nothing, grew past seedling status. I admitted my defeat a few months in. My other idea, to plant my herbs in a half wine barrel in the only sunny spot in my yard (which is a patio area) worked well - I will do that again this year. I also kept a small Meyer Lemon alive and it's blooming like crazy right now so I hope for lots of lemons next winter!

2. Fantasy - Preserve the bounty of veggies that I planned to grow. Reality - See #1. I could have done some canning with my CSA fruits and veggies, but never managed to plan and get my act together.

3. Fantasy - Get rain barrels. Reality - Haven't yet convinced my husband. They will be in a very visible spot in the backyard that he doesn't approve of. My argument is that they will only be there in the winter and if we put them on a platform with wheels, they can be moved around in the summer time when there is no rain. This is a work in progress...

4. Fantasy - Ride my bike all over town for recreation and errands alike. Reality - I ride my bike all over town for recreation and errands alike!! Success! My lack of bicycle riding skills led me to purchase a new, cruiser style bike with only one set of gears and a basket on front. This turned out to be the perfect idea - I'm now up to riding 10 miles 2-3 times per week. Yay me!

Okay - One out of four is not the best track record. However, there are always things that happen during the year that you don't plan on but turn out to be successful endeavors. The two major ones for us turned out to be our rock water feature/pond project and, the one I'm even more proud of, kicking the fast food habit! Its been long enough now, I think I can officially say I've quit eating fast food - I haven't hit a drive through since last July which is a real accomplishment for me.

So what do I have planned this year? I'll save that for another post as I'm still working on the priority list. Plus, I'm going to the San Francisco Plant & Garden Show in March and will probably come home with more ideas than time or money will allow for....I'm saving up already!

The Rock...

Well, well, well....here I am again - on the blog. I had to blow off the dust and clear out the cobwebs, but it's still standing. And after 2009, so am I (barely...) That being said, I have lots to catch you up with here on Lathwell. After living here for two and a half years, we finally dismantled and rebuilt the fountain (that never really was) in our backyard.

To share some background, our suburban backyard came with what appeared to be a defunct fountain in the middle of the backyard. It really is the centerpiece of the yard and can be seen from all the large windows both upstairs and down. I've looked at this ugly monstrosity since we moved in and have really wanted to replace it with something colorful and pretty since we first set eyes on this place. So, for over two years, I have been looking for the perfect ceramic pot to make a bubbling fountain in the middle of the yard. And then.....

....my husband got involved. To be fair, I needed him for this project. He is the handiest person I know - and I know lots of handy people! And, considering he lives here, I gave him some obligatory input on my bubbling fountain project. He wasn't big on the pot idea and really wanted a large natural rock instead. I protested for a few months and then relented to "just go look" at the big rocks. Of course, we came across the most beautiful rock that we could both agree on - and negotiated on the price to make it somewhat reasonable (although not as affordable as my bubbling pot). And then the real project began.

After more arguing, or rather, discussion, about the project, my schmoopy added another element, insisting that our dog really needs a swimming pool (he kind of does...) and that there should be a pond for the fountain to trickle into instead of my preferred rock garden. So....in the end, I lost every argument and ended up with a beautiful fountain and pond in my backyard. I keep joking that all I wanted was a bubbling fountain, but really, this is pretty amazing. The birds love it, the dog loves it and we love it...what could be better? Okay, it's official - and I'm putting it in print - he was right....I was wrong.

While we typically work together in matters of home improvement, almost everything on this project was done by my husband Dennis. I did unload a ton (really, a TON) of rock from the truck and his friend Zach helped for a couple days, but other than that, it was two months of evenings and weekends for my hard working husband....thanks honey! Here's the photographic evidence:

The "before" picture. As it turns out, water and power had been run to this fountain, but never connected. This thing was never a working fountain.

During demolition. It was a combination of an air hammer, sledgehammer and a strong back (not mine, of course)

The area is prepped, underlayment down, bricks set, level and ready for the rock delivery.

The rock is set. 900 pounds...four men...and me with a camera. Note that we only dug out the area for the rock initially to make it easier to place. The pond was dug after the rock was placed.

And....completion! For some reason, I didn't get any pictures of the rock stacking. I think I was hostile for the entire month that was happening as a new load of rock was coming home in Dennis' truck every other day. I believe I murmured something about bubbling pots under my breath and in my sleep around this time. But obviously, it ended up a success - thank god the dog likes it as much as we do. Now....bring on the plants!