Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Mystic SunTiger In The Garden

It's early spring and most of my deciduous plants have not even begun to wake up for summer. Meanwhile, my weeping pussy-willow (pictured below) is in full bloom. I love this tree which looks like a waterfall to me.This flowering red currant is NATIVE to Washington state. (I do a lot of native plant rescue -- but I actually purchased this plant, which looked like two sticks last year, from a fundraising group that manages national trails).Any time I dig up a plant, I gather rocks from the dirt and pile them for contrasting accents (see below). Ignore the weeds you see in my photo. I certainly have a lot of gardening to catch up on!
In effort to not have to mow so much lawn (when I'm allergic to grass) I've been pulling up sod and I'm planting various sorts of ground-cover plants. The image, below, is of the "steppable" sort of foliage now available in many nurseries. I just planted these yesterday -- but they should expand and grow into one another . . . as the photos after that show . . . completely spreading out to cover up the dirt (which will keeps out the weeds).

Below is some Spanish moss and other "steppable" plants I installed last year. The moss dies when it crosses over onto the thick rock pathway (which explains the brown spots -- the plant cannot find nourishment there). I need to trim it back so the plant looks more healthy but you can see how rapidly this moss grows from the little square-shaped plant I installed last year.
I love all the color such alternate yard life brings to my home. Eventually I'd like to have an entire yard made of this "steppable" stuff (never mow again -- that's my goal)!
This recently planted Camelia bush is showing promise. I cannot wait until it's warm enough for the blooms to blossom out.
My crocuses are hanging on extra long this year. It was very cold outside when I took these photos and the blooms have not opened up to greet the Sun -- they still look beautiful, in-spite of it all.

Here are some of the white crocuses. (I sort of when "crocus"-wild planting their bulbs this last year. I wanted FLOWERS to appear in my yard at the first seasonal opportunity and these come up before the daffodils!) Ialso planted these in YELLOW (did not want to overwhelm you with crocus photos).
I'm happy to report my pansies made it through the winter -- sheltered on my back patio.
Below is Bastet (the black chicken) with Hercules (my Russian Fantale Dove). It turns out Hercules is a GIRL (she laid an egg in the chicken's roosting box the other day). My loving husband, Doug, says Hercules THINKS she's a chicken. She certainly does not hang out with the ring-necked doves much but prefers Bastet's company and follows her around.

Inside the coop looks pretty messy right now because the chickens recycle all the sod I'm pulling up from my yard. They basically kill the chunks of grass I give them to feast upon and when every blade of grass is killed -- I utilize the soil again in my gardening compost efforts.

5 comments:

Fijufic said...

Landscaping can be so much fun. It sure looks like a very good place to grow lots of things.

I have a green thumb but try my best to ignore it.

My plants never give me any rest....

Arawn Graalrd said...

Grass is a weed, and it sucks all the Air out of the Water. The original lawns used Camomile, to let you see if the bears were near.

Oh, in Smithsonian, there was mention of John Lennon and George Harrison, and George should have been dead eighteen years, this year. Think I should look them up? It would be a great source of wealth, to produce the Reunion Tour From Hell.

Before I do that, I want Bill Clinton to rent me a Winnebego, so I can show the artists at Burning Man how to help our tangled banks to evolve. Go take a look at the theme for Burning Man, this year, and you'll see they're waiting for me.

In Washington State, is it possible for a church to operate in Retail Zoning? My Cousin can't find a buyer for the old Wood Freeman Metal Marine Pilot Factory, due to its being zoned as a Big Box Store.

It's going to take a bit of nervousing, to use my birthday as a way of releasing the Holy Grail.

Arawn Graalrd

SunTiger said...

Bobby ~ I get a green thumb when I pull weeds too. :D

Arawn ~ I know bears are near (don't need chamomile to do it but loved the concept behind your revelation). A reunion tour from Hell? Is that where all Beatles go? Somehow I always visualized john Lennon with a halo.

What date is your birthday?

LearningLifelong said...

Wow we don't have that much green yet. I really love pussy willows. :-)

SunTiger said...

Met too Panademona (obviously)

OTHER WEBSITES MAINTAINED BY SUNTIGER

People Blessed From Visiting Since 2/22/09

Hail And Welcome!