Lilac 'Miss Kim' Photos

These are three photos I took yesterday morning of our 'Miss Kim' Lilac. It is having its first really spectacular bloom since we planted it a few years ago. Which photo do you like best? Let me know! They will all be up for sale on my Etsy shop www.andreagoo.esty.com very soon.

Oh Blessed Summer!

At long, long last, summer has finally come to the Pacific Northwest.  While the rest of the country has been baking and sweltering under a rather destructive heatwave, we have been ridiculously cool, cloudy and wet.  But now, now we have summer.  We will actually be in the 80s for several days in a row, and that hasn't happened since last year!  We normally would have even had some 90 degree days by now, but I don't need it that hot. 

A juvenile Anna's comes in to eat the
early Lucifer Crocosmia blooms.

This is the kind of weather that makes you remember exactly why it is you live here and put with all of the rain!  Because right now, the weather is perfect; the sky is blue, blue, blue; the grass and shrubs and plants are green as can be; flowers are blooming everywhere and little hummers are regular visitors in my gardens.



This flower garden is off the back patio. 
I can see it from the kitchen window too.
It has taken several years to get it to look this way.

This hardy geranium grows like a weed!
It even grows right up into the hibiscus.



Lady Euphoria, my fairy maiden.
She peeks out from behind plants
and now has Scottish Bluebells growing
beside her.

A New Tree

We have a fabulous new tree; it's a 'Wolf Eyes' kousa dogwood.  I planted it because a neighbor chopped down a little sappling that my birds really loved; the little guys used the old sappling as a landing strip for one of our suet feeders.  And  my motto has always been, 'They chop one down.  I plant one, at least.'  And so, after much thought and deliberation, we decided to plant a kousa dogwood with a white flower.  And then we found this guy, that fit the bill, and had variegated leaves to boot!  Majorly cool.

I now have a large new garden area to landscape (major bummer yeah?).  But, I think I will just look at it and ponder the possibilites this year....

Garden Photos May 2011

Ugly Birds! Go Away!

This is my mantra these days, which gets hollered out the back patio doors quite a few times every day.  And it usually brings my little helper Stuie running at warp speed past me and out the door into the backyard, chasing ugly birds, of course.  (He also loves to chase squirrels, but that's another story for another time.)  And I wonder what the neighbors think?  I haven't really thought about that before, but they probably think I'm a bit screwy around the edges, if you know what I mean!

Now, these blasted birds are determined to devour the suet just as fast they can, bunches of them at a time.  And my poor little Downy woodpeckers, and big flickers, as well as a whole host of other birds, wouldn't get much suet but a little bit of leftovers.  NOT!  And we feed really expensive suet that is loaded with grubs, which is why the damn ugly birds like it so much.  Easy food, no work.  NOT!  

Now I'm armed with a large water gun, so I shoot them as I holler, "Ugly birds!  Go away!"  I feel a bit like Rambo.

Gnomes in my garden?

I love my gardens.  And I anxiously await the first signs of spring each year, because here in the Pacific Northwest, winter is long with lots of gray, rainy days. But if I can look out the windows into my gardens and see flowers beginning to pop up, it gives my mood a big lift.

Crocus are one of the first flowers to come up.  It may still be winter, but these little guys are harbingers of the spring to come.  I've planted groups of crocus in several different spots around my yard and gardens, but the ones I love the most are the small bunch by our front door and the large group that encircles the front side of our weeping cherry tree. 

So one day when the rains had stopped for awhile, I decided to talk a walk around the yard and survey my kingdom.  I thought the crocus looked a little thin on flowers for some reason, so I bent down to take a closer look.  This is what I found:

Do you see what I see?  Naked stems with flower blooms all over the ground!  Someone has been beheading my beloved crocus and then leaving the evidence of their dastardly deed right where I could see it.  Surely I must have gnomes in my garden!

What's up in the artist's yard

My backyard provides me with endless hours of pleasure.  Simply watching the birds and wildlife, and even my landscape, as it changes and grows through the seasons and years, gives me so much pleasure.  It is a somewhat meditational experience for me, and I recognize many of the birds that come to feed regularly and raise their young in our backyard.  Each new species that finds our little wildlife area is so exciting.  And so.... I share a bit of my little piece of heaven with all of you.

I've got new flowers!

I'm so excited I could just bust! Last year I planted two bleeding hearts in the back yard, one a dwarf variety, the other is the classic one that we're all familiar with. I planted them under what my Mom now calls "the famous filbert tree". The dwarf guy is under a rhodie, next to a Japanese lantern to the left of our waterfall and pond. The big guy is to the right of the pond, near a huge fern, a Japanese gong, and surrounded by lots of astilbe. And as I looked outside just a few moments ago, I spied what my wacky eyes thought might be flower buds. So I raced outside, wearing my inside-only slippers, and sure enough the big guy is loaded with buds. Then I went and checked the little guy. He has more foliage right now, but fewer flower buds. And the little guy has much lacier and more delicate foliage. And I'm just excited that they made it through their first winter so gracefully, especially since it was such a long cold one! They will make wonderful additions to my shady back yard landscape, under my almost famous filbert tree

Spring in Aloha, Oregon

These are a few garden shots from my yard right now. From left to right: the Hellebore are out back under a big old rhodie, the mini yellow daffodils with a couple of remaining purple crocus are near the upper end of the waterfall into our pond out back under the famous filbert tree, and the pot of bright spring bulbs by the lamp is on the walkway up to our front door. Spring is rather delayed here this year because we had such a long cold winter with lots of snow, and rather late into the season too. In other words, real winter! (And Dale and I loved every minute of it!) Sooo, the bloom cycle is all happening rather later than usual, but each day brings new wonder in my gardens. The daffodils open a bit more, the crocus fade a bit more, the columbine is coming up, as are my bleeding hearts, the forsythia is blooming, the huge old daphne by the front door smells spectacular and is just passing the best of its bloom. This past week I was at the Portland Japanese Gardens, (where I am now a Photographer Member) hoping that a particular bush was in full bloom, so that I could work on trying to create another one of my bizarre reflections shots. And I was rewarded with near perfect conditions and an almost empty garden. Several of the shots show promise, so I'm a happy camper! Especially since the weather should be rather gross and Oregon-like for the next week or so. Not great for photography. I'll have to settle for watching the flowers and birds in my own yard, which really isn't so bad.... The dogs are loving the sunny weather when we get it, and they search out the sunny spots in the house to lie down in. Shadow particularly loves to go park himself outside in the cul-de-sac near the end of our driveway. He gets dappled sunlight there from our huge maple, and it's a great place from which to guard his turf and watch all of the comings and goings in the area. I can put him on a 'down, stay' and know that he'll be there when next I check on him, or at a door whining to come in. The rufous hummers have started arriving, so our Anna's hummers will soon be heading for the coast. And all three of our hummer feeders are seeing a lot action these days. Food fight! They don't share very well. Several days ago I saw the most bizarre thing at our front yard hummer feeder. An Anna's was eating, with its back to me, so I couldn't sex the little bugger. Then a big male Anna's came driving in and they both tumbled to the ground in my garden, and just sat there, on the ground, not moving, just facing off, like Dr. Seuss' north going zax and south going zax. Why, I spy the sun! Right outside in my very own yard! I think I shall go stand in it while I still can!!!!!!!!

Stinking Squirrel!

Today was one of those gorgeous days when I know exactly why I live here in Oregon. It was sunny and warm, blue skies... the perfect day to do some more late winter garden clean-up. I dead-headed my Autumn Joy Sedum and Lacecap Hydrangea, gave some dwarf pines a gentle haircut, cleaned up the heuchera.... In a word, heaven! Then later on in the afternoon, as I was puttering around the house, I noticed our cat Samson moving like he was watching something and ready to pounce. I looked out back and spied a squirrel, who was in the process of grabbing a flower off my Hellebore, and beginning to eat the delicacy! I was totally flabergasted. I'm sure I had steam coming out my ears. Now, I've seen squirrels eat my tulip bulbs shortly after being planted, but the first flowers of the year? I think not! That was when I hollered, "Stuie! Want to go chase a squirrel?" And like a bat out of hell, there Stuie was, raring to go after that stinkin' squirrel. And the squirrel then proceeded to run like crazy, up the Filbert tree, with my Hellebore flower in his mouth! All I can say is, "STINKIN" SQUIRREL!"