Well here we go... Not much change is the theme here... It's First Views time again, when we step back and look at the gardens with the wide angle lens instead of the macro! You can see Ms Town Mouse's virst view here, and link to her Mr Linky thing there, if you'd like to join this meme and share your garden views on or around the first of the month.
First a view from the road, looking up at our chaparral hillside, towards the neighbor-fence (that wire). The yellow fremontia is really popping this year; it's just a baby, but growing up. And the wild lilac bush is just wonderful, but hard to photograph. On the right, wild manzanita. Not an area I'm gardening, except for planting the Fremontia and removing the weeds.
Dad's cottage, not much change here - still the rosemary we want to remove and the one bed we want to pull back to make it easier to turn cars around. I'd like to do something more fun with those little beds. And on the left, I'd like to grow something to shade that side of the house.
Duncan says I need to do something to our entrance garden, it's looking really dull. Are you like me - do you see potential everywhere, and hours of garden time to achieve it?
This is a part of the garden most focused on this year - and last. The south garden. Here we see experimental bed 1, which today is full to bursting. My dilemma: whether to cut back the madia elegans, leaving more room for the other interesting things growing in there. Lots of local wild clarkia! And other interesting things - grown from seed, this is their second year in this bed.
We are really enjoying the little greenhouse patio. Gate to the pool garden visible there - the white hinge gives it away. Things looking pretty casual around here - not the best pic.
View of the pool garden from that pool garden gate above mentioned
Closer view of the fence shown above, close to the trees, from a different angle. I'm growing Dutchman's pipevine up through that rambling rose there - curious to see how it does. Whereas on a trellis, Dutchman's pipevine languishes and doesn't twine, it's twining beautifully up the stems of the rose. I just hope it doesn't strangle the rose. We'll see. Scarlet bugler penstemon in the foreground, and a non-native ground cover called golden bells middle left. And the damned Calla lilies on the left. Invasive, and pretty, and hard to eradicate.
View of that same spot, from the upstairs deck. The bamboo fence more or less marks the boundary between us and our neighbor, but the black fence on the right is just the pool fence - our property extends quite far down the valley to the right - which we call the north valley. Because it is a north valley.
Meanwhile on the other side of the upper deck, here's a view looking south, or south westish. On a clear day you would see a little strip of ocean just to the left of that monterey pine sticking up there with a telegraph pole in front of it. What can I say - you have ta have the electricity and the phones so we have to have the ugly posts. I enjoy watching woodpeckers on that pole actually. You can see the new deck and the old deck in this shot - the trellis is the old deck; the wire cable is on the new part. We love how see-through it is. Definitely worth it. We're redoing the deck in phases. And when I say we, I mean Dusky Footed Woodrat.
OK this is back looking north from somewhere like the deck or stairs to the deck. you can see the toyon covered in morning glory, and the big douglas fir that marks the bottom of our property. Not a great shot, but gives you a sense of the lovely large trees that surround the garden areas. The dead madrone, grey branches to the right of the doug. fir, is one of my favorite trees. I have poetic thoughts on looking at her, and birds nest in her, and a few leaves still pop out each year.
It's been hard to get shots this month because we've had a lot of rain. But we're not complaining! And I hope next month to show a lot of change in these garden areas, with blossoms starting to pop out more and give some color to things.
I'm happy overall with the progress, and know there's a long way to go. The north valley is a major restoration effort that I've not had time to keep up with. I hope to get going with again next year, and keep going with it, gradually removing the invasive weeds, and thinking about how to make that area natural and hospitable.
Right now I feel a wonderful sense of great work ahead!
First a view from the road, looking up at our chaparral hillside, towards the neighbor-fence (that wire). The yellow fremontia is really popping this year; it's just a baby, but growing up. And the wild lilac bush is just wonderful, but hard to photograph. On the right, wild manzanita. Not an area I'm gardening, except for planting the Fremontia and removing the weeds.
Dad's cottage, not much change here - still the rosemary we want to remove and the one bed we want to pull back to make it easier to turn cars around. I'd like to do something more fun with those little beds. And on the left, I'd like to grow something to shade that side of the house.
Duncan says I need to do something to our entrance garden, it's looking really dull. Are you like me - do you see potential everywhere, and hours of garden time to achieve it?
This is a part of the garden most focused on this year - and last. The south garden. Here we see experimental bed 1, which today is full to bursting. My dilemma: whether to cut back the madia elegans, leaving more room for the other interesting things growing in there. Lots of local wild clarkia! And other interesting things - grown from seed, this is their second year in this bed.
We are really enjoying the little greenhouse patio. Gate to the pool garden visible there - the white hinge gives it away. Things looking pretty casual around here - not the best pic.
View of the pool garden from that pool garden gate above mentioned
Closer view of the fence shown above, close to the trees, from a different angle. I'm growing Dutchman's pipevine up through that rambling rose there - curious to see how it does. Whereas on a trellis, Dutchman's pipevine languishes and doesn't twine, it's twining beautifully up the stems of the rose. I just hope it doesn't strangle the rose. We'll see. Scarlet bugler penstemon in the foreground, and a non-native ground cover called golden bells middle left. And the damned Calla lilies on the left. Invasive, and pretty, and hard to eradicate.
View of that same spot, from the upstairs deck. The bamboo fence more or less marks the boundary between us and our neighbor, but the black fence on the right is just the pool fence - our property extends quite far down the valley to the right - which we call the north valley. Because it is a north valley.
Meanwhile on the other side of the upper deck, here's a view looking south, or south westish. On a clear day you would see a little strip of ocean just to the left of that monterey pine sticking up there with a telegraph pole in front of it. What can I say - you have ta have the electricity and the phones so we have to have the ugly posts. I enjoy watching woodpeckers on that pole actually. You can see the new deck and the old deck in this shot - the trellis is the old deck; the wire cable is on the new part. We love how see-through it is. Definitely worth it. We're redoing the deck in phases. And when I say we, I mean Dusky Footed Woodrat.
OK this is back looking north from somewhere like the deck or stairs to the deck. you can see the toyon covered in morning glory, and the big douglas fir that marks the bottom of our property. Not a great shot, but gives you a sense of the lovely large trees that surround the garden areas. The dead madrone, grey branches to the right of the doug. fir, is one of my favorite trees. I have poetic thoughts on looking at her, and birds nest in her, and a few leaves still pop out each year.
It's been hard to get shots this month because we've had a lot of rain. But we're not complaining! And I hope next month to show a lot of change in these garden areas, with blossoms starting to pop out more and give some color to things.
I'm happy overall with the progress, and know there's a long way to go. The north valley is a major restoration effort that I've not had time to keep up with. I hope to get going with again next year, and keep going with it, gradually removing the invasive weeds, and thinking about how to make that area natural and hospitable.
Right now I feel a wonderful sense of great work ahead!
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