Wednesday Vignette - mulch!

I love the look of a freshly mulched bed. And in spring, it doesn't get any better than that tidy, dark sea of mulch around all of the fresh, green growth in my garden. Perfection!

It will only be better when I have the entirety of my mulch pile distributed on every bed in my garden, so I'd better get schlepping.

As always, thanks to Anna at Flutter and Hum for hosting Wednesday Vignettes each week.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day - March 2016

This is the month flowers really get going here at Longview Ranch, and it's a pink- yellow- and blue-flowered March outside this week. The three together isn't my most favorite of color combos, but is undeniably spring-like. Let's take a look:

Acacia pravissima is blooming in tiny, brilliant yellow puffs.

It lights up one whole corner of the garden, and looks great backed by a neighboring magnolia in bloom.

The Mahonia are having a banner year. This is Mahonia repens.

 And here is Mahonia aquifolium with Ribes sanguineum in the foreground.

 

A little bit closer, so you can see the drooping pink flower trusses of the Ribes better.

Camellia 'April Kiss' continues its contribution of pink from last month.

Loropetalum chinense var. rubrum 'Sizzling Pink'.

And, new last fall,  L. chinense var. rubrum 'Fire Dance' is practically magenta.

The big feed is over, but a few flowers remain on Arctostaphylos 'Austin Griffiths' to tantalize the visiting hummers.

Minute curly white flowers have appeared on Grevillea australis.

Daphne transatlantica 'Eternal Fragrance' has been such a performer all winter. It shows no sign of stopping.

Their foliage is looking a little the worse for wear, but the flowers on several dwarf Pieris japonica 'Prelude' are a delight.

 A common Rosemary is covered in blue flowers.

And Vinca minor is loving all our rain.

Ceanothus maritimus 'Valley Violet' is still in a pot. It came home with us in early February from the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden, so I hope it can adapt to the winter wet of Portland.

But indoors, it's orange this month!

 This Schlumbergera surprises us with blooms at odd times.

Clivia miniata is forcing a bloom out from between its leaves. I recently read that they should be kept drier after December to encourage the bloom stalk to extend upward before the flowers open. I'll try that next year.

Bloom Day is hosted faithfully on the 15th of each month by Carol at May Dreams Gardens, where she happily shares what's blooming with the world.

Happy Bloom Day!

Wednesday Vignette - black and white for spring

I spent last week in Seattle and finally visited the Chihuly Gardens and Glass Museum in Seattle Center. It was so worth the hefty admission fee. I soaked up all the exuberant color and movement of the glass, and the sheer scale of the installations was astounding.

I love strong color. Perhaps it was because there was so much incredible, saturated color everywhere in the museum and gardens that I found this quieter arrangement out in the garden beautifully compelling.

There was something about the metallic sheen of the Black Mondo grass and the huge glass spheres subtly opposing the striped spears and black flutes that attracted me. Or maybe it was that lovely Mahonia x media hybrid, blooming alongside in green and yellow contrast.

Okay, Spring: it seems I'm officially ready for you - in any color.

See what other vignettes are attracting garden bloggers today by visiting our host Anna, at Flutter and Hum.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day - February 2016

Before I head north today for the plant excitement of the Northwest Flower and Garden Show in Seattle, It's time to take stock of my own modest bloomers for this month.

Like last month, Arctostaphylos 'Austin Griffiths' takes first prize for a beautiful sight. Huge bumble bees and Anna's Hummingbirds are making good use of its nectar.

Also hanging in there from last month, Camellia sasanqua 'Yuletide' keeps up the show.

All the Mahonia repens blossoms are coloring up nicely, though not yet very far open.

In contrast to the many floriferous Loropetalum chinense I saw in Southern California two weeks ago, mine here in the Pacific Northwest manages only the occasional bloom this time of year.

Daphne 'Eternal Fragrance' is slowly but surely becoming "Daphne Eternal Bloom". It just goes on and on.

New this month are several NOID Hellebores. I finally cleared away an accumulation of leaves and discovered them in flower.

At this past weekend's Yard Garden and Patio Show I saw lots of Hellebores, and some newer hybrids with more upright flowers. Mine are the older, shyer varieties.

I was amazed to see a tiny Galathus nivalis 'Pewsey Vale' poking up from the middle of a bed that sustained major trauma during last summer's path project. I'm sorry this picture's not clearer, because it's a little darling.

Lastly, we arrived home from two weeks away to find the house wrapped in the intense fragrance of Sarcoccoca hookeriana var. humilis. What a wonderful greeting!

Check out the flowers of February over at May Dreams Gardens, where Carol faithfully celebrates Bloom Day each month.

Happy Bloom Day!

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day - January 2016

Alas, I have even less blooming this month than last! I don't consider myself a flower gardener, but I'll admit that flowers are a really enjoyable part of growing the plants I like - except the Agaves, who perish after flowering - not that I have ever had Agave blooms here in Portland.  But I digress.

There's no denying that in the dead of winter we all look for that tiny, bright, tell-tale sign that life is continuing. So here, for the record, is what's blooming indoors and outdoors at Longview Ranch, with a few "almost in bloom" and "maybe for February Bloom Day".

Arctostaphylos x 'Austin Griffiths' is blooming its heart out for the third month in a row, delighting the Anna's Hummingbirds who check it multiple times a day. I can see it from my breakfast room, and it's a sight for sore eyes on these wet, short days.

My Hellebores have always been really late, and this year is no exception. I guess I'll check back in February.

I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw that Abutilon megapotamicum, for all the blooms that got whacked by the snow and ice, had two new blossoms that were perfect.

Three dwarf Pieris japonica 'Prelude' are ramping up for their spring show. But how many months will it be before they actually bloom?

Good ole' Rosemarinus prostratus 'Bonny Jean', again this month. It was sold as a cold hardy prostrate selection, and it's proving itself.

Mahonia repens blooms are still tightly closed. I don't think we'll see them before March, at the earliest.

Likewise Camellia japonica 'April Kiss'. The buds look like they're showing color, but I think it's a fake out. Whaddaya think - April maybe?

Our recent "silver thaw" did its worst work on the emergent Camellia sasanqua 'Yuletide' blossoms.

But afterward, the life force of these great winter shrubs prevailed. Now we have multiple, newly-opening flowers.

Moving indoors, here are the tiny bloom spikes of Ledebouria socialis.

Streptocarpella sports one perfect bloom in the very best blue.

And we finish with another "next month?" One of my Sarracenia is sporting its first flower bud!

Bloom Day is sponsored monthly at May Dreams Gardens. Click over to see flowers from across the nation and around the world.

Happy Bloom Day!

Wednesday Vignette - more baby ferns

I'm endlessly drawn to ferns. Good thing, too, since we have an abundance of them here in the Pacific Northwest.

The best part is when they grow themselves, sometimes appearing in the most charming of places. The ones below are growing through moss on the trunk of an Acer negundo 'Variegatum' on my hell strip. I'm pretty sure these are baby Sword Ferns, Polystichum munitum. ("Anonymous" thinks they may be Licorice ferns,  Polypodium glycyrrhiza, and I'm starting to think that's right.)

If you see raindrops on my lens, it's because we are back to the wet winter conditions that encourage these sweet wild things to thrive. If it has to rain, at least I'm glad we can enjoy this kind of result.

Wednesday Vignette is hosted by Anna, at Flutter and Hum - check it out!