I can't believe it's nearly summer!

I have so much more to do before spring leaves us in two weeks!

I need to spread the rest of my mulch.

There's still a lot left - at least 1-1/2 yards.

I need to rework several of my beds that have odd spaces that I never seem to remember until they're left there by the other plants filling in each spring....

Like this bed with the gap at the back where Mahonia fortunei 'Dan Hinkley'  is being swamped by the beefier plants and you can't even see M. gracilipes.

I need to plant all the plants that have been accumulating. The trick is figuring out where.

So I need to take out more grass on this curve to accommodate at least a few of them. The Echium candicans 'Variegata' in the previous picture would like it here, but it's essentially an annual in Portland so I better get cracking.

I need to change out two planters of Carex morowii 'Evergold' (one of which has become Everbrown after our April hot spell) and plant them with the two Juncus effusus 'Bay Blue' I bought at the opening day of Xera's new shop.

I need to re-pot this big Agave bracteosa after its terracotta pot cracked over winter.

I need to do some pruning, including this Trachelospermum jasminiodes that has surpassed its allotted space quotient.

But it's 5 pm, and I'd much rather get myself one of these out of the fridge.

And sit down here.

And enjoy a relaxing view like this...

Or this...

Or this,

Punctuated perfectly by anticipating the bright red blooms of my new, budding Callistemon 'Woodlanders Hardy Red" bargain from Fry Road Nursery.

And enjoying a detail view of my Ceanothus 'Victoria' that is still endearing itself with its beautiful blue blossoms.

And if that's not enough procrastinating for you, consider joining me tomorrow at 1 pm at  Joy Creek Nursery , where five Portland bloggers (Scott of Rhone Street Gardens; Heather of Just a Girl With a Hammer; Ann of Amateur Bot-ann-ist; Loree of danger garden; and I) will talk about garden blogging.

Is it any wonder I have so much left to do before summer arrives?

Open House at Lonesomeville

Lonesomeville Pottery Co. is a labor of love.

The old farmhouse, foundry and outbuildings were condemned and slated for demolition when the current owners saved it nearly 20 years ago, and the evolving home, pottery and gardens are a yearly delight to visit.

Twice a year, in spring, and at Halloween, Lonesomeville opens their house, grounds and sales floor to the public.

Their heirloom-quality art pottery is featured in The Gamble House, The Ahwahnee Lodge, and the Hearst Museum, among others.

I attend mainly for the opportunity to wander through their lush Northwest-style cottage gardens.

Found and re-purposed objects are incorporated into the beds, including these tiles from the pottery.

Bits of wood find a use as edging.

Winters have been kind to several Abutilons.

Though the front areas of this sizable garden were meticulously tended, as you can see in these cold frames, the rear areas were somewhat more disheveled. There's a certain charm to this careless look, especially when surrounded with spring flowers.

The beautiful old farmhouse has enjoyed a total facelift over the last several years.

From its new mouldings to its period-appropriate paint job, to its verdant and happy gardens, it sparkled on this sunny spring morning.

New natives in the Northwest Territory

I've mentioned before that the Mulch Man and I have divided the back garden into his-and-hers realms for plant choices and their arrangement. Whereas I go for a helter-skelter style using sun-loving, drought-tolerant plants, and a carefree zonal-denial attitude, the Mulch Man inclines to a Northwest-influenced, design-trained and quite deliberate approach to his planning and selection. Indeed, a significant amount of real estate in his Northwest Territory has been lying fallow waiting to find just the right plants after some final tweaking of garden beds last summer. Such restraint!

But several plant-buying expeditions this spring have finally added to the NW Territory beds and expanded our range of native perennials there.

After a trip to the Oregon Garden last fall focused his search on Mahonia repens, we now have a total of nine that will fill one area when they expand. M. repens doesn't seem to be as common in gardens as her sisters, M. aquifolium and M. nervosa, so we hope it doesn't mean she'll be hard to keep happy.

She sure looks sweet in the rain right now.

Last year's Penstemon subserratus was a big success, leading the Mulch Man to search out several more native Penstemon species for the garden. This is P. procerus.

A few very tiny flowers are still gracing her fine foliage.

He added three Penstemon serrulatus. Its inflorescence will be a single blue to purple-blue flower cluster at the end of each stem.

Three little mat-forming P. davidsonii v. menzesii are barely visible below a group of Iris x. pacifica 'Meadow Pastels".

When they came home they had a few outsized pinky-purple flowers that dwarfed their tiny leaves.

This last Penstemon, P. cardwellii, will grow into a 24" evergreen subshrub with purple flowers in late spring.

Here's a new baby Lilium columbianum.

It will be joined later this year by two older ones that were temporarily sequestered in the MulchMaid's garden during construction - with luck, you'll see their flowers this coming Bloom Day.

Looking a bit wan, two Camassia quamash joined three in the garden since last spring.

Despite their slightly exhausted appearance, they are showing unmistakable signs of flowering - a surprise, since the older ones took their first year off, bloom-wise.

Though many of these additions look a little underwhelming at this early stage, lovely Vancouveria hexandra started off looking nicely fresh and frothy.

Our final addition is this Heart-leaf Buckwheat, Eriogonum compositum. I look forward to seeing its distinctive cream-colored flowers in summer - hopefully this summer.

And there's still lots of garden space in the Northwest Territory. I know the Mulch Man hates to shop, but those plants aren't going to come to him. Time to get him out to a few more nurseries!