Farewell, my pretties?

It's been cold at Longview Ranch, and it's about to get colder. Forecasts for this coming week in Portland are all over the map, but the consensus seems to be record lows for this time of year arriving by Monday or Tuesday.

Since it will be colder than it has been for several years, I spent time these past two days moving pots of tender and some not-so-tender plants into my garden shed. I mulched a few things and even covered a large potted Agave bracteosa that's too big to move indoors. And I wandered around the garden wondering which of my marginally hardy plants I am seeing the last of.

Like this Phormium tenax 'Wings of Gold'. It's been in a pot for years but I planted it in the ground this past summer. In retrospect, that was some unfortunate timing.

Another flax, P. tenax 'Rubrum', is one of three I planted in the garden in 2008. It limped through a few tough winters early on, and had come back to a nice, dark lushness and some height this year. We'll see what it thinks of the coming weather event.

For some reason, Loropetalum chinense 'Sizzling Pink' seems more tender to me than I guess it really is. Even if the tips get damaged, I think it will generally be okay with sub-freezing weather.  I hope.

For the first few years we had Trachelospermum jasminoides, they suffered terribly in winter. Several times I almost gave up and yanked the poor things, they looked so sad. Having had several clement winters to get better established, I hope our two will survive the arctic weather this week. Even if we have to do some heavy pruning to clean them up, I look forward to their lovely scent in summer.

I hold out little hope for Melianthus major 'Antonow's Blue' making it through. This is a plant that has worked its way deep into my heart this year. I just love its lush, silvery-blue, serrated foliage and the way the leaves hold raindrops. By mulching it well and piling leaves around its base, I hope to at least keep the base alive. I may find myself giving it a slightly tearful farewell come spring though.

I hope to be able to report positively next spring on all these lovely plants, but if the weather goddess has her way with them, I'll be searching out replacements next year. And although I'll be sad to lose any of them, I'll try to embrace the loss as an opportunity for change.

Are you preparing for this weather event? Well fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy ride!

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - November 2013, departmentalized

This month's Bloom Day post is the Department Edition.  You'll see what I mean as we move through the blooms that November has to offer here at Longview Ranch.

Agastache 'Acapulco Orange' falls squarely in the "I-Can't-Believe-It's-Still-Blooming" Department. Yes, it may not be quite the spectacle it was in midsummer, but I even spotted a hummingbird stopping for a drink just a couple of days ago.

Also in this department is Rudbeckia triloba, a fading member of the hot bed that still has a little of that sunny, star quality to offer this month.

A place of honor in the "Ever-Blooming" Department of the Mulch Man's Northwest Territory is accorded Sidalcea oregana, Oregon Checker Mallow.

And Erigeron glaucas continues to show its appreciation for the cooler, wetter days of autumn. I see it satisfying random pollinators, too.

Back in the MulchMaid's garden area, another stalwart of the summer garden is still earning its place in the "Ever-Blooming" Department. Abutilon 'Tangerine' simply will not give up.

In the "I-Didn't-Know-They-Looked-Like-That" Department we find the cute little flowers of Seneceo mandraliscae (Blue Chalk Sticks). I love the long, blue stems with white twiddly explosions at their ends.

The "Random-Flowering-To-Keep-You-On-You-Toes" Department sports this lone Cistus bloom.

And keeping it company is Loropetalum chinense 'Sizzling Pink'. It has been spurting a few small blossoms for months without actually putting on what I'd call a "bloom" period.

In the "We're-Happy-To-See-You-Whenever-You-Decide-To-Show-Up" Department we include the tiny blossoms of Salal, Gaultheria shallon. They are such a pretty contrast to the leathery green foliage.

Also included here is the Giant Toad Lily, Tricyrtis formosana var. grandiflora 'Wa-Ho-Ping Toad'. It belongs in the "Whenever" Department by virtue of having bloomed twice already this year.

The "Right-On-Time" Department holds Cortaderia selloana whose plumes opened in late October to see me through winter.

And Fatsia japonica is a reliable November bloomer whose flowers often persist into the New Year. I adore these sputnik flower trusses that attract all manner of pollinators.

 In our last entry, the "Will-They-Make-It?" Department, the cool, furry flower buds of Tetrapanax paperifer 'Steroidal Giant' are in a race against the frost clock. Go, go, go!

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day is hosted each month by Carol at May Dreams Gardens. Hop over there to see what else is happening in our blooming world in mid-November.

Happy Bloom Day!

Lagerstroemia x 'Natchez' - my favorite plant in the garden this week

The gold and orange charms of fall foliage go a good way to assuaging my sorrow over impending winter's cold and damp. And a standout foliage fix is being handed to me by my favorite plant this week, Lagerstroemia x 'Natchez' (Natchez Crape Myrtle).

Its range of autumn color is glorious, from bright green through yellow and gold to orange and russet.

My plant has lived a peripatetic lifestyle in its four-year history at Longview Ranch. It spent two years in a pot in various locations after I acquired it, was planted one year in the front garden, and then was moved to the back garden early this spring. Nothing seemed to faze it.

Of course most people grow Crape Myrtles for their beautiful, late-summer bloom trusses, and I'm no exception. 'Natchez' has lovely white flowers with golden centers beginning in August.

And believe it or not, mine is still working on a few blooms as I write this in early November.

Another reason people grow Lagerstroemia species is for their peeling patterned bark. 'Natchez' bark is reputed to be a particularly showy cinnamon color but mine will need to put on a few more years before it displays that feature. I'll settle for its lovely foliage for now.

The stats on Lagerstroemia x 'Natchez':

• Deciduous, large, vase-shaped shrub or small tree
• 20' to 30' high, 5' to 20' wide
• Zone 6a to 9b
• Full sun, regular water
• Adaptable, but prefers well-drained soil
• White flowers in late summer, and showy, peeling bark

"My favorite plant in the garden" is hosted by danger garden each week: Check out the comments to see what other garden bloggers are loving in their gardens this week.

It doesn't just happen in the forest

I'd heard about it and seen its effects on western road trips, but I assumed it was a problem that was found on Weyerhaeuser land, or at Georgia Pacific, or another one of the big Northwest lumber companies. It never occurred to me that the pines in my my own modest residential garden might fall victim to the destructive mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae. But it seems this beetle is just as happy in an urban setting as it is out in our national forests.

On a tour of our garden this past summer, a visitor pointed out to me the hardened deposits of sap that had oozed from the trunks of our Shore pines, Pinus contorta, (also known as Lodgepole pine.) He explained that this was the sign of a pine beetle infestation.

The Mulch Man had been concerned for some time that despite supplemental summer water and careful pruning, the sap flow and excessive yellowing of the needles indicated the three pines weren't in optimum health. He was particularly concerned about the tree that sat on the east side of the Northwest Territory and had always been less robust than its brethren in the north bed.

It doesn't look too bad in the image above, but when you look closer, you can see quite a bit of yellowing in the needles throughout the tree.

The mountain pine beetle attacks Ponderosa pines and Lodgepole pines. There isn't a lot you can do to fight these beetles once they are established. It may take a while to happen, but eventually the tree will die. Since our pine had declined markedly since summer, we reluctantly decided it needed to come out.

After years of carefully nurturing our green privacy screen to the east, we now can't avoid our neighbor's back door and kitchen window. .

So what to put there for fastest coverage? It came to me: move the established Rhododendron 'Anah Krushke' out from under the cedar and locate her five feet to the north. So today I spent a few hours wrestling the poor thing out and back into her new home.

That left a space too, but it's a different space. The expectation is the cedar will expand northward while the rhody expands southward (and upward.) We can add some ferns now, and in a few years the space should be more private again.

Meanwhile, we are monitoring the two north pines very carefully. Although they show definite signs of the mountain pine beetle infestation, the trees aren't looking too bad yet. That could change quickly, like the first tree, or we could get lucky and have a few years for succession planning.

But it's sad to contemplate that future: we'll lose two more trees we really like - and quite a bit of privacy - all at the same time. With good planning I hope we can replace those pines with a minimal amount of exposure. Since this is the Northwest Territory and his garden domain, you can be sure the Mulch Man will be on it.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, October 2013

It's happened again. All the plants blooming in my garden this month are plants that were blooming for last month's Bloom Day. And many of them were blooming in mid-August, as well. But because I use my Bloom Day posts as a record of the garden, I'll ask your indulgence as we revisit the garden today. Just scroll quickly past the ones you really have seen all you need of this year...

Punica granatum 'Nana'. Its leaves are golden and many have fallen already but it's still pumping out blossoms.

Now that it's not blooming quite so profusely, I'm enjoying this Abutilon 'Tangerine' a lot more.

It just wouldn't be Bloom Day at Longview Ranch without an appearance by Agastache 'Acapulco Orange'. After being laid low by the battering rains we had in late September, this trouper came back and high-fived the garden one more time.

Rudbeckia triloba is made for Indian summer weather. I read on Jason and Judy's blog, Garden in a City, that he leaves his seed heads on for goldfinches. We sometimes get them, so I'll do the same this year in hopes of luring them into the front garden.

I thought Salvia 'Black and Blue' was finished last month, but it's come back after the rains with more bloom. I moved it forward in the border this past spring, and I think it appreciates the increased sun.

Delosperma 'Oberg'

Sidalcea oregana, for the third month (with a few jarringly orange dogwood leaves in there to wake you up!)

We have a few out-of-season Salal flowers (Gaultheria shallon) adding a bright pink and white note to their green foliage.

The Beach Daisy (Erigeron glaucas) resented summer's exposure and wilted every hot, sunny day. Now it's a cooler, happier camper.

Last, but by no means least, Rosa 'Perle d' Or'. This sweet little rose is a heritage plant from the Mulch Man's Great Aunt Jennie, and makes a beautiful container plant. I can start slips for anyone who's interested!

Bloom Day is hosted by Carol, at May Dreams Gardens. Check out what else is in bloom there - and Happy Bloom Day!