Tuesday, March 22, 2016

A full Day

We got lots done here today. 

We started out by doing the weekly house cleaning and the laundry. Yes, we do work together on all these things. We got that done in time to go over to Jill's house and plant some pansies in Irene's planter on their front porch.

Irene has a pet tree, a Lemon or Monterrey Cypress, that lives in a big pot. Each spring it gets a new skirt of color. When I asked her about it on Saturday she said she wanted bright colors, a rainbow of color. She got red, orange and blue. Sorry. I didn't take a photo. 

When we got back home I had time to pick a new spring bouquet for the kitchen table before sitting and enjoying it as I ate my lunch. Lunch time here is 1:00, since we are not early risers. 
Spring flowers last longer outside, but I enjoy bringing some of the beauty indoors. This one will last three or four days. 

After lunch, since it wasn't raining, Tom and I went for our exercise walk. 
 It was brisk but sunny in our neighborhood park. 

After walking a little over three miles we returned home and got right to work dealing with some plants that needed attention. 
 This agave that I bought last year had pups springing up around it and they needed to be removed and planted in their own pots to grow on. I managed the job with only one poke. 
They'll stay in the greenhouse a while longer to remain out of the rain. 
 I bought this Phormium (New Zealand Flax) last year as a pot filler along with a hebe and a wall flower and something else that was an annual. Fill the pot it has!  It obviously enjoyed the mild winter in the greenhouse.  I dumped it all out, and replanted the phormium alone. It will now stay outside on the patio. 
 It's pot mates got pruned severely and potted up. If they decide to branch back and shape up, there will be a place for them. Otherwise they get tossed on the compost heap. 
While I was filling pots, Tom was emptying some. 
 We have been contemplating what to do with the space where the end of the juniper hedge died. Tom has transplanted some of the native Mahonia - Oregon grape - to extend the thicket that is already there on the left. Today he added a golden euonymus for year round color, and a winter blooming Mahonia to provide winter food for humming birds.
This spot is the back corner of the neighbor's property and borders our driveway. Most of what's there is native plant life. We'll encourage that and try to keep the weeds under control in the part we can see. 

I still had time to do my PT exercise routine and download these pics before starting dinner. 

Now it's 7:30 and daylight still lingers. I hear that rain will return tomorrow. We'll see. March weather in very unpredictable here in the Pacific Northwest. 

15 comments:

  1. Linda, your bouquet is lovely. I am so jealous of all the springtime activity. It is really still winter here. I am so ready to see something blooming. Thanks for sharing your garden activity and your flowers with me.

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  2. well you reminded me I have some plants that need repotting!

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  3. Your dining table is wonderful, really striking. We got a lot done today as well. I read this morning that since January 1 Portland has only had 15 dry days. I bought a few small annuals to give a little color to my patio. Enjoyed working with those. I really do not like Oregon grape or golden euonymus but since they belong to you I won't worry about it. I would welcome a few dry days but sounds like that may not happen.

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  4. I love your pretty bouquet. I did actually much down some of that henbit to see what it tastes like: sweet and peppery indeed. Even though we had a rain shower or two, I got lots done in the garden yesterday and spent some time digging up strawberry plants and transplanting them elsewhere. I've learned a lot about gardening from you and Tom. :-)

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  5. Very nice, Linda. Love your bunny in the centerpiece.

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  6. I like your spring bouquet on your table.

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  7. Did you not get rain on Tuesday? We got harsh showers moving through, over and over, interspersed with gray. No blue sky like in your shot of the park. It's so interesting how different the weather can be, even close by.

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  8. Quite a bit of planting and potting going on over there. We had some good rain and my plants are looking pretty good. You two must be pretty good gardening partners.

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  9. You really do make the prettiest bouquets. Your place is just beautiful!

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  10. I'd love to have that spring bouquet sitting on my dining room table. Beautiful.

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  11. You could sell those bouquets. Just beautiful. What an interesting plant that Flax is. I have a lot of golden Euonymus and they never fail to add color year round.

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  12. You get so much done in a day. You just keep at it. It also helps when two people work together on everything.

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  13. I really love those breathtakingly beautiful clouds <3

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  14. Oh my gosh! Everything looks so beautiful. I love your spring bouquet.

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