Tulips & Iceland Poppy

I am so in love with my grandma-pink tulips. Just look how delicate and lovely they are. (These bloomed almost a full month later than my dark pink tulips.)Here's one pink tulip up close!
I am still amazed by this Iceland Poppy (a container plant I've been growing for just more than a month now). It has SO MUCH CHARACTER!

Here we are, sticking our tongue out at ya! (LOL)

Where's The Delete/Ignore/Block Button When Ya Need It?

[Click on the photo to enlarge it & see how cool this tree really is]

I went to Home Depot to pick up a bag of organic potting soil today. With so many seeds sprouting between sheets of newspaper (cluttering the kitchen counters) my need was rather urgent. Yet soon as I arrived at the garden store I saw a big sign that read "BARGAINS!" ((If that's not like dangling a carrot before a donkey, I don't know WHAT is ... ))

In the forefront of this picture you see our brand new little Norway Spruce that I bought for just $27.88. I planted it as soon as I arrived home (even while it began to thunder and rain hard!)

The point of this entry, is that while a store clerk helped me load the precious little tree into the back of my pickup ... some random woman started barking negative accusations at us. She kept insisting I was KILLING the tree (oddly enough). First she said the tree belonged in the cab of my pickup (when it was much too big to fit). I think she was upset because I had to lay the tree and its large pot on their sides since my pickup has a cover over the bed ... but I've hauled much bigger trees than this one in my little red Toyota Tacoma and I was even able to close the lid to bring this baby home!

What was rather irksome was that the woman would NOT quit blabbering about it and we listened to her rant the entire time we worked to secure the tree. I seriously cannot figure out what could have been her motivation for accosting us (other than the idea that she was fruity).

That's when I seriously missed my IGNORE button (on Facebook). If only we could address some people the way we do in virtual reality then irregular folks would have NOBODY left to talk to! IGNORE, HIDE, DELETE. Those are my FAVORITE virtual tools!

Spring Is In The Air! {{Happiness}}

While sitting at my computer, doing layout work for an eBook, the sun came out. I couldn't help myself. I had to drop everything and went outside to work in our gardens. This first photo proves to me that alien species definitely exist in our world (because this Iceland Poppy definitely has an extraterrestrial-shaped head and the blossom currently looks like a little tongue). [Double-click any photo to enlarge it.]

Here's a ground cover plant that I have growing in the back yard. I bought this about three years ago and it's really taking off/spreading out. (I feel so thankful for colorful low-to-the ground foliage such as this because while I remove more and more lawn (to increase depth & color as well as be more environmentally conscious in my gardens) I can still see all the way to the fence line. Short plants like these also enable the dogs to play in the yard with very little lawn

Last year, while shopping yard sales I bought these flower boxes for about $4 each. They were red and we painted them green. I thought I had found such a great bargain until I paid for the new brackets to hang them with. All the same, this embellishment really adds a lot of personality to Dougs & my house. (I just love them and can hardly wait for the plants to grow and spread out!)
Gotta love having fresh herbs from the garden. Rosemary is one of my favorite garden herbs as it looks beautiful year-round (even when not in bloom). My husband enjoyed a sprig of purple flowering Rosemary with his pasta tonight!

Here's a snapshot of my utterly divine late-flowering cherry tree. It is just now coming into bloom (more than a month after everyone else's cherry trees have lost all of their flower petals. I just LOVE being a little different -- or a little "off" season. :-D

The soil in our yard has been so rocky that I've made fun use of all of the stones I find while I'm gardening. This display is next to our koi pond. The heart-shaped stone that I painted came from my former home, on a creek bank. (You know you're a rock collector when you're willing to pack stones for a household move!)

Here's my native salmonberry bush ... a small plant I rescued (in affiliation with the Native Plant Society) from a site that was going to be bulldozed. This will be the bush's second season in my yard and I'm hoping to finally be able to taste its pinkish-orange fruit this summer. I'm particularly fond of any flower with five petals (like a pentacle). It feels very protective and magical to me.

Amazingly enough, I found the following flower basket and organic insert at the dollar store! The plants inside cost quite a bit more ... but I'm really glad I bought this iron shepherd's hook to hang the display from. It really adds a whole 'nother level to my gardening.

Finally ... in my backyard I have this beautiful flowering vine that I believe is a clematis (it climbs a trellis and I give it hardly any attention at all but it lavishes me with beauty just the same). I planted this three years ago and have never been sorry that I did. It almost matches my flowering cherry tree!

* Interested in books or if you're writing an eBook ... check out my other blog: http://villageofRavena.blogspot.com!

As Some Hibernate - Other Plants Bloom

This is Russian Sage, still in hibernation. In the next few months this plant will be so vibrant with color. We've had a ridiculously unusual winter here in western Washington this go-around. It was warm in February (usually our coldest month) and now that it's spring we experience freezing night temperatures along with the usual heavy April rains. [Click any image to enlarge it.]

This next bush is native to Washington. It's a flowering red currant. I planted it right next to the Russian Sage (so while one plant hibernates, the other is in bloom).
Look at all the weeding I need to do! This is part of my "shrink the lawn" project where I'm planting a lot of variety (instead of the more common green asphalt) all over our property. It's been raining so hard lately, and the weather is so cold when it's not raining, I haven't been out in the gardens much. [The white wood shavings you see are composted from my chicken coop. Never apply chicken manure directly to your garden without composting first because it's hot with nitrogen and will burn your plants]
I think Rosemary is one of my favorite herbs ... I cook with it year-round. What a blessing when it's in full bloom with such delicate purple flowers.

This next flowering bush is also called a "flowering red currant. Meanwhile it does not look like the native variety (pictured above). This one's flowers are much paler while the leaves look the same on both varieties. [Note, I am uploading this photos from my laptop and do not have editing software accessible to crop out my weeding bucket ... sorry]

So hard to believe that slugs can climb my stone altar, here, but they've obviously been nibbling on my orange pansy. (Click to enlarge photo.)
Isn't spring just beautiful? I love all my flowers planted from bulbs.
I think purple, orange and pink are my favorite garden colors (next to green).
Here's what I've done to keep slugs at bay. They have completely been ridiculously persistent with my flowering carnation variety plant, below. I thought this beauty was just wintering but on closer look I realized why she was not branching out. I'm very surprised this beautiful little gem is still alive. I have continued to circle it with coffee grounds since (which slugs do not like) and if you enlarge the photo you can see how the plant is just now starting to come back with precious little buds.) Ignore the fir tree clippings. They're not part of this plant.

Aren't these tulips just the funnest color?

Amazing discovery in my chicken coop this morning. The chickens that were hatched in early-to-mid October 2009 have already begun to lay eggs. (They're just 6 months old.) My grey hen, who I call Gandolf the Grey was sitting in a corner yesterday, and the day before at feeding time. Today, when I decided to force her out of the corner (because I was worried she was not eating) I found 17 eggs under her! I had no idea they were all laying already ... obviously more than a few days work they had there! Because I didn't know how old the eggs were and they were warm I added them to the compost but TOMORROW? Fresh eggs baby!

Below is a picture of my heartache. This is Runt, fully grown. S/he's always had trouble from the time s/he was a little chick. I believe Runt is a male because he's crowed a couple of times in the last few days. Runt is very crippled. I've posted, before how "she" wasn't growing feathers as fast as the others. Well, Runt's legs are all deformed and he can barely walk. He's just the sweetest bird otherwise. I put him in a cage to make sure he can reach his food. He was growing so thin prior to that decision and when I was previously giving water directly to him the others would come eat it before he could get to it.

Poor baby. Fortunately this bird has not crowd much at all. If he did, I'd have to put him down (as I don't think any other person would want the extra care required to take care of him and roosters are not allowed where we live.

Altars EVERYWHERE: Gnome & Frog Gardens

Here's a really old gnome (couple) that' I've had in my garden for a while now ... [click any photo here to enlarge it]

My husband Doug's birthday is this week ... and he LOVES gnomes so I bought him an early present, below. Gotta love the mushrooms I purchased with it. (This gnome is a bobble-head. It wiggles from a spring at the waistline.)
The next photo is a new thing I'm doing in my yard. Since Doug likes gnomes, I thought I'd build a garden to magically draw more gnomes into our gardens. Here's the front side of that newest altar.
The next photo is of the back of our gnome altar.
Here are my two garden helpers: Artemis (the pug) and Freya (the dachshund). They certainly tug on my heart every time I look at them. LOVE our fur-angels.
This year (2010) presents the very first March in 5 years of living here when my forsythia bush bloomed and it wasn't covered in snow.
Below is my personal sacred space ... I keep creating safe places for frogs and amphibians to live in our yard and so far so good ... we've got frogs croaking all the time (feel very sad to know they are endangered.) PEOPLE STOP USING PESTICIDES AND WEED KILLERS PLEASE!
The next photo is of an altar inside my home. I hope it doesn't reek too much of dogma (because we're not into organized religion at all). I feel working in my yard and hiking the woods is the best possible sanctuary for me, spiritually. Meanwhile, I do like powerful symbols from some religions and I collect such. I have Catholic items to honor Doug's upbringing. I also have a collection of Egyptian pantheon in statue form about my home to honor mythology and more free-flowing ideas of spirit.

I found this (next image) cast iron cross at the thrift store for $3. I bought the Goddess who stands on crystals yesterday from Crescent Moon Gifts in Tacoma (awesome store).

I hope this arrangement symbolizes the free-flowing Goddess worship rising out of the ashes of terribly controlling religious fundamentalism.

PEACE TO ALL.

Down & Around Seattle Today

Every now and then my husband Doug and I go on a road trip. The weather was especially awesome in the greater Seattle area today (highs around 57 °F) ... so we hit the road!

Here is what Doug looks like when the wind is blowing his hair (image below). See the Olympic Mountains behind him, beyond Elliot Bay?

Our first stop for today's adventure was in North Seattle (around the University District). We shopped an estate sale there but nothing inside inspired me. While Doug shopped, I snapped the following photos from nearby gardens!

I absolutely love the various types of soft moss that grows around here in damp shady places (western Washington). The plants (division: Bryophyta) gives this otherwise hard and cold stairway some welcomed color and life!
Below, the image captures a flowering hedge ... (looks like Summerland to me!)
Doug thought these trees might belong to the Madrona family. I liked their character!

I really liked this flowering hedge! (Below.) [Click on any photo in this post to enlarge it!]

Here's another magical-looking stairway. It looks like gnomes might enjoy living here!

I love the turret (tower-shape) on this house and notice how plants on either side of the front door guard this home!
Below I managed to capture the Olympic mountains on disc (as seen from the Seattle waterfront).
Here's a more glistening view of the water as the ferry pulled alongside our dock.
I actually took this next picture more than a week ago (but it was still on my camera so you get to see it: "Buddha!")
After we left Seattle, I needed to purchase some chicken feed. So we drove out to Enumclaw where we snapped this image of Mount Rainier.
Here's a very strange-looking amphibious vessel (pictured below).
One thing I love about Seattle is that street musicians play just about everywhere! This particular musician played excellent rhythms on the 5 gallon buckets.

That's all the photos I have to share for today ... hope you enjoyed them!