Jarbidge to the Oregon Trail

The rain clouds finally parted and we actually had a couple of very nice days on the weekend. So, of course, I overdid it.

Don got out the chain saw and did a little garden work, too. He started with the Camellia. It suffered some damage in the last snow storm back in March and then the heaviness of all the blooms further compromised it.

Before.

After.

Then he turned the chain saw onto the holly tree.

Now we have an unobstructed view of the neighbor’s back yard (darn!) but see that dog run leaning up against the shed? That is going where the holly used to stand. Finally! A home for both dogs!

I had to sneak up on him to get a photo of him doing all this work. He chipped nearly half the tree before he got tired. I couldn’ t help him because I am allergic to the Camellia. My face swells up, my eyes swell shut, and I get hives on my arms.

True Story.

Murphy is convinced the chain saw (and the chipper) are giant monsters. He shoved Harvey aside and climbed up onto my lap while I was weeding.

He is not a little dog.

I was not being lazy while Don did all the saw work. I was on my hands and knees turning my north flower bed into a presentable flower bed. I hate grass that grows where grass is not supposed to go. I hate chickweed after it goes to seed. I hate dandelions, thistles, buttonweed, and the other sundry things that clog up my garden.

I will say this: the advent of the hazelnut mulch seems to have stifled the purple clover. I didn’t see any purple clover and it is generally more prolific than chickweed. In fact, I didn’t find any clover in this flower bed this year. Just a lot of grass that didn’t belong.

And a couple small slugs.

I hope a few small slugs is all I see. Those little white flowers are future wild strawberries. I don’t want to share my strawberries with slugs.

I also did a little bit of work in my prayer garden. It’s a mess.

The weeds are coming in, the forget-me-nots have taken over pockets, the native bleeding hearts are pushing out other plants, and I didn’t get around to dead-heading anything before winter came. I also regret opening it up so the dogs could run through it.

By the way, I am buying more of that bamboo to put up on the rest of the fence that the holly used to block.

This was all I actually got done in the prayer garden: I weeded and fenced off that little corner. The neighbor’s cat likes to sit on the fence there and the dogs think they should dig there. I don’t resent the cat; I resent the damage the dogs do.

Apple blossoms.

Garden work wouldn’t exist if not for the weeds, plant diseases and pests. We could just let plants grow, bloom, and fruit. It would be so wonderful.

But we have weeds.

Some of my peonies have a blight.

Something is nibbling at them! I’ll need to do some homework. It’s just a few of my peonies, not all of them. But a few are a few too many.

I didn’t see very many large slugs, but when I got into the shadier part of my prayer garden, I found a number of large snails.

If they were Pacific Northwest Natives, I wouldn’t be alarmed, but I don’t think they are. I think they are Brown Garden Snails. And that presents a problem, ecologically and in my garden. I am going to have to do some study on how to rid my garden of the pests, and do it quickly.

I don’t know what this is, but I am having a heck of a time killing it. It’s some wild relative of Borage, but the flowers are bell-shaped. Borage has star-shaped flowers. I thought it would make a nice accent plant. HA! It took over my garden. Round-Up acted like fertilizer to it. The only effective way to kill it is to salt it heavily when I see it. The salt kills it. It is the plant equivalent of a slug.

Die, Weed, Die!

There, I feel better.

Under Random Garden Notes is this: the first rhododendron to bloom is so over-loaded with blossoms that when the sun is on it, it makes my kitchen blinds appear to be pink.

It also suffered damage during the last March snow storm, damage that has been exacerbated by the heavy show of blooms. There are gaps at the top of it where branches have bent downward. The photo doesn’t do the damage justice. It’s ugly.

My tulips opened.

Has nothing to do with work because I haven’t started on the front flower beds.

They’re just pretty.

This is not a honey bee. It has a black abdomen. It’s a little larger than a honey bee and it lives underground.

Here’s one of the holes.

My resident Apiarist has not (yet) identified these bees, but he is making plans to protect their nests. They aren’t aggressive. They are just another insect oddity in our yard and another little bee we need to be careful of.

We love bees. The flowers I plant are planted with bees in mind. The more bees, the healthier the environment.

That’s my Earth Day Statement.

Encourage bees in your yard. (Bees are not the same as wasps. Wasps are not all “bad”. Even Yellowjackets have their place in the ecology, except during the end of the summer month when they become aggressive and mean. I am not fond of Yellowjackets then.)

This sad-looking puppy didn’t feel good.

He moped like this all weekend. I even took him to see the vet, but she couldn’t find anything wrong with him. I know something is wrong, because this is not a happy Harvey.

Stay tuned. Harvey was happier tonight.

I am headed to bed early. I have a slight pink tinge to my arms, but no sunburn. My muscles are tired.

I have so much more to do and the rain is coming back on Tuesday.