Treading new ground

Last weekend, D and I decided to clear out a good portion of the little garden at the side of our house to make room for some new plants. We originally had only the four iris bulbs we'd been keeping in pots, but an impromptu trip to a nursery with Troubadour Mom and Newly Graduated Sis on the Sunday before that convinced us to get more residents for our flower beds.

We went out to Whidbey Island on a whim -- NG Sis hadn't been on any of the Seattle ferries yet and we hadn't explored Whidbey, so it seemed like the perfect way to spend an afternoon. The nursery was a quick pick from a Washington guidebook (we knew it happened to be open on Sunday but didn't have a lot of other information), and it turned out to be an excellent stop.

Chocolate Flower Farm is a little niche nursery toward the south end of the island, specializing in flowers and other plants in deep maroon hues, from chocolate dahlias and chocolate sunflowers to chocolate cherry tomatoes and chocolate corn (in color only, not flavor!). We wandered through the display garden, which intersperses flowers of other warm shades among the main attractions.



Top and center photos by Newly Graduated Sis

We were very tempted to get some lavender to create a border along the walk leading to our front door. There were at least three varieties, all of which smelled delicious. In the end, though, D picked out a salpiglossis flower (didn't get a shot of it in the garden itself, but the link offers a good image from the nursery website). We figured we'd try our luck with a less expensive plant before committing to a dozen or more seedlings, especially given our recent wild weather.

Our plan this past weekend was just to decide where to put the salpiglossis -- it's supposedly self-sowing, so we wanted to give it a home where it could have space to spread. But once we started looking around, we got distracted by the raggedy shrubs, overgrown ground cover, and dead ornamental grasses crowding the flower beds, which had probably been neglected by the previous owner for a few seasons. Out came the spade and pruning shears, and several hours later, we'd transplanted two bushes (I think they're yews?) and uprooted four others deemed too unattractive to keep (the species looks moribund, but their yellowed, drooping leaves are normal, from what we've seen on well-maintained public grounds). I also tried my hand at giving a laceleaf Japanese maple a much-needed trim -- it was beginning to look like Sweetums (of Muppet fame) -- while D ripped out masses of unidentified creeping vines. The salpiglossis eventually found a home near the front walk.

Of course, with all the newly bared earth at our disposal, we couldn't help wanting to fill it with beautiful things, so our one new acquisition will be joined by an order of tulips and lilies in the fall, which we bought here. The irises will go into the beds this weekend and we'll remove the last of the dead bushes (there are six remaining), weather permitting. Now if we can just find the valve that feeds the sprinkler system, we'll be in good shape ...

After growing up in hot climates, I never thought I would enjoy gardening, but this new project (in normal Seattle summer temperatures) is undeniably fun.