My little Japanese Gatden

#wordlesswednesday

Miniature Gardens

Every year I like to try something new in gardening. This year, in addition to growing potatoes, I gathered up needed materials to make two miniature gardens. Very fun!

UPDATE: I think the red chair really works! It looks more complete now. What do you think?

Exploring the world of Fuchsias

I tend to read a lot of gardening books during the (North American) Winter because my library has a good selection checked in 🙂 Does anyone else do this? Right now I am fascinated with Fuchsias and found a really straight forward book written for a beginner to the topic.

Dorling Kindersley Publishing, Inc. Copyright 2000

I have acquired a few of these plants with a long flowering period and have been focusing on those hardy in my zone 8 garden.

Fuchsia flower types

According to this book they are easy to propagate so that may be one of my winter greenhouse activities.

Plant propagation.

Intoxicating

Every time I enter my little greenhouse my nose goes directly to the Meyer Lemon tree. The fragrance alone is worth the effort to keep it healthy. I think this would also be a successful plant in a sunroom within your home.

The little greenhouse is my refuge.I think I need more flowers to get me through the fall and winter. By midday the oxygen level inside that space must increase and makes it a very pleasant stop.

Justicea carnea blooms again

What is a Justicea carnea you ask? Have you ever seen one? Common names are Kings Crown and Cardinal Feather. This really unique outdoor plant that is native to Brazil and is tender in zone 8, so I have been wintering it in the greenhouse. It blooms in cycles throughout the year. It was a gift from some friends who grew it in Florida about ten years ago.

Washington State Fair in Puyallup

The Washington State Fair has three rose shows and many other kinds of agricultural competitions, plus all the usual crafts, rides and junk foods one expects at a fair. It seems a lot larger than what I was used to seeing at the Minnesota State Fair (where any food on a stick rules) and the Wisconsin State Fair (where cream puffs are the specialty).

Today was my first trip there. My roses were not very good due to a few days of very heavy rain and being gone from home most of the week, but, I wanted to get the lay of the land before next week’s rose show when I will judge. Very few roses were outstanding today, so I will post winning roses next weekend.

Fall veggie gardening

This week in mid-August is when I typically finish up planting my fall and winter garden from seed.
These Sugar Snap Peas have been growing a few weeks.

I have been busy harvesting some great tomatoes today: varieties Glacier and Stupice from Territorial seeds, started in February. These tomatoes will get roasted with olive oil and garlic (375* for 45 minutes) then cooled and put in the food processor to make sauce. So quick and easy.

I am out of space in my raised beds and greenhouse raised bed so I am experimenting with these two rectangle containers that most people call flower boxes. I never have enough salad greens, so yesterday I planted a several types of lettuce, spinach and kale for baby salad greens. I expect these containers will end up in the greenhouse this fall.

Wildflowers at Sunrise

My second day of photographing wildflowers was spent at Sunrise. This is the highest elevation you can drive up Mt. Rainier and is on the Eastern side of the mountain. As the elevation changed, so did the plant habitat. It has been very dry in Western WA but the snow in the mountains just cleared in July, so that moisture stimulated the native plants to bloom. I did walk over patches of snow while hiking at Sunrise on August 6, 2013. Here are a few examples of plants blooming.

Pasque Flower seed heads.

Flatleaf Lupine and Spreading Phlox.

Arrowleaf Groundsel and Jacob’s Ladder.

Plants my hummingbirds love

We are fortunate to have two species of hummingbirds in my neighborhood: the resident Anna’s and the migrant Rufous hummingbird. Rufous arrives in early May and departs in August. They could already be gone as I have not seen one this week. When I plan my garden I always consider plants that hummingbirds can use for nectar even though I do fill feeders. I find they use both sources during summer. Here are eight of my hummingbird garden plants in bloom now.

Crocosmia