That Was Sunday

[akirlu]

There was a plan afoot to drive down to Portland today, but it died aborning. Instead we brunched at Wild Wheat, stopped at Carpinito Brothers to grab some potting soil (I swear, I have no idea how those geraniums got into my cart, officer), and then back to the house where I potted two tomato starts (with basil in the larger pot), one zonal and one Martha Washington geranium, some pansies, and a pot of herbs.

I need to pot the final tomato, and get the cucumber, dill, and (god help me) zucchini into the ground tomorrow, but first I have to resign myself to pulling out more of the forget-me-nots out of that bed. I keep trying to rationalize a way around that. Maybe I'll go get a few more big pots up at 1/2 Price Pots instead. They have such lovely pots for cheap. But who knew I'd be such a wimp about pulling out flowers? I don't want to mess with my wildflowers. Wildflowers are home.

The irisy looking plants have turned out to be iris in fact. Marvelous maroon-and-gold and purple-and-lavender bearded iris. Though a lot of them aren't blooming. I think I need to divide them and get rid of a bunch, and then get some more soil on top. They look dreadfully crowded in that bed. But first I have to figure out when a good time to divide them is. I think I may have missed that window for this year. If not, and you're local, let me know if you might want some iris.

After the potting session we grabbed the dog and drove up to North Bend to go to the outlets. We were mighty hunters, stopped for a pasta dinner, and then tried the back way from North Bend to Covington, which swings by the back side of Tiger Mountain. It's a lovely drive zooming through the pine and fir, and a doggy pitstop revealed what looked like huckleberries growing wild in the verges. Huckleberries! Huckleberries are home.

Now I'm enjoying being able to listen to the mp3 collection on my computer again. Hal dumped our entire collection onto my hard drive, and installed the latest copy of Media Monkey, and now I can listen to music while I write or post or whatever. Yay, Hal. Also, now I can finally get on with making that Nordic compilation disc I promised Cliff back in November. Only about time, but first you gotta have the tools.

Now tea.

Comments

Iris

[ladyjestocost.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I likes iris. I have a purple and gold plant, but I'd surely appreciate a purple and lavendar start.

I think the time you seperate them around here is August, but I'll check. I have some garden books geared towards Puget Sound and I know one of them told when to do it.

Re: Iris

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

I won't necessarily be able to tell the color of the flowers based on the rizomes when they're dormant, so it may be a bit of a mixed bag, but you're welcome to some when I divide them.

[athenais.livejournal.com]

I have a Martha Washington that I snipped from a plant years and years ago. It's sturdy and beautiful and, okay, maybe it's out of control, but I love the regal pelargoniums.

Pretty photo of the forget-me-nots. Your camera shoots on the blue side, I think, and so does this kind of photo proud.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I think you're right about the blue bias of the camera; although that may to some degree be a matter of what setting it's on. Digital cameras amaze me.

I'm jealous of your regal for an odd reason: I've never had any luck growing anything from a cutting. I don't know if it's poor choice of cuttings, poor technique, or a combination, but mine rot before they root, every single time.

[athenais.livejournal.com]

I would say a good quarter of mine fail to put out roots and just rot. The MWs do great, though, and they come back from the roughest treatment, too.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

As a great doler of the roughest treatment, plants that recover well are pretty much de rigueur for me. One of the reasons I have hope for being able to garden in Seattle is that if I pick my plants carefully, I don't have to remember to water as often as I would in California.

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

But who knew I'd be such a wimp about pulling out flowers? I don't want to mess with my wildflowers.

oh ghods, yes -- me too. i have a hard time thinning out seedlings, even. i'd probably plan around the forget-me-nots, or replant them. and i generally like how my garden comes out -- it's not very planned, but it gives me joy.

6-8 weeks after (rhizome) iris are done blooming tends to be the bext time for dividing and replanting them.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Getting joy out of one's garden is definitely a major part of the point. Although this year, getting a few cucumbers is also part of the point. I'll think of something. I need to pull out the stupid wild fennel, anyway. That should clear some space I've just been avoiding the labor.

Thanks for the tip on when to divide the iris. I'll give it a shot.

[don-fitch.livejournal.com]

Those sound like bearded (aka "German") Iris. If they are, no soil on top of the rhizomes when you replant them, please. It either encourages, or causes, them to rot, even here in drier Southern California. Not much fertilizer, and especially no manure, in the soil, either -- nitrogen promotes soft rhizome growth that's also prone to rotting. Yeah, I know both these are counter-intuitive unless you think of Iris as being Masochistic, but that's the way they are. However, if they're getting adequate sun, seem to be crowded, and not blooming well, they probably would respond well to being divided (usually best done during their summer semi-dormancy). They don't usually bloom much the first year after being divided, but should be spectacular the second, third, and maybe fourth years. (I usually plant three to five rhizomes in a clump, pointed out from the center.)

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the excellent advice on the iris. They are indeed (to the best of my knowledge) bearded iris. I will not put soil or manure on them, and I will try dividing them this summer. (They are on the south side of the yard, up against the drive, so I have to think they're getting as much sun as the climate provides, or near to it. But the bed they're in seems positively choked with rhizomes so I'm guessing they haven't been divided in several years, possibly since the previous-to-the-previous owner.)

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

I have an iris bed that's absolutely choked. I was going to divide it last year, but I didn't get around to it. It's now in the shade of a tree, so I'm wondering if I should just pull them all out and plant something that likes shade instead.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

well, you can probably find takers if you decide to get rid of them all. Or prune the tree...

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm not sure what to think about that tree. I suspect it's responsible for the decline of the raspberries too, but on the other hand it keeps the house cooler in the dog days of summer, which ain't nothing, even as few as the dog days are around her.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Well, trees are hard to move. Perhaps you can move the iris and raspberries?

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Alas, there's not much space in our back yard. Should probably just dig it up for parking, actually, but I resist, I resist. Maybe we should go for a green roof. Plenty of sunshine up there.

[idahoswede.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a much better alternative to Portland to me. I myself potted pelargoniums (your geraniums) this week-end. Mmm, huckleberries, my dad and I used to spend hours out in the woods around Mount Adams and Mount Hood huckleberrying.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Well, in fact I like Portland, normally, and I like road trips, but this was going to be very much a hit-and-run affair, with almost none of our Portland friends available because they're all at Wiscon or recovering from surgery or whatnot.

I would be very surprised if you weren't potting pelars, but I'm glad to hear you're still at it in London. I was reminded again of how much I love the spice scent of the leaves of the regal pelars. Man, if someone made a perfume out of that, I would wear it!

[farmgirl1146.livejournal.com]

Cliff will love the CD.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

I think he will; we had a great conversation at Orycon. I've been meaning to get to it for an age, but the computing setup hasn't been conducive until now.

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

We had huckleberries just a block from our house in Edmonds. I could collect enough for pie! I think I ate almost the equivalent while collecting.