Pacific Northwest Strawberries

I bought these lovely strawberry plants in a hanging basket last year, and transplanted them into a large container on the back patio last fall.  They thrived in the larger container, and they produced the most beautiful berries I've raised to date.  Don't you agree that these are truly gorgeous?  They are very sweet, and made their way into our strawberry-rhubarb pie last weekend.  Topped with Snoqualmie Gourmet Danish Vanilla ice cream, it was superb!

Black Sea Man Heirloom Russian Tomato Plant

This lovely Black Sea Man tomato plant came from Sky Nursery in Shoreline.  It's my first experience with this variety, and I'm hoping it will be a good season for it. It's a Russian heirloom certified organic tomato that yeilds rich mahogany-colored fruit with excellent, full-bodied creamy tomato flavors.

Good Dog--Stay!

Nala the Dog is a wonderful creature, very dainty and polite, and very well-mannered.  When we leave the house, we cover the couch with her favorite dog blanket to make her more comfortable.  Here she is, looking every inch the queen of our Maltby home.  She just celebrated her 11th birthday June 12.

Julia Child Roses in 2013

Each year, these hardy roses get taller and more beautiful.  They are rather wild this year, which is the way I like them, and they seem to have a mind of their own.  They are taking over the fence space as you enter the pergola into the pasture.

The Heirloom Garden at the End of June

Even though the weather has been rather cool and wet these last two weeks, most of the heirloom seeds are up in the garden.  The upcoming warmer weather should hasten their growth.

A Bag of Impatiens

Isn't this a novel concept?  Why plant impatiens in the ground when you can plant them in a bag and mount them on the fence?

This is a lovely thing to have on the pasture fence near the vegetable garden.

Flowers in Full Summer Bloom

Everything in the yard is alive this time of year!  Here is a sample of some of my favorite flowers at the moment--snapdragons, begonias, and weigela.

Getting Ready for the Snohomish Garden Club Tour in July

Soon I will be participating in the Snohomish Garden Club's Friendship Tour by opening up my yard for this year's tour.  Each member has the option to display their property for the club members.  Since I've been a member now for over two years, I decided to participate this year.  I've really been working hard this last year to finish both the house and yard, and I've almost met my goal!

The tour started several weeks ago, and I drove out to north Snohomish today to view the yard and gardens of a fellow member.  It's such a great way to get to know the people better, and also to get lots of great ideas for my own yard.

Here's the backyard this weekend, with the grass mown, a new border of impatiens planted, and everything in full, lush bloom. 

The New Picket Fence is Complete

Brian finished painting the last pickets of this very long 240-foot white picket fence this weekend.  He used a total of 10 gallons of white paint on the cedar Gothic 4x4's and the pickets, which was more than he used to paint his entire house.  Thank you, Brian, for your wonderful craftsmanship!

Stained Glass Windows in a Country Church

These lovely stained glass windows in our church date back to the late 1800's, and are such a beautiful sight on Sunday mornings as the organist plays a lovely prelude to get us ready for worship. 

New Adobe Sunrise Roses

We bought two Adobe Sunrise roses last year, and they bloomed well into the month of September.  So, we once again visited the Antique Rose Farm last weekend, and bought four more Adobe Sunrise roses.

We are preparing the beds and compost and rose food this week, and soon we'll have a lovely border of these brilliant-colored floribunda roses to admire.

 

View From the Orchard

Here's my newest "old" Adirondack Chair I found at M&M Antiques in Monroe, nestled under the cherry trees in the orchard/pasture.  The fuschia in the center has more blooms on it than any plant I've ever had before--it's lovely.

Isn't this a great place to sit, drink iced tea, and listen to the birds?

Vegetable Garden Progress

The new cedar fence extended to the vegetable garden also, so the carpenters were careful not to disturb my just-planted seeds on Memorial Day Weekend.  It looks like everything survived the new construction, and everything but the carrots are coming up nicely.  The rhubarb, while tall and leafy, is very small this year.  Hopefully the stalks will get larger as summer progresses.  It still tastes wonderful in our first pie of the season last weekend!

Shade Garden in the Pasture

This little shade garden space is now three years old, and the sedum and hemlock and hostas are doing well.  I just finished weeding it for the first time this Spring last weekend, and it looks like I'll have to keep at it a while longer.  It looks great with the new cedar fence behind it.

My Cabin in Late Spring

There's a lot of activity in the yard and pasture this time of year--the grass is a verdant green, everything is in bloom, and my vegetable garden is starting to appear.  The tiny plants are reaching for the sun, and get a little help from me occasionally when I turn on the hose in the evening to give everything a little moisture.

The shed is emptied of its summer furniture (snug all winter in the great little structure), and I'm in my 'cabin' often, reading my garden books,checking on supplies, and just relaxing.  My laptop can pick up the wireless signal from the house, so I can even do gardening research!

The Antique Rose Farm

This lovely Snohomish Rose Farm on Springhetti Road is a gem of a place to see lovely roses and to walk the property, which includes an old barn filled with antiques.  The owner's Springer Spaniel Dakota had a litter of six pups two years ago, and two of the pups are still on the farm, entertaining the guests and chasing their mother around.  Maybelle is the most lively of the two puppies, and she gave our dog a run for her money yesterday as Nala was sitting in the truck, minding her own business!  There was a lot of barking for a few moments as the two dogs viewed each other through the truck windows.

Here are a couple of shots of rows and rows of roses in full bloom, and Maybelle at the bottom.

A New Rose

Yesterday was warm and sunny, a perfect Spring day--so we headed down to the Antique Rose Farm.  Every rose on the property was blooming, and it was overwhelming!  Color and fragrance were everywhere, and all of the lovely farms in the area stretched as far as the eye could see.  We originally headed there to buy four small rose bushes, but once I saw the rose below, all other plans were abandoned.

This incredible four-year-old climbing rose is called "Renae", developed by a  Mr. Ralph Moore, famous for his mini roses.  I'm hoping that someday he’ll be famous for 'Renae' as well. Renae was a childhood friend of Mr. Moore's daughter, who died of a serious illness. Renae’s memory lives on in this sweet rose.