August 2018. Hot. Dry. Smoky. Thirsty plants

and thirsty people. It seems the watering goes on forever. By this time, at the end of August I’m about to give up. I might keep watering the tomatoes and pumpkins. They are still juicy and fresh. Even though soil is parched, the plants keep on going. Sunflowers are bursting open. Rudbeckia are shining their golden petals towards the sky. Roses are still pumping out petal after petal of fragrance and bloom. Herbs are in flower, drawing in beneficial insects that zoom through the garden. It’s harvest time!

January 2016 This Northwest winter is nothing to complain about. It’s dark, but that just makes the sun a secret pleasure when it shines.  It’s cold, but I rarely have to zip up my coat so it’s not that cold. The crisp white snow and crystalline frost usually melt into puddles within a day. It’s not as easy to play disc golf, but with rubber boots anything is possible. Now I’m lucky to have a temperature controlled 65° greenhouse to work in during the week.  Growing young fuchsia plants, taking bacopa cuttings and learning which parasitoid attacks which species of whitefly on which fuchsia leaf is a constant stretch and always an adventure. But the best part of January, maybe the only thing that keeps this month alive, is the witchhazel in bloom.  This crazy plant that puts out a winter flower and fills the air with hope.  Spring is just around the corner.

August 2013.  Now it’s summer time and the livin’ is easy.  Fish are jumpin’ and the cotton is high.  Music keeps floating through my head as I walk past the dreamy gardenia, the passionate roses and the flowers that come in every imaginable color known on earth.  As I walk through the neighborhood there are so many plants that draw my attention.  Sachet purple lavender,  shining golden eonymous, sea blue cypress, clean white lilies, deep red roses, peeling, papery birch, and luminous hydrangeas.  There’s a secret waiting to be discovered around every corner. Let’s go on a plant walk!

March 2012.  I like the idea of hiding bits of information within my blog.  Here is a little bit of eye candy for spring, are you salivating already?  What is your favorite part of this season? When the rain finally stops? When the American Idol winner gets chosen?  When the smell of freshly cut grass floats through the neighborhood?  I like the light, the longer, brighter light.  The scent of flowering flowers, the smiles at the sun. I like stripping off all the winter layers, the polar fleece and long underwear. Suddenly hope shimmers all around us.