Heddle and Hook : Mid summer report

Sunday, August 3, 2014

Mid summer report

I haven't posted for a long time.
I've taken pictures of the garden but just not getting around to posting.
It has been too hot and dry this summer. Just keeping plants in pots watered is usually taxing enough, now this year it is even the ones in the ground that need some, and the moles undermining some plants does not make it any better.
Do you know we are the home to the world's largest mole? The Townsends Mole.
It lives right here in this woodland garden. ( ok maybe only largest in North America, but I cannot believe it is endangered, at least not here, at least unless I get really, really angry.

But thankfully last week we had a downpour one day that broke the 2 month dry spell.
( ok, other areas around here were getting occasional rain, but it was ALWAYS missing us here in the convergence zone near the sound. )
Then yesterday we had a 15 minute deluge. We will take what we get thankfully.
The garden tour a few weeks ago went well. It was for the HPSW folks but the Edmonds in Bloom tour was going on that same day and a garden up the street was on that tour, so several groups thought it was here when they saw the garden and the HPSW garden open sign. So we had quite a few incidental visitors as well. Their comments were very positive and made us feel good, despite the tarps over the old leaking shed roof.

So anyway there might be some plants still viable for my September plant sale on the 19th and 20th most likely. And the Iris hybridizers, Ann and Dwayne Booth will have some of their Iris for the sale as well.

Then last evening, another of our garden pests showed its face. As I was walking up from the woodland, there was a Mountain Beaver chomping on some groundcover plants. they are not usually out in the daytime, but since I had my hose in my hand I couldn't resist squirting it with a blast of water--and you should have seen it scurry off.