Twelve Roses and Two Weeks Away

Twelve roses (at least) off one main stem!

There's nothing else to say. Just look at the picture. Awesome!

Growing Potatoes

This April, I attended the Seattle Green Festival. One of the presentations I attended was "Building the Green Economy" by Jason Mark, organic farmer and editor of Earth Island Journal. Mark discussed the need to move away from an economy based on exploiting nature to one based on restoring nature. At the beginning of his presentation, he showed pictures of different crops such as potatoes, broccoli and apple trees. With each picture, he asked the audience to raise their hand if they could identify the plant. He also showed a picture of some famous corporate logos such as the Nike swish and the Apple Computer apple and asked who could identify those. This illicited a knowing laugh from the audience.

His point, of course, was to show how much more attuned we are with corporate images than with the actual food that sustains us. For myself, I recognized the broccoli and the apple tree, but not the potato. The sad irony here is that my great-grandparents were Irish farmers who were forced to leave Ireland during the Potato Famine, and their great-granddaughter couldn't even recognize the crop that so profoundly impacted their lives.

In tribute to my heritage (and because I had some potatoes in my pantry that started growing eyes), I am growing potatoes for the first time in my raised bed vegetable garden. My daughter, Thalia, is also growing potatoes in a little pot in the front yard. At this point, all of the potatoes are doing well, but my daughter's are about twice the size of mine. (Due perhaps to the better potting soil in her pot?)

Below are pictures of both her potato plants and mine. The broadleafed plants by them are a mystery squash that came up in my not-quite-fully-cooked compost.

The Joys of Free

After three years of waiting, my hydrangea has finally bloomed! Currently I have over seven blooms. Not surprisingly with my acidic soil, my blooms are a stunning deep blue.

I got my hydrangea for free in a plant swap at the East Side Community Garden. This picture features several plants, the hydragea, daylilies, daisies, irises(not blooming) and the extremely prolific mystery plant in front of the daylilies, that came from that swap.

Not only do I enjoy free plants, but I have the pleasure of meeting other Olympia gardeners and watching their plants thrive in my garden.

Summer Walks and Roses

Now that summer is here and the rain is gone, I am able to really enjoy my roses, rather than simply removing diseased leaves. I currently have a yellow floribunda rose, red climbing roses, red miniature roses, and yellow and pink tea roses. The roses shown are my smallest, the minature red, and my largest, the yellow floribunda.

Another joy of summer is exploring the many parks in Olympia. These parks provide wonderful inspiration for the gardener. This afternoon, my children and I went for a walk at Watershed Park. We are very lucky to have this wonderful little urban forest right here in our neighborhood.

Following the shady winding paths and relaxing by gently trickling streams provide the perfect end to a day of gardening. My daughter, Thalia, collected many little treasures along the way.

The Wonderful World of Sedums

I am a collector of sedums. There is something that draws me to these tiny waxy-looking succulents. From Autumn Joy to Ice Plant to Oregon Stonecrop, I love these little plants. So far I have collected over ten varieties, but I don't know what all of their names are.

One of the reasons why I may have trouble identifying them all is that my soil is acidic and may be impacting their color so I can't easily identify them through pictures on the Internet. On the flip side, I have some really cool looking red and yellow sedums.

This first photo includes seven varieties of sedums including Oregon stonecrop (in the front), hen and chicks, and Autumn Joy. If anyone can tell me the names of the other four sedums behind these, toward the miniature rose, I would be most appreciative.

This next photo features a very yellow sedum surrounded by Love in the Mist with Rosemary and Kinnikinnick in the background. If you look really closely, you will also see a small bit of Oregon stonecrop in the bottom left corner.

The third photo actually features the same yellow sedum, this time surrounding potted carnations. You may notice how much less yellow this sedum is in the pot. This is because it is in regular potting soil and not the heavy, clay, acid soil common in the Pacific Northwest.

Does anyone know what this yellow sedum is called?