Buds, Bald Eagles and buddies.

We are nearing the end of the kids Spring Break from school.  So far our weather has been anything but spring like.  Yesterday alone we had sun, rain, hailstorms, thunder, lightening and then snow.  It's still been close to 10 degrees below normal.  Finally today we had a break in the rain, although very cold, I still wanted to see what the garden was looking like after all this crazy weather.  I was really happy to see that despite the weather the garden is still moving right along, a bit behind, but it's still going.

The first year for me to have the Greigii tulips bloom.  Are they usually this short?  The yellow is so bright.

Lots of tulips getting close to blooming.

One of the new Frittilarias from last year is close to blooming.

More Fritiallaria or Checkered Lily.

One of my new plants from the Northwest Perennial Alliance plant sale is this Tulipa turkestanica.

Magnolia 'Vulcan' is finally going to bloom.  This is it's third year in our yard.  Last year the buds were damaged by a late freeze.

Camellia japonica 'Kumasaka' with it's first flower opening.

Old-fashioned Bleeding Hearts (Dicentra spectabilis) are about a month behind, but they are finally close to blooming.

Yesterday I saw two Bald Eagles flying above our yard, today there were three and one seemed a bit smaller than the other two.  They appeared to just be soaring around and then eventually flew off.

Poor Gracie and Cookie haven't had much time to play because it's been so wet.  Sweet Pea got Cookie out to at least hop around the deck for awhile.  Gracie has gotten so good being around the rabbit, mostly just following Cookie around to smell him.

Tomorrow looks like the one and only day of sun this week so we'll be finding something to do outside.  Hoping that some of you are getting some spring like weather and enjoying the sun.

All words and photos in this post are property of A Gardener in Progress.

A good gardening weekend.

An unplanned and sport free weekend turned into a very fun one with friend and family time.  The weather was okay, at least Sunday was dry although breezy, cloudy and cold; I still managed to spend several hours outside doing some gardening.  Saturday a friend and I went to a talk at our local nursery on culinary herbs.  It was so interesting and I learned quite a bit.  Did you know that oregano (Origanum vulgare) is the culinary herb highest in antioxidants?  Many times higher than blueberries?  Or that Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis) tea is helpful with anxiety or insomnia?  Or how about that Sage (Salvia officinalis) leaves can substitute for a toothbrush if you're without one?  Needless to say my friend and I went herb shopping right after the talk ended.
It seems that more and more nurseries are offering free seminars and now that I've been to one I can't wait to attend more.  Most nurseries have email newsletters that are free and let you know about upcoming classes.
When I returned home my husband and I decided to take our girls on the ferry to Whidbey Island to the town of Langley.  If you live around here and haven't taken a trip there yet it's definitely worth the drive, just over an hour from Seattle.  

I took one picture of Mukilteo from the ferry as we were leaving, and then forgot to take anymore pictures.  Next time I visit I'll share more.  There are several very nice nurseries there and we had time to stop at one called Bayview Farm and Garden.  We found a lot of nice plants with really great prices.  I expected it to be pricey since it's on the island, but found it to be cheaper than the nursery by us.

Sunday was spent planting the plants that have been accumulating in the front yard.  I've been reading books and blogs for ideas on how to plant our new front raised beds.  I don't really want rows of vegetables since it's our front yard, but more of a cottage looking garden with all edibles growing in it.  It's difficult to see what's going on in this big bed but so far there are several herbs, bush sugar snap peas and beets (neither sprouted yet), two types of lettuce and mustard greens (all sprouted this weekend), dahlia tubers are in the ground (I read that dahlias are edible!), garlic, onions, Violas, a blueberry bush, and more.  Lots more will be planted as the weather warms.

I planted Hyssop, Purple Sage and Pineapple Sage together.

We already have 6 Blueberry bushes, but why not have more?  The berries freeze very well.  We added one 'Sunshine Blue' in each raised bed.  They only get to about 3 feet tall, are evergreen, are self fertile, have pretty fall color and are supposed to bear quite a bit of fruit.

I'm using terra cotta pots for herbs like mint and lemon balm which like to take over a garden if given a chance.

In this bed are more herbs, dahlias, Violas and a Blueberry Bush.  I've also planted Sweet Peas (not edible) on the trellis but will replace them with Scarlet Runner Beans when the weather warms.

I've planted an artichoke plant in the container on the right.  It will eventually need a bigger space.

Things are beginning to fill in around the rest of the front yard.  Every day I find more surprises, today I found poppy seeds finally sprouting!

We had hoped to make Mason Bee homes today, but ran out of time.  That will be something to do on one of the rainy days coming up.  It sounds like we will have lots more rain this week.   I can't wait for a sunny warm week, but at least we were able to get out for awhile today.  I'm hoping that sometime this month we'll be able to get the fence painted.

Hope you all have some time to garden this weekend.

All words and photos in this post are property of A Gardener in Progress.

Looking for color on a(nother) dreary day.

 We are back to the usual wet and gray days we've seen so much of lately.  It was so nice to see some dry days last week after weeks of gray, wet weather.  I'm glad I enjoyed the sun while it was here because the rain is back.  There are many rivers with flood watches and we are just about double our average rainfall for March.  Between rain showers today I took a walk around the yard to see what has changed, it seems that there are changes overnight during this time of year.  The apple and pear trees and blueberry bushes are all very close to blooming.  I found flower buds on Clematis 'Nelly Moser' and 'Miss Bateman' and other Clematises seem to just be taking off growing right now.  The tulips all have buds up above the leaves now.  I found that a few plants that were "missing" are now making their way through the soil.  I also found that weeds are just going crazy too, I just need a couple of dry days to take care of them.
Here is a bit of color I found today:

 Enjoying the view of our neighbors Forsythia.  Some years he cuts it way down and we can't see it, so glad we can this year.  The ground drops about 4 feet on the other side of that fence so this Forsythia is pretty tall.

 I like the view of the path from this angle.  Daffodils and Tete-a-tetes are all blooming, but facing the fence, Golden Mock Orange and the pretty leaves of the White Bleeding Heart all pop.

 Finally the Old-fashioned Bleeding Heart (Dicentra spectabilis)  has buds starting.  They are so behind and seem much smaller than usual.

 Muscari is just about ready to be picked for little spring bouquets.

 Pink Flowering Currant (Ribes sanguineum) is beautiful this year.  It has gotten so tall and is covered in flowers.  So far I haven't seen any Hummingbirds at it, maybe they don't like the rain either.

 Marsh Marigold in the pond which needs a bigger container.

 Navelwort (Omphalodes cappadocica) 'Starry Eyes'.

The flower from this Epimedium surprised me, it's so bright it stood out against the Crocus and Bluebell foliage around it.

Probably one of my favorite container plantings I've ever done.  It is so bright!

Looks like our next chance at a dry day is Sunday, otherwise it's rain all the way through next weekend.  I'm just hoping this spring won't be as wet and cool as last spring was.  It was hard on many of the plants (and gardeners).

All words and photos in this post are property of A Gardener in Progress.