Another Before and After: A Winter Project

I don't think anything will top the experience of last week's post about Jimmy the Hummingbird, but in the spirit of gardening I shall carry on!

I wish to to share a winter project that's been rolling around in my head for some months. Winter can be a great time to plan projects and changes in the garden and sometimes actually do them. That is, when the weather cooperates. Luckily, where I live in zone 8b Portland, Oregon, our winters are (supposed to be) mild (just erase the Snowpocalypse from memory and we'll be on the right track here). At every chance I am outside. A few weeks ago in milder weather I started another project, which is to ADD MORE PLANTS in every available nook and cranny. Operation "Just One More" went into overdrive. Haha, I hear my husband sighing off in the distance as I write.

At some point after staring at this view for a couple of years, I imagined a line of ferns along the front of the green fence to soften the hardscaping. When my husband agreed, stating that it would help to absorb runoff from the eco-roof I was elated.

I figured I would simply remove---say---two rows of square pavers and have dirt underneath to work with. Add organic compost, mix in, and voila!

So I went to work removing the pavers. I had compost waiting in the wings so I hastily dumped it in without actually digging below in the trench. So the other day, it was time to plant. Then.....

Du'OH! I dug straight into old brick pavers.
There must be a few we missed when we installed the pavers in 2012. So I dug out a couple.

However, it soon became clear the two odd pavers were just that---just two pavers. There was concrete, too. I could deal with digging out pavers one by one. No...this was a war of Tamara vs. Two-plus Inches of Concrete. Based on the broken tools above, guess who won?

My wonderful husband stepped in. David vs. Concrete = A win for us. He went to work, mind you, after I had to remove all the compost I had so hastily laid down. Nice going, Tamara. "How are you going to do it?" I asked...silly me, like this! Sledge hammer and brute force.

Mission accomplished! Wow. At one point, about 1/4 the way in, David claimed with gusto that I would NOT be planting this any time soon as it seemed to be a two-weekend project. Well, he had it smashed out of there in an hour. What a man! Oh joy, I dashed off to Xera plants to go shopping since this was opening weekend and I clearly had blank dirt to plant in now. Thanks, David!

David Note: Two days later sore hips and arms suggest the Concrete won! : )

Yay! Their new retail space (as of last year) is open for the gardening year! If you haven't gone and are in the Portland area, please GO!

Since this is still only February and Xera's opening weekend, not every space was filled...not yet, anyhow. It will be soon, I imagine. Still, a fabulous selection and such friendly, local gardening advice. Plus, look at that table in the background to the right with all Arctostaphylos.
Plant lust right there. Plant lust!

So I came home with a Cyclamen hederifolium 'Xera's Silver', my first ever Cyclamen...I just love the silver leaves, and I have a dry shady spot to place this little beauty. I also picked up three Primula vulgaris 'Francesca' with green cool flowers...I saw it on the Xera website. Also in the haul a Helleborus x 'White Pearl' and a Pacific Northwest native Tolmiea menziesii 'Taft's Gold' or a golden piggy back plant. All for the new shady area.

I had a few plants in stand-by already for this project, a few native sword ferns, an evergreen huckleberry or Vaccinium ovatum, native kinnikinnick or Arctostaphylos uva-ursi and a couple of native Polypodium scouleri or Scouler's polypody ferns. A jeweled chain fern or Woodwardia unigemmata and Ophiopogon planiscapus or black mondo grass were to replace the rotted contents of a hanging basket.

 Messing around with planting placement.

 Final product.

 There's the evergreen huckleberry. My goal was to have mostly native plants that are evergreen and will fill in. I also have some bare root salal that I ordered from a native plant sale on its way, I plan to include that in between everything. It takes a while to grow, so I will keep the perennials in until the salal fills in then find new homes for the shady plants, which is not difficult to do...lots of shady crannies abound.

 Finished product again. Doesn't look like much now, but I am happy to at least see hints of green! Plus, it's discreet enough that it won't interfere with summertime activities in this well-used area of the garden.

What a sweet little hellebore. This should fill in nicely.

 And finally the newly planted hanging basket in mostly shade. A little black, a little green, a lot of happiness for me. And a huge thank you to my incredible and strong husband. On to the next project!

Happy Gardening!