Early Summer at Chickadee Gardens

As June was a record-breaking month for high temperatures in Oregon and coupled with little rain, summer arrived like a flash of lightning. Best to try to capture it before it fades into high summertime. So, let's take a quick tour around the front and back gardens to glimpse a few plants of interest this hot time of year.

First up: In the back garden, the Armeria maritima or sea thrift had a banner year. Maybe it was due to the hot spring and extra sunshine.

This photo of the Hydrangea quercifolia was taken in early June. Now the blooms are entirely open and covered in bees. We love the bees!

Blue on blue, or azul on azul in this case, as the the painted wall is the garden shed, a.k.a. Casa Azul à la Frida Kahlo.

The Knautia macedonia has been lovely this year. 

One of two Astelia 'Red Gem' plants in the garden. This one has stayed pretty much the same since its planting in 2013. Seen here planted with Sedum purpurem and Sedum oreganum, both Oregon natives.

A lovely color combination of Mimulus auruntiacus and orange sedge. The Mimulus or sticky monkey flower is in a pot, is native and this particular plant seems to be an apricot color, whereas the label was marked as orange. No bother, it's still lovely.

A shot of Casa Azul with eco-roof number two on top. Check out the Coreopsis which was self-sown, so cheerful.

Agaves, jasmine, Lonicera involucrata or twinberry, and a bench.

 The container on the table was a find at our recent Garden Blogger's Bazaar where about 10 of us sold garden-related goods and plants to the general public. I scored it from Danger Garden and it's my new favorite pot. No, it's not terra cotta but rules are made to be broken sometimes.

 Eco-roof taking on some hot hues due to hot weather stress. Fireweed was a volunteer, as were the two Penstemon 'Husker Red' seen flopping over. They were placed exactly like candlesticks on the roof, it was quite funny. I think some birds were having a go at us.

 Hey, guess what decided to bloom? The Yucca pallida, purchased at Cistus Nursery last year. 

 Bird's eye view (from the eco-roof).

Echinacea purpurea 'White Swan' is showing off its form.

The teeny tiny veggie bed is coming along nicely. I noticed my first green beans, grown from seed, are coming along. Here, required in Portland, is kale with some lavender in the background to attract pollinators. 

Here's our Christmas in July tree. The Eccremocarpus scaber or Chilean glory vine has not only overwintered but climbed up through the Cunninhamia lancelota tree to adorn it with its orange baubles. It's a favorite of the hummingbirds so I let it climb where it will.

Moving to the front garden:

The Verbena bonariensis has sown itself into a kind of fence along the edge of the hell strip this year. I like the effect. 

Front porch plantings look pretty much the same. I'm not a big flower person for pots, I guess I'm more of a low-maintenance person and that means these guys.

Out front in the yellow garden, a fairly new heather is putting on some great growth. This is Calluna vulgaris 'Velvet Fascination', one grown by Little Prince of Oregon.

The Eryngium 'Sapphire Blue' always attracts lots of honey bees.

Here is a wonderful little addition to the yellow garden that I added two, maybe three years ago. It's Oenothera macrocarpa ssp. Nana, or primrose. I purchased it from Xera Plants, but I haven't seen it available for sale this year. I'm sure it will be back again at some point. It's not pictured with its bright, clear yellow blooms, but they are gorgeous and each lasts a day. I love it. Velvety soft leaves, slow grower, forms a long tap root. Great plant.

My new favorite nasturtium, Yeti - seeds purchased from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, you can find a link here. Blooms and blooms and blooms. I am afraid this scorching heat has taken its toll, but it will likely recover.

The ornamental oregano is happy. Wowsers. This has really filled in and will soon take over the north side of the yellow-garden wall, so it's doing its job quite well, thank you very much. Dies back completely in the winter and spreads more each year.

One of several yuccas that are putting on all kinds of new growth. In the background is the Leptospermum lanigerum 'Silver Form' (wooly tea tree), also from Xera Plants. It takes to pruning well, a good thing as it tends to reach out for the sun, and I want it to grow up. I have since pruned surrounding shrubs to bring in a bit more light to satisfy this Australian native.

Blooms from Digitalis lutea. I sowed seeds last year and this year I have a dozen or so of these sweet yellow foxgloves blooming. 

The yucca forest.

My Cotula hispida fields are slowly turning into Sempervivum arachnoides fields as the Cotula seems to be a bit picky, and I apparently can't give it what it wants. The semps, on the other hand, seem quite happy.

A bit of the garden near the front door that I somehow rarely photograph, I guess due to the fact that it's mostly shade and difficult to get a good shot.

The Asclepias speciosa or showy milkweed is stronger than ever this year. We did see an actual monarch butterfly floating by a month or so ago, but no eggs nor caterpillar. I still look every day for one. There's a great article in this quarter's Pacific Horticulture magazine about gardening and attracting butterflies and how leaving our plants undisturbed seems to be key to attracting them. We probably inadvertently wash away eggs when we water, something I hadn't even thought about. Butterflies are very sensitive to this and won't come around and lay eggs if the territory seems too hectic to them. They seek out undisturbed land, so gardens are a tough sell for butterflies. Still, I plant it for the pollinators.

Here's a new to me crocosmia - Crocosmia x crocosmiflora 'Solfatare' or 'Solfaterre'. I purchased these from Gossler Farms and boy do I love them. Darker foliage and yellow apricot flowers that now are just starting to appear.

The two big shrubs out front rarely bloom as they usually get pruned before they have a chance. This year they must have done so in secret as there are a few clusters of these gorgeous berries that appeared out of nowhere. This is Myrica rubra and a lovely, lovely shrub/tree.

Pictured here is a detail of the Leptospermum lanigerum 'Silver Form' flowers. So very sweet and prolific this year.

The second Astelia 'Red Gem'. This one is much larger and east facing, planted in the ground. It's done very well so far (as far as hardiness is concerned). However, we haven't had a brutal winter since I've planted it so we'll have to wait and see. For now, it's a keeper.

A parting shot of the casa with a few of the potted trees and plants in good form so far.

It's been a great spring and summer, I have to say, but boy, it's been hot. It really seems that drought and heat waves have hit the Pacific Northwest. We have broken many heat records these past three weeks with record high "low" temperatures, prolonged 90-plus degree days and zero water in sight. I know many of my gardening friends who have given up on watering completely. I have slowed down and luckily many of my plants are drought-tolerant, but not all and I have many pots that as you all know dry out quickly. This all confirms for me my next garden will definitely be xeric - much more like Greg Shepherd's of Xera Plants which we visited a couple of weeks ago. I can't see maintaining hydrangeas in the long run if this is the way it's going to be.

Whichever way the weather ultimately ends up going, I enjoy the drought-tolerant plants and plan to go that route, so it's nice to document the garden I do have now as it goes through seasonal changes - even if they are two months ahead of schedule. The crape myrtle is getting ready to bloom and I've seen them in full bloom elsewhere in the city.

So that's what's happening at Chickadee Gardens these days. Thank you for reading and as always, happy gardening!