New Sport: Extreme Gardening

Walking through the lavender patch on a recent morning after a rain, we started thinking about how crowded and chaotic it was getting. Fall is prime transplanting season for lavender, and after the first rain the ground is ready for digging.

Over the last couple years we've planted all different kinds, French, English and Spanish. After watching their growth patterns I've come to the opinion that Spanish, work better for landscaping then as row crops. They tend to sprawl around and make the rows uneven, and grow too close together which seems to cause mold. They bloom at a different time than the others, so we do love the way they extend the blooming season.

While I was chained inside to the computer over the last few weeks, Drew (it's time for a name change) was eager to get outside and do some planting. He attacked the job with a fervor that is rare to see, even after 14 years of watching him attack things with a fervor. Lost count early on, but in the span of 2-3 days he had transplanted probably in the neighborhood of 50 plants. He extended and evened out the rows, bringing order, reason and sanity to the design.

Personally, in the case of lavender, I like the consistency of planting groupings of all one kind together, for the way it creates an uninterrupted blanket of color when in bloom. My favorites are still Provence and Grosso. They grows in long stalks, have a wonderful scent, and the base of the plant stays neat and tidy like a pincushion. Drew prefers mixing different kinds, creating more of a mosiac of lavenders.

This led to a heated discussion, and a satisfying compromise was reached (which was diplomatic of him, considering he was doing all the work) to plant the irregular sized and different types in a row hedge along the south side. Inside the main rows are mostly Provence and Grosso (not sure how to tell those two apart). There are a few Munstead, the edible type, which are smaller and a deeper purple, still mixed in.

Here is the new, updated, "Lavender Patch 2.0":




And in case you hoped thought the Gopher Derby was long-abandoned, all this planting prompted a revival, and Drew trapped four gophers in the last few days! Here he's setting a trap.


He's baa---akk.... Mwah hah hah....

Pond Hooray

We've been working on a new pond, named after Lake Pend O'Reille in Northern Idaho where Popsey's sister lives. Pond Hooray is not quite as big as Lake Pend O'Reille, and you can't sink a submarine very deep in this pond. It's only about ankle deep. Too bad, but we don't really need a submarine I suppose.

The pond is in a low point below the spring where water gathers in the winter and flows away off the edge of the property. By expanding the area, the water will hang around, and we can use it to water nearby plants. We filled it with water from the spring and the well. It won't stay full on its own this time of year.

Popsey worked like a madman, with my help, for several intense mornings and evenings, planting the banks with the hardiest of aromatic herbs that have done well elsewhere. Most of them were grown here from cuttings.

I tried herding the birds down to Pond Hooray for their first visit, but they flat-out refused to leave the yard...they're barn sour. I picked up the duck and walked out the gate, assuming that the goose would follow. He was not pleased with that idea at all. He prefers to be right next to the duck, and any such forced separation is met with a cacophony of angry honking and head dipping.

Popsey solved the problem by grabbing them both up at once, a skill I have not yet acquired. They don't mind it, because they're together and that is all that matters in the world.


The three of them strolled down the hill in a tangle of beaks, necks and feathers.



In case you're wondering, his bump is very soft and squishy. It reminds me of those squeezy stress balls they sell on the counter at office supply stores. No, he won't like it if you squeeze it.



Mooka the steadfast sentry watches over her minions.




Honk honk hooray!

What the heck is growin' on around here?

You might be starting to suspect that I must not have much to post about these days. Au contraire. I'm overwhelmed trying to decide what to post next.

Got a new chip for my camera with 2 GIGABYTES of memory. Now I can take 1 trillion pictures before running out of room. This has changed everything. Instead of trying to hold still and get everything perfect if I want to get a good picture, I just take 500 pictures of one thing, and usually can find one that turns out okay. Quantity equals quality in this case. It's so professional.

Today I decided I'd better start taking small bites of the elephant, and not try and do it all in one post. So, first and foremost, our favorite, most brilliantly stupendous native wildflowers, wild azaleas, are blooming like crazy right now.




I'm sorry this blog is not scratch and sniff, because they smell heavenly.