We’ve had a combination of mild temperatures and longer days, with snow and damp cold. This winter weather isn’t stopping the buds from growing or new things to come out of the ground! The images below start with a comparison of one day snow, one day no snow. Here’s what’s happening around the garden.
Also, next week I pick up more natives, and am very excited! May have over-shopped a bit without regards to whether the plant would have a home in my garden (though I thought I did okay with planning), so we’ll see. Coming up in this order from East Multnomah County Soil and Water Conservation District:
- Two vine maples (one in front, one in back, let’s see how they ‘take.’ These guys are a great native alternative to Japanese maple.)
- Five evergreen huckleberry, to go under osso berry and mock orange (delicious berries!)
- Couple of wild ginger (I think the ones in the front get too dry; so I’m going to plant some more in the shady damper backyard and see how that goes)
- Two [more] snowberry (I can’t help myself. Will plant either in the front, where I recently planted a couple in the fall, or in the back)
- Some Hooker’s Fairybells (lovely name for a lovely plant! Will plant among the osso berry/mock orange/evergreen huckleberry/oxalis bed)
- Woodland strawberry – the wild strawberry I planted in the front is doing well. I’ll try this as groundcover in the back.
Finally, we have chosen a place to site the chicken coop and run, where the compost pile is now. It gets a nice combo of sun and shade, and if we punch some holes in the fence, they’ll see some morning sunlight for egg production.
- Wintergreen’s red berries brighten up this early February Portland, Oregon snow scene.
- VERY happy red elderberry. I was going to pull out in fall (bc I’d prefer the blue elderberry and this one was a mistake) but it’s doing so well in this spot.
- Healthy kale
- Gorgeous kale keeps on giving
- Hopefully this winter broccoli will have something for us in spring.
- Will my poor Italian olive tree make it?
- Native coastal strawberries doing well getting established where I planted in a dry area under the Doug Fir.
- Fall-planted (under the Doug Fir) tall Oregon grape has flower buds! Success!
- Fall-planted tall Oregon grape has flower buds!
- Week after snow – up come what I call the ‘wild hyacinths,’ along with some strawberries and sword fern behind.
- Osso berry buds (one of first natives to bloom in spring)
- Here comes the thimbleberry buds! I hear it spreads viciously but I don’t care (for now). Just want it to make it through a year and give me BERRIES!
- Native oxalis peeking through. Planted in fall. Excited it’s doing ok bc it’s so fragile. It is a perennial though so let’s see.
- Salmon berry buds
- Week after snow – red twig dogwood stunner
- Abonimable kaleman.
- Blueberry or “snow berry”?
- View of winter garden
- View of winter garden
- View of winter garden
- Poor warm weather perennial.
Brine and Grit 