Why do my knees and back hurt? Oh, yeah…

Two days, two people, one hundred nine plants planted. Exhausting, but so rewarding.

Plants from Cistus, DIG, Sky Nursery, Swanson's, Classic Nursery, Molbak's, Go Natives Nursery, Kruckeberg Botanical Garden, and divisions of our own stock.

Obsessed with Plants

I'm even more obsessed with plants lately than I usually am. With a large area in the front garden available for planting, plants seem to be the only things on my mind.

This beautiful foliage belongs to Actaea simplex Atropurpurea Group. We don't know the exact cultivar, but it's possibly Hillside Black Beauty.

 The steely purple-silver blooms of Allium christophii pair nicely with the flowers of an Itoh hybrid peony.

Clerodendrum trichotomum 'Carnival' will grow into a small tree. It has foliage that smells like peanut butter and small flowers that pack a big scent.

 This spiky gem is Eryngium venustum. There's nothing else that quite looks like this. Planting these is going to be somewhat of an adventure!

 Geranium 'Ann Folkard' is quite a rambunctious scrambler, its intense magenta and black flowers waving on long stems above golden foliage. The growth rate of this geranium is astounding.

A beautiful dark Siberian Iris, with luscious velvety petals. This iris has a very upright habit.

Ledebouria cooperi is a tasty rock garden bulb from South Africa. Love those stripes!

Dramatic foliage of Lorapetalum chinense 'Zhuzhou Pink.' The hot pink flowers of this Chinese Fringe Tree look great against the maroon foliage.

A variegated Nerium oleander with red flowers.

 Ugni molinae 'Flambeau,' or Chilean Guava, grows to about three feet by three feet. Variegated foliage and reddish stems pack a lot of pizzazz.

 Uncinia rubra 'Belinda's Find,' the New Zealand Red Hook Sedge, is a great, tidy, small-scale grass-like plant for mixed borders. When winters are mild, no spring maintenance is required.

Zanthoxylum piperatum, or Japanese Pepper Tree.

Another Siberian Iris. I think this is spectacularly beautiful.

Planting and Plants, Part 1

 Now comes the fun part.

This first bed, which welcomes visitors to our home, is now nearly completely planted. We will add sedums and other gentle ground covers, such as wooly thyme. Plants here include Kniphofia northiae, Lobelia laxiflora var. angustifolia, Heuchera 'Peach Flambé,' Solanum laciniatum, Euphorbia griffithii 'Fireglow,' Geranium 'Rosanne,' a terrestrial bromeliad whose name escapes me, Agave parryi var. truncata, Olearia lepidophylla, and Eryngium agavifolium.

These plants waiting placement include Agapanthus 'Midnight Blue,' Eucomis 'Sparkling Burgundy,' Hesperaloe parviflora, and Yucca rostrata 'Sapphire Skie.'

Some interesting foliage and texture from Gaura lindheimeri 'Siskiyou Pink,' and a variegated Ugni molinae. Our granite frog awaits final positioning.

This little cutie is Agave parryi var. truncata. This species is cold-hardy, but doesn't like winter wet. Some people build rain shelters over their agaves in the northwest, but we think we'll take our chances because of our good drainage. Those black spines are sharp!

This agave relative is Beschorneria albiflora. It needs to be planted away from the edge of the path due to its eventual size of 4-5 feet wide.

More perennials and grasses wait their turn.

So much more to do…

Remaking the Front Garden, Part 6

The crew is finished, the larger plants are planted, the sidewalks swept and washed, and the compost spread. It's starting to look like a garden.

 Here's the view from the street. There's still a lot of areas to plant with perennials, grasses, succulents, and groundcovers. We have some of that on hand, but we know we'll be making more trips to the nurseries we like.

In this view from the mailboxes, the tree on the left is Parrotia persica 'Red Vase' and the conifer is Picea orientalis 'Skylands.' Evergreen and flowering deciduous shrubs will eventually provide some screening from the street.

I'm already thinking of this areas as Kniphofia Knoll. Once these start to offset and flower, this area has the potential to be spectacular. The tree on the right is Magnolia grandiflora 'Little Gem,' a particularly upright cultivar.

Another shot of the giant Kniphofia northiae jungle-to-be.

We'll be spending a lot of weekends on our knees planting more things over the next couple of months, then installing soaker hoses everywhere.

In the meantime, lots of watering.

Plant Shopping

Now that the front garden hardscaping is nearing completion, it's time to do one of our favorite things: shopping for plants. The top photo shows part of the plants we found at Cistus Nursery, on Portland, Oregon's Sauvie Island. Lots of interesting things!

An assortment of perennials. We have a lot of ground to plant.

 This little cutie is a Pacific Northwest native, Erigeron glaucus, or beach daisy. This is a tough, tough plant that thrives with little attention. We love the flowers.

Monstrous red-hot pokers, Kniphofia northiae, native to South Africa.  These send up enormous flower spikes. The blue-grey foliage in front of them is Melianthus major 'Antanow's Blue.'

 Who wouldn't love this look? Plus, the foliage smells like peanut butter!

Out temporary nursery. Many things to plant…

The grey-green mass of foliage belongs to Zauschneria septentrionalis 'Select Mattole,' the most cold and wet tolerant of the California fuchsias (not true fuchsias). Profuse orange-red flowers will draw in the hummingbirds later this summer.

Clockwise from lower right: Hesperaloe parviflora, Beschorneria albiflora, Yucca rostrata 'Sapphire Skies,' Agave parry var. truncata, Picea orientalis 'Skylands,' Agave harvardiana, and Cryptomeria japonica 'Araucarioides.' The pot in the upper left holds a Callistemon viridiflora.

We're looking forward to playing with placing and planting these (and all the ones not shown here).

Remaking the Front Garden, Part 5

With the hardscaping about 90% complete, we are nearing the end of what we will have the designer/installer do. We'll then start figuring out where plants go, a fun process for us.

One of the things we're looking forward to is softening the overall look of all this rock and paving with green and woody things. We'll start with a few small-to-medium sized trees and a handful of shrubs and work from there. Figuring out plant placement and combinations is one of our favorite aspects of gardening.

A tall pot will go in the middle of that circle, probably with something dramatic in it. I wonder what it will be?

The first plant to be planted is this Parrotia persica 'Red Vase,' a Persian Ironwood tree. As gardeners, it was a real thrill to see the first plant go in! Parrotias have great fall color, and, with age, fascinating bark. In the spring, tiny red flowers appear on the bare stems, revealing its relation to the witch hazels.

The crew assure us it will be just one more day, then they will be finished.

Then the real fun begins…

Remaking the Front Garden, Part 4

 Larger rocks help define areas of interest around the circle and along the paths. More soil will be mounded in the beds to break the flatness.

The juxtaposition of rock and pavers creates interesting texture.

There will be a wide berm across the front. Once planted, it will form a semi-open screen that provides some privacy, yet allows views into the garden. This is also where all three of the major trees will be planted.

The front steps are now mortared and looking fantastic. We're really happy with these.