A Note To Michele: Deer Eat Jerusalem Artichoke Leaves

Michele,

I like the colors you have chosen this year. The bright colors really pop! Your garden is expanding and you have come so far with it since beginning a garden at this location. I'm impressed. I've enjoyed watching all your video walkthroughs as things progress. It looks fantastic!

I haven't added many new things in my garden this year. Like you, I need to divide large clumps of perennials. I'm concentrating on expanding the garden so I have more garden, less grass (and less mowing!) Here's a video of part of my garden. You'll see hostas, lady's mantle, scented geraniums, and bleeding heart. For some reason, I lost a lot of my lupine plants over the winter so I had no blooms this year. I suspect it was the temperature varying up and down. I also lost my allium- so disappointing!

The iris you sent me are blooming, however, only two survived of the whole batch. But those two will spread in time so I'm excited that at least those survived. Again I think it was our strange weather. The lilies you sent are doing fine. I expect they will bloom in July.

This year, the deer have been more common than in the past. My kids saw one last night as the sun was setting. Today when I went out in the garden, my Jerusalem artichokes had been defoliated! Only bare stalks remain. Sigh.

I've been working for a few years now to get a nice patch going and I was looking forward to seeing the pretty yellow flowers. I'm not sure what to do now. Do I cut them back? Will they grow again this year? If they do, will they be a snack for the deer again?  I don't know.

I feel honored the deer feel safe here. Not so honored they ate my Jerusalem Artichokes. But given a choice, I'll take the deer. Seeing one so close to the house is a magical experience. Here's one I caught on camera one winter.

It's about time for my little birds to return to nest in my garden. I think they are flycatchers, but not positive. Every year they raise their babies here. Here's a video from last summer of their babies leaving the nest.

That's all for now. I can't wait to see more of your garden as the summer continues.

~Caroline

A note to Caroline: More color this year in my urban Portland, OR garden

A view of the Woodland "Gulch" back garden

Expect the unexpected when your gardening in Portland, Oregon. It was hot this week , near 90's and I hear it it is dropping to the 70's in a few days. It has resulted in me harvesting peas with cherry tomatoes on my patio and at the community garden. That is a first for me. The photo above was taken in the "Gulch Garden". The one that I created from fighting blackberry bushes at the back of the property. I have started to only plant perennials because planting the area with annuals was a chore because I had to recreate the garden each year from the blackberries.

A view of the patio. I always create two rooms

Here is a view of the patio I am still working on. I have the space to create two outdoor rooms. One with wicker seating and the other with a patio table that I use as a potting area and place to dine. This year I decided to do a brighter color palette to create more of a tropical look. The bright orange lily and shanta daisies are now in bloom.  The gladiolas and calla lily look like they are next.

Lambs Ear gone crazy

So many perennial now need a new home. Like the lambs ear that has doubled since last year. Where to put it is a good question. It has been growing in full sun. Part of the "Gulch Garden" is very sunny and part is very shady. At the edge of the bed are succulents that also need some pruning as they are covering each other in hopes of gaining more territory. 

A bright splash of color is provided by nasturtiums

I loved growing these nasturtiums for my hanging baskets. They are very easy to grow and more economical for me than buying a pre-made basket at a garden center. They seem like a very versatile plant.

Here is a short video tour of the garden. Do you use a specific color scheme and if so what is it?