Enjoy spring in the Pacific Northwest through Linda Skyler's spring photos!
"Spring sprung early in the PNW this year. With the exception of torrential rains, flooding, and horrendously damaging windstorms, the Winter has been mostly mild. Gardening on an Island in Puget Sound offers temperate climates and joyous gardening. A little more Spring to add to all of the beautiful photos sent in by so many talented gardeners – and photographers on GPOD."
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Comments
Congratulations on a wonderful and colourful garden Linda. Nice use of pots. Do any birds nest in that box?
Thanks Frank. I use a lot of pots due to the root bound nature of this property from the giant Fir trees and everything does quite well in them. Unfortunately none of my feathered friends have laid claim to that little bird house.
Interesting Linda. Over here in Oz (4.00am on Tuesday 18th at the moment - cannot sleep!!!!!!!) our native birds require hollow logs of different sizes (depending on the species of bird) at the entrance before nesting in breeding boxes.
All of our small native birds seem to prefer a small hole they can just fly straight into as it deters the predators from their eggs/babies. As we have been overcome with raccoons and coyotes all of the ground nesting birds have been disappearing - along with many domestic cats!
An amazing array of plants! So lush. How long has your garden been established?
Glad you enjoyed Carol. We have lived here about 40 years and I have been fanatically gardening for 30 or more. It really is addictive!
Linda, simply magical. PNW envy...from an east coast gardener!.
Thanks Diane, this is truly a great place to garden - as long as we have water!
You have such an interesting garden, Linda. I find myself lingering over a picture and staring so hard as I try to absorb the abundance of plant material that grows so generously for you. I love the presence of the curving trunked specimen in photo #4...curious what it is? and the story behind it? Did you choose to prune it so that it became a living sculpture? Are those primroses in picture #7? Their stems are so long...makes the flower heads look like they are just floating in the air. Everything looks beautiful.
Hi Michaele, the weird bush in #4 is actually a very, very old Rhody, at least 60 years old, about 20 years old when we got it and I just keep any emerging shoots plucked off the trunk and it just continues to grow. I cut off all new growth on the top every year or it would be gigantic as it is a tree Rhody. The primroses are 'Candelabra Primroses' and the flowers emerge in ongoing layers up the stem and are really beautiful for quite some time in the Spring. Glad you enjoyed.
everything looks so lush and beautiful. You have a lovely garden. thanks for sharing. We had snow flurries and frost here in southern Ontario last weekend....we are wondering if we will get spring this year!
It is hard to imagine snow this time of year! I hope for you MaryAnn that your Spring will be approaching soon and you and your gardens can enjoy some warmth.
yes snow and frost on May 15th combined with 60km/hour winds was discouraging.....by yesterday afternoon it warmed up and the gardens survived (except basil froze)....now to have some fun playing in the garden. I really enjoy this group and the awesome gardens we get to see....so encouraging!
Linda, your use of color and texture is mesmerizing! What is the shrub with the yellow flowers? I'm guessing it's a Rhodie, but I'm not sure. I'll be going over and over these pictures to see what Michaele sees. She is a seer and I know I miss things until I see her post! Thanks for sharing!
Hello Rhonda ~ the yellow is indeed a Rhody. Even I miss things in my garden and are forever forgetting where I planted something!
Well, Linda, those are some *big* exceptions to a mild winter. Looks like your amazing garden has come through with a flourish. Marvelous, from the golden leaved Acer to the wonderful pop of the large leaves of the Rodgersia: all a feast for the eyes. Like Michaele, that curvaceous trunk caught my eye. Pieris? Looks awesome. I like the lemony-yellow Rhodie, too. It's such an unusual color. Your fern collection always catches my eye, too. Looks like some giant crosiers next to the birdhouse. Thanks for the garden update from Puget Sound!
Thanks Tim. That curvy trunk is actually a Rhody. It's about 60 years old and was at least 20 when we got it from an old nursery going out of business and already had that interesting curve. And, I did not know that the Rodgersia were so invasive, did you? Mine this year, after many years in the ground, are popping up all over and I am pulling them out as they are too large for their area. No room for rude plants in this garden! The giant ' Royal Fern' Osmunda, by the bird house, has really grown this month and is now about 5' tall and very wide as it has multiplied and I have to tie it back. With the unusual warm weather we have had a jungle is starting to appear!
Oh no! Aggressive Rodgersia? I've only one, and it is only in its third season. I guess I'll be watching to see if it gets out of bounds. Maybe my cold winters will slow it down. I love those leaves, from the crazy emergence of the leaves looking like miniature Gunnera, to the wild bronzy color of the early foliage, to the bold green statement of summer!
Me too.
It's a happy morning when your garden is featured, Linda! Beautiful! I always do a search on your name to satisfy my appetite to see more photos of it, and am never disappointed. Love everything, want those primulas! I hope you didn't have too much damage from the wild winter weather. Though my southern Vancouver Island garden is not very far from yours, I'm already coping with early drought and rains are a distant memory.
Thank you May. Winter weather was mostly constant cleanup for us, right up to Spring. My son had a 100' foot fir tree fall across the middle of his cabin causing damage. Very scary, but when you live amongst the GIANTS, it is always risky! We will all hope for more Spring rain.
There are so many interesting plants in these photos, and they are well placed as companions to each other.
I do wish people would label the plants--I know it is not always possible to remember the variety, but some would be better than none.
Your garden is amazing as always Linda. All your beautiful plants look so healthy. What a lot of work edging your beds with the bricks. We are experiencing drought on Vancouver Island and praying for some rain.
Thank you Catherine, yes, those bricks were my husbands project one summer - all 500 and some of them! and I do love them. We will all hope for more rain this Spring/Summer.
Linda, what a great collection of plants you've put together. Like May on Vancouver Is., we are experiencing the beginnings of another summer of drought here on Whidbey so it's work to keep our gardens looking as lush as yours. I'm also impressed that the slugs/snails have not gotten to your many beautiful Hosta. Despite the lack of rain, wind storms and pests, the PNW is still a fun place to garden, wouldn't you agree?
Oh yes, I do agree and Whidbey is such a wonderful island with so many beautiful gardens.
I 'try' to select hostas that the slugs won't be wild about and most often it works. Thanks Linda
I'm turning into a real evangelist for the hosta 'Guacamole' which doesn't seem to be a favorite of slugs ...plus it seems to get big and lush within a couple of seasons. Do you have that variety and, if so, do you give it a thumbs up?
Absolutely! Well Michaele, photo #9, to the right of the yellow Rhody is my 'Guacamole' hosta and it is really a winner. That photo was taken shortly after it begin to emerge early this Spring and it becomes huge very quickly as it is now enormous. You can't really see the coloring so well in the photo but it is a lighter green with darker green around the edges. It is a beauty.The leaves are quite puckered and the slugs have never touched it. It is one of the last hostas to bloom, the blooms are quite tall AND fragrant. I have to divide this hosta every Spring as it becomes so large and I don't have much room. It would be lovely in your gardens as I know you have a lot of space and it would be really beautiful. How is your Princess Wu (did I spell that correctly?) doing this year. Mine is now in it's second year but is not really looking very impressive yet. Hope you find Guacamole ^_^
Ahh, have no fear, Linda, 'Guacamole' is living the good life in several places in my TN garden. I had a funny experience with it in that the first one that I bought about 10 years ago just wasted away on me. By the 3rd year, it was so puny, I dug it up and tossed it in the compost pile. I'm not sure what tempted me to try it again but the 2nd one thrived and became a favorite. I've bought several additional ones through the years and they all have become large lush beauties. Yours by your yellow rhodie is picture perfect and looks beautiful.
Well great. I didn't realize you were already heavy into Guacamole.Isn't it fun to watch them mature, wish I had more room for their full potential.
Oh, and you asked about my Princess Wu. It is doing fine and I can tell its eventual size will be impressively large but it is not getting there in a hurry. How about you...do you have a 'Wu'? Yikes, I feel like I am reading aloud from a Dr. Seuss book!
Yes I do, but it is not so impressive in this it's second year. I know it will eventually become huge though. I really must stop buying Hostas! or buy more property!!
Hi Linda, my gardening friend! Once again you made my socks roll up and down! Its always a real treat to see your gardens! Looks like you have been really enjoying the weather we have had! Have fun and enjoy the cooler weather!
Hi Jeanne, isn't it fun! I know you have been out in yours 24/7 also. Can't wait to see all of your new areas!
Thank you Diane. The 'shed' is actually a smallish 'dorm' type room with a loft bed used in past for returning 'children' from school. Now one of my sons uses it for his office, which is great as I love seeing him more often.
So lush & gorgeous... Was just imagining walking through your garden, just studying, bonding with all those gorgeous plants. Beautiful job with the combinations. Lovely
Thanks so much. It really is a passion!
Wow Linda! i have only superlatives to describe your garden: lush, flourishing, abundant, healthy. So many interesting specimens too! I'm having trouble finding a favorite.
I really can never find a favorite either - I just love then all! like little children! Thanks for all your nice descriptive words PC.
So sorry I'm late to the party, Linda, there just weren't enough hours in my yesterday! Your gardens are always such a feast for the senses, they are magnificent is all ways imaginable. You might just be the Queen of foliage and texture ;) Love it all!
Thanks so much Sheila, so glad you enjoyed. I do love everything foliage and have so little sun that it works great for me.
love it... In Cloverdale BC and like you try to stay with plants that reflect the west rainy coast and do well here!
I love you garden. Isn't it great living in the PNW? I live in Newcastle, WA
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