garden98011's Blog

I am planning a garden party for garden guide members who want to met.  Since most of our summers get scheduled far in advance, I wanted to throw this in the hat.  It will be in August but I will confirm the date when I post the official invitation under "Over the Garden Fence" later tonight .  The theme will be " tapas bar" including festive drinks and a ton of fun.  Please keep your eye out for the invitation and rsvp soon.

Looking forward to meeting you!

Andrea

We in the PNW are not accustomed to long periods of bone chilling weather let alone snow alerts for two weeks.  I, for one, am tired of the occasional sunny day which causes me to run around like a mad woman expecting spring to immediately follow rather than another cold snap.  I have spent numerous hours flying through barren nurseries looking for the first flush of new plants-nothing, it's too cold!  I am almost considering purchasing a dog coat for my puppy(If you knew me-you would be shocked the thought crossed my mind!), it makes me sad watching her shiver when we take her outside-AUGH!

I know others deal with more days of this than PNWs.  I am not a pris, have experienced freezing cold weather in college (30year ago),  in Dekalb, IL , Froze in Venice and most every ski trip, but I prefer heated car seats & sunny garden days.  I even like gardening in warm spring rain-just not this bone chilling weather!  I am tired of looking at gardens on the web, books & catalogs.  I am tired of being inside-I want to be in the dirt.

Just had to vent-though it sounds more like a tantrum!

Andrea

Just booked tickets to London 5/19-29, we will celebrate by 46th birthday at the show....well, that is as long as tickets are available that day, have to book those yet.  I have not had a desire to visit London, love Italy, France, Austria,etc, but for some reason England does not entice me the least.  I adore my sister-in-law & will enjoy the time spent with her family, plus I appreciate traveling with my husband-huge history buff w/excellent recall, we will have a blast. 

I took three cuttings of my tropical hibiscus that I am over-wintering, new for me so we'll see how that experiment goes.  Because you are all inspiring me with the seeds, I  bought some annual vine seeds-the seem to be the fool-proof variety!

Cold, but sunny day.  Off to help my husband set up his home show booth in Bellevue.

Enjoy,

Andrea

 P.S. Today we also scheduled tours for July 12, of Blodel Reserve( http://bloedelreserve.org/) <
/a>  then off to Little and Lewis ( http://www.littleandlewis.com
/)  on the same day, to celebrate our wedding anniversary .  With the PNW Garden show next month(Mosaic2007 & I are going), I should be chock full of over zealous plans!

Under the guise of getting my mother out after a fall she took last week (18 sutures),  we ventured to a local nursery.  We were the only ones there roaming the greenhouses-most doors were shut because it was so dang cold.  I bought five gallons of calla lilies, to just have or what-why(?), the ground is still frozen so I cannot plant-it's a sickness this gardening fever.  Each pot had so many new shoots starting,  I couldn't resist.  They now reside in the garage where I'll pull them out daily, push them back in at night, until I can plant.

It's comforting to know this illness is not fatal and we have a support group here on GG!!! ~Andrea

We attended an auction this afternoon to support locals fighting would be developers of wetlands, etc near our house.  My husband donated design services and I gave five indoor plant gardens.  His went for a minute amount while the containers seemed to be the hit-they collected five+ times the amount it cost me to make them! Very fun, but I feel I won the best deal; Private After Hours Party for 10 at a vineyard in Woodinville includes tour (w/master), tastings, appetizers.  I love auctions, such a win-win for all!  I also love drinking champagne in the garden on a warm  summer night.  Looks like our party will 7/26/08 so I'll give you an update on Covington Cellars after that date!

On the garden front, the cold snap seems to have let up so tomorrow morning I am hunting laminum.

Recently read an article in The Seattle Times about the nursery near Tacoma I couldn't remember the name of-Jungle Fever Exotics.  So, if you live close and are so inclined, though small-they really do have a lot of great plants.  The article also mentioned Lotusland (lotusland.org).  I am wondering if others have visited-posted the question in "Over the Fence".  ~ Andrea

Okay, this is like sharing your personal journal-don't worry, no secrets here, though if you have any garden secrets to share, I am all ears. 

My garden is broken up into several "rooms".  I really enjoy the challenge of gardening with unusual plants, especially dealing with an abundance of shade with poor drainage.  We have recently remodeled our home which included new windows and cement board siding-translation:  many tromped plants when the guys left.  On the bright side, I now have an excuse to buy more plants! 

On a personal note, I am newly married (was a widow) to an amazing man who happens to be an interior/residential designer.  He has another project in mind for an addition,  which would mean redesigning part of the yard, yet again another opportunity to buy plants (w/o guilt!)  Combined, we have five children (15-24) , only one living with us (my 17yo daughter) and my mother who has Alzheimer's has an apartment here.   We have two dogs, two cats and visits from a grand-dog.  I am a bit worried about our new puppy, she loves to sprint through the dormant garden-eeck, more training ahead!

That's enough about me.  I would enjoy hearing any tips on keeping puppies out of the garden, favorite nurseries or gardens, even any hints about caring for an elderly mother w/Alzheimer's would be helpful!

Best,

Andrea