Daylilies

We've lived in this house for over ten years and this is the first year we're noticing some of the plants that came with the house. Like these daylilies, for example. We actually had to go back and look at old photos to find them, because we had no recollection of them even being there. We certainly didn't plant them.

Here they are in the remodel chaos in Jun 2012.

We've done absolutely nothing to care for these plants. In fact, during the remodel, they had all kinds of remodel debris piled on and around them. And we've certainly never divided or watered them. They've probably gotten a little water when we water the blueberries.

Anyway—the point of the post—Sharon was thinking, those daylilies look so great after more than ten years of neglect, I should look into getting more for our landscape project. And maybe I should see if they come in different colors...

Well, holy cow, was she ever shocked to discover absolutely thousands of daylilies in a rainbow of colors and in lots of different shapes. There is an auction website solely dedicated to selling daylillies. Folks obviously are serious about their daylilies; they must collect them. We aren't to that point (yet). We were just looking for some dry part-shade tolerant flowers for our backyard.

Sharon found a business online, Schreiner's Iris Gardens, located in Salem, Oregon. When she discovered they were having a summer sale on their daylilies, she decided to give them a try. (Their sale lasts until 9/1/2019 in case anyone else is interested.) She spent hours scrolling through their daylilies and, with Jeff's help, managed to narrow it down to four to order. There were so many more that made a tour through her shopping cart, but she decided to keep the budget to $100.

The flowers we picked, because they went well with our other plant purchases, were

• Ledgewood's Jumpstart
• For Aunt Marian
• Burnin' Down the House

Here is our current plant collage. Not everything is purchased, so some plants may change.

She also ordered a purple daylily for the parking strip up front, Blue Racer. Plus she had insufficient resistance and bought a few purple irises. The order, with shipping, was just over $100.

Hidden Garden Plans

Sharon spent quite a bit of time during the last week planning the area behind the garage. We have taken to calling it our hidden garden. Sharon did most of the research because it's the kind of thing she likes to do.

We don't have any kind of software that helps with this process, so we winged it with pictures of the plants laid out on photographs. Excuse how unprofessional they look. LOL

We ended up choosing a Japanese maple to plant in the planting bed in front of the wall. Our current plan is to get an Acer palmatum ‘Sherwood Flame,’ but we could probably be persuaded by a 'Bloodgood.' We like them both.

We're going to go ahead and list the plants because it helps us later when we go shopping, or have questions about the plan, so here goes...

The Japanese maple is mostly transparent so you
can sort of see the plantings behind it.

In the planting bed directly behind the garage—in keeping with the color scheme—we're hoping to put in two hellebores: one burgundy, and one apricot. Of course, since most of the varieties out are patented, we're not really sure what we'll be able to find this fall when we go shopping. At the moment, Sharon thinks she could buy:

• Helleborus x hybridus 'Red Sapphire’ OR Helleborus 'Rome in Red' Honeymoon® series OR Helleborus 'Red Racer'
• Helleborus x ‘Apricot Blush’ Winter Jewels® OR Helleborus 'Tropical Sunset' Honeymoon® series OR Helleborus x ‘Golden Sunrise’ Winter Jewels®

Apricot Blush Group

Red Sapphire Group

We're also going to plant quite a few Heucharas because they provide some great color and tolerate mostly shade. Sharon actually already ordered some on clearance (oops); she could not resist $6 a plant. She ordered the Heuchera ‘Cajun Fire’ because she liked that the color changed throughout the season. Also, the color change will be out of sync with the Japanese maple, which will hopefully be really fun.

She also ordered a couple of Heuchera x 'Carnival Peach Parfait'. And if we run across them, she'll probably buy a couple of Heuchera x 'Caramel'.

The iris in the corner is an Iris x pacifica ‘Big Wheel’.

The larger shrubs we plan to plant along the back fence:

• On the right side, we're planning to plant a Rhododendron 'Seaview Sunset' OR Rhododendron ‘Honey Butter'. (The picture is of the Seaview Sunset Rhododendron.)
• To the left of that, we're thinking about putting in a Ribes x gordonianum (Flowering Currant). It has coral-colored flowers that are really pretty.

In front of the wall, to the left of the maple, we plan to plant a Physocarpus opulifolius 'Hoogi018' (Angel® Ninebark).

We would also like to install some sort of trellis on that ugly cinder block wall. If we manage to get something put up, we're expecting to plant a Lonicera ciliosa (Orange Honeysuckle) because it is a native, and will tolerate dry shade once it's established.

The rest of the beds will be filled in with a variety of plants, as we can find them. (This is a list of possible plants, we won't end up with all of them. This is just a starting point for when we go shopping.):

• Adiantum x tracyi (Tracy's Maidenhair Fern)
• Aquilegia caerulea 'Swan Pink-Yellow' (Columbine, wild honeysuckle)
• Aquilegia oxysepala (Oriental Columbine)
• Aquilegia vulgaris ‘Bordeaux Barlow’ (Columbine)
• Aquilegia vulgaris var. stellata 'Ruby Port' (Columbine)
• Asarum caudatum (Wild Ginger)
• Athyrium filix-femina  (Lady Fern)
• Blechnum spicant (Deer Fern)
• Cyclamen persicum (Dreamscape™ Deep Burgundy Cyclamen)
• Dicentra x Hybrida 'Sulpher Hearts' (Bleeding Heart with yellow flowers, if we can find them)
• Dryopteris erythrosora (Autumn Fern)
• Epimedium × rubrum  OR Epimedium x ‘Supernova’ OR Epimedium x versicolor 'Sulphureum' (Bishop's Hat)
• Gymnocarpium dryopteris (Northern Oak Fern)
• Polypodium glycyrrhiza  (Licorice Fern)
• Polystichum munitum (Sword Fern)
• Polystichum setiferum var. divisilobum (Soft Shield Fern)

We'll be adding more as we go shopping and as we find more plants that tolerate dry shade. We might also try a few plants that prefer full sun just to see how they do.

Echo Valley Natives Nursery Visit

We went on an exploratory adventure to a new-to-us nursery in Oregon City, Echo Valley Natives. It was hidden in the forest at the edge of Oregon City (18883 S. Ferguson Road Oregon City, OR 97045). It was a really beautiful setting and their prices are excellent for being so close to Portland. (Most one gallon pots are $7; we were paying more than that for 4-inch pots at the other nurseries we've been to this spring.)

If it's a native, they probably carry it; they have an extensive selection. They were out of a stock of a couple of larger shrubs we were looking for, but the helpful employee, Renee, said they'd have them back in stock later this summer, which works fine for us because we'll be buying the bulk of the natives in time to do a fall planting.

They had the plants arranged in among the trees in their natural setting. We really enjoyed walking around this nursery.

Nice woodland setting

Took a panorama to try to capture the immersion. 

Look forward to going back. 

Front Rain Garden

We thought it would be interesting to show the progression our front yard rain garden has followed in the last seven years since we installed it.

At the beginning in spring 2012, there was a ditch with tiny plants replacing the flat lawn we inherited. Unfortunately, we didn't keep a good list of the plants we originally planted; they were all Oregon natives. Just from the picture, you can see the Cascara tree, 5 sword ferns, a Red Flowering Currant, a few sedges down in the bottom and there were a few Kinnikinnick. There was a row of Spirea douglasii along the front edge, and then a few more Nootka roses in front of those. (In the early days, Jeff tried weaving together the rose branches into a living fence, but that didn't work well.)

By 2016, you could see things were starting to fill in. (Got out of control?) We had a little vegetable garden between the rain garden and the path.

Another view in 2016. Those plants along the front side got a lot bigger than the plant directories said they would. You can barely see the house through the plants.

Here it is in early spring 2017. Without the leaves, it didn't seem so bad. 

By this point Jeff had dug out the wild roses because they were spreading out of control. The Spirea douglasii was still really tall. Many plant directories say Spirea douglasii grows up to 7 feet. Don't believe them. You can clearly see they're taller than the first story of our house. Maybe they were growing taller to try and find sun, but it won't work. Once we figured out we could prune them mercilessly, Jeff did that. He cut them down to about two feet.

At some point, we got a volunteer birch tree in there. It had gotten really tall and Sharon asked Jeff if he would remove it but he really liked it and wanted to leave it. But about a month ago, when we had a week of unseasonably hot weather, and it did this—which spelled its demise.

When Aaron was here earlier this week, he and Jeff worked to clear out the tallest shrubs. The rain garden is looking a little rough right now, but it's on the road to recovery.

The big hole is from the elderberry root ball they removed

It's definitely starting to look less overgrown.

Now that we have easier access, Jeff was able to weed the interior, and prune the Currant. Now we need to see if we can find any shade-loving plants to replace those that died. And we need to find a couple shrubs that are MUCH shorter, maybe a maximum of four feet. We're thinking about a ninebark, which can also be pruned to the ground if it gets too big.

Update a few days later: We bought a Summer Wine Ninebark for the space. We love the burgundy color. This should fill in nicely over the next couple of years.

Parking strip planting

The time had come to deal with our parking strip. We originally thought it was a hot, sunny spot, but after Jeff spent the day digging it out, we realized it only gets a couple hours of direct sun a day. The neighbor's maple tree is so huge, it shades most of our front yard. So, we shifted the original plan to focus on plants that would tolerate more shade.

Sharon spent hours researching locally-available plants that would fit the parameters and she came up with this collage of plants that she thought looked pretty good together. (Yeah, purple and maroon were obviously a major theme.)

Jeff wanted to shape some planting berms with space for water to flow across the space.

We were delighted to get Aaron's help again. He came a couple days ago and helped Jeff double dig the bed and mix in 8 bags of composted manure.

With the plan mostly ready, and the site prepped, we spent the day driving out to a couple garden centers and Joy Creek Nursery. Plants were purchased and placed.

Then planted.

For future reference, here is the list of plants we've planted and planned for the space:

1. Adiantum x tracyi (maidenhair fern). This plant will act like a groundcover and spread. We only bought 2 because they weren't in the original plan. We put them out there and to see how they do in the spot.
2. Ajuga reptans 'Catlin's Giant' (bugleweed) for  groundcover. We bought 6 but probably should have bought a few more of these. I hope they spread fast.
3. Aquilegia (columbine).
   
   We bought 3 columbines of various varieties. All purple tones. These were also a spontaneous purchase.
4. Athyrium nipponicum var. pictum (Japanese painted fern). What's not to like about a fern that has purple on it? The last time we bought purple ferns, they didn't survive. Today we couldn't resist trying again. If it survives the winter, we'll probably get more.
5. Campanula Pearl Deep Blue (Carpathian bellflower). We bought two of these, but sadly one of them has already died.
6. Corydalis flexuosa 'Purple Leaf'
   
   (Purple leaf corydalis). This plant has the strangest looking blue flowers. Sharon thought it was cool looking and couldn't resist.
7. Geranium x 'Johnson's Blue' (hardy geranium). We bought 2 of these and planted them in late July.
8. Heuchera FOREVER® Purple (coral bells). We bought a total of 7 of these because Sharon really liked the color.
9. Juncus patens (spreading blue rush). Jeff likes these and put 3 of them in the base of the ditch.
10. Iris Lazica. Sharon loves irises. This is one of the few varieties she found that would tolerate shade.
11. Polypodium scouleri (leather-leaf fern). We didn't have any of these in our yard yet. We just bought one to try it.
12. Polystichum munitum (western sword fern). Can you ever have too many ferns? These can survive anywhere.
13. Polystichum polyblepharum (tassel fern). This fern is pretty interesting looking. We bought 2 of them.
14. Polystichum setiferum (Alaskan fern). When we picked this up we didn't realize how huge it could get (4' tall by 3' wide). We may eventually end up moving this to a better location if it outgrows this area.
15. Pratia pedunculata 'County Park' (blue star creeper). These weren't actually in the original plan; they were a spontaneous purchase from the nursery because it was a good match color-wise and it would work in the shade.
16. Sisyrinchium bellum ‘Rocky Point’ (west coast blue eyed grass). This plant was a substitution for another plant which was not available. It will hopefully survive the location because the flowers are quite pretty.
17. Dicentra formosa 'Luxuriant' (bleeding heart). Another late addition. We put it in the shadiest spot we have and hope it lives.

We mapped out the planting so we can remember what went where.

Updated with plant additions on Jul 28.

Bulbs ordered for fall delivery:

1. Crocus 'Remembrance'
2. Hyacinth 'Purple Sensation'
3. Hemerocallis 'Ledgewood's Belgium Blues' (Daylily)
4. Iris 'Dakota Smoke' (Tall Bearded Iris)
5. Iris Reticula 'Harmony'
6. Tulip 'Negrita Double' 

Stabilizing and planting on a steep sandy slope

This site lists a technique of using check logs to terrace by building up rather than digging in:
https://www.tenthacrefarm.com/2014/10/heres-a-quick-way-to-terrace-a-hill/ 

Here are some plants for erosion control:
https://wshg.net/blog/2014-06-17/best-native-plants-for-protecting-your-hillside-from-erosion/

PNW options: (definitely full sun, southern exposure, drier soils)
https://wmswcd.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Native-Plants-for-Erosion-Control.pdf

Some promising ideas: Kinnikinnick, deltoid balsamroot, Red flowering Currant, Hairy Honeysuckle

We Bought a House!

We bought a new house in Prineville, OR. It's on the side of a hill, so this is what our backyard looks like.

The rest of the yard is flat and mostly dead.

And, if the dogs don't chase them off, it comes with deer. There were four of them there that day, resting in the shade.

We have quite the project ahead of us.