Hang on summer

It's been almost a month since my last post. Thanks to everyone who continued visiting despite my lack of updates.
That also means I really haven't been in my gardens for quite some time. Now it seems summer has raced to an end and fall is creeping up on us without warning. Our days are still delightfully warm but evenings are turning quite cold.I and a neighbor visited Seattle Tilth's Harvest Fair last weekend and bought a few plants to ward off winter. This Abutilon hybrid "Red Tiger" is one that caught my eye immediately. It seems to be grown successfully indoors, and in areas of northern California and east of the Mississippi. It enjoys full sun to partial shade so fingers crossed that it holds out in our Pacific Northwest climes. I'll keep you updated.

I also picked up a Chilean Wintergreen for the front garden. One of my to-dos is to add more evergreen shrubs or trees, in particularly ones that provide berries for both our family and wildlife. Some information states the plant is toxic but I've plucked and eaten about a handful of the fruit so far without hazard to my health.

Yellow Chrysanthemums are the happy plant of choice for adding pops of color in our garden this year. I've read yellow is the first color the eye sees so I figure why not add more of it to the beds. It plays off the color of our home and brightens the dark spots in the garden.


I've placed two of them in a spacious bed next to the house that has sat mostly empty much of the summer. They're paired with a Japanese Cedar I purchased some time ago and only just got in the grand (bad gardener).
This is one of the areas I cleaned out and sheet mulched earlier this year. The method has been successful here, but just across the lawn grass has vigorously returned. It gives me something to relieve stress I guess.


The spot includes Heathers, Mahonia aquifolium or "Oregon Grape," and a variegated dogwood shrub. My Bride Pearl Bush, Hebes and barberry plants are also clustered to the right of the bed. It's much improved from what it looked like before, but I've got much more work to do.