Garden Obsession

[genko_b]

I've just put about four pages of new garden pictures up on Flickr. We have had quite a long dry spell in the Pacific Northwest this summer, so most of my time has been spent spot watering. Now that the autumn rains are beginning, all the weed seeds are sprouting, so I'll have to get to work on them. Fortunately the flowers are bigger, and so the weeds don't show so much in the pictures!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/genko_b/

Genko

[lynnmarie219]

Hi Genko,

As always....beautiful garden and beautiful pics of beautiful plants/flowers!

Can you tell that I think you have a beautiful place there??

Thanks for sharing them here with us! 

[Patze]

Hi Genko,

Now that is some gardening!!!!  Wow, it is gorgeous!!!!  By the way, I love the picture of the Rubrum, that is an amazing plant as I do tend to like "unusual" ones. 

Like Lynnmarie says, thanks much for sharing and for letting me oooooo and aaahhhhhhh at your wonderful works!


Patze

[Bernice]

Wow!!!  I LOVE THE BEAUTY OF ALL OF THESE!! I so wish I had better skills with gardening! I love to work in the yard, but it's been at least 2 or 3 years since I have. Used to be out there EVERYDAY as soon and Spring can, but after spending so much time and money with little success, I gave up!

I wish you lived close by, maybe you could teach me a thing or two!

LOVE YOUR GARDEN!
Bernice

[Bucky]

Genko - As always, your garden this year is absolutely b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l!!  You are so talented.  Your photography skills aren't too shabby either!!     You are just multi-talented.  Thanks for sharing them with us. 

Bucky

[Chickpea]

Thank you Genko for sharing these beautiful photos with us. 

I loved the colours, the different contexts you plant in, and the fruit and vegetables popping up in odd places.  The lilies are particularly lovely, and I was so happy to see sweetpeas.  The loveliest of flowers and so modest I always think.  I haven't had much success with them this year, or with strawberries, but the gooseberries were abundant and the pinks keep coming back.  It's been an odd summer with rain at the wrong times so most gardens around here seem pretty confused!

Take care - Chickpea

[Joy Cox]

Genko, Superb pictures!!!! Many of our TN Master Gardeners speak of how beautiful Washington state is... and, your gardens certainly attest to such beauty!

See you and I have St. Francis statue, evidence we are both lovers of animals. Is your dog your buddy? My 3 cats are mine.
With such a large variety of plants on display, have you been introduced to the garden saint? His name is St. Fiacre.

OH, Genko, sweet lady, you are sooooooooo kind to share your time and talents. Going to again visit Washington state tomorrow afternoon through your pictures and mentally 'sit a spell' and rest in the cool shade of your canopy trees...     L     L, Joy

[genko_b]

Thanks, everyone, for your compliments. I do love to be out there, even just weeding or watering.

Next year I'll have a lot more lilies besides the rubrums, stargazers, and casablancas hopefully. My sister and I split a big order, lots more colors. We'll see how they do. I love the more unusual shapes and colors too Patze.

I'm very fond of sweet peas, Chickpea. I like that you have to keep picking them to keep the vines producing - I always have a vase full on the windowsill above my kitchen sink. My two favorites are Cupani's Original and April in Paris, both heirloom varieties and very fragrant. I start them from seed in early spring. This year I was worried that the hot dry weather would do them in, but they are still producing, even though the vines all look pretty dry.

We used to have a buddy dog, a big Samoyed named Kumo (cloud in Japanese), but he's been gone about 5 years now. Our daughter's dog and my sister's dogs come to visit though. St. Francis is for the many birds, bees, butterflies and other small critters who inhabit the yard. The hummingbirds are so bold they will feed in plants right next to where you are working, and I have had chickadees scold me if I don't get out there to turn on the waterfall at the pond early enough.

Right now our weather is perfect, sunny and warm, and it is great to be out there enjoying all the flowers. Glad to be able to share them with you all.

Genko

[Poochie]

Thank you so much for sharing your magnificent gardens with us.  They make me feel like I'm walking through the Garden of Eden. 

Thanks again,

Hugs, Pooh

[genko_b]

The October garden pictures are up now - autumn color has been terrific this year. I have been weeding and rearranging things (yes, to fit more plants in!) and took pictures yesterday and today since it is supposed to start raining tonight and then not stop for at least a week. Winter in the Pacific Northwest! Nothing like raking up soggy, matted leaves.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/genko_b/

Still to add to the garden - species tulip bulbs, lots of new lilies, and a couple more clematis vines. But I did get the chard, kale and so on planted for the winter, so we'll have greens until spring lettuce and peas come in.

Genko

[Bernice]

Simply beautiful!

Bernice

[Blue Kat]

Genko, I'm soooo jealous!  I'm in hot, humid Florida and am hoping to re-do an area of plantings under my front window but am waiting (not so patiently, I'm afraid) for it to cool off a bit first because it's just been too hot lately.  Beautiful garden!

[Bucky]

Genko,

Your gardens are so relaxing and gorgeous!!

I have a few questions for you (I'm too lazy to search to see if you mentioned this before).

1)  How long (yrs) have you been making such beautiful gardens?
2)  Is this a family trait passed down from your parents?
3)  How much time per week do spend out in the gardens working?  (ballpark number)
4)  Do you have a lawn in your yard or is the entire yard (front and back) all in gardens?
5)  Have you ever entered any of your plants or photos in any contests?
6)  Are you available to travel and create beauty in Illinois?? 

Thanks for sharing the beauty of your gardens with us Genko . . . they are breathtaking! 

Bucky

[genko_b]

What a list of questions, Bucky! I'm happy to answer them. Firstly, if you have specific questions about gardening, I'm happy to tell you or anyone else what I know via PM. Gardeners are always happy to talk.

We were fortunate when we bought this house over thirty years ago to have a large yard with fruit trees, lovely old rhododendrons and other broad-leaved evergreen shrubs, and a small pond. The pond along with some of those trees and shrubs are still in the yard, and form the backbone of the current gardens. With both of us working full time and kids and pets, all we did for years was mow the lawn, and that was just fine.

When the kids were older we put a deck on the house and had the backyard slope terraced to create the big planting bed. We put some simple plants in it, but the dog did most of the landscaping, chasing squirrels through the garden and sleeping wherever he wanted to. So I have only begun gardening in earnest in the last 6 years, when I left my full-time job and our old buddy dog died.

We still have a small patch of lawn out front - a crescent-shaped area - and a larger lawn out back at the lowest level down, where the apple trees are. Visiting dogs and most people appreciate some grass to run, sit or lie down in. Also, it is restful for the eyes.

My parents never did much gardening, probably because they were both teachers and were raising kids. But they had us out in nature all the time - my mother's hobby was survival camping, going off into the woods for a couple of weeks with nothing but a penknife and matches, no bedroll or anything! In the summer our family would pile in the car, traveling up and down the east coast, and we spent a lot of time camping on those trips, but as a result not much got done in the yard. I wouldn't trade my childhood for the world.

My sister and I both loved being outside all the time as kids and she ended up a professional gardener. Since we live nearby, we egg each other on in finding plants and trying new things in our gardens. We love to go to the local plant sales together. Gardening is an occupation of sorts - I'm out there every day at least once, making the rounds to check on things, pull a few weeds, deadhead flowers, and so on. During the spring and summer I'm probably out there a total of at least one full day a week, if not more. As it gets colder and rainier here, I'm only out a couple of hours a week total, but I still check on things pretty much every day. Daily maintenance makes a huge difference. As my sister says, the best fertilizer is the gardener's breath.

In spite of the low energy, aches and pains, and other frailties associated with Sjogren's, I really appreciate the garden, since it gets me out of myself and caring for something else. Other than the occasional over-exertion, it turns out to be good exercise for me. Now I hire someone to mow and edge the lawn, do the heavy pruning, and help with the mulching in late fall.

Being out in nature is very healing for me. When we are no longer able to maintain this house and have to move somewhere without a yard, I'll likely still have to have a balcony or patio with big pots to grow things in. If I keel over face down in the dirt, people will say, she died doing what she loved.

Genko

[Chickpea]

Genko - thank you so much for sharing your love of gardening with us, and your journey there.  It was a privilege to read it.  Your write so clearly and evocatively - I felt I was there with you in your garden.  Wish I was!

Thinking of you - Chickpea