Monday, August 31, 2015

Oh what a mess!

This scene greeted me when I returned home from the Farwest Show on Saturday afternoon.

The Weather Gurus had been predicting big rain for the weekend –  over an inch more rain than we'd seen in months (since March to be exact). However as the weekend drew closer they were backing off on the rain totals and starting to talk about wind. Big winds. Damaging winds, considering the deciduous trees still have their leaves. Winds like we'd never seen in August.

Sure enough, we set a new record for high wind gusts, 43 mph here in Portland.

I took these photos around 3:30 on Saturday. The wind continued into the night and rain fell intermittently over the next 24-hrs (a little over half an inch of precipitation was recorded here in my garden).

In other words things were even more messy than this when I finally started a little clean-up on Sunday afternoon.

My heart goes out to the fine people who were opening their gardens on Saturday for the Conservancy Tour, what unlucky timing for them. Even if they escaped having their gardens thrashed, the wind and rain was such that it probably kept the turnout low. After all the hard work that went into prepping their gardens they should have had adoring masses there to appreciate it all.

I feel like I'd somehow won the tour-lottery, since the Green on Green Tour (and my open garden) could have just as easily been this Saturday, rather than on the 13th.

I've got a lot of clean-up to do.

But thankfully no serious damage was done. Unlike others who had branches or entire trees land in their garden.

And let's not forget those dealing with damage, or loss, or health issues, due to the horrible fires raging nearby.

My garden is a mess due to the unprecedented storm, but a mess (while being demoralizing) is just a short term situation.

And heck, my garden work-load had been a little light the last week or so.

Let's end on a more positive note though, shall we? Between leaving the Farwest Show and coming home to document the mess I made a stop at Xera Plants.

Polystichum setiferum 'Divisilobum'

A sweet little fern, and evergreen!

Oenothera macrocarpa ssp. incana

Those leaves! They're silvery and lush.

Schizachyrium scoparium 'The Blues'

I so excited about this one! I've been crushing on it for over a year, glad to finally be adding it to my (messy) garden...

All material © 2009-2015 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

31 comments:

  1. I'm planning to add a bunch of grasses, including some little bluestem ('Standing Ovation') to the back bed that the raccoons (and now the wind) have trashed, along with the Dasylirion and Nolina that were in the back of my car from Cistus. If I'm not mistaken, you don't have many grasses, right? Schizachyrium is a favorite. I have a similar mess in my garden. Ugh.

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    1. You're right, and much to Mr. Greenlee's dismay (he was here during the 2014 Fling and started trying to tell me I needed more grasses) I don't have many. There have been more over the years but I've slowly backed away.

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  2. My new best friend for cleaning cacti and agave is the shop vac. Fortunately, my garden is so messy most of the time that one hardly notices the extra debris added by the storm but now I have an excuse for the mess. Hope you enjoy your clean up. Great haul from Xera!

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    1. Andrew thought a shop vac would be a good idea too, but not so much when you've got pea gravel mulch. Also I don't know that "enjoy" is the right word...

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  3. Well, I liked seeing the "damage" to your garden. It can be picked up. But we'll never get a chance to see a single leaf out of place in your patch ever garden. Glad for your rain.

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    1. I thought there might be a few people out there who enjoyed seeing the mess!

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  4. In the winter of 2012/13 we lost a 60-year-old pine that took out two 15-yr-old trees on its way down, turning my woodland garden into a sun garden. So I am sympathetic to any kind of weather damage gardeners experience. Here in tornado country we get someretty scary winds. Love your new plants and they would work in my zone!

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    1. Oh that sounds horrible! I would shed tears and say bad words.

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  5. Nothing like new plants to bring cheer :) a bit of sweeping and your garden will be in tip top shape again

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    1. I stupidly thought I'd come home and plant them right away. No...lots of cleaning needs to happen first.

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  6. Be careful out there. That cleanup job looks like it could be harboring a quick trip to the ER. Trips to Xera much more favorable.

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    1. Indeed! And yes, my goal is no bloodshed. We'll see how I do...

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  7. I hate debris like that. We have very strong northwinds in the spring and fall so I'm all too familiar with it.

    But as you said, it could have been much worse. I'm hoping the rain in Oregon and Washington helped with the wildfires. It's been a horrible fire season in the West.

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    1. I think Washington got more rain, so that's good for their fires - the wind though, that couldn't have helped.

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  8. Wow - your garden looks worse than mine - we have leaves EVERYWHERE, but none of that small stuff, except pine needles. As I gingerly pick debris from between the whips and points of my Yucca rostrata, I often wonder how you keep your spiky things so clean. I got a long-handled tweezer tool that's good for smaller things, but Peter's suggestion of a shop vac seems worth a try.

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    1. And it's all stuff blown in from elsewhere. I may not have neighbors who garden, but I have neighbors who have messy trees.

      I do have a pair of long handled tweezers but I am considering a shop-vac purchase...just worried it will become a pea gravel sucking machine.

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  9. Thanks to the previews of 3 gardens by you & other bloggers, it may be that more ppl online saw them (at their peak) than visitors did in person; very sorry for GC and HPSO. Weather is always the big risk with tours. This year local day for Gdn Week in VA (last Sat in April) was steady 45F rain: near-wipeout. Outdoor docents all came down with flu-like colds despite tent canopy shelter.

    What is the debris in your first several photos? Are those the seedcones/fruits of some conifer? Looks similar to those of our hemlocks, but gummier...

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    1. Indeed, weather reminds us that we really have no control over things! The debris you ask about it from the tall Douglas Fir tree that grows on the neighbors lot behind us. Smarter people than I are referring to them as pollen cones so that's what I'm calling them from now on! I think I could fill a 30-gallon drum twice a year with the amount I clean off the patio and out of my plants.

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  10. Yikes! I heard about wind but I didn't know they meant WIND!

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  11. Sorry to hear about the wind damage, but I'm glad it wasn't worse for you. My garden looks similar, but it's because of dropping acorns, hickory nuts, and leaves. LOL. Glad you found more amazing plants!

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    1. It's always something right? The leaves on the patio are mostly from a hazelnut on another neighbors property. A large portion of it overhangs our garden and the squirrels love to eat the nuts and then drop the empty husks.

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  12. It seems like it rained Doug fir needles more than actual rain, here, even if I did get more rain than you. Look at all those pollen cones! How do you clean things like that out of your agaves? I love that grass! I've read descriptions of it and seen other pictures, but somehow it never caught my eye before. Wow! That color! I think I need to add some to my garden, too...

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    1. My long tweezers have always done the clean up job, it's a pain in the ass! (yes, you need the grass - they had lots!)

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  13. That's too bad. But wow, you dodged a bullet with your tour date!

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    1. Indeed, thanking my lucky stars over that one.

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  14. We've been rather dry over this summer and just got a nice rain yesterday - we found it quite welcome. The plants have been rather stressed. Hope we get some more!!!
    I hope you'll come link up at this week's Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) here:
    http://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2015/08/strange-visitors-in-garden.html

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  15. I think your husband's suggestion of a shop vac is a great idea. Go to Home Depot and get a Ridgid 16-gal. Wet/Dry Vacuum with Detachable Blower. I bought one of these years ago and love it. The detachable blower does a job as good as those gas operated back pack blowers, and when you get debris such as those pollen cones stuck in your plants, put it back on and suck them out of your plants. The best buy I made for my garden and home was this vacuum. And no, I don't own stock in Home Depot.

    John(Aberdeen)

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    1. Hmm, you all certainly are making me rethink my stance. Thanks John!

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  16. I still haven't cleaned up the mess.

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