A summer project...

While the house and garden have been an ongoing project for the last eight years: Floors , windows,  electrics plumbing, insulation…. The humble garden shed has patiently sat waiting  for it's turn. And this last few weeks we've been busily emptying all the collected junk from within, dusting all the cobwebs in and out doors , and off we went .
   
 I knew I wanted windows, there was only one tiny window. We found the large metal window on a trip to the
salvage yard in Portland; and a Jalousie window at another salvage yard in Vancouver.
I still have the back side to paint and  underneath the roof and plenty of tiny bits of white are so annoyingly refusing to except paint…jab, jab jab with the brush !

I love the jalousie window. 

The front …no door yet, well there is a door , the old door ,  which will be replaced, with some sort of glass hinged ,/sliding one .  The two hanging grids  mark the spot for two matching windows ,  when we find them. 

The interior, clean and stained, blue of all colors, I never choose blue paint  , I like it with the dark brown exterior though .  I wanted a dark charred black /brown color ( Philip's mixture) Inspired by our few years living in Suffolk and the yellow trim a little nod to Derek Jarman's cottage.  

Here it is a few weeks ago , the big white elephant !

The cut and come again Paulownia...

The Paulownia tomentosa needed a second wack this year; and here it is after a month or so , nearly as tall again !

This was taken earlier this summer, it did get taller before it's chop.

Last years Paulownia …too bean pole like.

The holiday makers revisited...

In May I posted this photo of my winter bedraggled succulents. I planted them all together in a big vacant planter . Hoping that the extra space and months of full sun would cheer them up.

And here they are this morning !

August in bloom….

My old friend Cosmos ' sensation' returning another year, One of the first annuls I planted when we moved in. At  one time the garden was awash in Cosmos , now just the one.

Verben bonariensis with Nicotiana sylvestris in the background; another returning selfseeder.

My little bloomer; the santa barbara daisy , I want it to self seed  and use it as ground cover  with alpine strawberries .

Knifhofia 'percys pride' 

The first Calendula 'neon' to self seed ; and in not a bad spot , next to the Amsonia which finished blooming a good while ago. 

Fuchsia 'thalia' 

Justicia brandegeana and Zaluzianska capensis , or the little shrimp flower and Night phlox 

Coreopsis tinctoria 'Mahogany' with Noid Canna and noid Dahlias

This Calendula popped up behind the Eucalyptus.

Emilia javanica with those noid Dahlias 

Persicaria amplexicaulis 'Blackfield' , this one I brought back from my trip to Port Townsend.  

The Guara , I've enjoyed this summer 

As well as Bronze fennel

And Heleniums

A welcome  surprise last night,  the first blooms of Clematis 'hellios' , I've patiently waited two years for it to bloom.

Ammi and friend

And lastly my favorite Rose .
And For more August in bloom visit Carol May Dreams Gardens 

Just a few drops...

The Pearl...

Achillea ptarmica'The Pearl' a favorite of Gertrude Jekyll . Looking like tiny Chrysanthemums just before fully blooming. I had so many seedling that I scattered them about this spring .

'The pearl' with Artemisia 'powis castle'

The pearl turned up in a clump of Rudbeckia

And in the Fig barrel with purple Sedum ... I like this one .

The Pearl and Fuchsia 'june bride' 

Mickeys had enough of The Pearl. 

August in the garden...

After the coldest winter , we have probably the hottest summer in years in the PNW. The whole of July was ether  moving sprinklers  or dragging watering cans around; and it looks like the beginning of August is more of the same if today is anything to go by.

The bamboo wigwam  marks the spot of the fallen Acacia. After a quick plant switching from shade to sun lovers  . I''m quite happy with the results. The Saccharum ravennae doesn't look that tall in this photo , but it must be a least 8 ft. and hasn't even bloomed yet, I hope it does !

Artemisia 'Valerie Finnis' has flopped again ; but it doesn't matter because I moved  her near the pavement, so she can't disturb anyone too much. Now... Nepeta 'Sourenir d'audre Chaudron' , not shown in the photo; because I've  had to cut it right down, it flopped in the June rains. It leaves a huge gap in the planting till it grows back and re blooms …which it's doing now. I think I'll move next year, it's a bit of a thug.

THe Guara I've enjoyed all summer, I planted three , this one has out preformed the other two , which  are in the shade of the Plum tree . All three will be moving to my front  garden  next year ...full sun for all .

This is the Acacia under planting that I didn't get around to doing much with. The Carex  and  I don't how many other grasses, some planted , some self seeded !

Carex 'blue zinger'  and A. Valerie Finnis' along the pavement.  

More grasses, self seeded Ammi Magus, I've added Bronze Fennel .  A new Kniphofia' salranvogel',   A few Heleniums, Achillea' Walter Funkcke' an orange Achillea that I searched high and low for last year, found it at my local  this year .    I know there are plenty more things lost in fray that I've missed … oh yes , the Asters to look forward to ! 

The wait is over...

Every morning , from the end of June when the flower buds of the Aneomonpis macrophylla appear I am out expecting to find one burst into bloom ,  this doesn't happen till the end of July. The blooms are so  delicate  that they look like they should be spring bloomers. Which would be easier here in the PNW. These are Japanese woodlanders that demand cool, moist , shade in rich soil. ; everything goes against it in these parts. With temperatures reaching the 90's most days. I've had been showering it like  a mini monsoon . Last year it was very dissatisfied with my attempts and many of the blooms never did bloom.

But this winter I dumped a whole load of leaf mould over it.

The twice daily showers have kept it happy , so Ive got blooms ; and  seeds to collect !