GPE #5 : Dividing Uptonking

U P T O N K I N G

 

I've been dividing my time between the north house and south.  The north house, I have a good deal of help keeping it up and the soil is good.  The south house is just a frightful mess; poor soil, and I'm on my own.

 

South house first... 

Bush...  Is in the front.  I took that pic in April.  It blooms for 2 days and then nothing.  The leaves turn from black to green to red to black.  Oddest thing.  I feel sorry for it, as it is under a giant pine tree and another smaller tree and crunched up against the deck now.

[This looks like a slightly less glam version of Ms Scarlet's Big Pink Bush™ - IDV]

 

The front is a bunch of garbage lilies which keep sliding down the hill in the front.  This year, milkweed sprung up and as I'm all for helping butterflies and the like, I decided to keep them.  The backyard too...

GPE #4 : Ms Scarlet's Opportunity to Show It Off

M S   S C A R L E T

I don't have much to offer up this year - this year being one of the most miserable ever, BUT, my big pink bush was glorious and I don't want to miss any opportunity to show it off. 

[Ms Scarlet's infamous Big Pink Bush™ in situ - IDV]

GPE #3 : Melanie's Native Beauties

I'm afraid I've been tearing up the pavement between my home in Woodinville, WA and my parents' homes in the Spokane, WA area. If I win any award it should be for my knack for avoiding the worst of all the road construction this year! I suppose the hours of saved time was reward enough. I can't remember the last time they did such an extensive year of road construction, not since the 1980's at least!

 

So, since my garden this year was rather sad, and indeed, some of the beauties that graced the Garden D'Lite in the past are sadly no more, lets just give you a gander of what the other end of this big ass state has to offer. If you were to drive from the ocean to the very edge of the Washington State line bordering Idaho it would take you 6hr 19min with no traffic delays at the freeway speed limit of 70mph (112.65Kmh). Like most Washingtonians I go 5-10mph above that.

 

 Without further ado..... 

 

the visited greenery of

P R O X I M A B L U E

 

Dad's house overlooks a small valley surrounded by wheat and sunflower fields. Unfortunately, the sunflower fields were past their prime.

 

The view of the hill behind me, a well-maintained Ponderosa Pine forest. Forest fires are the biggest threat to living here.

 

 

Three Native Beauties - 

GPE #2 : Jon's & Madam Arcati's Glorious Spells

Despite the fact that it has been a pretty mild (and on occasions glorious) spell of weather lately, the Spring and summer of 2024 in London were mainly pretty grotty. As I recall, we had a couple of days of sun in June, and in late July/early August we had a proper blast of heat, but then it once again went to shit until October.

 

Regardless, the extensive gardens here at 

 

D O L O R E S

D E L A R G O

 T O W E R S

 

                                                                               still managed to provide us with some stunners – the ferns [every one of which has self-seeded, so we have dozens of new plants], lilies, clematis, begonias, hemerocallis. thalictrums, daffs, tulips, brodiaea, taro, aquilegia, lobelias, pelargoniums, hesperis, verbena, agastache, tradescantia, brunnera, veronica, geraniums and roses all did us proud (and of course the salvias, impatiens and fuchsias, which continue to do so); but the phloxes (all varieties), hydrangea, campanula, dianthus and dahlias all struggled compared to previous years. It was probably just too gloomy for them – what with the preponderance of grey days, and the encroaching canopy of bastard weed trees that blocks more and more light off our garden every year.

 

So, on with the show… In a melodrama akin to “Sophie’s Choice”, I have slimmed down the myriad photos we’ve accumulated since the beginning of the year to one “Star of the Month” each month to date. And here they are:

 

Jan 2024 – Ipheion uniflorum

 

 

Feb 2024 – Primula

GPE #1 : Dinah's Sex in the Front Yard

How many can you handle? asked

 

D I N A H M O W

 

I'll start with some of the Quisqualis which is an absolute cracker this year!

 

 

Will look for more!

The Infomaniac Garden Photos Event 2024

 

Yes, the Infomaniac Garden Photos event is finally upon us - Welcome to the show everyone!

 As I type this, there are photos from nine Bloggerati (including mine) waiting in the wings to be published throughout November.  However, I am fully expecting at least one tardy entry - even if I have to scrape their blog for the photos myselves!

 Oh, and due to an unavoidable scheduling clash, there won't be a showing from the Infomaniac duck this year - The Very Mistress sends her apologies.  Instead, may I present the Hexenhäusli Device dove and jackdaw:

 Beaky is livid that he didn't get a starring role, but it's his own fault for being such a demanding little diva!

☙❧

 Now, on to the winners (i.e. the triffids that managed to devour whole persons or limbs) and losers (those that only inflicted minor lacerations or stings) of Terrifying Triffidery.  Just in case anyone hasn't yet seen the previous Terrifying Triffidery post and wants to guess who sent in what, I've redacted the names in the captions below but they can be revealed by selecting/highlighting the blank part.