We live in a beautiful spot on the Oregon Coast. Our house is surrounded with various very large trees - hemlock, Sitka spruce, Coast redwoods, shore pines, alders, and smaller Japanese maples and a stray dogwood. We've planted most of the trees although some of the spruce and hemlocks were here when we built the house. A large number of spruce are "volunteers." They just grew from seeds the squirrels drop, I think.
When we first built we needed to cut down thirty-five trees, and I was afraid the forest would never grow back in our lifetime. Wrong. Little rhododendrons we planted from one-gallon cans are now six feet high. The little cedars we planted in the front area are over ten feet high. They were less that six inches when we got them from the Forest Dept. So things grow quite quickly here in The Cove. Except for the rhododendrons, however, we don't get a lot of pretty blooming flowers. We just don't seem to have enough sun for them. My hydrangeas do bloom, and Bill took a picture of one covered in snow one year. They often bloom too late in the year!
So I have some flowering things in pots, and when I remember to water and fertilize them they look pretty for about four weeks. It hardly seems worth the effort. I once loved gardening, and still enjoy flowers and greenery, but no longer 'garden.' One great thing about living in the forest - I no longer have to weed!
First of all your new blog looks beautiful - very bright and cheery!
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about shady plants, and wondered if you've tried lily of the valley or hostas. I think even some daylilies might grow if there were some sun each day. And I wonder if the siberian iris would blossom in the spring.
Your place sounds so beautiful. Just the word 'cove' creates a lovely picture in my mind.
Thank you, Nan. I wish I had more computer knowledge so I could put more pictures in my blog, but I'll have to wait for one of my kids to show me how!
ReplyDeleteYour ideas for plants are good ones. We do have hostas all around the house and they have little spikey blooms sometimes, but I love them just for the leaves too. And I have planted siberian iris - and they usually have a bloom or two, but not this late in the year. I tried lily of the valley, but the slugs loved them to death - as they do the hostas! We have a false lily of the valley that comes up every year all through the forest. Lovey green, but tiny little white flowers.
I hope I can put a picture of the cove on my blog some day!