IT'S A WRAP AT THE ROADSIDE

We wrap up the great year of 2015.
Thank you for the support at the seed shed
and best wishes for happy growing in the year 
ahead. I look forward to stuffing Shaw Island 
seeds into packets for you next spring.

🌿 Green for the Holidays 🌿

SALAL (Gaultheria shallon)
Pressed on the scanner bed,
Shaw Island, this day of ten December twenty fifteen.
For Margaret Cameron (1906-1994)

Resident sculptor, Margaret Cameron, gardened in pots on her terrace; pots whose summer flowers were protected from salt spray by a masonry wall along with chicken wire to discourage the deer. If she was home for the holidays, it was to the forest she went to cut fresh, evergreen sprigs of salal. These she used to dress the artistically crafted wood and stone home she designed with her husband, Malcolm. She knew the lush specimen growing outside her studio door was just perfect for celebrating the season. 
       This ubiquitous shrub (Gaultheria shallon) of the western forest, including Shaw Island,  common name of salal, with a name given by the native Indians, according to Scott Atkinson. It is distinguished by thick, leathery, oval leaves that are noticeably waxy and end in a point. The spring flowers spread a sweet scent throughout the forest understory, looking like little white bells, sticky and slightly hairy. The common shrub bears fruit between August and October, depending on elevation and weather conditions. The berries, resembling huckleberries, form in dense groups to weigh down the branches, blue-black when ripe, ranging from delicious to bland and boring, depending on their soil, and amount of sun exposure. 
      Salal berries were much prized by Indians, who dried them in cakes for winter use. Ethnologist Erna Gunther reported that the Quilcene would pick an entire branch of the berries, dip it in whale oil, then pull it through their teeth to eat the fruit. The Klallam and Quileute chewed the leaves as medicine, and the Makah mixed it with kinnikinnik to smoke.
      Salal seeds aren't featured on the Gatehouse inventory but there will be young plant starts potted up for next spring.
City of Dreams. A Guide to Port Townsend. Simpson, Peter. Bay Press (1986) 
Wild Plants of the San Juan Islands.  Atkinson, Scott. The Mountaineers. (1985)
Wild Roses and Western Red Cedar by Krohn, Elise.(2007)

IF IT WERE NOT FOR PUMPKINS ● ● ●

"We had pumpkins in the morning and had pumpkins at noon. 

If it were not for pumpkins, we'd be undone soon."

Written by an American colonist in a 1693 diary.

Pumpkin grown by Diana
Shaw Island, 2015.

Jack-Be-Little pumpkins
Shaw Island,  2015.

Peter's cedar basket full of
Pumpkin Stars carved by Eli,
Shaw Island, 2015.

Botanical Color October 2015

Quince (Cydonia oblonga)
Grown on the former Clark farm, 
Shaw Island, WA.
Commonly enjoyed in colonial days,
quince were a symbol of love and happiness;
please see this great article in the
New York Times.
Quince & a hand-thrown Mideke pot
for Gwyneth.
Anno seventeen October two thousand and fifteen.

🌿 Thank You Bouquet 🌿

Shaw Island fruit, 
Medlar & Aronia.
For the nice notes and customer 
support from the cyclists from Orcas Island 
and the herb lovers visiting under gray skies,
in appreciation.
Anno Eight October 2015.

OCTOBER HARVEST 2015

Wishing you a colorful harvest season.
Greeting card with seeds and one wood
cork from the "Flotsam and Jetsam" event
at the beautiful  Foss Waterway Museum
for Aho'i and Maggie.

🌿 Mirabelles off the Tree and in the Jar 🌿

Sweet Mirabelle plums, this gardener's favorite,
A specialty in Lorraine, France.
These are harvested from a Shaw Island orchard.
A thank you  to the quartet from Sisters, Oregon, 
Soap Lake & Edmonds, WA., for leaving the sweet notes.
Happy growing.
Anno Twenty-One September Two Thousand and Fifteen.

🌿 SITKA SPRUCE SEEDS FALLING 🌿

NATIVE SITKA SPRUCE 
SEED CONES
Courtesy of the Saturday storm.
On handwoven English willow tray.
Shaw Island Autumn 2015.
Click to enlarge.

Seed Harvest 2015

Mary Lou's MONEY PLANT
grown on Shaw Island;
willow basket, handwoven in England.
Anno 26 August 2015
Shaw Island, WA.
Seeds for sale at Gatehouse Seeds, 
Squaw Bay Road, Shaw Island.

There are still a few gardeners with an "attitude", who won't let this "commoner" into their flower borders; how nice to see some sophisticated gardeners who are enjoying the beauty of the old fashioned Lunaria. Particularly the seed pods of August. Here's a photograph caught from a sneak preview of an open garden––sponsored by the Hardy Plant Society and the Garden Conservancy for the Open Gardens Tour in the Beaverton, OR., area happening this weekend August 2015.

Photo courtesy of Scott Weber
Rhone Street Garden Blog
August 2015.

🌿 BLUE SAILORS 🌿 Local Roadside Wildflower Seeds

"Blue Sailors"
(Cichorium intybus) 
A resident of Shaw Island roadsides.

Common Name: Blue Sailors

Life Style: Hardy, perennial herb.

Native Growing Region: Europe and the Near East. Common on roadsides in the San Juan Islands.

Flower: fine sky blue, July to October. "This may be the only plant of our area that can be instantly recognized by color alone." (Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest from Alaska to Northern California by Lewis J. Clark.)

Tolerates: Drought. Deer.

Description: Can reach 3' to 5' if growing in an area not mowed by roadside work crews.

Soil: Light, preferably alkaline. Sunny and open.

Uses: Can be grown for culinary purposes and for a nutritious pasture and fodder for animals. Dried petals are used for potpourri. Buds can be pickled. This European immigrant has been cultivated for many years, both for its leaves and roots. The roots are sliced, roasted, and ground as an additive to coffee. Europeans familiar from an early age with chicory-flavored coffee consider as improvements the added color, bitterness, and body. 

Chicory is often grown in floral clocks for the regular opening of its flowers and their closing five hours later. These opening times relate to latitude, but the leaves always align with the north. Gardeners interested in metaphysics credit this plant with life-giving forces.

This plant is mentioned by Scott Atkinson and drawn by Fred Sharpe in their wonderful Wild Plants of the San Juan Islands. 

Notes: great data listed here

"Wild chicory"
A.K.A. "Blue Sailors"
Seed packets are available at the
Shaw Island Gatehouse,
Squaw Bay Road, 
Shaw Island, WA.

🌿 Chilean Glory Flower 🌿 (Eccremocarpus scaber "Tresco Gold")

Chilean Glory Flower
Eccremocarpus scaber "Tresco Gold"
(on right.)
Loving the heat in a "wall pot" on Shaw Island, WA.
August 2015.

Common Names: Chilean Glory Flower; Chupa-Chupa; Lorita & Voqui.

Life Cycle: Perennial vine.

Native: Chile and Peru.

Flowers: July to October. Will flower the first year if sown early.

Vines: If supported, vines can reach 12'. They are NOT an aggressive thug.

Award: The prestigious RHS Award of Garden Merit (AGM).

Sowing: Indoors in late winter to early spring or sow directly outdoors from May onward.

Soil: loves neutral to slightly acidic, rich soil in full sun.

Propagation: usually by seed.

Degree of difficulty: EASY.

Notes: An excellent greenhouse specimen; will grow happily in a container where they will last a long time. Wonderful weaving through roses, clematis, on fences, etc. Often grown as an annual.

🌿 Herb Lovage (Levisticum officinale) 🌿

Plated Umbels of Lovage seed
(Levisticum officinale)
Shaw Island, 
Photo this day 15 August '15.

Common Name: Lovage; "Love Parsley"; "Mountain Celery", in Italy.

Life Cycle: Hardy, Herbaceous Perennial.

Native: Most say the Mediterranean, but others dispute that.

Height: 8'-10' at maturity in 3 years.

Bloom: Tall umbels of white/yellow flowers, in the 2nd year.

Tolerates: Deer.

Site: Full sun or partial shade.

Sowing: September to October or February to June.

Cultivation: 
Cultivation since the time of Pliny (23-79AD), has ilong grown in Europe. 

      

Lovage art
by Louise M. Smith©
One of 16 watercolors in
The Herb Farm Cookbook.

Reference for this post:
The HerbFarm Cook Book
Traunfeld, Jerry.
Scribner, N.Y. 2000.

      This will tower over your herb garden with its architectural beauty. One plant is enough but try to replant with a new plant every few years. Give it good soil, some water, and deadhead the flower stalks if you don't wish new seedlings around the base of the plant. Traunfeld writes that this plant will tolerate more shade than most herbs; in hot climates, it dislikes baking in the sun.
     
Uses:
Good for use in S. European cuisine, where leaves are used as an herb, roots as a vegetable, and seeds as a spice. For the essence of celery without the trial of growing that vegetable, this is for you. Lovage has a distinct flavor and is greatly appreciated by food aficionados.
       It is considered a prize on the list of good companion plants that improve the health of all garden vegetables. Tender growth has the best flavor, so in summer, around June, consider pruning back to encourage new leaves. Will die down in winter but will re-emerge in spring. 

      Lovage has been used in alcoholic cordials for centuries––mixed with tansy and yarrow then mixed with brandy. The original cordials were used on long voyages. The first cordial containing lovage was recorded in 14 C; it is used in some liqueurs with Borage, as one of the Pimms mixes in production today.

      Medieval travelers tucked the leaves into their shoes because of the antiseptic and deodorizing properties. 
      Lovage flowers are adored by honey bees and Swallowtail butterflies. That is enough reason to grow this herb.

🌿 Artichoke Bouquet 🌿

For Charlie and Amy,

Enjoy the Kale in your community garden.

And for Lauren and Rueben,

I appreciate your support of this garden

and warm notes in the Gatehouse shed.

🌿 AQUILEGIA vulgaris 🌿

AQUILEGIA vulgaris
Spring, Shaw Island, WA.

Common name: Columbine

Type: Herbaceous Perennial

Growing region:  Zones 3 to 8
Days to sprout: 14-28.

Height: 1.5 to 3-ft.

Bloom time: April to May

Bloom Description: Blue or violet-blue.

Sun: full sun to part shade.

Water: medium

Maintenance: medium

Flower: showy

Attracts: Hummingbirds

Tolerates: Rabbits

Culture:

Easily grown in average, medium moisture, well-drained soil. Surface sow.

Remove flowering stems after bloom to encourage additional flowers. When foliage depreciates, plants may be cut to the ground. Aquilegia may be easily grown from seed, will naturalize in the garden over time; self-sowing easily. Seed collected from garden plants, may not come true because different varieties of columbine may cross-pollinate in the garden producing seed that is at variance with either or both parents. This seed is harvested from a plot of blues. They can also be easily grown in large pots.

Notes:

Genus name comes from the Latin word for eagle (aquila) in reference to the talon-like spurs on most flowers.

Columbine comes from the Latin word columba meaning dove-like. The number and varieties of Columbines are staggering.

These seeds should be 90% blue tones as I still rogue out a few pink and magenta in the same garden.

Uses:

Borders, rock gardens, cottage gardens, woodland gardens or naturalized areas. A good choice for a hummingbird garden. Continue to water plants after bloom to enjoy the ground cover effect of the foliage.
Long lasting for flower bouquets.

Research notes: Missouri Botanical Garden.

Aquilegia vulgaris
Common name is Columbine.
A dependable, easy perennial,
great for bouquets.
Seeds for sale at the Gatehouse,
Reefnet Bay Road, Shaw Island.

Homegrown Seeds

Thanks to the Newberrys, for the note at the seed shed. A bouquet for you.

Sweet seeds of the fig from the Bryant garden.
Blue Elderberry seeds

SEDUM nussbaumerianum

Eccremocarpus scaber "Tresco Gold"

Shaw Island, 4 August 2015.

Seed Harvest 2015

Chamomile seeds sifted for tea
Rhododendron species on the left.
Harvesting on Shaw Island, 
summer 2015.

"The healthiest way to gamble is with a spade and a package of garden seeds." Dan Barett.

ON GARDENING

Rhododendron 'Polar Bear'
Purchased from Meerkerk Gardens, Whidbey Island, WA.
Blooming on Shaw Island this day of Eleven July 2015.

"Gardening is not some game by which one proves his superiority over others, not is it a marketplace for the display of elegant things that others cannot afford. It is, on the contrary, a growing work of creation, endless in its changing elements. It is not a monument or an achievement, but a sort of travelling, a kind of pilgrimage you might say, often a bit grubby or sweaty, though true pilgrims do not mind that. A garden is not a picture, but a language, which is of course, the major art of life."

The late, great Henry Mitchell, in the Essential Earthman.

      Slate published a beautiful tribute to one of my favorite garden writers in 1998. See Deborah Needleman 

ISLAND SUMMER ROSE

 Rosa filipes 'Kiftsgate'
Angela's summer on Shaw Island.
Photo caught by C. Christensen.

🌿 ELSIE'S CALIFORNIA POPPIES 🌿

California poppies surviving in the rock along
Blind Bay Road, Shaw Island.
Planted by island gardener Elsie Fowler long ago.
Photo June 2015.

Elsie's California poppies,
not exactly wild and not native,
but self-sowing gently each year to brighten the roadside.

Botanical Name: Eschscholtzia californica

Native: USA and Mexico. The official state flower of California where it covers the hills of Napa Valley.

Zone Range: 4-10

Life cycle: Annual and perennial.

Preferred climate: warm and sunny.

Bloom: An almost continuous summer display of bright orange flowers on mat-forming foliage 12" high. Flower petals close at night and on cloudy days.

Culture: requires poor, well-drained soil in full sun. Drought tolerant, self-seeding. Resents being transplanted.

Degree of difficulty: EASY.

Seed viability: one source claims 3 years.

Notes: Widely planted as an ornamental. Survives mild winters.

Gwen Yansen told me that her friend, Elsie Fowler (1900-2003), scattered the poppy seeds many years ago; they still survive in the hot, dry, rock bank across from the Community Building on Blind Bay Road. 
      Elsie, who came to the island in 1938, moved away to Anacortes in 1996. She was an early member of the Garden Club, later called Women's Club, that kicked off the fundraising for the Shaw Islanders, Inc building project.
      The seed packets carry Elsie's name to honor her love of Shaw Island and garden flowers, she bloomed where she was planted.
      These seeds are not harvested from her plants in order that the small colony of poppies will self-perpetuate.
      If you broadcast California poppy seeds along the road, as Elsie did, choose the sunny side.


Nomenclature:


"Johann Friedrich Eschscholtz (1793 - 1831) was a Livonian physician, botanist, zoologist, and entomologist. He was one of the first and most important scientists in the exploration of the Pacific, Alaska, and California.
Born in Dorpat (now Tartu) in the Russian Empire. He studied medicine at the local University of Dorpat, and spending the main part of his career there: extraordinary professor of anatomy (1819), director of the zoological cabinet (1822), and professor of anatomy (1828).
From 1815 to 1818 Eschscholtz was a physician and naturalist on the Russian circumnavigational expeditionary ship Rurik. He collected specimens in Brazil, Chile, California, the Pacific Islands, and on either side of the Bering Strait, Kamchatka, and the Aleutian Islands.
One of the other naturalists was the botanist Adelbert von Chamisso, who took over Eschscholtz's specimens on the completion of the voyage. The two were close friends and, after his early death, Chamisso named the California poppy Eschscholzia californica in his honour. The results of the trip were published in the Berlin journal Entomographien in 1822."
Source of nomenclature data: Seedaholic.

These island-grown seeds are for sale
at the Gatehouse seed shed,
Reefnet Bay Road,
Shaw Island, San Juan Archipelago,
WA.

🌿 JUNE ONE 🌿

Peonies are royal garden visitors for early summer.

This luscious Peony shared by former islander, Eve E. Nygren Shaw, came without a cultivar tag, so I call this the "Eve Shaw Peony." Eve was a great gardener who married retired Captain Clayton Shaw and settled very happily on Broken Point, in 1971. Clayton was the last member of the pioneer Shaw family on the island. Clayton and Eve moved away to Alabama in the mid 1980s after donating several family antiques to the local museum. The island wasn't named for this Shaw family but the myth persisted for awhile, helped a little by Eve.
      No seed packets of this plant are planned for the Gatehouse but the plant has had a long life on Shaw Island and may show up for a fund-raising auction some year.

🌿 PETER'S RED RUSSIAN KALE 🌿

Red Russian Kale
Brassica napus

Description: Beautiful, blue-green heirloom kale that is hardy, tender, mild, and sweet compared to other cultivars. Good for salads and light cooking, after the stems are removed, a quick, easy process. A variety approved by botanist friend Elsa who, at a young age, enjoyed taste-testing her way through Peter's garden patch of greens. 

Stamppot is a traditional Dutch recipe, a substantial combination of well-mashed potatoes, lots of kale and hearty smoked sausage. When kale is served in Dutch homes, a small bowl or pitcher of vinegar is passed to dribble on the top. 

Culture:
After enhancing the plot with aged compost, plant seeds 1/4" to 1/2" deep in well-drained, light soil. After 2 weeks, thin to 8"-12" apart. Cool weather crop that can tolerate temperature as low as 20 degrees F; actually the flavor is enhanced by fall frost. 
In hot area regions this can be planted in late summer for harvest in fall/winter. Side dress with aged compost every month or so, as kale is a strong grower.

Botanical Name: Brassica napus.

Native: Siberia. Brought to Canada by Russian traders around 1885. Grown on Shaw for several years.

Type: Biennial.
It takes 2 years if you'd like to save your own seed. 

These seeds are for sale
at the Gatehouse, Squaw Bay Road.

🌿 GARDENING WITH BOOKS 🌿

A dear Hardy Plant Society member and celebrated gardener, speaking at a conference in Portland, OR, said: "We have to garden with books and periodicals as well as in the dirt." Remembering Faith MacKaness.

Spring flowers 
7 May 2015
Mideke hand thrown porcelain pot,
Art by Orcas Islander,
C.C. Gill.

🌿 A fragrant thank you 🌿

Species Rhododendron decorum blooming this day.
Non-native, but she grows over-my-head, 
emitting a fragrant thanks to
Anne and Sheila for the visit and kind note.
Anno three May 2015
Shaw Island, WA.

SONG SPARROW NEST

Shaw Island Song Sparrow Nest
2015 photo thanks to Joanne.

🌿 NATIVE COLORS FOR EARTH DAY 🌿 2015

48.5923°N - 123.0320°W

Celebrated in more than 192 countries each year, Earth Day is the largest secular holiday in the world. Honoring the 45th anniversary, these wildflower photos were taken today, on one of the world's smallest inhabited islands––Yellow Island, 11 acres just north of Shaw Island, in the San Juan Archipelago, Washington State. 

There are at least 50 species growing on Yellow Island.
Today we could view Indian Paintbrush, two species of
Camas, Chocolate Lilies, Buttercup, Fawn Lily, 
while others shine off the designated foot path.

Most of these flowers are also native to Shaw Island, 
our home base. Does "Indian Paintbrush" grow on Shaw??

There are packets of wild Camas seeds for sale
at the Gatehouse on Reefnet Bay Road.
(They were not collected on Yellow Island.)

Shaw Island's Earth Day paintbox of color.
Back at home and shining out
on the bank of Blind Bay,
Native "Flowering Red Currant"
(Ribes sanguineum.)
Judge Stanley C. Soderland (1917-2001),
 former resident of the island,
 propagated cuttings and planted this species at   
 the garden of the Shaw Island
Community Building in the late 1980s.
Thanks Stan.