OUTFOXING THE DEER

Foxgloves
(Digitalis purpurea)
A pollinator garden without a deer fence.
 Gatehouse Seeds,
Shaw Island,
San Juan Archipelago, WA.

Captain Leslie's Elecampane

(Inula helenium) 

happily growing in this pollinator 

 garden without a deer fence.

Gatehouse Seeds, 

Reefnet Bay Road, Shaw Island,

San Juan Archipelago, WA.

Summer of 2020.

This plant was started from a root donation 

but packets of seeds are now available.

"Flowering tobacco"
(Nicotiana sylvestris) gracing this
pollinator garden that survives along 
with hundreds of local deer.
The Gatehouse,
Reefnet Bay Road, Shaw Island, 
San Juan Archipelago, WA.
2019.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

GARDENING IN THE SAN JUANS

By Mary Murfin

There is an inherent paradox for anyone gardening in the SanJuan Islands because the natural landscape is already rich in beauty. Thick, cushiony moss, pine-trees dramatically dwarfed and twisted by their scramble for a foothold on rocks, smooth-skinned madrona trees which blossom in the spring and provide Christmassy berries in winter, and hedgerows of dog roses and snowberry are all part of the complex texture of the islands' natural wild gardens. It might seem more madness to try to improve on this, but any gardener worth his salt is challenged by the chance to enhance, focus, and frame such a masterpiece--or else, simply wants to plant potatoes.
      To some old-timers "garden" means "vegetable garden" and nothing else, as per a statement by an old friend. "she's got so many flowers she hasn't got room for her garden." But gardening on the islands, in any sense of the word, whether for the practical pleasure of delicious home-grown vegetable, to rehabilitate an area disturbed by construction or logging, or simply for the love of gardening, is beset by limitations. The soil is not always good, being often either rocky or boggy. Destructive high winds come whipping off the sound. Late summers can be drought-dry. But the one biggest enemy of the island garden is the deer.
      The attitude of islanders towards deer is completely schizophrenic. Everyone loves them and everyone hates them, alternately -- depending on whether they are presenting a charming tableau (doe, fawn, and buck in the meadow) or raising havoc in the flowerbeds. The most common solution to the problem of the deer is a completely fenced garden but a better solution is planting a garden that uses deer-resistant materials.
      It must be admitted that no deer-resistant material is absolutely deer-proof. In areas where the deer population is sufficiently dense, gardens have been stripped clear of all plants, including parts of young pines. But in an area with an average deer population, and this would include the major San Juan Islands, the creatures will be steadfastly uninterested in deer-resistant plantings and wander off to where a greenhorn island gardener has unwittingly planted deer feasts of cabbage roses.
      The variety and beauty of plant materials--native and non-native--that don't tempt the deer is surprising. One might assume that these would be dry, unappetizing little seedlings and prickly grasses. It is quite the contrary. Take, for example, the daffodils that grow abundantly on the islands. Planted first, by early settlers, they are now nearly native in their prolificity. Another native favorite is the foamy Queen Anne's lace, which blooms in summer.
      Other attractive plantings, unattractive to the deer, are the shiny-leafed barberry with its red clusters of beads; the frothy, sliver-pronged Santolina; heathers, both white and purple; most types of Rhododendrons; sweet-smelling Daphne; lavender; and almost all herbs. Boxwood and cotoneaster shrubs are good safe plantings. So are the evergreen Mexican orange (Choisya) and nandina, better known as heavenly bamboo. Of course, all types of conifer, juniper, pines, and yew are useful deer-resistant basics.
      Surprisingly, most old fashioned perennials will be passed up by the deer as well. These include Oriental poppies, bleeding hearts, Lupine, Iris, and Shasta daisies.
      More unusual is the blue-flowered Ceanothus, which also attracts bees and butterflies, the Cistus rock rose and the pheasant's eye Narcissus. Also unusual and irresistibly beautiful is the hellebore, with a translucent green or grape-colored flower.
      With this range of choice, many types of deer-resistant gardens are possible: herb gardens, herbaceous borders, bog gardens, even formal gardens.
      Some of the most beautiful island gardens are the old farm gardens with meadows and fruit trees supplemented by a fenced vegetable garden. One very successful type of garden, which is inspired by the farm garden and taken its cue from nature, is the meadow garden. It is easy to put in and easy to maintain. the native landscape is allowed to run right up to the house on two or three sides and the front of the house is a meadow instead of a lawn. Planted in the meadow are daffodils, Queen Anne's lace, Oriental poppies, lupin, and other perennials. The flowers, which are planted randomly, provide glorious color but still look natural and almost accidental. The meadow lawn needs to be mowed only once or twice a year, in late spring after the daffodils have gone.
      Close to the house, borders of lavender, hellebores, Santolina, euphorbia, etc., could be put in. Complementing this would be a small fenced area for a vegetable and cutting garden. One can grow abundant lettuce, carrots, peas, squash, tomatoes, and other vegetables in a relatively small area, leaving fenced room for roses, anemones, and other cutting flowers.
      Another aspect of island gardening is the weekend or summer gardener. For summer and weekend gardeners the solution lies in permanent plantings of native deer-and-drought-resistant materials and the importation of big planter pots full of brightly colored annuals to place on a deck or porch.
      Island gardeners, working within the limitations set by weather, terrain, hungry deer, and an already beautiful natural setting, often come up with gardens that are more successful because of these very limitations.

The Pilot
Published by the Island Record, San Juan County, Wa.
Vol. 3, No. 1, April/May 1983.

HONESTLY

Honesty
(Lunaria annua)
Inside for processing the seeds,
grown on Shaw Island,
San Juan Archipelago, WA.
A good Lunaria crop this year,
so the packets are generous.

The Puritans called it "Honesty" and took it to Massachusetts and planted it in their first gardens. Why? It was not grown for food nor was it an herb for healing ills or seasoning food. It added nothing whatever to the welfare of the colony. There seems to be but one excuse for such worldly indulgence -- that honesty sustained homesick hearts through the first bitter winters. Bouquets of its silvery pods decorated mantels and corner cupboards –– nostalgic symbols of former gaiety. Vanity? Perhaps. But generations have smiled and noted ironically that the only seed the Pilgrims brought to New England was honesty. The sentiment with which it was regarded is conveyed by the folk names that still cling to it. Some sound mercenary: silver penny, moneywort, money-in-the-pocket, pennyflower, and moneyseed. Others are more descriptive: white satin, satin seed, satinpod. But honesty acquired an older name -- prick-song flower, which suggests songfests in early English homes -- from the needle-sharp point on each seed pod., which was once used to prick out notes of songs on thin paper, a common practice before music was printed.

Claire Shaver Haughton, Green Immigrants

Honesty seeds after they have released 
their mature seeds for generous packets 
for the Gatehouse seed shed,
Reefnet Bay Road, Shaw Island,
San Juan Archipelago, WA.
Usually deer resistant and easy for 
woodland gardeners to cultivate for 
the pollinators we need on board. 

"Honesty" harvest,

Gatehouse Seeds.

Grown on Shaw Island, WA.

AUTUMN SEEDS of Shaw

Wild, perennial Sweet Pea
(Lathyrus latifolius)

Grown and harvested from one of 
the few remaining hideaways for this 
wild perennial occurring  on 
Shaw Island, San Juan Archipelago. 
Harvested summer of 2020.

"Although a thoughtful bee still travels

And midge-ball ravels and unravels,

Yet strewn along the pathway lie

Like small open sarcophagi

The hazel nuts broken in two

And cobwebs catch the seed-pearl dew.

Now summer’s flowers are winter’s weeds,

I think of all the sleeping seeds;

Winds were their robins and by night

Frosts glue their leafy cover tight;

Snow may shake down its dizzy feathers,

They will sleep safely through all weathers."

Andrew Young.

Autumn Seeds.

From Cottage Flowers. Marie Angel. London; 

Pelham Books Ltd. 1980.

“An Amorous Medicine?”

Ivy-leaf Cyclamen

Cyclamen hederifolium 'album'

[syn. Cyclamen neapolitanum]

a tuberous perennial that grows 

through the winter and then goes dormant 

in the summer when the seeds ripen & split open.

Now, just finishing her autumn bloom period with

aged bulbs originating at the former garden of 

Shaw Islander, Elsie Crawford Wood. 

"A cottage friend of mine who grows some superb Cyclamen on her kitchen windowsill tells me that her grandmother advised her to water them with weak tea. This may sound like an old wife’s tale, but the tales of some old wives sometimes turn out to be right.
      There are two kinds of Cyclamen: the Persian [Cyclamen persicum], which is the one your friends give you and which is not hardy, and the small, outdoor one, a tiny edition of the big Persian, as hardy as a snowdrop. These little Cyclamen are among the longest-lived of garden plants. A Cyclamen corm will keep itself going for more years than its owner is likely to live. They have other advantages:

1. They will grow under trees, for they tolerate, and indeed enjoy, shade.
2. They do not object to limey soil.
3. They will seed themselves and
4. They will take you around the calendar by a judicious planting of different sorts. C. neapolitanum, for instance, will precede its ivy-like leaves by its little pink flower in late autumn, white flowers if you get the variety album.  C. coum, pink, white, or lilac, will flower from December to March;Ibericum from February to the end of March; C. balearicum will then carry on, followed by C. repandum, which takes you into the summer; and finally, C. europaeum for the late summer and early autumn. 

Some botanists believe this to be a native [to England]; it was certainly recorded here in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, when, if beaten into little flat cakes, it was considered ‘a good amorous medicine to make one in love."

No seeds for sale yet, but the bubs are multiplying!

Vita Sackville-West. In Your Garden.
Quote from Cottage Flowers by Marie Angel. Pelham Books, London. 1980

GATEHOUSE GLOBE THISTLE

 

Globe Thistle

Ripening her seeds

in the Gatehouse garden 

on Shaw Island,

Reefnet Bay Road, 

San Juan Archipelago, WA.

Summer 2020 

Scientific Name: Echinops bannaticus 'Taplow Blue'

Life cycle: Herbaceous perennial 

Native Range: Central and S.E. Europe; Central Asia

Zone: 3-8

Height: 3'-5'

Bloom time: July to September

Degree of Difficulty: Easy

Water: Needs little to no supplemental water.

Soil: Good drainage is important.

Flower: Upright, showy; good for cutting; good dried, if harvested before the seeds scatter.

Fertilizer: No fertilizer for the Globe Thistle. Plants may flop in conditions too rich.

Attracts: Butterflies, bees, and gardeners. These flowers are an important source of nectar but also provide food as a host plant for painted lady butterflies (see below.)

Tolerates: drought, dry, rocky soil, and deer!!

Growing from seeds: Sow outdoors, where germination will occur naturally in the spring. If starting inside, stratify seeds in the refrigerator for the best germination. Use large cell packs to accommodate the long tap roots that begin to form after germination. The seeds need light to germinate so cover with only a very thin layer of compost.

Notes: This is an eye-catching yet undemanding perennial for the back of a mixed border. Monet grew this at Giverny.

"Painted Lady"
underside

"Painted Lady"
upperside

Gatehouse Globe Thistle
(Echinops bannaticus 'Taplow Blue' )
seed packets coming together for 
purchase this fall .
Gatehouse Seeds, Reefnet Bay Road,
Shaw Island, 
San Juan Archipelago, WA.

OCTOBER ON THE ISLAND

 

"October is the treasurer of the year; 

And all the months pay bounty to her store."

Paul Lawrence Dunbar

Katsura Dropping In

 

 "No man is worth anything unless he has

 something growing while he is sleeping." 

Stanley McBrayer via his daughter Julie, at the Gatehouse summer 2020. Thank you.

Captain Leslie's 'Elecampane'

Captain Leslie's Elecampane
(Inula helenium)
7 feet of growth on Shaw Island,
summer of 2020.
Unenhanced photo.
Courtesy of rhizomes shared by
friend Leslie, Port Townsend, WA.

ELECAMPANE
(Inula helenium)
Seed harvest from the perennial herb in the
above photograph.
Location: the Gatehouse pollinator garden,
Shaw Island, San Juan Archipelago, WA.

Courtesy of Captain Leslie.

New on the racks for 2020-2021

Common names: Elecampane, Elfdock, Horse-Heal.
Botanical name: Inula helenium 

Life cycle: Perennial medicinal herb.

Hardiness Zone: 3-8 
Native: to Europe and Asia 
Flowers: Bright, golden heads in July. 
Maintenance: Easy.
Tolerates: DEER!
Soil: Prefers moist, rich soil. Can tolerate part shade.
Seeding: direct sow in fall or spring. Needs light for germination.

Rhizomes: Wait for the third year before harvesting when they are large and potent. The plant will spread, but not aggressively.

Notes: In France and Switzerland the roots are used for flavoring absinthe.

Kaiser Permanente reports the roots are traditionally used to treat coughs associated with asthma. (Yes, accessed September 2020.)
The flowers attract pollinators; what a good plant to grow for people and pollinators. The history of this plant goes back to the days of the Bronze Age in Britain.

Seed packets of Inula helenium
now on the rack at Gatehouse Seeds,
Reefnet Bay Road, Shaw Island,
center of the San Juan Archipelago, WA.
September 2020. 

🌿ISLAND PEARLS: Viola adunca 🌿

Tiny pearl-like seeds of
VIOLA ADUNCA
"Western Long-spurred Violet"
Native to Shaw and other islands
of the San Juan Archipelago.
Clay art by Jodie & Terri Cable©
Photographed this day of
Nineteen July 2020.

"Western Longspurred Violets"
VIOLA ADUNCA
A native perennial herb
nurtured in a private garden
at Olga, Orcas Island,
San Juan Archipelago.
Thanks Ruthie!
It also grows wild on Shaw Island.
This gem above is the source of the
seeds in top photo.

Botanical name: Viola adunca

Common name: Western Longspurred violet, western dog violet.

Habitat:  dry to moist meadows and open forests of North America. 

Conservation status: not of concern.

Hardiness Zone: 4-8

Height: 3-8 inches.

Bloom time: Spring, early summer.

Flowers: lavender-blue to violet nodding flowers with 5 purple petals.

Ease of care: moderately easy.

Sun: full sun, part shade.

Culture: fertile, moist but well-drained soil.

Notes: Self-seeds freely. Suits a rock garden. Edible leaves and flowers. Grows from a small rhizome system.

" At the Cattle Point meadows, this violet is almost abundant for which we should be amazed, considering its competitors –– the Thistle and a horde of aggressive grasses. In fact, this species is the most common of the San Juan violets, occurring on many meadows.
Scott Atkinson and Fred Sharpe. Wild Plants of the San Juan Islands. Seattle, The Mountaineers. 1985.

"The leaves and flowers of all violet species can be eaten raw in salads, used as potherbs, or made into tea. Candied violet flowers are used for cake decorations. Flowers and leaves have long been used in various herbal remedies as poultices and a laxative for children and to relieve coughs and lung congestion."
Pojar and Mackinnon. Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Redmond, WA. 1994.  

Native western violet,
 available at 
Gatehouse Seeds on Reefnet Bay Road,
Shaw Island, San Juan Archipelago, WA.

🌿 ROSES THIS DAY ON SHAW ISLAND 🌿

ROSA RUGOSA "HANSA"
1905, Holland.
A plant start gift from islander Mary Lou Clark,
many years before the rose attained 7' x 7'.
Flowering 27 May 2020 on
Shaw Island, San Juan Archipelago, WA.

ROSA RUGOSA "HANSA"
Clove scented
Unenhanced photos from
27 May 2020.

"Rosa 'Hansa,' a particularly nice specimen plant, is a tall-growing vase-shaped shrub, growing as wide as it is tall. Recurrent with excellent rebloom in the fall. Having excellent vigor and disease resistance, provides plenty of return for little effort, this is recommended for beginning gardeners. 'Hansa' is also a solid choice for a tall rose hedge."
Suzanne Verrier. Rosa Rugosa. Capability Books. 1991.
Gatehhouse Library collection.

"Deadheading is the one profoundly rewarding war. It tidies away the signs of death and encourages yet another show of flowers. It was wonderfully understood by Vita Sackville-West, in her garden at Sissinghurst Castle. 
'Dead-heading roses on a summer evening,' she wrote, 'is an occupation that carries us back into a calmer age and a different century. Queen Victoria might still be on the throne. There is no sound except the hoot of an owl and the rhythmic snip-snip of our secateurs.'
Robin Lane Fox. Thoughtful Gardening. 2010
Gatehouse Library collection.

This is a site for featuring seeds harvested and shared from Shaw Island gardens and what is this with a shrub Rose?

Below is a Rose grown from seed brought back from Alaska by Library and Museum charter members Alice and Bryan "Fess" Fessenden and then for many years thereafter, cared for by the volunteer gardeners. (This photo taken pre-2000, when the old reefnet boat had drifted away to earth was replaced.) At this time, the wild Alaska Rose was allowed to display the lovely heps for fall color and a bounty of fruit for the birds -- a lovely view then without serious pruning such is needed for a domestic rose. Photo by author.

The garden of the
Shaw Island Library and Historical Society
with a treasured Rose grown from seed
attained from the wilds of Alaska.
Photo pre-2000.
Click to enlarge.

🌿 Memorial Day 🌿 2020

Spring Garden Flowers ('87)
as we remember the watercolor artist,
summertime Shaw Islander
Joan Irving Brandt
(1916-1995)
Click image to enlarge.

🌿 HAPPY MAY DAY ON SHAW ISLAND 2020 🌿

MAY DAY

Earliest observance: Unknown, dates from prehistoric time.

A Lilac which once grew in the garden
of Elsie Crawford Wood and before her,
the garden of her parents,
near the Shaw landing.
There was no May Pole dance but
her Lilac was saved from a bulldozer
in the 1980s, and planted by
local garden volunteers for the
Community Building where it blooms
this day of 1 May 2020.
Thanks Elsie.

"May Day is not an overly prominent holiday in the American year, but it does have a long and notable history as one of the world's principal festivals.
      The origin of May Day, and of its accompanying Maypole, undoubtedly goes back to New Year celebrations in prehistoric times which related to changing seasons. Trees have always been symbols of the great vitality and fertility of nature and were often used at the spring festivals of antiquity.
      The beginning of May was a very popular feast time for the Romans. It was devoted primarily to the worship of Flora, the goddess of flowers, in whose honor a five-day celebration was held, called the Floralia. This was from April 28 to May 2.
      For the Druids of the British Isles, May 1 was the second most important holiday of the year; it was the festival of Beltane, the day which divided the year in half. (The other holiday was Samhain, November 1.) By the Middle Ages, every English village had its Maypole. The bringing in of the Maypole from the woods was a great occasion and was accompanied by much rejoicing and merrymaking. 
      The Maypoles were of all sizes, and village vied with village to see who could produce the tallest one. The London Maypoles were permanently set in the ground, but the dancing around them was stopped by the Puritan Long Parliament in 1644.
      With the return of the Stuarts, the Maypoles reappeared and the festivities of May Day were again enjoyed. One of the great Maypoles, a 134-ft wonder, was brought in 1661 in two pieces from Scotland to London and hoisted into position by twelve seamen, with the encouragement of drums. It smoothly crossed the barrier from folklore to science when, in 1717, it was taken down and purchased by Sir Isaac Newton to be used as the support of his powerful 124-ft telescope.
      In recent years Americans seem to have attempted a revival of May Day, although in a way designed for children. Schools supervise the making of paper May Day baskets, which are meant to be filled with flowers and small gifts and hung on friends' doors on May Day. 
      Girls' schools and colleges have traditionally been enthusiastic observers of May Day in America. They had their May Queens and May dances, ceremonies, games, and a good deal of fun. In recent years, these customs have lapsed."

Source; Robert J. Myers. Celebrations, The Complete Book of American Holidays. Doubleday & Co. 1972.

🌿Happy Earth Day 🌿

Lunaria annua
'Honesty' seed harvest
2015
from Mary Lou Clark,
Shaw Island, San Juan Archipelago, WA.
Blooming on this day of 22 April 2020
at the Shaw Island Gatehouse.
The willow tray was handwoven in England.

"All seeds are most interesting, whether winged like the Dandelion and Thistle, to fly on every breeze afar; or barbed to catch in the wool of cattle or the garments of men, to be borne away and spread in all directions over the land; or feathered like the little polished shuttlecocks of the Cornflower, to whirl in the wind abroad and settle presently, point downward, into the hospitable ground."
      Celia Thaxter. An Island Garden.

Cleaning seeds of mature
Money Plant
(Lunaria annua)
Fresh seed packets are available
at the Gatehouse shed
Reefnet Bay Road, Shaw Island,
San Juan Archipelago, WA. 

🌿Summer Snowflake blooming on Shaw Island 🌿

Summer Snowflakes
(Leucojum aestivum)
Blooming this day of
5 April 2020
Gatehouse Garden,
on Shaw Island, WA.

The so-called summer snowflake, Leucojum aestivum 'Gravetye Giant' is in full bloom by early April, and may run on into May. The common name is a misnomer because it blooms in spring, and has gone dormant by summer. It is deer resistant, and a great naturalizer for Z 4-8. 
      In spring, leafless stems that are up to 36" in height bear up to 8-bell shaped, slightly chocolate-scented, white flowers. 'Gravetye Giant' is a standout of this genus because of its vigor. It is a more robust, taller, and heavier bloomer. The summer snowflake prefers to not dry out completely in summer while dormant. It never flops, according to Christopher Lloyd.
      The Elizabeth Miller Library includes this bulb on their list of Great Plant Picks. Best of all, gardener Gwen Yansen, one of the first to grow this plant on Shaw Island, had fat clumps of Leucojum in her perennial flower beds and was generous about sharing to those friends without. 

ONE MARCH 2020

"It is the spectrum, not the color,

that makes color worth having,

and it is the cycle, not the instant,

that makes the day worth living."

Henry Mitchell, American writer.

Early Rhododendrons
coming out party,
this day of One MARCH 2020
on Shaw Island,
San Juan Archipelago, WA.