WE CLOSE THE DOOR––ON THE LAST DAY OF THE YEAR

...on historical high and historical low temperatures for USDA zones of 8 and 8b in the Pacific Northwest. 
      Soon we can peek under the insulating blanket of snow to see who is with us to journey into gardens of 2022. Thank you for the fun year along the roadside--come back again.

Old Western Red Cedar garden gate
Shaw Island, WA.
Mexican Bell Vine
Just before frost.

Ahhh, an open garden gate let us into 
 the "secret garden" world of Josephine Harford,
at the edge of Picnic Cove, Shaw Island, WA.
On any visit, guests learned to know
the scientific names.
Photograph 1974.

Rosa "Eddie's Jewel", hybridized in B.C. in 1962.
It is protected from the deer--
 a fragrant, colorful entry to the garden of
Angela Bryant. 
Ciscoe has been here to stay,
 and we know, he was exclaiming
"Oh, La La!!"

The entry gate in spring, under 
the big Willow welcoming us to the  
fine garden of Gwen Yansen, 
 Shaw Island, WA.

Inside the stone terrace
springs a new handcrafted iron trellis
reaching above the garden gate
laden with Clematis montana and a 
regal Tree Peony.
Photograph in 2016,
in the garden of Angel Bryant.

No gate was needed at this intimate deck garden,
on the north shore, looking out toward the Gulf Islands.
Do Oliver and Mattie kept the deer back with a set of stairs. 
A set of stairs with one very important sentry,
 the Margaret Cameron sculpted clay Grasshopper
with one little hitchhiker. (Tap to enlarge.)
Newly dyed wool fleece is drying along the bench,
 always a place of color, indoors and out.
Shaw Island, San Juan Archipelago, WA.
Anno 1992.

21 DECEMBER '21, the WINTER SOLSTICE

 

This finely crafted Jule Nisse
in the dark of winter is 
cozy in her waxed canvas cape 
and sheep fleece after her passage on the 
mailboat today from Pt. Townsend, WA.
Click to enlarge the image  
and view the fine stitching from 
Bestcoast Canvas Co.
12-12-21
Thank you for this winter delight, Leah.
Happy sails.

TO KNOW THE DARK

To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.

To know the dark, go dark. Go with sight,

and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings, 

and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.

Wendell Berry

IT'S THE HUMMINGBIRDS YELLING...

 

It's true,
they are yelling, more, more!
The Hummingbird pantry is open for dining.
with Mahonia x "Charity."
In the foreground is a young plant serving
 organic nectar, no refined sugar this day.
 Shaw Island in the mist of 
ONE DECEMBER TWENTY-ONE. 

Thanksgiving on Shaw Island 2021

Bushels of thanks to all the support crew
who took time to visit the Gatehouse stand
this past year. The plant talk is always inspiring 
 while seed sales fund new plants for the 
 woodland garden to sustain 
 the birds, bees, pollinators, and their people.

 

NOVEMBER ONE

Summer is leaving town with
Persicaria (Fleeceflower) 
holding on.
 Photograph on Shaw Island
 One November 2021.
One day following our first frost of the year.
Gatehouse Garden,
Reefnet Bay Road, Shaw Island,
San Juan Archipelago, WA.

"As one fine gardener of England put it, his was a garden made by doing unnecessary things that he could not afford at the wrong time of the year."

Courtesy of, Henry Mitchell on Gardening. Boston/ New York. Houghton Mifflin. 1998
From the Gatehouse Garden library.

WORKING WITH NATURE

 

Western red cedar, copper rivets
and one fat pumpkin for 
working with nature.
Thanks, Eli.

Wild Foxgloves
(Digitalis purpurea)
 Gatehouse Seeds
Spring 2018. 

"The natural garden is a garden planted with species that are natural to their environments, species that would grow wild. Plants are chosen with an entire year, or years, in mind––they are not expected to work for just one season––and the garden design makes use of long-lasting natural materials. Thus the garden is beautiful year-round as well as being easy to maintain. The lawn is reduced to the minimum needed for recreation, shrubs bloom throughout, and are seldom pruned, color comes from dependable perennials and easy-care hybrids, and spaces for entertaining are paved with permanent materials that match the resources in the landscape and require little care. Your garden is the product of a close collaboration between you and nature, in which what you want from the garden is met by the character of your particular location. Instead of fighting the elements to create the perfect lawn and formal garden, you work in partnership with nature to discover and enhance the best features of the land."  Ken Druse, The Natural Garden. Clarkson Potter. 1980.

Bowles' Golden Grass
(Milium effusum 'Aureum')
snugged in with native Sword ferns

Clematis montana
Climbing to the rooftop.

Foxgloves at Erik and Carol's
An artistic planting!

Summer Snowflakes
Gatehouse garden

Gwen's Begonia Basket 
catching the orange of the entry door
Shaw Island Library & Historical Museum

Mahonia x "Charity" 
feeding the winter hummingbirds

Oriental poppy 
summer at the Gatehouse.

Species Rhododendron augustinii
Shaw Island, WA.

Rhododendron "Taurus"
Shaw Island, WA.

Native Crabapple
(Malus fusca)
Shaw Island, WA.

SEEDS COMING IN for Autumn 2021

 

Malcolm Cameron (1902-1975)
"Winter Storage"

Cameron's Shaw Island reefnet boats  
escort the last crop of seeds harvested; 
Rosa glauca heps,
Yansen farm fat Cardoon pods,
pods of perennial Sweet Peas,
as they also hunker down for winter storage.
A healthy supply for the Gatehouse seed rack,
Reefnet Bay Road,
Shaw Island, San Juan Archipelago, WA.
Fourteen October 2021.
Thanks, Diana.

"Two sounds of autumn are unmistakable––the hurrying rustle of crisp leaves blown across the street by a gusty wind, and the gabble of a flock of migrating geese."
       American writer Hal Borland.

A "V" of migrating geese were seen flying east over the Yansen farm yesterday headed for their safe "winter storage" in the Skagit River valley. 

🌿 CARDOON 🌿

Flowering Cardoons
(Cynara cordunculus)
hosting pollinators at the Yansen Farm,
Shaw Island, San Juan Archipelago, WA.
 September 2021.

Those same Cardoons
following harvest, 
 swollen with plump seeds,   
a bounty courtesy of Diana.
Now being packed for the
Gatehouse roadside stand,
Reefnet Bay Road, 
Shaw Island,
San Juan Archipelago, WA.
Click image to enlarge.
Photograph 1 October 2021

Common Names: CARDOON, Artichoke Thistle, Texas Celery.
Botanical Name: Cynara cordunculus
Type: Herbaceous perennial
Family: Asteraceae
Native Range: Mediterranean
Zone: USDA 07-9
Ht: 3'-6'
Spread: 2'-3'
Bloom time: Seasonal bloomer
Sun: Full sun
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Low
Flower: Showy; Good cut; Good dried.
Noteworthy: The celery-like stalks may be blanched, harvested, steamed, or braised & eaten, but it is more often grown ornamentally in gardens outside of southern Europe, for attractive foliage and flowers.
The Royal Horticulture Society, London, has chosen the cardoon as one of the top plants of the last 200 years. They awarded it an A.G.M. in 1993.
Sowing: Begin in February, inside. Set out when all danger of frost is passed.

"The cardoon has found a special and perfect place in one garden, and in my heart. Two springs ago, I purchased two plants based solely on the recommendation of a respected fellow gardener who extolled it as a gorgeous perennial. It seemed like it would be the perfect 'something large and spectacular' for a particular area I had in mind. The cardoon is the ancestor of the artichoke and reportedly has been cultivated for 30,000 years (how do they know this?) The Cynara (both artichoke and cardoon) are edible thistles on a grand scale. The cardoon is often mistakenly identified as its kin the artichoke which is much better known.

      The word cinara is derived from cinis (ash), perhaps because of the cardoon's grayish-blue color, or maybe ashes were the best fertilizer for it. The word became bastardized to cynara.
      Pliny, a Roman philosopher living around 100 A.D. claimed that a small plot of cardoon would bring in a large annual income because the vegetable was so highly prized in Rome that it was found only on the tables of the very rich. Indeed cardoon continues as a staple Italian vegetable and in Italian cookbooks you can find recipes for 'bagna cauda' which is a hot garlic-anchovy dipping sauce. Tender cardoons and other Mediterranean vegetables are prepared and served with it.
      It is not surprising then that the cardoon was introduced to the United States in the 1920s by immigrant Italian farmers. It is thought to originate in Sicily and North Africa. Although I would no more think of eating my cardoon than my cat, this plant does hold high culinary interest in parts of Europe. 
      As a fabulous perennial, the cardoon is a really beautiful and dramatic plant. It fills a hot rather arid area of our garden which needed something to catch the eye. And catch the eye it does! Show-stopping, huge, blue-gray deeply toothed foliage is its main attraction, until mid-summer when it sends skyward its flower stalks. The term 'flower stalk' seems too delicate to describe the sturdy 1-inch thick stems the plant rockets up to support the ultra-large thistle-heads encased in scaly armor. The bold unusually colored foliage of this plant can grow 4 to 8 feet tall and 4 to 5 feet wide and the thistle heads are thrust up from that. When the thistles finally open, they are a beautiful soft bluish lavender that the bees and hummingbirds find very attractive. The plant makes a nice show from late spring all the way through October. The flower heads can be lopped off after they start to dry and before the seed matures. They are striking in arrangements. 
      For several months of unique color and drama in your garden, you might consider the drought-tolerant magnificent cardoon as a candidate for a generous area with poor soil and full sun."
      Patricia Lundquist, author, and illustrator. From The Social Gardener, the Journal of the Whatcom Horticultural Society. Summer 2003. Pg 12-14.

In case you'd like this deer-resistant
drama queen in your life,
 there are fat seeds of the
Shaw Island cardoon,
 happily adjusted to our USDA Z- 8b
available at the Gatehouse shed,
 Reefnet Bay Road,
Shaw Island, San Juan Archipelago, WA.

     

PEA PODS ARE IN FOR THE WINTER

 Autumn carries more gold 

in its pocket 

than all the other seasons.

jim bishop

Maturing seedpods of the
wild perennial Sweet Pea 
(Lathyrus latifolius)
courtesy of the Yansen Farm,
drying for the Gatehouse collection.
The tray under the seeds is 
a handwoven basket from Buka Island,
in eastern Papua, New Guinea, 1976.
Photograph 13 September 2021.
Shaw Island, San Juan Archipelago, WA.

Seed packets available at the Gatehouse Seeds roadside stand, Reefnet Bay Road, Shaw Island, San Juan Archipelago, Washington.

Eight Feet High with Chilean Color

"Chilean Lobelia tupa"
Growing on Shaw Island,
San Juan Archipelago, WA.
Unenhanced photograph.
September 2021

"Chilean Lobelia tupa"  
A survivor for several winters
on Shaw Island, WA.
 (USDA Zone 8b.)
The photo was taken in August 2021.
Click image to enlarge.
Seed packets are available at 
Gatehouse Seeds, Reefnet Bay Road,
 Shaw Island, San Juan Archipelago, WA.

Botanical name: Lobelia tupa

Common names: "Chilean Lobelia,"  "Devil's tobacco"

Family: Campanulaceae

Origin: Chile

Plant type: Herbaceous perennial

Hardiness: to USDA Zone 07-10

Mature size in 10 years: 8 feet high and 4 feet wide.

Exposure: Sun

Bloom time: July-September.

Moisture needs: Average. Drought tolerant but appreciates occasional watering.

Attracts: Bees, butterflies, hummingbirds

Resistant to: Aphids, rabbits, slugs, snails.

Culture: The best method of propagation for this striking specimen is from seed.

Sowing: Lobelia seeds need light to germinate. Leave them on the surface or cover them with a thin layer of vermiculite. Cover with film and mist every day. Emergence in ca. three weeks. Once 3-4" high and well-rooted, carefully lift and pot on into 4-5" pots with free-draining compost. Grow on for a month or so and then harden off for a week before planting outside. Delay if there is any chance of a late frost. 

Avoid heavy clay and winter wet locations. Cut flower seed stalks to the ground once the foliage begins to fade in autumn.

Winterizing: The cut stalks are useful for a winter blanket in the Pacific Northwest, along with a few fir branches with needles on top for a covering with ventilation. This method of winter protection for the Lobelia has succeeded since 2017 for the specimen growing at the Gatehouse garden in USDA Zone 8b –– not tropical.

There are 300 species of Lobelia, mostly tropical and sub-tropical –– they belong to the bluebell family, Campanulaceae. Some are highly prized as garden ornamentals and for dining for hummingbirds. 
Chilean Lobelia tupa is one of the favored plants growing at the Gatehouse garden along Squaw Bay Road, a darling–– tall, colorful, and comes back to greet us in the spring, if we tucked her in well before winter weather. 

"Chilean Lobelia tupa"
A.K.A. "Devil's Tobacco"
packets available at Gatehouse Seeds,
Reefnet Bay Road, Shaw Island,
San Juan Archipelago, WA.

 

Golden Oats Grass

Reaching for the stars,  
it is Stipa gigantea.

Golden Oats Grass

(Stipa gigantea)

The florets can be seen

in the upper foreground gifting seeds 

to those of us under the 8-ft stems.

Location: The Gatehouse garden©

this day of 5 August 2021

Botanical name: Stipa gigantea

Family: Poaceae

Native to: Spanish Pyrenees

Life cycle: Perennial

Hardiness zone: USDA 05-10

Foliage: 18" evergreen hummock with arching evergreen gray-green leaves.

Bloom time: May until early July. Seedheads soaring to ca. 8-feet, last until late summer or early autumn. These are useful in dried flower arrangements.

Tolerates: Drought after it has been established; also resistant to deer.

Sow: Spring.

Notes. This grass brings texture, form, and movement to the garden. It has a long period of interest. Popular for its soaring silver stems and golden drooping awns. The flowers make a great see-through "scrim" in gardens. It has a long period of interest.

Do not fertilize or it could cause the long stems to droop.

It can be tidied by raking through the clump to remove dead grass. and cut back in late winter or early spring for a cleaner look. If it is not a vigorous plant cutting it back can kill a weak or young plant, according to the Elizabeth Miller Library, Seattle. 

Stipa gigantea was awarded an A.G.M. distinction by the Royal Horticulture Society in 1993 and is on the Seattle's Elizabeth Miller Library noted "Great Plant Picks" list.

Seed capsules of 
Golden Oats grass
(Stipa gigantea)
Source: the Gatehouse garden
5 August 2021
Clay art by Jodie and Terri

Packets are now installed at the seed shed on Reefnet Bay Road, Shaw Island, Washington.

YANSEN FARM LUPINES

 

End-of-season
Two-toned Lupine blooming on the
Yansen Farm,
USDA Hardiness Zone 8-b
Reefnet Bay Road, Shaw Island,
San Juan Archipelago, WA.
photo courtesy of Diana.
July 2021.

Common name: Big Leaf Lupine

Botanical name: Lupinus polyphyllus x Russell hybrids.

Life cycle: Hardy perennial

Hardiness zone range: USDA 03-10

Native growing region: Western North America

Preferred climate: Temperate

Soil type: well-drained, moist to wet.

Sun: Full sun to partial shade.

Height: 3-4-ft

Blooms: Early to mid-summer in shades of bi-color pink and blue-purple.

Tolerates: Drought and usually deer resistant.

Degree of difficulty: Easy to grow and one of the easiest perennials to propagate from seed.

Description: According to Diana these are vigorous, self-seeding plants.

Attracts: Pollinators, hummingbirds.

Germination: 7-14 days.

Planting: Tough seed coat so nick lightly with sandpaper or soak in water overnight. Plant outdoors only 1/4" deep where they receive full sun. Lupines have long tap roots so plant in their permanent location. Thin to 18-24 inches.

Notes: This plant is an important food for larvae of some butterflies; wildlife eat some of the mature seeds following the bloom cycle.

Lupine seeds have been unpacked from their  

mature pods and installed in new packets.

They are colorful, nitrogen-fixing, 

pollinator-friendly

plants growing happily on Shaw Island.

Available at the Gatehouse seed rack

Reefnet Bay Road, Shaw Island, WA.

 

"Blue" Columbine on the Rack

Columbines in spring
(Aquilegia vulgaris)

Gatehouse Seeds
USDA Zone 8b
Reefnet Bay Road, Shaw Island, 
 San Juan Archipelago, WA.

 Columbine

Scientifiic name: Aquilegia vulgaris

Type: Herbaceous perennial

USDA Hardiness Zones: 3 to 8

Height 1.5 feet to 3 feet.

Bloom time: April to May
Bloom color: Blue or violet-blue
Sun: Full sun to part shade.
Water: medium
Maintenance: low to medium
Flower: showy.

Attracts: Hummingbirds
Tolerates: Rabbits and usually deer.

Culture: Easily grown in average, medium moist, well-drained soil. Remove flowering stems after bloom to encourage additional blossoms. When foliage depreciates, plants may be cut to the ground. Aquilegia may be easily grown from seed, will naturalize in the garden over time. Seed collected from garden plants maybe 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.

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. 

Garden Uses: Borders, rock gardens, cottage gardens, woodlands, or naturalized areas. A good selection for a hummingbird garden. Continue to water plants after bloom to enjoy the ground cover effect of the foliage.

Source of some of these notes: The Missouri Botanical Garden.

There are a few solid white-colored columbine seeds mixed with this lovely blue strain. They are too beautiful to extract from the Gatehouse Garden. You may rogue them out, but they agree with me.

Seeds from a beautiful
bluish-purple shade of

Columbine
(Aquilegia vulgaris) 
while the supply lasts,
with a few white-white columbines 
 mixed in. May these self-seeders
 enjoy life tenancy in your garden and mine.
Packets available at 
Gatehouse Seeds
Reefnet Bay Road, Shaw Island, WA.

SUMMER ROSES

Rosa glauca
Unenhanced photo 
Single species rose this day of 12 June 2021
Shaw Island, San Juan Archipelago, WA.

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. 

"Deading-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."

Vita Sackville-West
Courtesy of Robin Lane Fox
Thoughtful Gardening
Perseus Books
New York, N.Y.

Rosa glauca
Species single rose nestling in with 
native Alders of Shaw Island,
San Juan Archipelago, WA. 
This day of 12 June 2021.

Disease-resistant and undemanding sweet treasure. Easy from seeds which will soon be at the Gatehouse Seeds shed, Reefnet Bay Road, Shaw Island, WA.

This rose is included on the noteworthy Elizabeth Miller Library's Great Plant Picks list.

Rosa glauca seeds

GIANT SCABIOUS

Giant Scabious
(Cephalaria gigantea)
Deer resistant perennial 
Happy in our Zone 8 climate.
Easy street.

Giant Scabious

Botanical Name: Cephalaria gigantea

Life-cycle: Herbaceous perennial

Hardiness Zones: USDA 03-7

Ease of Care: Low

Habit: Erect, tall blooming plant for the back of borders.

Flowers: Light yellow at the top of wand-like tall stems in June to September, 4-6 feet tall.

Habitat: Average, well-drained soil in sun, light shade.

Tolerates: DEER.

Uses: Food plants for bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects, and for flower arranging. 

Notes: Develops a long taproot so it resents being disturbed. Dies to nothing in late fall and then bounds out of the ground in spring but not invasively. Doesn't need staking except in exposed areas. A plant to use for height in the garden without overbearing large plants. It is an exceptional plant that looks good in a cottage garden or among large shrubs and trees in a woodland garden.

Sowing: April to August for flowering the next year.
January to March for flowers from June onward. Sow in trays or pots with good, moist well-drained seed compost. Cover lightly with vermiculite after sowing as they need light for germination. Prick out to four-inch pots after four weeks.

Seeds for sale 
Shaw Island Gatehouse 
Reefnet Bay Road, 
Shaw Island, WA. 

SCARLET RUNNER BEANS

 

Scarlet Runner Bean Flowers

Scarlet Runner Beans
(Phaseolus coccineus)
Harvested 10-2020
Shaw Island, San Juan Archipelago.

Scarlet Runner Beans

Botanical name: Phaseolus coccineus

Life cycle: tender perennial

Native growing region: mountains of Mexico and Central America

Special features: In Mesoamerica, the thick starchy roots are used as food. 

Flowers: the plants produce scarlet red, typical legume flowers that open at sunrise and fade at sunset. Highly attractive to hummingbirds and other pollinators. The flowers are edible with a bean-like flavor and can be added to salads.

Notes: Quick growing, twining vines can get up to 20-feet, but usually closer to 10-ft. Under ideal conditions the scarlet runner bean is the most productive of all beans, taking approximately 2 months after sowing to produce the attractive, vibrant bloom. They will readily cross-pollinate so they must be isolated in order to have seed from heirloom varieties come true.

The dried seeds, which have a chestnut flavor, require a long soaking and cooking time.

Often grown as an ornamental for the colorful flowers. Removing the developing pods will encourage the plant to continue to flower. Use the vining plants as a temporary cover on a chain-link fence, as a seasonal barrier. 

In 1806, the Philadelphia nurseyman Bernard McMahon wrote it was grown in the US exclusively as an ornamental.

For best results grow the Scarlet Runner Bean in full sun in rich soil with plenty of organic matter and average moisture. 

Note: this species is more cold-tolerant of cold soil in spring than other beans.

Dried seed viability: 3-4 years.

Harvest: 75 days.

A Happy Easter

 

"No winter lasts forever;
no spring skips its turn."

Hal Borlan
(1900-1978)

Blind Bay Pussy Willow

 

Blind Bay Pussy Willow

To view the sugar glaze,

please click the image.

Planted from a sprig

of Mrs. Difford's floral bouquet

many years ago.

The photo was taken Valentine's Day 2021

Shaw Island, Washington.

"Time does make a difference in any garden. At first, you wonder if anything will ever get large enough to count in the general picture. Then you wonder if there is any way to keep it from growing further. For years the little Cunninghamia, say, a favorite shrub, then all of a sudden it becomes a small tree, then after a while, you start thinking of it as a gnarled and marvelous fixture of the garden and can hardly think back to the time before you had it.
      The great trick, I am now sure, is to flow with the tide."

Henry Mitchell, please be my Valentine.

SNOWDROPPING

SNOWDROPS 
Blooming on Shaw Island,
San Juan Archipelago, WA., 
before the SNOW.
9 February 2021.

"Some gardeners think of the Winter Aconite as the first flower of spring but I have never done much with those pleasant little yellow flowers and the shooting of the “Snowdrop leaves is my particular signal that spring, even if far away, will come in time. It is strange that no country name compares Snowdrops with bells for they are bell-like as they swing to and fro. How they do swing on those delicate threads which connect flower to stem. You’d think they would be torn off. But they can stand any gale that blows. They yield to the wind rather than oppose it. A tree may be blown down in the night but never a single Snowdrop head is blown off. Their strength is that they know when to give in. There is moral in that somewhere.”

H.L.V. Fletcher, Popular Flowering Plants.