TODAY WE'RE WRAPPED IN PURPLE

 

WESTERN LONG-SPURRED VIOLETS
(Viola adunca)

Native to the 
San Juan Archipelago, WA.
This photo was taken 14 April 2025.
More on this local perennial can be 
viewed HERE.
Thanks to a helpful harvester, these 
cleaned Viola seeds are now 
available at the 
Shaw Island Gatehouse
Reefnet Road,
Shaw Island, San Juan Archipelago, WA.

"The shortest route to an intimate 
understanding of a plant's needs is to
tend it from seed packet to maturity."

A PRODIGALITY

 

"The vegetable life does not content itself
with casting from the flower
or the tree, a single seed,
but it fills the air and earth with a 
 prodigality of seeds,
that if thousands perish,
 thousands may plant themselves,
that hundreds may come up,
that tens may live to maturity,
that, or least, one
  may replace the parent."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Extracted from "The Triumph of Seeds"
by Thor Hanson
Signed copy from the library of 
Gatehouse Seeds,
Shaw Island, San Juan Archipelago, WA.
Wild Douglas Aster seed harvest of 2024.
More about this easy-street, wild perennial,
wildflower, loved by many pollinators - 
can be seen here.

,                                                                 

                                     

Wild Douglas Aster
(Symphyotrichum subspicatum)
Shaw Island grown.
Seed packets available at 
Gatehouse Seeds,
Reef Net Bay, Shaw Island, 
San Juan Archipelago, WA.

FOXGLOVES

CAROL'S FOXGLOVES
(Digitalis purpurea)
Gatehouse Garden,
Reefnet Bay Road,
Shaw Island, San Juan Archipelago, WA.
1 June 2018.

"Some of the common names of the foxglove, Digitalis purpurea, date back to early days when fairies and evil spirits were familiar presences, while others have a Christian character. They are folk's gloves, witches' gloves, fairy gloves, fairy caps, fairy thimbles, dead men's bells, bloody fingers, and gloves of our lady. Because the plants are biennial, in their first year they produce only the basal rosette of leaves. 

During the second summer, stems four feet high [+] appear, bearing a spire two feet long of nodding two-lipped flowers that grow on one side of the stem. The entire plant is softly hairy. When grown in semi-shade or sparse woods, conditions similar to its wild haunts, foxglove will self-sow freely. 

Helen M. Fox, The Years in my Herb Garden©1953 by the Macmillan Co.

Carol's Foxglove seeds
(Digitalis purpurea)
Packets available
at Gatehouse Seeds,
Reefnet Bay Road, Shaw Island,
San Juan Archipelago, WA.

HEIRLOOM BEANS

 

HEIRLOOM RUNNER BEANS
known in the islands as "BOND BEANS" 
This strain originates from a long life grown and
saved each year by the well-known Bond family on 
ORCAS ISLAND, San Juan Archipelago, WA.

The Bond Bean, an heirloom runner bean (Phaseolus coccineus), known for decades on Orcas Island is now available for the first time this year at Gatehouse Seeds. 

The tender perennial plant is native to the mountains of Mexico and Central America. The Scarlet Runner Beans have scarlet flowers but this one with white flowers, reported by Sidney on Orcas, is tastier for dried beans for cooking.

They like full sun in rich soil with plenty of organic matter and average moisture. 

The seeds of this species are more tolerant of cold soil in the spring than other beans. 

The viability of the dried seed is 3-4 years. Harvest in 75 days.

"BOND BEANS "
runner type now growing
on Shaw Island 
from seeds generously shared 
by Sidney on Orcas.
They will soon be installed 
on the rack at the 
roadside shed,
Reefnet Bay Road,
 on Shaw Island, 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.

CHILEAN LOBELIA TUPA , long-tall-sally

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 9.)
Photo was taken 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

Chilean name: Tabaco del diablo

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-October.

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

Attracts: Bees, butterflies, hummingbirds

Resistant to: Aphids, rabbits, slugs, and snails.

Culture: Very easy. Grows to 2 meters very quickly, at least in Chile. Short dry periods of not more than 1 month. Prefers good drainage but is undemanding, and will grow in almost any type of soil, including heavy clay soils.

Features: Very large, felted gray-green leaves and strange-looking, beautiful red flowers which bloom for a long time.

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

Spring 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 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 9, 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 nectar for hummingbirds. 
Chilean Lobelia tupa is one of the favored plants growing at the Gatehouse garden along Reefnet Bay Road, a darling–tall, colorful, and comes back to greet us in the Spring. 

Uses: excellent ornamental value.

💀💀💀💀According to Michail Belov of Chileflora.com, this plant is poisonous. "It was used by the Mapuche natives as a ritual plant, the leaves of which were smoked. It has two medicinal effects, narcotic and analgesic (especially for toothache), but the whole plant is poisonous, so we must be careful with it."

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 on Shw Island.

Available at Gatehouse Seeds,

Reefnet Bay Road, Shaw Island, WA.

 

BLUE COLUMBINE

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 dies, 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 might 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.

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.

Giant Scabious
(Cephalaria gigantea)
Seeds for sale 
Shaw Island Gatehouse 
Reefnet Bay Road, 
Shaw Island, WA. 

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.

GATEHOUSE GLOBE THISTLE

 

Globe Thistle

(Echinops bannaticus)

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 
Gatehouse Seeds, Reefnet Bay Road,
Shaw Island, 
San Juan Archipelago, WA.

CAPTAIN LESLIE'S INULA

Captain Leslie's Inula 
(Inula helenium)

7 feet of vertical 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:–– WILD VIOLETS 🌿

Tiny pearl-like seeds of
VIOLA ADUNCA

"Western Long-spurred Violet"
Native to 
of the San Juan Archipelago.
Photographed this day of
Nineteen July 2020, with
clay art by Jodie & Terri Cable©

"Western Longspurred Violets"
VIOLA ADUNCA

A native perennial herb
nurtured in a private garden
at Olga, Orcas Island,
San Juan Archipelago.
The potted violets gave up
the tiny seeds in the top photo.

Botanical name: Viola adunca

Common name: Western Longspurred violet, western dog violet, etc., etc.

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

Conservation status: not of concern.

USDA Hardiness Zone: 04-8

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: It self-seeds freely. Suits a rock garden. 

Edible leaves and flowers for humans, but an important source of food for some endangered butterflies. 

" 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 violets" seeds,
 available at 
Gatehouse Seeds
 Reefnet Bay Road,
Shaw Island,
San Juan Archipelago, WA.

🌿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. 

Money Plant Seeds 
Available at Gatehouse Seeds,
Shaw Island, San Juan Archipelago, WA.

🌿 THE SEEDS ARE IN 🌿

"Autumn that year painted the countryside in vivid shades of scarlet, saffron, and russet, and the days were clear and crisp under harvest skies."  S.K. Penman.

A glass of red?
The Crocosmia x 'Lucifer' seeds
complete the seed harvest for 2019.
There will be a few packets protected 
from the high humidity housed in labeled jars
at the Gatehouse shed this winter.
Stop by Reefnet Bay Road 
and pick up a favorite to send 
to a gardening friend.

Crocosmia x 'Lucifer'
First the seeds,
then in a year or two come these
beautiful flowers.
They will self-seed even without
our guidance but not invasively.
The photograph is taken at a sun-filled
border at Angel's island garden;
many stalks of ripe seeds have been
lovingly shared by her, over many years.

🌿 WILD DOUGLAS ASTER 🌿

Douglas Aster
(Symphyotrichum subspicatum)

Anno 25 August 2019
A native flower growing on Shaw Island,
San Juan Archipelago, WA.
Author photograph.

Native Douglas Aster

One of the best native flowers to grow for a food source for a large number of pollinators. Can be cast out in the fall.

Life Cycle: Perennial
Hardiness Zone: 5-9

Habit: c. 3'-4' x 2', other places. (Only about 2' in height on Shaw Island, partly hidden in thick grass.) Laden with lilac-purple daisy-like flowers from July to October.

Soil: Prefers moist but also quite drought tolerant.

Germination: Seeds germinate easily and can be direct sown in fall or spring or started in flats in the spring and then transplanted.

TOLERATES: Shaw Island Deer!
For light conditions, this Aster will take full sun or partial shade areas subjected to salt or saline soils, areas that receive occasional floods and gardens that are blasted with cold winters.

Native: from the Aleutian Islands to northern California.

Notes: This is a late-season bloomer providing essential nectar to insects at a time when many other flowering plants are shutting down for winter. 
      Food source for a large number of butterfly and moth species, including the northern crescent, the field crescent, the painted lady, and the Isabella tiger moth (a.k.a. 'Wooly Bears'). The nectar-rich flowers attract hefty numbers of late-season bees, including bumblebees, leafcutter bees, and skippers. Also good for a rain garden.*

*Rain Garden: is a depressed area in the landscape that collects rainwater from a roof, driveway, or street, and also a place to let it sink into the ground. Planted with grasses and flowering perennials, rain gardens can be a cost-effective and beautiful way to reduce runoff from your property. Rain gardens can also provide food and shelter for butterflies and songbirds. 

Douglas Aster seeds
(Symphyotrichum subspicatum)
Before being cleaned for packets.
Native to Shaw Island,
Center of the San Juan Archipelago, Washington.
Photographed 12 September 2019.
Photograph by author.

For instructions on building a rain garden CLICK HERE.

People interested in food for pollinators
visiting their orchard and garden,
there are a few packets of native Douglas Aster
seeds now included at Gatehouse Seeds,
Reef Net Bay, Shaw Island, WA.

🌿 Little Sparks from Bowles' Golden Grass

These seeds are back at the Gatehouse since the grass is stunning in the garden after a long, gray winter & early spring. The golden leaves are trying hard to shine out and cover up a rotting Alder stump. One of my favorite domestic grasses.

It is featured in a spring 2023 issue of the luscious British magazine Gardens Illustrated.

Bowles' Golden Grass
(Milium effusum 'Aureum')
A colorful grass worth knowing.
Click image to enlarge and view
the thin spray of dainty seeds
bringing magic to the garden.

Photo was taken in the evening
rain of 20 May 2019.
Save the seeds to sprinkle around
in the shadier places in your woodland
garden or snip the stems into a bag,
if you wish to control the numbers.
 for some strange reason.
Deer resistant and pathetically easy.
Back on the rack at the
Shaw Island Gatehouse,
Reefnet Bay Road, 
San Juan Archipelago, WA.

Botanical name: Milium effusum ‘Aureum’
Native Region: Garden origin. Prefers open woodland.
Zone Range: 6-9
Type: Perennial grass.
Bloom Description: As the season progresses tiny golden, bead-like flowers on thin stems gracefully create a delicate sparkle of gold.
Maintenance: Easy.
Tolerates: Deer.

Notes:
Most grasses and grass-like plants require full sun, but this semi-evergreen grass is the exception to the rule. The bonus is that the delicate chartreuse leaves will brighten a shady corner in any garden. Sow seeds in fall or spring, by just broadcasting out where you would like to see them germinate in situ. Best grown in partial but will take full shade. Self-seeds freely, but is very easy to control.
If it gets messy looking in the heat of high summer, just use scissors to snip back the delicate foliage.
This grass comes true from seed propagation.

RHS Award of Garden Merit (AGM.)

The common name "Bowles Golden Grass" is to honor E. A. Bowles, a British horticulturist, plantsman, and garden writer who introduced this variety into cultivation. It was considered one of his best finds when he introduced this yellow form of wood millet.

"E. A. Bowles, (1865-1954) 
Edward Augustus (Gus or Gussie) Bowles, known professionally as E. A. Bowles, was a British horticulturist, plantsman, and garden writer. He developed an important garden at Myddelton House, his lifelong home in Enfield, Middlesex and his name has been preserved in many varieties of plants.
 E. A. Bowles was born at his family's home, Myddelton House. He was of Huguenot descent through his maternal great-grandmother and his father, Henry Carrington Bowles was Chairman of the New River Company, which until 1904 controlled the artificial waterway that flowed past Myddelton, bringing water to London from the River Lea. 

      Through his elder brother Henry, Bowles was the great uncle of Andrew Parker Bowles (born 1939), whose first wife, Camilla Shand, became Duchess of Cornwall on her marriage to Charles, Prince of Wales in 2005.

 
      Bowles gave his name to upwards of forty varieties of plants, and there are others that originated with him. For example, he named a Hellebore 'Gerrard Parker' after a local art master, Crocus tommasinianus 'Bobbo' after the boy who first spotted it, and Rosmarinus officinalis 'Miss Jessopp's Upright' after a gardening neighbor.

 Erysimum 'Bowles' Mauve' was among "200 plants for 200 years" chosen by the RHS to mark its bicentenary in 2004 and, to coincide with the hundredth anniversary of the Chelsea Flower Show in 2013 was shortlisted (from among introductions between 1973-83) as one of ten "plants of the centenary".
 Other significant introductions included Viola 'Bowles' Black', cotton lavender 'Edward Bowles' (Santolina pinnata subsp. neopolitana). Vita Sackville-West cites the yellow and brown Crocus chrysanthus 'E.A. Bowles' as among the first bulbs to flower in her garden at Sissinghurst, while another spring plant, the slow-growing Muscari 'Bowles's Peacock', is commended by Richard Hobbs, holder of the British National Plant Collection of Muscari. 


      E. A. Bowles brought into cultivation several other yellow-leaved grasses and sedges. He also introduced a golden form of the wood sedge, Luzula sylvatica 'Aurea' and found Carex elata 'Aurea' on Wicken Fen, one of his favourite hunting grounds. 
      It has been described by another doyen of plantsmen, Christopher Lloyd, as "a plant to treasure, its colour changing in unexpected ways". 


      In 1908 Bowles was elected to the Council of the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), whose grounds at Wisley, Surrey, now contain a memorial garden to him. Bowles received the society's highest award, the Victoria Medal of Honour, in 1916 and was a Vice-President from 1926 until his death almost thirty years later. RHS colleagues knew him as 'Bowley'.
"