The Early Lilac

"Biendl's Early White"
Single Lilac
Mideke porcelain pot.
Shaw Island flowers harvested 15 April 2015.
A fragrant bouquet to cross the miles 
to Napa Valley visitors to the island.
Thank you for leaving the nice note at the Gatehouse.

The 15th of each month is given over to photographing and sharing what's blooming in our garden.
      The garden featured on this site is the one laid out on the island of Shaw. This time of year, she has quite a display. 
      Here are two of her finest white flowers, the first a heritage shrub blooming for several decades in several island gardens. It is thought of as a heritage plant grown here by this family below. You might not recognize the family members, but the silo is still with us.

Ruth Shaw Biendl, John Biendl
& their four girls and infant John 
on father's lap.
If one looks carefully, the shoot for
shipping out firewood for the limekilns
at Roche Hbr can be viewed on the shore
of the family dairy farm on Shaw Island.
 Date c. 1923.
Photos from the Gwen Yansen collection.

      Ruth Shaw, who grew up on Shaw Island, and her husband, John Biendl, settled on their farm in the early 1900s. They cultivated the land later farmed by Gwendolyn and Don Yansen. Island and family historian, Gwen, honored their memory by naming the earliest Lilac to bloom in her garden, "Biendl's Early White." A delicate, lacy, single white with an official name not recorded in any memories residing on Shaw Island. 

      The native flowering spring bulb greeting us today in special mossy nooks, often shady, is the single stalked "White Fawn Lily" (Erythronium oregonum.) There are many nicknames for this flower; the one chosen here is used by Scott Atkinson and Fred Sharpe in their Wild Plants of the San Juan Islands; Mountaineers, 1985, and by the professor, Lewis J. Clark late of Victoria, BC in his Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest; Evergreen Press Limited, 1976.

"White Fawn Lily"
Erythronium oregonum
Shaw Island, WA.
April 2015.
Three photographs by Carol ©

      This delicate "White Fawn Lily" is native from northern OR., through western WA,, Vancouver Island, and the extreme southern coastal mainland of BC. Lewis Clark warns that plucking the beautiful leaves dooms the bulb. 
      According to Clark, the better the exposure to light, the more intense the color of the reverse side of the tepals. The colors vary from yellow-green to rose-maroon, as we can clearly see in these incredible photographs by Carol.

Little stars at our feet, 

 "White Fawn Lily"
U of Washington Biological Preserve
Shaw Island, WA.
15 April '15.

Photo courtesy of Angel©

      The dainty flowers grow in the protected habitat of the U of WA Biological Preserve, where they are not pushed aside by bulldozers but sadly have their habitat invaded by a threatening mass of non-native Scotch Broom (on the State of Washington Noxious Weed list which can be seen here.)
      The stunning native gem, Calypso orchid, is saying goodbye for another year, while the vivid blue Camas is unfolding; more photos another day. Thanks for stopping by.

🌿 HERITAGE NARCISSUS 'Van Sion' 🌿

"SPRING IS NATURE'S WAY OF SAYING
LET'S PARTY!"

The great Robin Williams,
an American comedian & actor.

Photograph looking north to
Orcas Island is courtesy of Eli,
a childhood resident of
the old Griswold home place,
12 March 2015.

The Skagit Valley growers are keen to host festivals to celebrate their acres of flowering spring bulbs; please join me in celebrating these special 'survivor' daffodils, now dancing in our offshore breeze. There will not be any Narcissus seeds available at the Gatehouse but the double Narcissus 'Van Sion' has been happy here from early settlement days, naturalizing on at least three former homesteads on Shaw Island. Their long history catches my attention.
      I may be accused of using the term 'heritage' rather loosely for some of the specimens listed in previous plant posts, but this bulb of unknown origin is recorded as first flowering in 1620 in London. Parkinson listed it in his Paradisus. The highly regarded daffodil expert, Englishman E. A. Bowles writes in his 1934 Handbook of Narcissus, that his bulbs were sent as a gift from a wild patch growing in northern Greece. 
      The Narcissus 'Van Sion' is well described in journals as heritage for her survival through the centuries, in varying climatic conditions without special nurturing; usually, it is this lush, double daffodil found at early abandoned homesteads, long after the residents have moved on. Often the flowers are tinged with green; there are other double daffodils, but this is the one with a pedigree.
      The three known places where 'Van Sion' is found naturalized in the thick, lush grass of Shaw Island were former working farms, recorded in federal documents as being settled in the 1880s. I sent photographs to a professional to verify my guess of the correct name.  
      When Jeremiah Griswold filed Shaw Island homestead papers with the federal government, he listed 1882 as his first personal settlement. We don't know if he planted these flowers, but the next two generations of Griswolds also operated the farm. Their first farmhouse burned to the ground in 1911, but the large extant hay barn and the daffodils were happy to stay on.
      For this historian, these are enough reasons to classify this flower growing on Shaw Island, as one of our true heritage plants.
      Here is a piece from the local Journal newspaper in 1974: 

"It might be called a town that never was; hardly any reason for it to be called anything. But there it is––on most maps––Griswold; on some maps, the only name on Shaw Island. Signs of a town are just missing." 

     And there it is, a blend of our horticulture and our history; it is a lovely 'pot of gold' the Griswold family left behind at Griswold.

Gift of cut Narcissus 'Van Sion'
grown on the site of
the old Griswold home, 
Shaw Island, WA.
Debbie Dean porcelain pots.
March 2015.

      

I mentioned a pedigree; she did earn an Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society (London.) 
     Shaw Island Women's Club, the gals that spearheaded the early fundraising for the construction of the Shaw Island Community Building, started out life as a Garden Club, with membership––I like this––in the Royal Horticultural Society, England. 
      

🌿 HELLEBORES AND HEARTS FOR VALENTINE'S DAY 🌿 2015

Traditional Hand Hooked Wool Mat
in the garden with Hellebore orientalis
(a.k.a. "Lenten Rose")
now into their fourth decade living
in this writer's Shaw Island garden.
The 7" x 10" wool on linen mat was
designed and hooked by gardener 
and artistic needleworker, Marlyn Hoffman
Shaw Island, 1998.

🌿 Shaw Island Pussy Willows for February 🌿

PUSSY WILLOWS
Salix harvested on Shaw Island, 1 Feb 2015.
Early hand-thrown Crow Valley Pottery from Orcas Island,
"Eggsit" by Guemes Island's Yvonne Davis,
 a trio 'blooming where they are planted.'
for G.E.Y.

This willow is familiar to those who love the botanicals of Shaw Island. According to Louise Thomas, Gladys F. Difford (1891-1988), who lived out her senior years on the island, received a florist bouquet gift that contained sprigs of this willow. Her resident son-in-law, John Nichols, planted them along the edge of his property where they have thrived with abundant moisture, and have grown to tree size. The trees are about 3 weeks early in sharing their buds this year, a special gift to welcome February.
      Nice to know the historical background; thanks, Louise.

Gladyse F. Difford (1891-1988)
At home on Shaw Island.
Photo by Gwendolyn Yansen

Shaw Island native, Susanna Larsen,
in the Hoffman family lower garden, age 4.
She's in the Willow tree grown from a sprig
cut from Mrs. Difford's Willow tree along Blind Bay.
Sadly, the tree was removed to let in more sun.
Photo courtesy of Marlyn Hoffman.

Favorite reference for researching Salix is photographed and quoted below:

Dover Publications, 1967.
Unabridged republication of the original
published by the Forest Service of the US
Gatehouse Garden Library,
Shaw Island, WA.

"A striking and valuable cultural feature of the willows is their remarkable vitality, that enables them to grow persistently and easily from cut stumps and pieces of branches or roots.
      The willows are swamp or moist-ground species, finding their habitat from sea level to 10,000-ft or more.
      They don't have much commercial usefulness except in the manufacture of baskets and furniture. They are, however, distinctly important to the forester for binding shifting sands and for holding banks of streams in soft bottoms where serious ruin of agricultural lands may result from erosion of unprotected banks. 
      Approximately 70 species occur on this continent, while about 13 trees inhabit the Pacific region. They are of very ancient origin. Remains of these exist in the Cretaceous formations of the Mid West, while willows appear to have flourished extensively on this continent and in Europe during the Miocene period.
      With few exceptions the various species of willows, that, as a class, are nearly always distinguished as willows from other trees and shrubs by laymen, are exceedingly difficult to identify, especially before they become trees. When they have attained tree size most of the important ones can be distinguished by a careful study of their mature leaves, bark, twigs, and habit of growth. But individual trees are likely to be found which will baffle attempts at i.d. without a close examination of the minute characters of the male and female flowers and the tiny seed capsules, all consideration of which is here omitted. Such an exam requires a strong lens and a good knowledge of plant morphology." 

      

Garden Visitors for 12-13-14 ♥ ♥ ♥

Anna's Hummingbird, female.
Winter resident on Shaw Island,
12-13-14
Courtesy of Wikipedia.

Anna's Hummingbird, male.
Winter resident on Shaw Island,
12-13-14.
Courtesy of Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

For two successive years the "winged winter jewel" known as the Anna's Hummingbird has been observed in at least two Shaw Island winter gardens. Both genders calmly enjoying Mahonia and Viburnum bodnantense flowers with backup of a feeder with sugar solution.

      For many years this hummingbird has been staying through the winter on San Juan, Orcas and Lopez Islands. Perhaps they are finally attracted to Shaw Island shores by tropical scent in the air from fragrant garden plants displaying luscious winter blooms.        

      Ciscoe Morris writes that this tiny bird needs to eat half its weight every day to survive, and encourages us to help them out with plant specimens they enjoy. Listed below are some of Ciscoe's recommendations that we can easily grow and plants that are commonly found at local nurseries.

   

Tall, winter blooming Mahonia x "Charity"
Shaw Island Community Building garden.
Planted along south fence line in the 1990s
by the volunteer garden crew.
Photo December 2014.

For expert advice on growing this Mahonia bred in N. Ireland, see this link

Hardy Fuchsia (F. magellanica); late fall bloomer in Mary Lou's garden.
witch hazel
Lonicera fragrantissima (winter honeysuckle)
Viburnum bodnantense
Sarcococca (sweet box)

      
If our gardens can provide a diversity of nectar plants, shelter, appropriate water sources, and if we can eliminate or greatly reduce the use of insecticides and herbicides, we will be able to experience hosting the jewel box hummingbirds all the year through. May they stay on Shaw for the Christmas Bird Count.

🐝 🐝 🐝 MONEY PLANT (Lunaria annua)

LUNARIA ANNUA
dried seed capsules.

 Mideke porcelain pot.
Shaw Island 2014.

Common names: Money Plant, Honesty, Silver Dollars.

Source: This plant has been growing on Shaw Island with two long-time islanders, Gwen Yansen and Mary Lou Clark. Since the number of gardening years they have enjoyed on Shaw added together tops 100, let us list Lunaria annua as a Shaw Island Heritage Plant. The plant could have been introduced to the island by previous owners of their early established gardens, the Biendl, and the Fowler families.

"Money Plant"
First-year planting of Lunaria
in the Gatehouse woodland garden.
And soon come the attractive seed capsules
as seen posted on top. 

Native: The Balkans and SW Asia;  naturalized through the temperate climate of the world.

Life cycle: Herbaceous Biennial. 

Nomenclature: Lunaria means “moon-shaped,” referring to the seedpods. In SE Asia it is called “money plant," in the US it is commonly known as “silver dollars.” In French, it is known as Monnaie du pape (“the Pope’s money”) In Denmark, it is known as judaspenge, an illusion to the story of Judas Iscariot and the 30 pieces of silver he was paid for betraying Christ.

Tolerates: Shaw Island deer have let me grow this plant at the Gatehouse garden all the way until 2019 when they have been munching on the foliage but leaving me the seed pods. That works. 

Height: 2 to 3 ft

Bloom: Mid-spring-summer, fragrant, magenta-purple. A favorite for honey bees.

Growing Region: USDA Zone–– down to 4a.

The degree of Difficulty: EASY

Propagation: from seed. Direct sowing with a depth of 1/4". Spacing 4-6". Then at maturity thin 12-18".

Days to Sprout: 14-28.

Uses: Vital nectar plants for bees, butterflies, and birds. Cottage garden, flower arranging, flower borders, butterfly, and wildlife gardens. Esteemed gardener/author Christopher Lloyd, in his book Cottage Garden, Prentice-Hall (1990), suggests Lunaria as a specimen we should grow. 

Bloom time: Spring to Summer flowers. If the flowers are not picked for bouquets there is autumn interest with flat, translucent, round and papery seed cases resembling little moons. These can be brought inside for use in dry arrangements or they can be left in the garden where they will re-seed.

 Lunaria at Priona Garden
by Scott Weber.
A Piet Oudolf-inspired garden tour
to Holland and Germany,
 September 2015.

Notes: Some sources say to direct sow in fall and some say to wait until spring. In the PNW climate, I’m sure we can take our pick. Needs no pampering. It prefers partial shade but will tolerate full sun. Seems happiest growing among other plants. Lunaria develops thick storage roots, and deep tap roots, so if kept in small pots for any length of time this prevents roots from developing and will cause distress. Requires moist soil.

      Once established, it will continue to produce a display each year.
      Artist Claude Monet grew this flower at his famous Clos Normand Garden, at Giverny.

Drying:

"We call this herb in English
Penny floure or Money floure––
and among the women it is
called Honestie."
Gerard.

Before the days of sophisticated dried flowers, "Honesty" was popular at Christmas and New Year's; after it had been arranged it would often stay in the vase for months.

      Now there is keener interest in the winter garden and the seed pods of the Silver Dollars can add interest to a bleak winter landscape.

      The key to getting good “silver pennies” is to make sure that the seed pods are perfectly dry. Cut the stems bearing seed pods and hang in bunches upside down in an airy room to dry. Once dry, gently remove the outer seed casing before using them for arrangements.

      In October, I brought some seed pods inside to dry. It was a delight to see them transform from rag-tag battleship gray to clean, translucent, silvery-white.

Favorite reference for research on Lunaria annua;

“Honesty, or money plant, is one of those plants that is always appreciated but rarely used to its full potential. True, it is valued as a dried flower––for its silvery seed heads that look like coins––and for the wild garden, especially in its delightful but underused white form.

      In naturalistic or woodland situations some seedlings are best left where they sow themselves. In any shady situation planted with less delicate woodlanders, they can be allowed to do their own thing.

      The purple honesty looks excellent with white or yellow tulips.

       Lunaria will self-sow perfectly in perennial plantings. The gardener can take a hand in the look of the planting by removing self-sown seedlings from inappropriate positions and moving them to more advantageous ones.”

      The above quote from Discovering Annuals. Rice, Graham. Prentice-Hall. 1990. 
     

Money Plant
(Lunaria annua)
Fat, fresh seeds for sale
beneath the Viking Dragon
at the Gatehouse, Reefnet Bay Road,
Shaw Island, San Juan Archipelago, WA.

🌿 MARY LOU's Nasturtiums 🌿

MARY LOU AND MONET

Eye to eye in November,
with the luxury of greenhouse
quarters on Shaw Island.
Photo taken 2014.
No enhanced image, the Nasturtiums
come fully packed with color.

No one needs an introduction to the well-known botanical specimen, Tropaeolum majus. Nasturtiums are one of the most foolproof and versatile of all summer annuals. This variety gets star status for being a long-time friend of gardener Mary Lou, of Shaw. If you read further you will see why the famed artist, gardener Claude Monet, gets top billing along with our island neighbor.

Common Name: Mary Lou's Trailing Nasturtiums (Spitfire)
Life cycle: Hardy Annual
Growing region: Zone 1-10.
Degree of Difficulty: EASY
Bloom time: Mid-summer to autumn frost.
Flower description: The newly collected seeds are from Mary Lou's very happy, trailing Nasturtium. There are a few of a medium yellow shade, perhaps with odds of 10%. One can choose to rogue out if one of the colors doesn't suit your design. The solid orange suits me to the ground, so it is hereby "Mary Lou's," of course.

Origin: Originally from South American Andes from Bolivia north to Columbia. It was first cultivated in Peru and introduced to Europe in the 16th C by the Spanish conquistadors. There are dwarf varieties (Nanum) and this offered seed, which is the trailing (Majus) form.

Germination: 7-21 days. Distinctive seedlings can be told from nearby weed seedlings quite easily.
Cultivation: Sow direct where they are to grow instead of transplanting.
They prefer well-drained soil in full sun of the Northwest but are difficult to keep flowering in the hot sun of the south. They will tolerate some drought but bloom best when watered in their growing season. Several sources say Nasturtiums do better with soil of moderate to low fertility.

Notes:

Nasturtium "Spitfire" has been listed in seed catalogues since 1887.

Studies say this annual is among the best "flower trap" for attracting predatory insects.
Attractive to Hummingbirds.

Uses: Cottage and informal gardens; hanging baskets, tubs, and containers. Ideal for children.
Good for filling bare spots or along the edges of your flower and vegetable beds.
Flowers, leaves, and seeds are all edible for peppery additions to salads.


My favorite reference for this Tropaeolum study;
Russell, Vivian. Monet's Garden, Through the Seasons at Giverny. 
New York. Stewart, Tabori & Chang. 1995. 

"The piece de resistance of Claude Monet's Giverny––unique to Giverny––is the carpet of trailing nasturtiums leading the way along the Grande Allée toward the front door. This effect was already in place in 1892, according to a photograph from that date, and was probably used even earlier. How was it conceived? One can only guess. On fine, warm days the family lunched on the wooden green veranda that ran the length of the house, under a canopy of Virginia creeper, roses, wisteria, and Aristolochia. Monet always sat with his back to the house, facing the garden and gazing down the Grande Allée. He would have noticed in other situations the creeping, trailing habit of climbing nasturtiums and their capacity for covering the ground far beyond where their roots are anchored, and being a canny and resourceful character, he may have thought that this would solve the problem of the Grande Allée. The sturdy, reliable nasturtiums were planted on either side and allowed to creep toward one another and toward the light in the middle of the path. By September, only a narrow sinuous path was visible between the sea of undulating leaves, brilliantly translucent in the sun and making waves of frothy acid-green on which floated orange flowers. The whole concept was not that far removed from the water lilies that would later float on his pond. Even the disk-like leaves of the nasturtiums echo the shape of the water-lily pads that were to come.
      At Giverny today, great care is taken to make sure the nasturtiums perform on cue. The seeds are planted in spring directly in the soil along the Grande Allée after being soaked for 24 hours in warm water. The seeds, two planted every 2 inches, are supplied wholesale by weight and identified as nothing grander than 'medium-high,' 'high climbing,' and so on. Although extra sowings are made in the greenhouses simultaneously in case the seeds fail in the main garden, they have always proven dependable and so far, have carpeted the whole of the Grande Allée by mid-September every year.
      Nasturtiums figure prominently in Monet's late summer and fall garden, and as with all the favorites of his early years, he remained faithful to them, growing annual and perennial varieties over many years. He grew some––probably annuals rather than perennials––up the tuteurs in the island beds in front of his house and in his paintbox beds."

A quote below from a favorite American garden writer, the famous gardener/author, Celia Thaxter (1835-1894) who chose to garden on Appledore Island, ME., operate one of the first summer resorts in the country and surround herself with guest artists such as the great painter Childe Hassam (1859-1935.)

"In the case of Nasturtiums––these are among the most beautiful and decorative of all––everyone is twice as valuable if given the support it demands. Nasturtiums, which seem with endless good nature ready to adapt themselves to any conditions of existence, except, perhaps, being expected to live in a swamp, it is not so important that they should have something upon which to climb. A very good way is to put them near a rock one wishes to have covered, or to let them run down a bank upon which nothing else cares to grow. They will clothe such places with the wild and beautiful luxuriance of green leaves and glowing flowers."
Thaxter, Celia. An Island Garden; Houghton, Mifflin, & Co. 1894. 
There is a special reprint published in 1977 by John M. Kingsbury, Director of Shoals Marine Laboratory who also took charge of the restoration of Thaxter's garden.
To tour her garden under the care of U of NH and Cornell, see this link

A fresh crop of Mary Lou's
trailing Nasturtium seeds (Spitfire,)
available at  Gatehouse Seeds,
Reefnet Bay Road,
Shaw Island, San Juan Archipelago, WA.

PUMPKIN CROP 2014

Shaw Island grown pumpkins 2014.