Botanical Illustration

Yesterday Tim spontaneously said, “You should think about taking a botanical illustration class.” So I took some time to look up what might be available in the area. Turns out the Center for Urban Horticulture is offering a nine week  introduction to classical botanical art starting next week. The instructor, Louise Smith, is well qualified, including the fact she teaches the botanical illustration class that is part of the University of Washington’s Natural Science Illustration Certificate Program.

What timing!

Pruning time

The weather has been incredibly warm and it is all I can do to resist doing any major clean-up or planting. It’s still February after all. The forecast is clear and unseasonably warm up until Thursday and then the cooler temperatures and rains come back.

Frankly, I am glad there is rain in the forecast because the plants all need the water. It is time to prune and the yellow twig dogwood are first on my list. I’ve also decided to remove the vinca by the front of the house and replace it with a combination of black mondo grass and some sort of dwarf yellow juniper or threadleaf cypress. Mature height is always an issue because of the low basement windows. This will transition into greeen/yellows/blues in my fern garden/deep shade.

The moss is doing fine, as usual. At least I don’t fight it any more.

Imbolc/Groundhog’s Day

Yet another warm day. January had the warmest average temperature on record, and it looks like February is off to a similar start.

This week is the Northwest Flower and Garden Show. I haven’t really thought about it, but I guess I should go tomorrow. I wonder what the schedule looks like. Generally the plants looks their best early on in the program.

My absolutely favorite time of the year

I don’t think there is a better time of year in the Seattle area than right now. It’s definitely time to visit the Witt Winter Garden http://depts.washington.edu/wpa/files/WinterGardenMap2.06.06.pdf

Happy New Year 2010!

Here’s to a great year ahead. I’m looking forward to a busy gardening year.

Snow in the Forecast

I keep looking out my back window and thinking that soon it will be the perfect time for initial yard clean up. Once the leaves are down I can see what’s really out there. The weeds that like to hide under the currants and dogwood are easy to spot now.  I like doing my major planning for pruning and cutting back now. I like to wait until February or so to do the actual cutting, after the coldest part of the year is past.

Cold weather in the forecast, and more rain. Snow level down to 500 ft. which means I’m likely to see some of the white stuff too. Hopefully not so much that I have to shovel. Still, it’s time for the snow tires.

The Arthur Menzies haven’t actually flowered yet, but I’m thinking any day now.

What do you call a second Indian Summer?

Pretty strange weather the last couple of days, highs in the sixties, lows in the mid 40′s. It definitely feels like fall and not an accelerated spring. Today it is supposed to start to cool down and dump a bunch more rain. I hope the sand bags hold. Next weekend it will probably get below 32 at night, the first real freeze.

Time to cover the faucets.

One inch of rain in an hour means lots of water

Failing Storm Water Infiltration System

9:30am on Saturday, rain is coming down in buckets. Certainly enough water to do the trick. The photo here is the sandbags diverting the overflow away from my driveway and to the side of my house. There is a stream flowing down the walkway and into the backyard. The adjacent lot is undeveloped wetlands, so no damage there. I’m just thankful my planning paid off. The basement is dry and I’m here typing this post, not bailing out another flood.

Sandbags

My sister loves to tease me that I’ve been sandbagging again.

I’m the unlucky recipient of my neighbor’s stormwater runoff. This spring I already suffered about $30k of damages from my basement flooding.  I’m not terribly excited about a repeat performance. An inexpensive and effective short term solution is to redirect the water flow around the house using sandbags. 

There will be an opportunity for a real test this weekend. The three day forecast call for continuous rain from now until Sunday. I’ll post pictures if anything interesting happens.

Wet and Windy Winter Wednesday…

Well, maybe it’s not winter yet, but yesterday was certainly wet and windy. Yesterday I had one quarter of an inch of rain fall in an hour. Saturday looks to be wetter.

There are a few great weather websites I follow:

• Cliff Mass Weather Blog at http://cliffmass.blogspot.com/
• Kirkland Weather at http://kirklandweather.com/, which happens to be based about a mile from my house.
• and the University of Washington Probability Forecast http://probcast.washington.edu/

Everything else pales in comparison.