Gardening in the Northwest

The first thing you need to know about gardening in the Pacific Northwest, if you don't live here, is that summer doesn't come until after the 4th of July.  There is about a month delay compared to the rest of the country: right now it feels like what most of the country experienced in April. The first thing you need to know about our garden in particular, is that Steve does almost all of the work, and we both tend to favor plants that can fend for themselves.  In this climate and with our lifestyle, it's nice when things that grow like weeds are actually attractive in their own right.  That's our raised brick flowerbed above (built on the old shed or barn foundation, we think) with daisies crowding out the lilies and iris and sage, backed by vast quantities of forget-me-nots and the raspberry patch, then the apple trees.

Peas, zucchini, lettuce and spinach, and some tomatoes.  This isn't the best spot for tomatoes: between the back of the raised bed and the 60-foot high Japanese cedars, it's pretty shady.  But that's okay, tomatoes don't do great anywhere in the Northwest, except for cherry tomatoes.  Note more forget-me-nots in the background and some volunteer mustard greens.

The back of the garage is the sunniest spot for tomatoes and peppers.  Steve has put in a little walkway so you can get to the stuff by the garage.  More forget-me-nots (it is Memorial Day weekend, after all), foxglove, and iris.

Grandma and Grandpa's coyote from Arizona is probably wondering why he's surrounded by oregano and wallflowers.  Oregano is something that grows as a weed in our yard.  Want some? Come on over.  Lemon balm, too.

I think there are forget-me-nots in every shot.  If you have to have weeds, make sure they're pretty ones!  This is the kitchen garden, by the side patio.  Also shady, but handy for herbs and salad greens.  Also trying some tomatoes there.  If they don't do well, we're also members of a CSA run by some friends who take their gardening more seriously.
Our other plants are growing well: Primigenitus received his SAT scores yesterday, and they are sufficient to make us optimistic about his acceptance at any reasonable institution of higher education.  Secundus, while remaining the buff athletic one with a penchant for video games, brought his verbal reasoning and vocabulary scores up by 2 stanines on the standardized tests he took.  Tertia is going to Third President for middle school, and that is, on reflection, a real answer to prayer, even if we don't have all the details worked out yet.  Quarta is quite the crafty young lady - I'll have to blog about her first quilt soon.