Oregon coast bounty

Gerry recently posted pictures on his blog,  of his garden bounty in Utah.  So I thought I would post pictures of my garden bounty from the southern coast of Oregon. Big difference!    I was going to call this, Veggie bounty...but oops, I'm not growing any veggies.  Tomatoes and blueberries are it for this year.

I have 5 tomatoes plants and 3 of them have actual little green tomatoes on them.  All of the plants are yellow cherry tomatoes, which are like candy!

Lots of yellow flowers

                                      I think by October, I'll have ripe tomatoes!

I have 4 blueberry plants.  Here's a shot of the ONLY blue blueberry.  I ate it right after I took this shot.   That's it for the garden bounty!  Next year I will add lime to the soil in February and start getting serious about growing some veggies.

Happy Sunday Mom!

Here's some gorgeous Lily's for a beautiful lady!

Saturday afternoon

It's a gorgeous Saturday afternoon here in the garden, so I thought I'd snap some shots of what's going on.  I love this shot of Max on the deck.  He has found the only spot of shade on that side, right below the clematis that is threatening to overtake the deck!  I took this shot through the window just as he looked up to see what I was doing.

Here's a shot of the largest Hosta blooming - they're the two bell flowers in the middle of the plant.    They've never been this big before, and I think it's because of the rainy spring that we had.  

This is a shot of a butterfly bush.  And yes, they attract lots of butterflies and bees.  You can no longer buy them in Oregon, as they're classified as a noxious weed.  They do tend to take over, and you can see how unruly this one is.  I planted it along what I call "a natural border", so it has lots of room to do whatever it wants.  

Butterfly Bush along border

Here's a closeup of the blooms- they look like bottle brushes.  

Butterfly bush blooms

Meet Murray

Sandy suggested that I research what is digging up my yard....so I did.  It's an eastern mole, or common mole of North America.  They prefer loamy soils, and create molehills from their digging.   They eat earthworms, japanese beetles, and other insects.  And their digging aerates the soil, which is a good thing.  What a guy!  We named him.....Murray.

Roses are Red

Happy Sunday Mom!  Here's some roses for you.  

Snow in July

One of my favorite trees in the garden is the Japanese Snowbell.  It usually blooms early in June, but this year it didn't bloom until a few weeks ago.  The blooms are delicate little white bells that look like snow - hence the name.

Here's a few shots of the tree, and then the "snow" on the ground.

July "snow"

close up of the bells

Thursday morning

I had some free time this morning, so got out in the west garden and did some weeding.  The hostas were blooming and looked pretty with the morning sun on them.  These are called Christmas Trees - not sure why.

Raymond came out and scooped up all the dirt piles that our mole/vole dug for us last night.

The Great Yellow Hunter

Maxwells favorite pastime, besides sleeping, is chasing snakes in the garden.  His nose is down low sniffing for them, and his butt is up high.
Here he is sniffing in a hole that he dug.  I think he might have the scent of the mole/vole.  Maybe he'll get lucky and catch him!

After a day of hunting , he plops down in the shade for a much deserved rest.

"Glen"

A few weeks ago, Gerry asked me about the tree that Mom and I planted in memory of Dad.  Right after Mom and I got home from Minnesota, our neighbors, Donna & Norm, brought over a Liquid Amber, or Sweetgum tree for us to plant.  

The deer took a liking to it, so Norm made a wire fence to protect it.  He didn't want the deer to be nibbling on "Glen."

Glen is doing very well.  It turns a gorgeous red/purple in the fall and tends to keep its leaves longer than the maples.   The deer have stopped paying attention to it.....guess it's getting too tall for the little ones to munch on.

Can't get good help anymore!

I went out on Friday morning for a walk through the garden, and discovered that one of my "helpers", the vole/mole, had been hard at work during the night.  He decided to dig up the garden path!   I don't mind him digging up the grass, but stay out of my garden!