Gardening

Growing Notes: Late-Spring Update

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It is time for the late-spring flower update.

Every year I try some new seeds, or try to improve on what has gone before.

Here we have Schizanthus, California Bluebells, and Gilia Tricolor.

Delicate pink flowers with strong burgundy markings and a little yellow forehead float above brilliant blue flowers with white centers. In the bottom is a constellation of pale and mid-purple flowers with ferny foliage

I planted all three species in large pots outside on March 1st, just as the weather started to tilt towards spring. The pots have copper tape around them, since we have a lot of slugs, and our slugs like almost all types of flower babies.

I used large (~12″) pots, and did a cluster of seeds in the center, and three clusters equally spaced around the edge. I did not thin — I think these species really didn’t need it (with the possible exception of the Schizanthus).

The Gilia Tricolor was the first to bloom, opening a few flowers in late May. 

A constellation of delicate purple flowers float in ferny green foliage. The centers are darker than the petals, with five pale stamen dots emphasizing the center.

The pollinators like it!

I think it’s starting to fade — it’s basically a California wildflower, so a relatively short bloom season is to be expected, but it has been a lovely addition to the mid-spring garden.

It has a naturally cascading habit. Next year I think I’ll do a bit more in the way of supports, but it doesn’t break when it bends over.

A cluster of intense blue flowers with delicate white stamen dots held on the end of blue-purple stamen stalks. The center is pale, and the five petals form a delicate scalloped cup.

The California bluebells opened a week or so later, at the start of June.

I had grown them before, but previously I had started them indoors and transplanted them. They did much better direct-sown into their big pot!

Their color is amazing. They really are that blue!

They are still going strong, but I don’t expect them to make it far into July. They are another wildflower that really hasn’t seen any hybridization.

They also have a cascading habit. Some short supports will help control and spread the cascade. I might try a couple more vertical supports for the central cluster next year, to see if I can make more of a mound, but they are lovely as-is.

A delicate winged pale pink flower is in the upper center, with more filling the background. The flower is left-right symmetrical, with a strong top petal, and cut side petals giving it a complicated look. The top petal and the two petals next to it have strong burgundy markings, and the top petal has yellow markings. The effect looks orchid-like, which gives rise the the common name.

The Schizanthus were the last of the three to open, starting just after the CA bluebells. 

I should have staked the Schizanthus early and vigorously; they want to be vertical, and they snap under their own weight when it rains.

The flowers are quite pretty; the common name is “Poor Man’s Orchid.”

I think this one has been hybridized more. We’ll see what the bloom span is like.

So far, the three make good friends, since their bloom period and color range overlap nicely.

Two of the three are basically CA wildflowers, so I expect them to finish fairly soon. Hopefully the Schizanthus will continue into the summer!

I think I’ll grow all three again next year, but with a lot more staking for the Schizanthus.

This year I did one pot of each; next year I’ll multiple the California Bluebells and Gilia Tricolor. They are very pretty at a time when not much is blooming here.

Parks, Travel

Ecola State Park

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Yesterday we took a road trip to see our nephew and poke around the Oregon Coast. We visited Ecola State Park, which is lovely. It is the location of the famous Goonies sea stacks; it also has very beautiful spruce coastal forest.

Looking through near-vertical tree trunks (spruce) to the beach far below. The beach is pale sand, with rocks along the bluff edge. Beyond is surf with protruding sea stacks

Many people just take a picture from the viewpoint, but we took a nice hike through the woods. It tantalized us with glimpses of the beach for over a mile before a steep switchback trail allowed us to descend to the beach.

The trail winds through beautiful coastal Sitka spruce forest. The understory is mostly salal and sword ferns. The forest has some true giants; this was one of my favorites, because of the swooping limb that was itself the size of a tree.

A swooping curve of sitka spruce branch the size of a tree frames a view down the bluff to the sea, where a couple seastacks are visible against the blue and white surf

The beach itself is beautiful, fine pale sand bookended by headlands that have eroded into sea stacks in both directions.

A nearly flat pale-sand beach stretches to a green rolling headland. Shot rocky seastacks extend out into the water. A layer of coastal fog separates the water from the clear blue sky

This picture is back towards the bluff by the parking area. It looks so close, but the actual walk is more than a mile.

It was a pleasant walk, although a bit of a scramble in a couple spots. It would be difficult if you had bad knees.

Here is the view from the bluff near the parking lot. This view is available to all, having excellent access from the parking lot. 

A vividly green bluff slopes steeply down to the water. A curve of surf swoops away to a line of seastacks eroded from the next headland.

There are lots of picnic tables near the parking lot — it would be a lovely spot for a picnic!

We happened to go on Goonies day, so I’m sure there were four times as many people as usual. Even so, once we were out on the trail we only passed the occasional hiker.

Highly recommended!

Gardening, Native Plants, Propagation

Garden Update

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It has been a busy spring: work, life, and a sick kitty conspired to stretch us thin. Things are finally settling down, in time for us to enjoy the lead-up to summer.

The swallowtails have arrived, just in time for the Dame’s Rocket. This is a lovely plant, but invasive in some areas — check before you grow!

A bunch of other things are starting to bloom or just hitting their stride.

The Harsh Paintbrush has been going for a couple weeks now. I grew these from seed two years ago, and am very pleased that they are solidly perennial.

The slugs tend to munch on them when they’re starting to res-route; the copper around the pots eliminates that problem. I’ll be trying to plant some out this year — we’ll see whether I can keep them safe in the spring in the ground!

I also started some baby paintbrushes from some of the plants that bloomed last year. It’s gratifying to have their propagation down — maybe not to nursery standards, but quite solidly enough for home use.

I scarify the seeds in a ziplock back with some damp coconut coir for 6 weeks, then I sprinkle them in a 4″ pot filled with a coir/perlite/vermiculite mixture with a little vermiculite over. They sprouted in just a few days under grow lights in the basement.

About a month on, I use a fork to pull out chunks and stick them in 2″ pots. Then I sprinkle some native yarrow seeds over: these will act as the host plant, since paintbrushes are semi-parasitic. Yarrow sprout fast enough that they catch up nicely, and then they can grow up together.

Unfortunately not everything was so successful.

The native penstemon were getting off to an amazing start after the same scarification and planting regiment as the paintbrushes… but they had a mold attack very early on, and it pretty much destroyed them. I might get one.

Lesson here: plant them more thinly, and maybe don’t use vermiculite over them; I feel like the vermiculite made it worse.

The planting notes for this species do mention that they are susceptible to damping off… so I will be much more careful next time!

One other note on damping off:

I was a good girl and bleached all my pots this year, and it made a big difference (penstemon aside). The only things I had any problems with were my first batch of chocolate cosmos (note to self, they do *not* like being wet — keep them on the dry side until they hit their stride), and the penstemon.

So, lots of success and a few failures this spring.

More notes later! I will resist putting everything in this one catch-up post 😉

Frost Flowers, Hair Ice, Nature, Uncategorized

Frost Flowers!

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We finally had the conditions for good frost flowers Thursday night/Friday morning.

Pure white strands that look like hair "grow" in locks from a stick lying on a bed of moss

Under exactly the right conditions (temperature, moisture, dead sticks ravaged by the correct fungi), dead sticks “grow” strands of ice that form formations that look like locks of hair… or, sometimes, like flowers!

Aesthetically I like the latter term better.

Closeup of strands of ice that look exactly like a big clump of white hair. Moss is visible in the lower right.

We are lucky enough to live in an area that usually has the correct conditions a few times each winter.

However, this was the first really good batch of frost flowers of the season!

Closeup of strands of ice that look exactly like a big clump of white hair. Moss is visible in the lower left. The strands are clearly visible against sticks and leaves.

The temperature range has been correct (we’ve been having an unusually chilly span, where it is below freezing each night, above during the day). 

This would normally be perfect, but the humidity has been too high!

The result is gloppy frost flowers, where secondary frost messes up the formation.

Strands of frost have grown on a stick, and then been overlaid by a secondary layer of frost, hiding most of the detail of the original frost

So it was a joy to go out Friday morning and find lots of really well-grown frost flowers!

This means that the sticks were well sodden, and the temperature range was correct for many hours.

A puff of white "hairs" of frost, forming a flower configuration. The frost has grown from the end of a stick, resulting in a common "growth" point. The strands form a dense fluff of frost, which shows up as bright white against a backdrop of brown and green

From a distance, they are eye-catching but not beautiful. They just look out of place: clumps of pure white in a landscape of brown and green.

In our area (South Puget Sound), they are strongly associated with alders.

So check your alder groves on a cold morning!

A pure puff of white looks out of place in the middle of the frame. The rest of the frame is an unkempt woods understory scene: dead leaves, broken sticks, moss, and a tangle of trailing blackberry vines.

I hope you have enjoyed this foray!

I’ll close out with one that shows off especially nice distinct locks. Because it is a small twig, the growth was not so luxuriant as to hide the structure.

A twig has a serious of pure white cowlicks growing out of it. It has a distinct center part that shows pale dead wood peeking through
Travel, Uncategorized

Galapagos, January 2025

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We were lucky enough to go on a land-based tour of the Galapagos between 1/16 and 1/26.

We start our journey on San Cristobal. We flew in from Quito, Ecuador. 

San Cristobal has a lovely town with a nice harbor and a massive sea lion colony.

A peaceful harbor scene, with sunrise-tinged clouds in the background. Dozens of small boats fill the harbor. In the foreground, a wavey wall cuts across diagonally. Green shrubs and trees fill the intermediate triangle before the harbor.

This is the sea lions’ beach. They own it! No people allowed.

They also own benches and patches of curb and boats along the wharf. 

We were lucky enough to go when there were lots of sea lion pups. The babies stay where they are stashed until momma comes back.

They are adorable and vocal.

The first full day, we went diving at Kicker Rock. This is one of the top snorkeling and diving spots: if you come to San Cristobal and you’re up for water fun, you will go here.

There is an amazing canyon between the two rocks.

We were lucky enough to see hammerheads and a huge school of fish.

Two multi-story rocks with near-vertical sides thrust out of the ocean. A jaunty red boat is on the water in the foreground

We glimpsed our

We glimpsed our first marine iguanas that day, but we got much better sightings the next day, at Floreana.

Each island has its own marine iguanas, with distinctive coloration. The Floreana marine iguanas had wonderful shadings of red and green, especially the males.

Two iguanas share a rock looking out to see. The larger iguana (likely a male) has red coloration with a greenish line down his back. The smaller iguana (likely a female) is mostly charcoal colored, with just a hint of red on her sides

On Floreana, we went up to the highlands and got to see our first tortoises!

These are relatively young (30 years or so), and as soon as the rat population is eradicated, they will be fully released into the wild. They are currently walled into a protected area in the highlands.

A large tortoise sits in the green grass. It is bracketed by a couple slim tree trunks. A bare patch of earth in the foreground shows where a tortoise likes to sleep for the night.

From the highlands, the volcanic heritage of the islands is clearly visible.

The Galapagos have been formed over millions of years by a hot spot. Each island is usually made up of multiple volcanoes. The oldest of the Galapagos are actually gone — they are on a tectonic conveyor belt.

A volcanic cone rises above rolling green hills. The grater is highlighted by shadow

Then it was on to Isabela. We went kayaking, and got to see lots of fun things around the harbor, most notably the Galapagos penguins.

These are the only penguins you can see in the northern hemisphere (just barely!).

Note that puffins are not penguins 😉

Two small penguins stand on a rock in the water. Beyond another peninsula of rock cuts across the frame. Beyond, a couple boats are visible before the green of mangroves.

The next day, we went for a hike on one of Isabela’s several volcanoes.

It sprinkled on us for the first half, which was actually quite welcome — it was blistering hot when the sun came out!

This is a very active volcano, that erupted in 2005 and 2018.

An S-curve of black cinders fills the foreground. Beyond, the curve of a volcanic crater is visible. The distant curve is green with vegetation, but the closer slopes are black and lifeless.

The next day, we went snorkeling en route to Los Tuneles. That was one of the trip highlights!

Our guide helped us see reef sharks dozing in their cozy caves.

An underwater view showing several smallish sharks in an underwater cave. Two arched entrances beyond give light and the sense of space.

There were also lots and lots of beautiful turtles!

And many beautiful little fish! 

And sea horses!

Such a treat.

A large turtle is starting to come up for air. In the background on the left, several snorkelers are visible, observing from a respectful distance. In the background on the right, a turtle is diving back down towards the bottom, which is green with vegetation.

Los Tuneles itself was wonderful! You aren’t allowed to snorkel there right now, but we took a dingy through, and were able to walk around a little bit.

Layers of old lava have eroded away, leaving dozens of natural arches. The formations are studded with cacti, and it is prime nesting for boobies.

Two people stand on an arch of volcanic stone over the water. A large cactus is visible on the left, and there is a layer of green mangroves in the distance.

We closed out our time on Isabela by visiting the tortoise breeding center.

Rats are a threat to baby tortoises, so they raise tortoises here and then release them when they’re old enough to be safe. These guys are a few years old.

Dozens of little tortoises, a little bigger than American box turtles, are in a concrete enclosure with a rock wall fencing them in

Finally, it was on to Santa Cruz, the most commercial of the islands.

There, the highlight was a tortoise reserve. This is private land that butts up against a national park. They allow wild tortoises to come and go.

The tortoises especially like the mud wallow.

Two large tortoises, facing opposite directions, are in the foreground of a huge mud puddle/pond. Several other tortoises are in the background. The edge of the pond is churned mud. The surface of the water is green with algae.

And here we are with a couple of the tortoises. They were big, but there is some false perspective going on here 😉

All in all, a really wonderful trip! I would highly recommend it to anyone who gets the chance to go.

A couple with a large tortoise in the foreground, and a somewhat smaller tortoise off to the left

Sadly, it was about this time that a bit of food poisoning kicked in. It took out 10 or our 16 members, and the guides got a bit of it too. Fortunately we only missed a couple minor things — it basically turned one lost transit day into two.

Fortunately that discomfort is already receding in memory, leaving behind a truly lovely trip!

Uncategorized

First Frost Flowers of the Winter

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We got our first frost flowers of the year Thursday, 12/5.

A stick growing frost that looks like short pure-white hair. On a bed of brown leaves.
Stick 1 has an elegant swirl frost off the end

Please note that the general frost flower commentary below is taken from this post from a couple years ago. All the photos are new.

Frost flowers (hair ice) form when there are sodden sticks that dip below freezing overnight. Around here, the sweet spot is ~28-31 F. It needs to be cold enough to produce frost, but not so cold as to freeze the stick solid.

A stick growing frost that looks like short pure-white hair. On a bed of moss and leaves.

The ice forms on the surface of the stick, and is extruded as it freezes to form “hair” which can take beautiful forms that look like silvery locks or silvery flowers.

Close-up of frost. You can see each strand.
Closeup of stick 2

There is a fungal association with Exidiopsis effusa. Around here, there is also a clear preference for alder twigs and branches. I’m not sure whether that’s what the fungus prefers, or whether the wood somehow favors frost flower formation.

Closeup of small twig that has a burst of frost growing like a flower out the end
Tiny burst frost “flower” growing out the end of a small stick. It is uncommon for such small sticks to have such a nice formation; it is likely because the bark prevented any from extruding out the sides.

Frost flower and hair ice are two terms used semi-interchangeably. As far as I can tell, the distinction is mostly based on the type of formation. If it’s a burst formation (e.g. from the end of a stick), it’s a frost flower. If it looks like hair growing out of the middle of a stick, it’s hair ice. Even though most of what we get is probably more hair ice than frost flowers, I like the latter term better ?

Frost growing out the end of the first stick. Some of it has curled into a graceful wave formation, clearly visible against brown leaves
Stick 1 closeup of “wave” growing from the broken end of the stick.

Frost flowers and hair ice are relatively rare worldwide. They require specific conditions to “grow”. In climates with cold winters, you might be lucky enough to see a few in the autumns. 

Extreme closeup of wave formation formed of strands of frost.
Stick 1 extreme closeup

Here in the Puget Sound area, the winters are mild and tend to only dip below freezing occasionally. We also have an abundance of alders. That gives us the ideal conditions for hair ice and frost flowers.

A mossy stick with fine hair-like strands of frost bursting out through splits in the bark.
The moss is growing on the bark of this stick. The hair ice can only grow out where the bark is split.

To see them, go out on a cold morning and check any local alder groves. They tend to be more common at the edges of alder groves, where the sticks are a bit more exposed… but that depends on the temperature range. On a very cold morning (25-28F) there may be such formations deeper in the woods.

A stick growing luxuriant curls of hair ice out one side. They look like pure-white locks of hair.

They are most common on mid-sized twigs and branches (~1/2-2″ diameter), but occasionally they grow on larger or smaller branches.

Nature, Uncategorized

Ginkgo Drop Day(s)

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Ginkgos are wonderful and ancient trees that are unusual in a number of ways.

One of their unusual features is Ginko Drop “Day”: they drop their leaves in a very short period, a day or two or three, rather than over the course of weeks like most deciduous trees.

These pictures were taken November 9th, when the leaf drop began in earnest, and November 13th, when it was pretty much done. The tree lost 90% of its leaves in about 3 days.

I’ll call “leaf drop” day November 11th this year. It was similar in 2023.

Tracked over the years, it makes a good indicator of local weather patterns.

Bees, Gardening

Angelica

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The spring has flown! Work deadlines have kept me tied up through the glories of mid-spring. Most of those glories have been wonderful, but familiar.

A major exception has been the Angelica!

I purchased it as a young plant two years ago, and expected it to bloom last year (it is categorized as a biennial). It turns out to be a “soft” biennial, that might wait an extra year.

I was very excited when the stalk first started going up in late March.

Over the next month, it got taller and taller, until it finally developed the umbel that I was expecting.

I expected it to open into a white-flowered umbel… rather like a giant Queen Anne’s Lace.

Nope!

It took another two weeks to open, but I could really only tell because it was covered in foraging pollinators… the flowers stayed green, a little like giant, spherical parsley flowerheads.

The resulting show has been both less pretty, and far more amazing, than I expected.

I expected one big flower. There are dozens!

The earliest flower is now developing seeds, but I can tell which heads are in bloom at any time based on the cloud of bumblebees.

Yesterday morning, I went out early, and was surprised to spot a bunch of bumblebees clinging to the bottom edge of the flowers. Napping!

I’m surprised such an open flower makes a good bivouac, but they’re the experts 🙂

All parts of the Angelica are good to eat; it tastes like a potent combination of celery and fennel. I’m guessing the seeds should be good for cooking, and I’ll be sure to plant some for future years.

The Angelica also has one offset on the main plant, so I’m hoping that it might survive the flowering. Otherwise it will be three years before I have this fun again!

Nature

Spring Movements

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It is feeling like mid-spring here.

The early red rhodie is now in full bloom.

And the native bleeding hearts are getting started.

I saw my first bat yesterday evening, although I haven’t been keeping an eye out, so they may have been here for a while.

I went out to listen to the spring chorus a few times last week. Here’s who’s around (seen or heard):

  • Anna’s Hummingbird
  • Barred Owl
  • Brown Creeper
  • Chickadee, Chestnut-backed
  • Cooper’s Hawk
  • Crow, American
  • Dove, Mourning
  • (Finch, Purple)
  • Junco, Dark-eyed
  • Kinglet, Golden-crowned
  • Kinglet, Ruby-crowned
  • Mallard
  • Nuthatch, Red-breasted
  • Pine Siskin
  • Raven, Common
  • Robin
  • (Sparrow, Chipping)
  • Sparrow, Song
  • Sparrow, White-crowned
  • Stellar’s Jay
  • Towhee, Spotted
  • Varied Thrush
  • Wood Duck
  • Woodpecker, Pileated
  • Wren, Pacific

    I was surprised not to hear any black-capped chickadees. Maybe they migrate, and I just never noticed, since the chestnut-backed are around all year?

    It will be interesting to see who shows up in the next few weeks!

    • Gardening, Life

    Spring is Springing!

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    Spring is off to a bounding and early start here.

    Pacific Trillium. These native beauties were photographed at Cougar Mountain park in Renton 3/30

    Based on my photo rolls, everything is running 1-3 weeks earlier than usual.

    Earliest red rhodie at our home. Taken 3/30.

    Our early big red started opening a week ago, and is now in full bloom.

    Big red, 4/6/24

    Last year, it was at a comparable bloom point 4/22.

    I admit I’m enjoying the warmer weather, even as I worry about this summer.

    Rob helped me set up a new nursery area in some excess driveway space. I’ve been busily up-potting a lot of the native trees and shrubs that we’re growing on.

    A lot of them will go in the ground this fall.

    I have a lot of native seeds in the “wait and see” stage. They require both stratification and patience!

    Fortunately, I also have garden friendlies like signet marigolds to give me instant gratification in the meantime 🙂

    I grew them for the first time last year, and thought them utterly adorable, so I’m doubling down this year!

    I’m growing seeds from this beauty, some compact orange signet marigolds, and some burgundy signet marigolds. I have no idea how true they’ll come from seed, but only one way to find out!