Shrubsteppe Blooms

There’s a significant feeling of disbelief that a few months ago this was a vague plan and a whole bunch of seeds. Now it’s flowers flowers flowers and I am beyond enamored. Matt (husband) is excited there are more ‘interesting’ colors to work with (e.g red, yellow and orange). Now, who wants to fill their whole house with flowers? Cuz we could make that happen.

Took off into the Cascades and found a patch of fairy slipper orchids (Calypso bulbosa). Day made! It’s always a goal of mine to find an orchid when wandering in the spring and early summer, and today definitely counts as a success.

It’s not a farm without a tuckered out dog following you around, flopping through newly planted seedlings. More plants in the ground today! Flower farm in progress, I think.

Yesterday I ran across this little hairstreak butterfly hanging out on a pluot tree. Looking forward to seeing more insect activity as the season progresses! Also featuring a willow, ‘Iceberg Alley’, and honey berry blooming.

Sagebrush in snow is one of my favorite views in winter. People in the landscaping world talk about adding ‘winter interest’ to gardens, and sagebrush is a natural for that category. So add some winter (+ spring, summer and autumn) interest to your landscape and plant some sagebrush!

Now that we have some single digits in the forecast, I feel marginally more justified for dreaming of spring with such longing. A few spring beauties from last season: sweet peas, stock and foxglove.

This uncharacteristically warm winter makes it feel like spring is already around the corner. Thousands of volunteer larkspur, clarkia, chamomile, poppy and nigella seedlings have popped up. Plants are blooming, or trying their best. Foliage is looking fresh and dewy, fungus is among us. It’s a trip.
1. Perennial scabiosa
2. Prairie smoke
3. Yarrow ‘Colorado’
4. Oregon sunshine foliage
5. Honeywort foliage
6. Bird’s nest fungi

One of the (many) things on my list to learn more about is lichens, these stellar little organisms that coat rocks and soil and plants. These specimens are along the Waterworks Canyon trail, another great ‘classroom’ to see how plant communities form and blend together.

Frost killed the flowers, then rain settled on them like many tiny crystals. This is one of numerous roses I planted this year, and I am downright giddy thinking about how the rose/peony patch will grow and bloom in the coming years. That vision helps every time I have to use a rock bar to get a big enough planting hole 😂.

Got 'off the farm' to look at more plants. Fall colors (esp. of our native Garry oak, Quercus garryana) make me a happy happy camper.

Take a walk in Central Washington / Bear Canyon Trail The autumn colors were still in full swing this weekend. This nice little trail follows a creek up to… I don’t know what because I always get distracted and ...

Garry oak (aka Oregon white oak or Oregon oak) may be my favorite tree in this ecosystem. Acorns abound this year and the leaves are putting on their autumnal show. I have a goal of getting several established where we are now so eventually we’ll have gorgeous native oaks scattered on this property. We’re anticipating overnight lows in the 20s after a pretty warm fall. We’ll see who is still alive in the big garden by the end of the week!

Still pollinators galore among the flowers, but we're due our first frost within the week!

Pollinators stocking up in the flower garden before first frost We got bees, we got wasps, we got flies, we got moths that I’m far too slow to capture on camera! I love strawflowers for many reasons, one being that they a...

Welcome to Shrubsteppe Blooms where all I want to talk about is plants, like this basket full of sunshiny calendula.