maturity

the mid summer garden is happy and healthy 

as evidenced by the moles

wreaking havoc in the pathways.

the soil is beautiful and aerated. the plants and worms are thriving, too.

this year, we replaced a few plants and moved a couple more to 

better habitat for sun exposure.

 the hostas will need dividing, the ground covers trimmed back

 and some native ferns need cleaning up.

it's perfect in that wonderful wabi sabi way.

back to a source

a visit to the portland japanese tea garden

during a rain shower.

tea at the beautiful lan su chinese garden.

a resident chicken and it's garden in an urban portland neighborhood.

work hard and be nice

with the inner and outer tea garden growing so beautifully our attentions

have turned toward the path that leads from the street, through the front yard, down the side of the main house and studio to the garden gate.

fortunately, the captain holds the master plan in his vision and 

i get to come and dabble with ideas now and then.

as it turns out late summer is a grand time to plant with an eye toward garden structure

which to me means shrubs, to the captain it means stones.

after another trip to port angeles we collected enough stepping stone to add

to the path from the garden gate and past the studio.

and as tea was being practiced in the tea room that day we turned our attention

to the front garden beds and planted sarcococca having been convinced by pacific northwest residents

it's early winter blooms and lovely scent give hope of spring a month

or two before spring proper arrives. 

this sign reminded me that our own sense of busi-ness is never more important 

than our sense of kind-ness. 

and if when we are feeling much too self important and busy to be kind,
at least be nice about it.

from within and without

   the new garden gate was fashioned from an old panel door made of fir. 

  the stones for the entry path were collected from a cascade river bank.