Well you might ask what is happening, since I haven’t posted in nearly a year! I have composed the beginnings of a hundred posts in my head, and I am often in dialogue with you in my mind. But I’ve had a mental block about sitting down with the computer and writing and hitting the publish button. I’m sure part of it is because this was always Jason’s space, as much as I shared it by taking most of the photos. And of course, I miss him desperately.
The garden misses him too. Many weeks, the goings-on in the garden have left me mystified. I wrote a draft post last year just about this time (but didn’t publish) about how badly the plants are misbehaving in Jason’s absence. It’s still mostly true, and I’ll publish it early next week, after I give this post a few days in the limelight.
This plant below is one of the poster children for the garden-run-amok. It’s in the middle-front of the driveway bed, four feet tall, growing in the kind of small but healthy clump you might expect from a first-year plant. I have struggled to learn the identities of many of the plants in the driveway border (in particular) as they have emerged in June and grown into July — more on that in a later post. I have also become aware that I was mentally only half here last summer; I listened to the gardeners and expressed opinions and thought I had at least some idea what was going on, but I was in a bit of a fog.
So for the last several weeks, I have said to myself, Huh, I know I wanted some more grasses, that must be one that I asked the gardeners to plant last fall and I just forgot about it.
Well. This week, as this fine plant is coming into bloom, the gardeners and I looked at it and they told me that it was an interloper. It saw an opening and took it. It just planted itself in my nice, comfy flowerbed, with everything a plant needs except a feather comforter and a bedtime story.
My iPhone says it is probably some type of wild rye. I think it looks good. And there is just a little comfort in the fact that Mr. Wild Rye fooled the gardeners for this long, too. (I think perhaps it’s also a comment on gardening by committee.)
Meanwhile, a lot has also been going well in the garden. You can see at the top of this post that the Giant Wall of Purple (Clematis Jackmanii) is still going strong. The spring ephemerals were spectacular as ever, and the bulbs only get better and better as I indulge my desire for an eye-popping display that announces SPRING! to the whole neighborhood.
I have spent much of the past twelve months in a major learning curve, trying to cram the names of plants into my head and reading books and studying gardens here and there in person, online, in books, and yes, I’ve become a devotee of the BBC’s Gardeners’ World. I thought I knew a lot, but of course it is one thing to observe a garden someone else is managing, and quite another to manage it myself. But I’ll get there.
And now that I am back to writing the blog, I will take you along for the journey in my upcoming posts. It’s quite a process. But one feature of perennial gardens is that there will be another crack at it next year; not everything needs to be learned at once.
I’ll just ask one small favor. If you can take a minute to make a comment, it will definitely cheer me on as I get back to blogging.
What have you been learning from your garden, and do your plants behave themselves any better than mine do?
Let me end this post with an update on my granddaughter. That’s my son hard at work in the back garden on a work-from-home day, while Addie and I play.
gardeninacity 
Glad you’re back! I lost a lot of plants in some home renovations so have been thinking how to fill in places with plants that won’t be too much work for me and are hopefully native. I got about 50 natives from a friend, promptly forgot what they told me and so had to research. But it’s been too hot to plant I think. The blog has always taught me a lot!.
It’s so frustrating to lose plants to renovations! During covid, we had to have a sewer pip replaced, and they dug up a corner of the front garden. We lost a favorite false indigo. On the other hand, I was just telling someone about a hollyhock that sprang up after an absence of eight or ten years, and it was in the same place — we had pulled it all out due to blight. I’ll bet the soil being disturbed brought the hollyhock to the surface. It’s always a surprise!
welcome back! Just take it slow and enjoy what unfolds.
Thanks, Martha. Good to be back, and I don’t seem to have any other speed than slow 🙂
How nice to see your post pop up in my inbox. Working in the garden is the perfect thing to do. Gardening is just an ongoing process of learning one thing which leads to another and on to another. The layering is a really good way to go but a little confusing for a beginner to implement but you already have the layers in place so just diving in will work well for you. It does give you blooms almost everywhere all through the season which is really nice. Once one thing finishes its bloom cycle something else nearby is just about to start. It gives your garden beds a wonderful abundant look.
The last several years I have been adding native shrubs trying to entice more pollinators and birds into my yard. I do see a lot more birds than in the past it seems, but it could just be that we have put in several birdhouses and I am paying more attention now.
I’ll look forward to your next posts. Have fun out there.
Victoria
Thanks, Victoria! I think it is probably easier with a garden that is already there, but this is a complicated one and it’s taking me awhile. I pretty much know who the plants are when they’re blooming, but when they all came up in June, and they were just leaves, I was completely stumped. I was at a talk yesterday by Roy Diblik who said that plants are just like people, and we are building plant communities. That’s a nice thought, although I’m not sure building communities is easy either. Ha!
Oh, and I meant to say that Addie is just adorable. The pic with all the bubbles should be enlarged and framed and hanging on someone’s wall. Beautiful!
Victoria
Thanks!
Way to go, Judy! It’s always a process, isn’t it? I’ve learned from my garden, especially since it’s so new, that plants will take their time telling you what they want and if they’re happy. And that there’s always a surprise, like the grey goldenrod I planted last year that finally has blooms and, of course, turns out to be an aster. 😝
Thanks, Jean. Yes, so many surprises! The biggest one this year has been a hollyhock that resurrected itself in a place we used to have hollyhocks eight or ten years ago — it just showed up out of the blue!
So nice to hear from you and your garden! I too continue to fumble my way to a garden, in my case a sustainable western, high desert garden. The maple I planted is doing well, the oak took a harder hit while I was away. This year I am beginning to see new birds in the yard: Bullock’s Orioles, Lark Sparrows and Western Kingbirds – I attribute this to the growing trees. I am getting lots of bugs, including Juniper Hairstreaks, Tiger Swallowtails and Western Wood Nymphs. With temperatures in the high 90’s to over 100 and humidity at 19% the name of the game is watering and cutting grass to reduce fire danger…
Hello, Louise! I haven’t noticed a lot of bugs or butterflies yet this year — there are some, but I hope more are coming! Or that they are sneaking around when I’m not watching.
It’s good to see your post, Judy! And I’ll agree with Victoria’s tw points: 1) a garden is organic, always changing and challenging. That’s part of its charm and ability to frustrate. But if you watch and learn, you’ll come to enjoy the challenges and beauty it brings. 2) Addie is darling and that photo is wonderful!
Part of my problem is that I do tend to resist change! I am learning that the garden is always evolving, and that is the nature of things.
Granddaughters are always evolving too! She’s growing so fast!
So glad you are back and keeping with the garden. I want to play with you and Addie….and I would love to stroll that garden. It took me decades to learn so you are doing great. My small garden has been attacked this year by various beetles. It is always something. But we get through it and nature rewards.
Thanks, Donna! It’s good to be back. I wish you could come by and walk through the garden with me, that would be really lovely. fingers crossed, no problems with bugs here yet.
Judy maybe one day I will
Welcome back, Judy, and thanks for sharing your beautiful granddaughter with us. I also think that one with the bubbles is suitable for framing. Looking forward to seeing you in Tacoma!
Helen
see you soon!
How happy I was to see “gardeninacity” in my inbox and so enjoyed your post. The photo of Addie in the bubbles is magical!!! Thank you for letting all Jason’s fans know what has been happening in your wonderful garden. I’ll be looking forward to more from Judy!! I’m in KY and it is HOT and DRY and gardening is kind of a challenge this summer–but always worth it.
thanks, Nancy! I’m sure there are more pictures of Addie to come! We haven’t had such a bad summer here, a week or two of heat and a few scattered days, but very lucky compared to some other parts of the country. i’m looking forward to posting more, I have a lot to tell.
Soldier on, Judy!! You can do this.
Gardening is hard this year with beastly heat, humidity, and no rain in western Maryland. And we still have three months to go! We are learning who the stalwarts are in our garden beds. It’s not pretty! Don’t even ask about the water bill 😦 it’s simply too depressing. I have dreams about drip irrigation.
Hi, Ginny! Great to hear from you. We have not had such a bad summer here, only a bit of heat, and plenty of rain, at least lately. Fingers crossed for the rest of the summer!
Oh my, I did not realize that it had been so long since your last post! I have been out of sorts with what others post anyway.
Hi Tony! I don’t know if I should ask what makes you so out of sorts about what other people are posting? Perhaps you are venturing beyond garden blogs. There certainly is plenty to be annoyed by in the rest of the world. But the garden is a welcome escape.
Oh, I avoid as much as I can of what is annoying. It is pointless, and I do not have time for it. However, I am fatigued because I continue to write my gardening column while also working two or three days weekly at what was supposed to be a temporary job a few years ago. I should retire from one or both, but can not bear to do so. I enjoy what I do so much, and replacements are not easy to come by.
Great to see you posting again! Amazing photo of Addie and bubbles!
Hi Jim! Hope to see you guys soon! Thanks for commenting.
Lovely to see your post today Judy. I so often think of Jason, usually when I am in the garden.. I always remember him potting tulips! Do you still have the Clematis Jackmanii at your front door? it always looked so pretty.
You and Jason were a great team, with your photos and his blog. Even though I live in far away Australia (Canberra’s Green Spaces) I always enjoyed reading about gardening and garden flings…they seemed to be lots of fun, I enjoyed all the gardening stories.
Keep well, and enjoy your beautiful Addie, and your lovely boys.
Best wishes Gerrie Mackey
Gerrie, Great to hear from you! The clematis is still going really strong, it’s past now, but was terrific. I made an innovation with tulips and pots this year: I don’t know why it never occurred to us that we could have some on the back porch as well as the front. The back is too shady once the trees leaf out, but the tulips come early enough. I had an amazing display on the back porch, I’m sure I will post photos eventually.
Lovely to read that you are keeping up with the garden. It is such a memory of Jason, but a joyful activity too. Best wishes.
I am so sorry to hear about your husband !! I can well imagine you needed time to feel a little bit better. As for the garden, I know the garden takes advantage of you when you don’t have the courage to work in it. I had a serious operation last year and I couldn’t work in my garden for over a year, well it exploded. My husband is not a gardener so the garden is mine to tame . This year has been wet wet wet so far and not too hot so it grew like mad. I am trying to bring order in the chaos but I decided I need help from a professional to do the heavy jobs, like removing bushes and tree branches, cutting hedges and that sort of work. My husband used to help with the heavy stuff but he can’t do heavy work anymore. I do hope you will feel better in time, loosing a loved one takes time to heal and one person needs more time than the other. I still have my husband but he has cancer( for over 10 years now) , incurable but his meds still work so far. But I lost my 30 year old son to cancer so I know how it feels. Gardening will help you to feel better in time, gardening is a great healer. Take care and enjoy your garden and your family, you have a beautiful granddaughter, I bet she helps you to heal too.
Thanks, Gwennie. I can just imagine what a garden would be like after a year of neglect. We may step back a little bit, but the plants keep on going, don’t they. I think I said this somewhere a few posts back, but once Jason got sick, we managed to hire some really wonderful professional gardeners who understand complicated gardens like ours. My hope is to understand and be able to do enough work to cut back their hours significantly within a year or two, because of course it’s quite expensive. I am so sorry to hear about your husband‘s illness, and the death of your son. I can’t begin to imagine losing a child. We just keep going forward the best we can, I guess, don’t we. Best wishes to you and your husband.
Welcome back, and I fell in instant love with the picture of Addie and the bubbles. Don’t worry about not posting regularly or taking the past year off. When the blogging urge comes, it will come, and it is a tribute to Jason that you are doing so much studying and learning in the meantime. Take it slow.
Addie is certainly a delight to have around. She watches the bubbles, and I watch her playing with the bubbles. As I said to someone else above, I don’t know if I have any other speed than slow right now, so that’s how I’m going.
Wonderful to see your post, Judy! Enjoy your changing garden.
Thanks, Lisa!
Blog brushed off and updated just in time for the Fling! Perhaps we’ll see your impressions of the Puget Sound gardens? See you there!
See you at Puget Sound! I still need to do a little posting about Philadelphia, but hopefully I will get to posting about Puget Sound eventually! I’m excited to see it, I haven’t seen any gardens in the Pacific Northwest since we were all in Portland.
I am happy to read that you have emerged from the fog. It all takes time. Gardening will come easy to you I expect because I bet you learned a lot by being Jason’s photographer. Gardens change all the time and there are always interloping plants popping up here and there.
I have always loved that Jackmannii clematis. Mine has never done so well.
You are lucky to have your very own Garden Fairy. She looks delightful in those bubbles.
I will certainly be looking forward to seeing more of the garden as you make it more of your own choices. Be brave, you can do it! Fun times.
Good to hear from you, Lisa. The clematis really is a high point in the garden. We have had people stop their cars in the middle of the street to look at it. (Luckily we’re not on a busy street.) My Garden Fairy is quite wonderful. She is coming today from garden adventures.
How lovely to hear from you Judy. I am so glad you are keen to take on the garden and learn how it ticks. My early gardening days involved a lot of trial and error, and I think I will never stop learning! No, my plants do not behave either. They grow too tall or not tall enough, too big, and sometimes not where I thought I put them. LOL! This year I am learning to ignore the weeds as we have had more rainfal than usual. It is good to see your wonderful Clematis again. And lovely to see your adorable granddaughter enjoying the garden too. I shall look forward to your next post. Bon courage!
(NOTE to everyone: I see that I am commenting as Jason, but I can’t find the way to switch… I’ll keep looking.)
Cathy, great to hear from you, too! I feel as though we have been inundated with rain, too! In June at some point we were a bit dry, and I was beginning to think about how I would know when to water; most of the garden gets water very rarely, only in a drought. Otherwise, it is meant to be self-sufficient. Well, then it started raining, and I think we’ve had a deluge every few days. I have mushrooms in my small vegetable bed.
Me too! And slugs…. 😩
Wonderful to read your update, Judy. Like others I’m happy your Clematis continues to thrive and happy you’re taking time and finding your way. Addie is lucky to have such a bubbly garden to explore. I wish I could attend the Fling but my husband’s health prevents me venturing far. Was happy to meet you and Jason at the DC Fling, so many years ago now. Thought of Jason just yesterday as I surveyed how a rainstorm left a tall rudbeckia lying on the ground. We had discussed merits of the Chelsea chop (cut down in half) to make it stronger, but agreed results were not definitive.
Susie
Hi Susie, good to hear from you! Sorry you won’t be at the fling, but I certainly understand having to stay close for your husband‘s health. We have been having a lot of rain lately, and a number of plants have had to be staked or have flopped.
Good to see you again, Judy! Addie is 2 years old already? She is a beautiful child!
Gardens always have things to teach us, and I am glad to see you working in yours. As the climate changes (we are much hotter and drier in summer now, and fire season is upon us), Rick and I have had to adapt and learn in our own gardens, orchards and vineyard. We have lost two apple trees to what I think may be “transpirational stress”, from being on dwarfing rootstock. Summers are spent spot watering.
I was so glad to see this post! I think of Jason often. Also, Addie is utterly adorable. I especially like the photo of Addie surrounded by bubbles.
So lovely you are carrying on with the gardens even though it must be a daunting task. I have found that gardens are always changing as the years ago. Just like children. Look forward to reading about your gardening adventures.
Whn I feel overwhelmed, I remember an adage passed to me by one of my gardening clients-
“Yard by yard is hard; Inch by inch is a cinch”
Hello from the Northeast! As for plant names, I’ve resorted to using plant markers. I know they are somewhat intrusive, but it helps me remember, and it also helps me to keep from digging something up in the spring when it looks like nothing lives there. 🙂 A friend who has a plant business told me about using outdoor tape in a Brother P-touch label maker so that is what I’ve been trying. It certainly lasts longer than black marker. Enjoy your lively granddaughter because they grow up so fast it is hard to imagine. Have a good July.
Welcome back into the blogosphere. It’s wonderful to see new young life growing in your garden. Granddaughters are God’s gift to us when we need peace and happiness.
I’m glad you’re back to posting! It’s always hard to learn a garden, whether it’s moving to a house with established plants already, or taking over for someone who can no longer tend it.
My garden is not the kind that stays in place because I have a naturalistic design. I also have to stay on top of interlopers, since the birds like to “give” me some new seeds. One tip my mother gave me was to keep an eye out for a new plant appearing in lots of places at once. Generally, that is not a good sign because it’s spreading too effectively, and might be a thug in the garden. Those are the ones you want to research and identify right away. Good luck!
It’s so good to hear from you and know you’re keeping Jason’s garden chugging along! I’m sure his spirit is watching and loving all your efforts and seeing Addie grow. I think the garden looks perfect. Wabi-sabi is better than true perfection.
“…not everything needs to be learned at once”. Yes, I remind myself of this all the time, while I try to re-learn what I forget 😀
Welcome back!