posted May 09, 2014 01:17 PM            

Obviously, it'll be too late to start a veggie garden. I'll have to wait for next spring to consider that. But anyone have any knowledge of what other plants in general do well up there?

I'm hoping to plant a lot of flowers and greenery in general around the house. There are a lot of trees and grass around the house but I want bushes, tall grasses, flowers, etc. around the foundation of the house, kwim?

posted May 10, 2014 05:42 PM            

Sorry, I've been loitering too much in Sweet Peas lately.

Hmmm...

Off the top of my head, there are a ton of natural tall bushes and lovely flowers that grow out here.

Do you have a preference for color, or indigenous, etc?

Any type of berry will flourish (and often be found already growing) here.

We have a lovely purple hydrangea bush in front of our house, and that guy does very well in this climate.

We also have two lovely rhododendron bushes in the back, and they do very well. The leaves stay for quite a while too, even in "winter".

I tried planting some lilacs along the fence as well, but I will probably have to move them to a spot that gets more sun, and see how they do.

Of course, pansies and violas do well here, liking the shade and all...but they're not particularly tall.

I've had really great experiences with certain vegetables, and not so great with others, as well as herbs and decorative flowers.

posted May 10, 2014 06:35 PM            

I dislike dealing with carpenter ants and hobo spiders, which are in abundance around here, and can be a real hassle. So it's easier for me to keep the one bush pruned, and have some pansies and roses around the rest of the foundation.

Any type of rotting wood will attract carpenter ants, and the hobo spiders like to hide close to the ground or under rocks, with their funnel webs. I like to be able to see them when I go to weed.

Tulips and daffodils are great, of course. They're pretty happy wherever, I think.

Bluebells, Forget-me-nots (which I have been finding growing around in the yard, and have gently dug up and transplanted to my flower garden), and anything in the mint family (of course it will take over, so my herb garden basically has a ton of lemon balm and oregano in it, although I intend to also plant some mint).

My Sacred Hearts are doing really well.

We planted our raspberry canes last fall, and some of them already have vines coming out (and maybe some berries, even!).

The climate differs just slightly throughout the area, and I'm familiar with the area you're moving to. I have a friend who lives there, but I don't think he does much gardening, or I would ask him haha.

posted May 10, 2014 07:48 PM            

I'll try to think of some Aries-ish flowers that might do well here, haha.

posted May 16, 2014 02:20 AM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by MoonWitch:
I'm moving to the Pacific Northwest this summer - right in the Puget Sound.

Obviously, it'll be too late to start a veggie garden. I'll have to wait for next spring to consider that. But anyone have any knowledge of what other plants in general do well up there?

I'm hoping to plant a lot of flowers and greenery in general around the house. There are a lot of trees and grass around the house but I want bushes, tall grasses, flowers, etc. around the foundation of the house, kwim?

---

You can start certain veggies in the late Summer - cauliflower, lettuce, broccoli, radishes, cabbages, etc. I think that you're supposed to plant garlic bulbs before or after the first frost, I can't remember...

I have Astilbe for partial or full shade, but need to figure out how to plant them around the house, so that they'll actually receive water from the rain. (the area is covered by the overhang from the roof.) The flowers are gorgeous, though - at least, I think so.

posted May 17, 2014 03:31 AM            

Rhododendrons, maybe.

Hawthorne Trees, Japanese Maple?

I always loved HollyHocks, Red Bergamot, Delphiniums, Foxglove and Calendula, in consecutive rows, a Cottage Garden.

Oh, and Columbine. Monkshood, but it is poisonous. Evens numbs your hands when you plant it.

Lovely Royal Purple Hoods, though.

I think Chaste Berry might do well there. I really like to get my Medicinals from Horizon, when I can afford it.

They have the best selection, and from Oregon, the climate wouldn't be too far apart.

They have seeds as well.
http://www.horizonherbs.com/search.asp?mode=results

posted May 17, 2014 01:52 PM            

I'm going to look up some of this but right now all I'm thinking about is "hobo spider", "hobo spider", "hobo spider", "hobo spider", "hobo spider", "hobo spider", "hobo spider", "hobo spider", "hobo spider", "hobo spider", "hobo spider", "hobo spider", "hobo spider", "hobo spider", "hobo spider", "hobo spider"!!!!

posted May 20, 2014 12:10 AM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by MoonWitch:
I thank you so much for your help!

I'm going to look up some of this but right now all I'm thinking about is "hobo spider", "hobo spider", "hobo spider", "hobo spider", "hobo spider", "hobo spider", "hobo spider", "hobo spider", "hobo spider", "hobo spider", "hobo spider", "hobo spider", "hobo spider", "hobo spider", "hobo spider", "hobo spider"!!!!

---

OMG, sorry!

But yeah, they're something you don't want around, for sure.

posted May 20, 2014 12:14 AM            

She almost moved there.

I will take off my hat and hold it to my chest as we mourn the loss of a Dream.

posted May 20, 2014 12:28 AM            

I am having some serious communication difficulties lately. WTF?

posted May 20, 2014 01:10 PM            

You need an Awful lot of trees to build just one log cabin.

I always wanted one of those Cob Houses.

You could make it any shape you want.

I wanted to go to this Weekend Workshop.

You remember that scene in "Ghost?"

Imagine thirty Womyn playing house in the clay and building your home on that?

I had this totally Seasonal Based Blueprint in my mind...

I looked at the Straw-Bale Houses, too.

posted May 20, 2014 01:21 PM            

(Cause you can form your own furniture with this.)

Then have rooms in the Four Directions, with the Cross-Quarters as well.

Then I started thinking doors and privacy, utilization and started to falter.

But to have lovely round Windows, and an Earthen Desk.

Really, I just love the idea.

All these little Earthen benches under the Round Windows.

You can plan your own.

posted May 20, 2014 02:17 PM            

Well, we do tend to have plenty of trees up this way, and the Pacific Northwest version of a Cedar tree, so...I suppose we just need to find the right piece of land, and then replant the trees that we use.

And then probably cry, if we have to cut down a bunch of trees. But give thanks, keep the seeds, and replant.

There are some pieces we've looked at around here that have 10 acres for an affordable price, and things like that.

It's just finding the right location, and a place where the property doesn't consist of a steep hill where it's almost impossible to build.

posted May 20, 2014 03:50 PM            

There are less and less Big Trees, and I've seen what little they built from the loss.

I thought the Cob House would be nice in a sort of Spiral Pattern...

posted May 22, 2014 09:57 AM            

People would buy the land and they would build houses right there from the trees.