I posted two weeks ago about our crazy, chilly spring. With less than a month remaining before summer officially begins, I can say that progress has finally been made. We hit 62F degrees (17C) in the past week! My contribution to the weekly meme of Six on Saturday over at The Propagator’s blog are six areas of the gardens that have most definitely awakened. No peonies or lupines yet, and even lilacs are struggling to open here, but there is progress.
ONE – The orchard is in bloom at last. It started with the cherry trees, progressed to the pear, peach, and plums, and now the apples have their turn. This orchard area holds 11 trees, including two dwarfs in pots.
TWO – Right next to the orchard, separated by a long row of raspberries, the vegetable garden approaches capacity. All that remains to be planted are the heat lovers — the summer squashes, pumpkins, cucumbers, and green beans. It’s still too chilly for them. I have worked diligently to fill the eighteen raised beds. Peas are already producing on one trellis, and the other is reserved for pole beans. I had seeded so many onions that after filling two beds with transplants, I chose to give up a raised bed in my cut flower area for more onions. We eat plenty of onions. 😉
THREE – On to some particularly pretty garden scenes. I’ve shown this pigsqueak Bergenia cordifolia before, and am eager for the irises behind it to bloom soon.
FOUR – Along a fence in deep shade, this long line of Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack of Diamonds’ creates a lovely blue cloud.
FIVE – My rose garden is beginning to awaken, but barely. The lush chartreuse mounds of Geranium ‘Ann Folkard’ are an appealing sight with the fresh rose growth.
SIX – We’ll finish up and exit out the front door, where the ‘President Roosevelt’ rhododendron is doing his glorious thing.
Gardens at Coppertop 
Gee, that bloom is nice, but SOOOO late! How far are you from Poulsbo?
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Just one hour from Poulsbo, Tony. But we’re at 1200 elevation.
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Hey, my home was at the same elevation, although it did not make such a difference here.
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That blossom is beautiful.
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Love all your fruit blossom and the river of blue from the Brunnera. How tidy your veggie garden is, puts mine to shame!
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Thank you! I enjoy the sense of order the veg garden brings. Plenty of areas here are unkempt.
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I do like the golden tuft of that geranium at the foot of the arch.
Here, the bergenias bloom a second time and the Brunnera doesn’t stop blooming too.
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Soon the Ann Folkards will be interwoven with the roses, which is a favorite look of mine. Have a good week, Fred.
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What a lovely fruit and vegetable plot and the orchard looks super.
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Thank you, Rosie!
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Your apple blossom does seem late, mine is long gone. Does that mean you have a very short season and are limited with the varieties you can grow?
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Our season usually lasts until mid-November, and we grow a wide variety . We even grow early Yellow Transparents, harvested in August, mainly for sauce. My newest varieties are Gravenstein and Cosmic Crisp (CC trees only sold in WA State, I believe).
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Like the rest of the gang, I am impressed with your beautiful fruit trees and well ordered veg. What made me smile was “pigsqueak”, I’ve never heard it called that before! I wonder why it is called that? Lovely swathe of brunnera, makes a great show.
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Bergenia makes a sound similar to a pig squeak when its leathery leaves are rubbed between fingers. It truly does!
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I will have to give it a go 😁
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Your veg garden is sooo impressive, and the fruit trees delightful in their lacy spring dresses. The Brunnera is a show too. I planted one, but it gave up the ghost in the hot summer, even though I thought I’d found a shady place for it.
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Hello Jane! I am loving the Brunnera and added them just a couple years ago there since they do well elsewhere on our land. Reasonably cool summers help for sure.
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What a beautiful, stunning (and any other appropriate superlatives) garden you have. You clearly work very hard and it shows. The orchard is so pretty too. I must go and get working on my little plot. It has been a good gardening week with rain at night and bright sunny days here.
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Oh that weather sounds pretty perfect, Granny — at least the “sunny days” part right about now. 😉
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What a lovely garden!
Love it!
It seems as we are in the same season for our fruit trees.
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Lovely to see you here, Anne. Hard to believe it’s been almost a decade since we were together. Sweden is more northerly than we are here, but our spring has been incredibly chilly, thus the delay. XOX
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I love looking at fir trees! Do deer ever munch your plants?
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So many deer here — but over two of our acres are fully protected with tall fencing and shrubbery. It’s the only way one can garden here amongst the forest creatures… They freely roam the wild/native acres and occasionally nibble by the front entrance, thus we don’t focus too much on plants out front.
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Geez, I didn’t even notice the fencing. There are lots of critters here including deer, but I feed them. The deer that is. Fencing is the smarter way to go!
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It’s lovely to see your orchard in full bloom, especially now ours are over. Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack of Diamonds’ used as edging is an inspiration, much more effective than the individual plant I’ve got that gets lost in the border!
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