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A visit to Chickadee Gardens

I was excited to finally get to see Chickadee Gardens last week. I have followed Tamara's blog  for years. She and her husband garden on 2 acres in Saint Helens, Oregon.  When you look at the map, it appears that St. Helens is directly across the Columbia River and slightly to the north of us. However, there is no convenient bridge to get over to the Oregon side. You must go north to Ridgefield, Washington (about 30 minutes north of our house) and go across there  or travel through Portland and then go north through Scappoose. Either way, it is about a 45 minute drive. I decided to try the Ridgefield route and I was glad I did. Not only did I not have to contend with Portland traffic (it was Rose Parade weekend), I got to see country on the Oregon side that was new to me.  Tamara used to work at the beautiful Joy Creek Nursery (my favorite, but alas they are now closed) and she now works part-time at Cistus Nursery.  She focuses on native plants and sustainabili...
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Finally - a good weather statistic

Bleeding Heart (Dicentra 'Gold Heart')


Weather is in the news a lot these days and it always seems to be for the wrong reasons. Just the past year has seen records in temperatures (last summer), diminished rainfall (most months) and late snowfall (this month). But now, a statistic to cheer about - the month of April has seen a record amount of rainfall. Recordings at PDX show that we got a total of 5.37 inches. One year ago (April 2021) was the driest on record at .37 inch. 

The rain is welcome although the weather hasn't been conducive to working in the garden. In addition to the wet weather, it has been really cool and night temperatures are still dipping into the 40s. I'm sure vegetable gardeners are having a frustrating time.

Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack Frost'

Camassia leichtlinii

Daphne cneorum (Rock Daphne)



Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy
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Comments

  1. Lisa at GreenbowMay 1, 2022 at 9:21 AM

    It appears that your garden is responding to all the rain. I am happy for you. We have had a decent spring too. The wind has been annoying but it has been cool and wet enough here too.

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  2. Kris PetersonMay 1, 2022 at 1:10 PM

    Congratulations! I love the Camassia, which isn't something that will grow in my part of the country.

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  3. AnonymousMay 1, 2022 at 4:32 PM

    We've had a cool rainy spring too, but it's too early here for annuals. But soon!

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  4. RobinLMay 1, 2022 at 4:36 PM

    We’ve had a cool wet spring too, but we aren’t quite ready to plant annuals. But soon!

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  5. AnonymousMay 3, 2022 at 3:22 AM

    The chartreuse of the bleeding heart is shining in the shady garden like no other. What a sight! Brunnera 'Jack Frost' is an old favorite; I've moved volunteers into other places in the garden: I could ever tire of this plant.

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  6. AnonymousMay 5, 2022 at 6:25 AM

    Wonderful news on rain for your region. Happy for you. Maybe next year for us...

    The Camassia leichtlinii is gorgeous! "moist soil" means not for "SoCal". 😒

    Do you grow any Martagon Lilies?

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