Monday, March 23, 2015

A Weed Ecosystem - Palm Style

While plant shopping this weekend, I stumbled upon a lovely palm tree.  I'm not real good with palms, so I couldn't tell you which one it was. Probably one of the marginally hard ones for here in Portland.  

It was obvious it had been there a little while.

What intrigued me the most was the cast of characters that had made themselves at home in the palm and this was only the plant life.


Getting a little closer you could see the ferns, Himalayan blackberry and the dandelions growing out of the trunk. 

I guess it isn't the kind of trunk that's very amenable to just sticking your hand in to pull out a weed.





It's a little world of weeds.




Wednesday, March 4, 2015

I Told You It Was Too Early!

The last two nights have been in the high 20's/low 30's and I have woken to frost.


I haven't had to scrape my car windows for a very long time, but I've had too the past few days.

Isn't that terrible?!? I'm surprised Portland's "Frost-pocalypse 2015" hasn't been all over the news?

I feel a little awful whining about that (two days of frost), especially when the entire East Coast has had such a brutal winter.




But most concerning to me were the sad tree peonies, that told me weeks ago that Spring was over, which were now drooping their heads. I told you it was too early! I told you to go back to bed for awhile!



They will be fine however, they are tough! 

I should probably also not rub in the fact that our daytime temps have been in the high 50's/low 60's and the forecast for this Saturday is 67 degrees.

While I'm toiling away on my patio project, I might have to take my shirt off, so I don't get overwhelmed with heat exhaustion.

Sorry East Coast!