Fidalgo Island Crossings

This is a photo I took this morning of a rhododendron blooming in the cul-de-sac where I live.  It is the last day of January.  Several plants are doing this around the complex.  Prime rhododendron season is April to July.  There are a couple of reasons to see blooming at atypical times: There are early/winter blooming rhododendron varieties such as 'Christmas Cheer' or 'PJM' They sometimes get mixed signals from weather or daylight which stimulate blooming The weather here this winter has been fairly typical although we have gotten more rain than usual.  Early this month, we had a cold snap where the temperature dropped to 27° F, -3 ° C.  Since then, the temps have remained above freezing and as high as 58° F, 14° C.  Our typical overcast has been broken up by several days with bright sunshine. We had a few rhododendrons that pushed out two or three blooms early last fall.  That was most likely due to confused plants getting the wro...

Rhododendron yakushimanum is a species uniquely native to the island of Yakushima in Japan.  It is one of my favorite rhododendrons and they are starting to bloom now.  They have been hybridized to produce several varieties.  Altogether, I have nine of them.  Many have a flower that begins a deep magenta pink, gradually becoming white as it opens. Japanese Andromeda (Pieris japonica) , another popular garden shrub in the Pacific Northwest, is also native to Yakushima Island. Nicknamed "Yaks," they have a number of desirable characteristics.  They tend to be a smaller scale shrub.  I have some approaching 20 years in the garden that are still under a meter tall.  They are reliable and profuse bloomers, not fussy about weather or soil conditions.  The only care they need is removal of the spent flowers.  In my yard, they seem to be resistant to root weevil damage.  This makes them good candidates for a pesticide-free garden. ...

Deciduous trees sprout new leaves in the spring, then drop them in the fall.  Coniferous trees are evergreen and hold their needles or scales year-around.  Those are the tree rules.  The Pacific Madrona (Arbutus menziesii)  breaks those rules.  They are evergreens, deciduous trees that stay in leaf year around. Actually, Madronas do drop their leaves, but not at the usual time or in the customary way.  Like other deciduous trees, they sprout new leaves in the spring.  Then in midsummer, the one year old leaves turn yellow and drop and that is happening right now.  Rhododendrons, the Heath family cousins of Madronas, do this as well, but they will drop their two year old leaves in the summer.  Although the Madrona looks like a tree, it really behaves more like a large evergreen shrub. After an unusually spectacular flowering this spring, Madronas are also setting their fruit right now.  As summer progresses into fall , th...

I'll begin with a mystery.  On a hike in the Kukutali Preserve , I couldn't help but notice all the daisies blooming along the road.  A dark object on one of them caught my eye.  Looking closer, I knew I should get a photo of it.  I figured out it was a Harvestman , but I don't know what kind. Another name for them is "Daddy Longlegs," but this is like no Daddy Longlegs I have ever seen.  Wikipedia says, "typical body length does not exceed 7 millimeters (0.28 in)."  This one was at least twice that size.  I do get the delicate little Daddy Longlegs in my house.  They seem to like my shower.  My house guests, however, have tiny bodies that are under a quarter inch long.  Perhaps Kiket Island grows them extra large and robust.  I would enjoy hearing from anyone who can provide more information about this big guy. Harvestmen are arachnids like spiders and scorpions, but of a different order, Opiliones.  They have eight leg...

Living in the weather can be interesting.  Late last August, we were hit by a freak windstorm .  A sudden gust of wind from the west snapped off a couple of the neighbors' tall Douglas Firs. Those firs landed in my driveway and upper garden.  They snapped off one of the Madronas that line the driveway (near the center of the photo with red trunk).   Pacific Madronas (Arbutus menziesii) are nifty trees that don't grow just anywhere.  They are nearly impossible to transplant.  I felt bad to lose one of the big ones.  I was left with a four foot high stump without any foliage.  I had the tree service cut it off at the ground level when they cleaned up the firs. The other day when I went up for the mail, something at the edge of the driveway caught my eye (first photo).  That cut off Madrona is growing new shoots from the margin of the cut end.  For a fussy tree that is difficult to grow, this is indeed a miracle.  Apparentl...

Yesterday, I hiked the "Rhododendron Trail" at Deception Pass State Park to see how things were shaping up.  The rhodies are far from close to blooming yet, but my favorite tree is more spectacular than usual this year.  Everywhere I looked, the Pacific Madronas  (Arbutus menziesii) , a rhododendron cousin, were blooming more profusely than I have ever witnessed.  Above, from the Goose Rock Summit Trail, I was stunned by the display of this old giant Madrona below me. The trees I saw coming up the trail were not flukes.  Those at the summit also blew me away.  Just driving to the park on Highway 20 I saw dozens more blooming along the road.  Even this was an amazing sight. At the summit, this Madrona next to the trail was more rambling and shrub-like.  Madronas have adapted to harsh conditions produced by drought, wind and poor soil.  They will grow where other trees cannot.  The Goose Rock summit is pure stone, but ...

On Saturday, August 29, 2015 an unusual August windstorm hit the Pacific Northwest.  While everyone's attention was focused on Tropical Storm Erika which more or less fizzled out, ours hit with a vengeance .  Washington, Oregon and British Columbia were severely impacted by unusually high winds brought by the storm. I was at work and missed the whole thing.  Driving south on Interstate 5 at 6:00 a.m. I did encounter heavy rain, buffeting winds and tree limbs blowing across the freeway.  But at that hour, the main front had not yet arrived. While at work, I checked the website occasionally to see if the power was still on.  The last weather station upload was at 11:48 a.m.  That coincides with the peak wind speed of 30 m.p.h. (48 k.p.h.) from the southwest at noon recorded by my station.  That is not an excessive wind, but from that direction I have trees and terrain that effect the anemometer readings. The photo above of Skagit Bay was taken ...

I was out early this morning working in the garden.  After I did some pruning, I finished planting the containers in the basement patio.  I planted Petunias in the hanging baskets where the slugs can't get to them.  For the big pots on the patio, Geraniums, Lobelia and yellow Marigolds.  This is also where the bird feeders are.  While I worked, a Townsend's Chipmunk joined me, completely unafraid.  There were peanuts to be collected, after all. I used to plant Nasturtiums because the rabbits, deer and slugs didn't like them.  Then, the pots became infected with Pseudomonas and that was the end of that.  Who knew plants could catch bacterial infections?  I added some critter repellent to keep the deer away and the squirrels from digging in the pots.  Now I'm going to have to be diligent with slug patrols. Just as I was finishing up, a Bald Eagle landed in one of my trees, so I took his picture. Just after noon, a tugboat steam...

I was at the Kukutali Preserve today.  One of the interesting things I spotted was this blooming  Nootka Rose (Rosa nutkana) .  It is a bit out of season for this native shrub.  May, June and July are the peak times for blooming, not September.  Right now they should be displaying their hips.  The shrubs at Kukutali are no exception: Nootka Rose is an outstanding choice for the native wildlife garden.  Their flowers. fruits and leaves attract a number of insects, birds and mammals.  Thickets provide cover and nesting sites for birds and small mammals.  They are also excellent plants for stabilizing slopes . As an ornamental, they are every bit as attractive as their cultivated counterparts.  They are especially effective in thickets and hedgerows.  Because they are natives, they are also hardier and less demanding than other roses.  Their only drawback is a tendency to spread aggressively, so give them a spot where...

I had a perennial bed next to the driveway that never did well.  It tended to look weedy to me.  If it got rained on, the taller plants would droop over.  The spectacular color display I expected and the butterflies never materialized.  I think the soil, weather, location and whatever were just not right for this type of garden. In February, 2013 I ripped out the perennials and replaced them with native plants and shrubs .  Since then, I have been gradually adding new plants to the bed whenever I have been able to find them.  This included a clump of Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) .  This wonderful native flower has turned out better than any of the non-native perennials that I had there before. Yarrow grows wild all over the area.  All it seems to need is bad soil and well drained to dry conditions.  I have a lot of both.  Most of the wild flowers I see are white, but along my road and nearby Highway 20, I see plants with pink...