Rhododendron Species Foundation

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RHS

We had a chance to visit the Rhododendron Species Foundation this weekend. We first started visiting the garden in the late ’70s while G was at school. We were very interested in Rhododendrons after we returned to Seattle and learned a lot about the original plant explorers who collected the plants in the Himalaya mountains for gardens in England. The garden influenced a trip we made to England. We designed our 1985 trip around the gardens in Cornwall to see some of original Rhododendron collections.

But our interested waned in Rhododendrons and we stopped visiting. It was only recently that I had a chance to visit the garden again. G was doing a plant sale and I stopped in. Gorgeous absolutely gorgeous.

I really enjoy the woodland plants that have been collected and added to the garden. Slowing down and looking closely at the beds – you can be amazed at the woodland wonders that can be found.

Cave B Inn

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I just returned from a wonderful holiday in Central Washington. Yes, Central Washington! Central Washington is the northern edge of the Great Basin Desert but one would barely know it is a desert due to the Columbia Basin Project. The project run by the Bureau of Reclamation provides sustainable renewable energy and water which has transformed the sagebrush land into fertile farms. Hay, corn, and potato is grown along with wine. Wine was what led us to the Cave B Inn.

G was talking with a customer a couple of weeks ago and they got to talking about Walla Walla and wine. We had enjoyed our getaway in Walla Walla last year. They said “Have you been to Cave B near Quincy?” G did not know of it but thought I would heard of it. Well, I had not.

We checked out the website and it looked very nice. Fortunately, it is off season and the prices were reasonable. We quickly booked two nights and decided to do it on Thursday – Friday to take advantage of the lower mid-week rate. I noticed that the prices are over double come summer. The Inn is located next to the Gorge Amphitheater and the winery was originally Champs de Brionne. The Inn has been open for two years or so.

Driving through the vineyards, the main inn building raises above the horizon. It is stunning; curved dark gray roof and stone sides that make the building look like it was carved out the nearby basalt cliffs. The staff if very professional and the inn is run by the same company that manages the Willow Lodge in Woodinville and Freestone Inn in Mazama. We checked in and walked a short distance through the Sangiovese vineyard to our Cliffhouse. There are 16 Cliffhouses; each one is a separate bungalow with a full view of the river canyon below.

Cliffhouse at Cave B Inn

The interior is decorated in warm Mediterranean colors and wood floor. The room is separated by a fireplace and entertainment area. One side has a comfortable seating area with leather couch and chairs. The other side is a large comfy king size bed. The fireplace is open on both sides and the TV will swivel so you can enjoy both either in the sitting area or from the bed. It reminded me a lot of the cottage at Bushman’s Kloof in South Africa.

The bathroom has a stone floor, large soaking tub and separate glass shower. Fluffy towels and bathrobes are provided.

The west wall is filled with windows overlooking the Columbia River. You can walk out to a nice terrace where you can enjoy a glass of wine while watching the sun set to the west.

Located in the main Inn building is a gourmet restaurant, Tendrils. The Chef is a Slow Food Award award winner and has written a James Beard award winning cookbook The menu focuses on local products and producers.

Sunset at Cave B Inn

For breakfast, we had the buffet which had a potato, apple and cheese frittata, fresh baked pastries, fruit, granola, yogurt and fresh coffee and juice. We also had dinner one night. The menu had a nice selection of locally produced organic meats such as Thundering Hooves Ranch and fresh fish. I started with a beet salad which had a nice wedge of Humboldt Fog goat cheese and blood oranges. G had the fresh green salad. I selected the NW lamb chops from Cattail Farms which was served with a corn cake and sauteed greens. G had the fresh wild salmon with wild rice and fiddleheads. For dessert, we had coffee and an apple compote with wild huckleberry frozen souffle.

We thoroughly enjoyed our getaway. It is only about 150 miles from Seattle but it feels a world away.

Is Quincy the new Bend?

Ancient Lakes

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There is something mysterious and inspiring visiting the majestic coulees of Central Washington. One moment you are driving through the fields of the potato heartland of the Northwest. Green stretching to the horizon with pipes shaped as spiral dragons delivering the lifeblood water to the barren desert. The next moment columns of basalt rise high above your head and dust gathers at your feet where an ancient lake once existed.

Our destination; Ancient Lakes is a set of several small lakes ringing the base of a coulee rising up above the Columbia River near Babcock bench. They are one of many lakes in the Quincy NWR and just a few miles from the Cave B Inn where we stayed. The day was clear and bright with a slight chill in the air; perfect for a hike. It was probably possible to see the lake area from our room but to get there, we had to drive back out to the highway, skirt around Quincy NWR and approach the trailhead from the north.

The road headed west from Quincy through apple orchards. You could smell the sulfur from the dormant spray. None of the orchards were in bloom except a single apricot orchard. The white blossoms contrasting against the blue sky. A couple of apiaries boxes had been dropped off. The bees were busy at work pollinating the blossoms for future fruit.

The road turned south and paralleled the Columbia River. We were soon under a huge basalt cliff dotted with spots of yellow balsamroot and white phlox. We were shortly at the trail head. We stretched a bit and booted up. The sun felt warm and we left our vests in the car.

The trail was dusty. We walked among the sagebrush and headed away from the river. In the distance, we could see the lakes. Along the basalt cliffs, wispy ribbons of water fell from the fields above. In the distance, we could see a few parties of horse riders out for a morning ride.

The faint breeze whispered in our ears and the cries of the meadow lark broke the silence. We thought we heard cranes but never saw them. The lakes were dotted with a few ducks and other water fowl. But we saw no flowers. It didn’t take long to reach the viewpoint between the lakes. We sat an a camp and rested while listening to the waterfall in the distance.

It was noon and time to return. By now the sun had moved and the river was a glimmer in the distance. The majestic vistas reminded us of the grandeur of the west as we made our way back to the car.

It is time for Spring plant sales

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The Spring plant sales are starting up. One of the first ones of the season is this weekend at the Rhododendron Species Foundation in Federal Way. This is a great sale if you are looking for unusual Rhododendrons or perennials for your garden.

While you are there, also check out the gardens. It has been located on the Weyerhauser corporate campus since 1975. We made our first visit to the garden in the late ’70s while G was at school. It contain beautiful species Rhododendron from throughout the world along with lovely woodland plants. We have several species plants in our garden such as the following R. irroratum Polka Dot.

Blue in the spring garden

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Blue is the color this week. The dark muddy soil is starting to be accented with patches of blue from bulbs and early perennials.

The first plant in the montage is pulmonaria also known as lungwort. This is a lovely spring bloomer which comes in shades of blue, pink and white. This one is Pulmonaria longifolia ‘Bertram Anderson’. In the summer it has long dark green lanceshape leaves which are speckled with grey. This is an older hybrid but we have found it to be very reliable.

The second plant in the montage is Puschkinia scilloides var. libanotica. This little beauty is native to the Middle East and Asia and is quite easy to grow.

The last is one of my favorite little bulbs, Muscari armeniacum or grape hyacinths. These naturalize wonderfully into carpets of blue. Plus they have a light fragrance. They make wonderful small bouquets for the window sill.

Spring on Cougar Mountain

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A sure sign of spring is the sight of trilliums along the trail. We saw our first trillium last weekend on the Red Hill trail in Cougar Mountain. Along with trillium, we also saw red currant and indian plums.

The days are still very gray and we had a light frost recently so I haven’t caught “Spring Fever” yet. Come on sun. Shine.

Wearing of the green

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The garden is dressed in green just in time for St Patrick’s Day. The shades range from the light creamy green Corsican hellebore flowers to the dark hunter green of tulip leaves. And the varied textures. The interesting chartreuse bell shape flowers of Euphorbia characias sp wulfenii, the unfrilling lacy leaves of Paeonia ludlowii, and the sprawling blue grey lefted Euphorbia myrsinites.

Here is a montage of the March green in the garden.

spring

Sugar Snap Peas

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It has been several years since we had a vegetable garden. But this year we want to get back to growing a bit of our food. The farmer markets are so good and I like supporting our local farmers but I also like the ability to walk into the yard and pick fresh produce.

Today I planted sugar snap peas. They are one of my favorite peas. I remember when then were first introduced in the late ’70s. One of the pathologists in the medical lab I was working at the time introduced me to the pea. We’ve grown them on and off ever since.

President’s Day is the traditional time to plant peas here in the NW. I never get my peas in that early but I’m not doing too bad this year getting them in just before St Patrick’s Day. We have an obelisk in a sunny spot so I planted them thickly around the base. I gave them a nice watering and now I’ll wait. I’ll want to watch out for slugs and cutworms also. I lost a crop one year to cutworms.

Package says they will be ready in 70 days.

In bloom this week

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It is warming up and plants are starting to bloom. Tuesday was so nice and warm. Today is rain but that brings us April flowers.

This week the flowering plums and some early cherries are open. I love it when the pink clouds start opening on the hills. Forsythia has added yellow to gray days. The crocuses are just peaking and the early daffodils are now blooming. They are excellent when planted in clumps. The white and red sprays of Pieris is brightening up their evergreen foliage. Adding texture and exoticness to the gardens are the hellebores and Euphorbias. It will be another week for Euphorbia characias wulfenii and Euphorbia myrsinites to be blooming.

Nurseries

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Today we visited two popular nurseries in the Seattle area; Flower World and Swansons. G likes to visit to see how other nursery businesses are run and what is available.

Flower World is located on 15 acres near Malby. They grow most of their plants so they are able to offer lower prices than many other nurseries. It is also a very pleasant nursery to visit because it is well laid out with wide gravel paths and a display area with winding paths. They even have a small farm near by.

My biggest complaint about the nursery is also one of their advantages. They have large quantities of popular varieties and not a lot of unusual plants. If you need a typical bedding plant or tree, you can get a great price on locally grown stock. But if you are looking for the latest hot hybrid or something rare and unusual, Flower World is not the place to find it.

I took advantage of the great price to pick up a few primroses. I couldn’t resist getting a couple to make a cheerful pot of yellow primroses. I have it out on the deck so I can see them from the kitchen.

Swanson’s is a gardener’s paradise. They are currently building a several new greenhouses but it doesn’t seem to disrupt the business. Spring can be so chaotic.

The displays were gorgeous. Right now, they have pots of variety of different bulbs. They even had a few Lachenalia which brought back memories of South Africa. They also had several tempting containers. We enjoyed meandering through the selection. But as expected, it is not inexpensive.

They also have a conservatory, excellent gift shop and a small cafe. Perfect way to spend an enjoyable morning although it is very hard to leave without a car full of plants.