Dogwood Tree in Full Bloom

It's an early spring for sure.  In 2011, the Dogwood first bloomed on May 11th, almost 2 weeks later than this year.  The garden has put on an amazing amount of growth this year in a very short period of time.  It's going to be a great 2012 growing season.

Pacific Northwest Woodland Garden

The last couple of weeks we've been working on the woodland garden on the North side of the house.  The concept for this area is a walk through the dense forest of the Pacific Northwest.  We're featuring many of the plants one would find on just such a journey.  The one plant we wanted the most was not available from Woodbrook native plant nursery in Gig Harbor, but they called me back to let me know they were able to locate it.  We went back today to pick it up.  The plant is Devil's Club.  It has a really cool name, and the plant looks great.  It gets approximately 3-5 feet tall and equally as large in diameter.   This has to be one of my very favorite plants found in the forests around here.

The picture doesn't really do this area justice, partly because of the large propane tank which is really an eyesore.  The plan is to cover it with a willow or bamboo fence so that it isn't as noticeable.  In this area, we planted 15 different native Northwest plant varieties for a total of 90 plants.  Some of the plants include, Devil's Club, Cascara, False Lily of the Valley, Vine Maple, Sword Fern, Deer Fern, Lady Fern, Maidenhair Fern, Salmon Berry, Bunch Berry, Evergreen Huckleberry, and the list goes on.  Most of the plants were pretty small in 3.5" pots to help control cost.  When we landscaped this area and installed the path, we built a low area, which you can see to the right of the path in the above photograph.  This is a wetland area where water collects from off the roof of the house.  This makes it an ideal location for Devil's Club, Cascara and other water loving plants.  Some of the plants in this area are still in their pots because it is much to muddy to plant right now.  

Spring has Sprung

The garden is alive and well this year.  This weekend we will be planting the North side of the house with native Pacific Northwest shade plants.  Pictures of that project to follow soon.  The following are some pictures from around the garden.

Nectarine tree in bloom.

Pear tree in bloom.

Pond sedge grasses spring to life.

Lupines (front-center) in full growth mode.

Mantle Refinishing Photo Montage

We recently completed the work on our living room mantle.  The following is a photo history of the process.

Finished mantle after rebuilding and staining/finishing. 6-Apr-2012

Picture of the mantle from the original MLS listing before we purchased the house. 20-Aug-2007  

Horrible process of stripping the paint. 8-Mar-2008

Mantle after a stripping the paint. 16-Oct-2011

Process of sanding and refinishing the mantle. 4-Dec-2011

Mantle after installing leaded glass doors and tiling fireplace. 10-Mar-2012

Original 2nd hand cabinets we salvaged the leaded glass fronts from. 24-Aug-2008