May 18…This is the entrance. Just today Sue was able to get the path covered with wood shavings. She says, “I feel like this is a secret garden. I can’t wait to show the grand kids.”
The project involved some block work by you know who. (Note to self…never make suggestions to someone about block work unless you’re prepared to do it yourself.)
Sue has added the planters with lobelia, snap dragons from seed, and Clary Sage Salvia (also from seeds this year), hoping to attract some bees. The squash barrels contain butternut, Red Hubbard, and Sugar Pie pumpkin starts. Between the planters and the squash is the Witch Hazel which we bought a couple of years ago, but it didn’t do well in the clay pot we chose for it. We hope it comes back and blooms in winter. It’s next to an Oregon Grape (Mahonia aquifolium).
I asked Sue to sit down for a moment so I could take a photo.
The hugelkulture bed is technically in the new garden too. It’s getting planted with cosmos, marigolds, phacellia, California poppies, and more marigolds.
This is the other end of the hugelkulture bed, looking back towards the tall echium.
Some other garden scenes…
May 22…Potatoes growing well.
May 18…..My wife says it was a mistake to mulch the lettuce. It takes quite a bit of time to remove the straw when you want to eat it. In the background you can see the turnip flowers heavy with growth. This is our turnip seed source. The bees are still working it for now. For the record, these turnips, which were planted directly over crab shells last year, grew all winter.
Because of the new deer fence, I can plant pole beans for the first time in about 25 years. It’ll be fun watching the vine crawl up the bamboo poles.
Adventures in Natural Beekeeping 
I thought my speakers had gone on the blink, I am so used to hearing music with your video, I pumped up the volume to no avail.
The garden is looking great Pat, a perfect place to relax….once the work is done 🙂
Hey Eddy, I’m sure your speakers are fine. 🙂 I wanted to show how quiet it was out there where you can just hear the wind blowing through the trees and the wind chimes singing. We’re lucky we don’t have any close neighbors…sort of like yourselves. 🙂
Wow! Nice job, you all will have a wonderful place to kick back and listen to the hum of the bees.
Thanks, Steve. Actually, even with our ‘bad hearing issues’ we can hear the bees buzzing. 🙂 They’re in the wild cotoneasters now, even in the late evenings. Just wait til the salvia starts blooming. That ought to be fun. 🙂
Very impressive. And nice-looking block work. 8)
A real transformation for the secret garden. I like the idea of special places within the garden. The Echium are give a lot of structure to it. Amelia
Love those Echium tower plants, bees seem to love it, lots of bees or bumble bees flying around it. A swarm of bees came down the other day in our next-door’s garden, they settled in an empty hive there, I just love having them around, it is nature at its best 🙂 Lovely garden!
Do you want to grow some? I’ll save you some seeds.
Thank you so much, looks interesting but I live in Ireland, a very damp and cool climate 🙂
My town of Bandon, Oregon was named by ‘Lord’ Bennett from Bandon, County Cork, Ireland. It seems that we have the same climate although lately our winters are not as wet as average. I’ll save some seeds just in case you change your mind. These echium ‘spikes’ don’t take up much garden space…but after they bloom, they throw dozens if not hundreds of seeds out. I’ve got echium starts from a plant that died three years ago. I don’t mind though because the bees love it. I either transplant them or just pull them out.
Sounds an interesting plant especially if the bees like it so much. Interesting that you town is also called Bandon, we have our Bandon here about an hour away from us, it is a nice little town too. It’s a small world isn’t it 🙂