Nasturtiums!

Nasturtiums.  What a treat.  Lovely flowers and you can add them to your salad to brighten it up and provide a nutritious bite of joy.  They taste mildly peppery but very delicate.

Another treat here in Grants Pass Real Estate.

Bye for now.

chuck

Fall Leaves

Here is a photo in our yard.  A few clouds in the distance and setting sun make the light just right for this picture.   Note that now the grass is all green--not just the grass where we irrigate.

This is our Redbud in full fall color.  From spring through fall this is a thoroughly delightful tree.

 

This is a shot of one of the local golf courses.

This is a picture of a tree in Grants Pass.  Fall colors are especially lovely this year.  I took this shot on a simple drive around town. We have just enough of a winter to make the four seasons possible.  Lovely times here in Grants Pass Real Estate.  

Bye for now.

Chuck

Fall Garden and Flowers

Zinnias are so easy to care for and give you such beauty.  Here are a few. 

This is a magic lily that sends up deep green straps in the spring.  In the summer they die down to be followed in late summer by sturdy scapes that are topped by these lovely blooms.

This is a petunia.  They are such reliable bloomers.  Filled with blossoms from late spring until frost they are a joy to have around.

This is an aster.  Perennial to its core it comes up each year to brighten the fall garden.

Bye for now

chuck

Rhodies, Strawberries, Lettuce and more!

Our Rhododendrons are late this year.  The unusual  late cool rainy spring we had this year made them bloom much later than I have seen  in over 20 years.  Still they are now lovely and grace our landscape here in Grants Pass Real Estate.

Here is a closeup of these magnificent blooms.

Also the garden is now growing.  The strawberries are small, but oh so sweet.  A delicious treat.

The lettuce is coming on fine.  Colorful and nutritious.


The Roses are now coming on as well.  Lovely so see and these are antique roses that actually smell like roses.  Ahhh.

Oh, by the way, some birds have started to make a nest in a second birdhouse gourd.  The gourd hanging in the Redbud tree now has little sticks in it.  Always fun to watch the garden and yard here in Grants Pass Real Estate.   So long for now.  chuck

Garden Time

Garden time again.  Tilled up the garden on Saturday, let it rest a few days and planted it on Tuesday evening.  I found lots of good plants.  Went to Fort Vannoy farms and got some peppers and melons including a Crenshaw melon.  They get large and very sweet.  

Went to the grower's market and got tomatoes, peppers and more melons.

Went to Chet's Nursery and Redwood Nursery and got more tomatoes, melons, peppers, sugar snap peas, lettuce, squash and cucumbers.

I put down black plastic for the melons, tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers, since our nights here in Grants Pass Real Estate are cool during the summer and the black plastic collects and holds the heat so they grow better, faster and ripen better.  I found a Sun Gold cherry tomato--very sweet and prolific.

Inside of the Compost Tumbler after 10 days.  Still steaming and warm, about half the volume it was when I filled it up.  A few more days and it will be finished.  I used the compost tea mixed about 10 parts water to 1part tea as a pick me up drink for all the new plants in the garden.  Great fun here in Grants Pass Real Estate.
       So long for now.   
           chuck

Lilacs, Apple Blossoms, and Bird House Gourds

Lilacs have a short season, but they are so beautiful and the smell will carry you away.

Always a treat.

And now for a 

few apple blossoms.

If I can keep the ground squirrels 

from eating the little apples,

then I will have some good

eating in the fall.

This is a five way apple

with five different varieties grafted

onto one tree.

And now a bird house gourd.  I planted these a few years ago in the garden and got a bumper crop of gourds.  This spring I put a hole bit on my drill and voila--bird house.  I actually put up three of them.  One in the Princess Tree, one in the Redbud tree and one on the garden fence.  The ones hanging in the trees are more romantic, but the one on the garden fence is the one that the birds started to build a nest in.

God has a sense of humor.

So long for now from Grants Pass Real Estate.

chuck

Wild Flowers

This is a wildflower that comes up every year in late spring.  I used to know the name of it, but I have forgotten and since I didn't plant it I can't look it up.  However, since God planted it, I am sure He knows what the name is.

Lovely blossoms that can be seen for the price of a walk around Grants Pass Real Estate.

So long for now from Grants Pass Real Estate.

chuck

More Daffodils

Here are a few more pics of daffodils.  Later blooming than the others.  We have had daffodils at Grants Pass Real Estate for a long time this year.  Maybe the weather has been cooler than usual.  We have had blooms since late January.  

 

This one is a double bloom.  Didn't know I planted it but am glad I did.

Such cheery faces these blooms have. Does my heart good just to look at the picture now.  Spring is always lovely here in Grants Pass Real Estate, it lasts a long time and eases into summer.  One more of God's blessings for us.   

So long from Grants Pass Real Estate for now.  

chuck

More Spring Flowers!

We have more spring blooms. This is flowering quince. Lots of lovely flowers early before the leaves are fully on. And no fruit. This one is planted close to the house so I have to trim it every year to keep it away from the house. Better to plant it in the open and then you can choose to prune or not.

This is a blossom on an azalea.  Lovely early blossoms.  Slow growing plant, but reliable bloomer.  Notice the pine needles as a mulch.  Azaleas and rhododendrons like acid soil and the pine needles accommodate them.  When I lived in Virginia and North Carolina 


I could get a bale of pine needles for mulching.  They have lots of pines and lots of azaleas and rhododendrons so it works great.  Blueberries also like acid soil.  Most of the soil in Grants Pass Real Estate is not acid so amendments are needed.  Pine needles are the cheapest fix.

Another picture of more of our daffodils.  Lovely time of year in Grants Pass Real Estate.


So long for now from Grants Pass Real Estate.


chuck

Composting.

Here is a picture of my Compost Tumbler. I mow my lawn with a riding mower with a grass catcher on it. I fill up the composter with 4 parts green and one part brown. For the green I use fresh grass from the lawn and kitchen scraps (fruit, vegetables, coffee grounds, egg shells). For the brown I use dried grass and dried leaves though you can use newspaper, sawdust, small wood chips. Fill up the composter. Turn five turns once a day. It will reach 160 degrees the next day--hot enough to kill most weed seeds. Two weeks to compost. Great. Compost is good for any soil. Soil too sandy and loose--use compost--it will bind it up and make it more like good topsoil. Soil has too much clay--use compost--it will loosen it up and make it more porous and topsoil like. Composting is great in Grants Pass Real Estate.
This is my traditional compost pile. During the winter the weather is too cold to make compost in the compost tumbler. So I pile stuff up the old way. Leave it for a year and you still get good compost. You also have a place to put the kitchen scraps in the winter. Pull back some of the grass, dump your scraps, pull the grass back over top. It will not smell bad and if you don't put in meat products, you won't have animals digging in your compost pile.

So long for now from Grants Pass Real Estate.

chuck

Daffodils!

Daffodils are blooming now. So beautiful. And coming early in the year. At least in Grants Pass. I checked the weather in Platteville, Wisconsin and the high today is 34 degrees with the low being 18. Later in the week the high and low are forecast to be 22 and 2. Yes, that is 2 degrees. Daffodils can withstand cold weather but let's not be ridiculous. I grew up in Iowa and have vivid memories of the winters there. Spring and fall once they came were great but short. Spring was on Tuesday and Fall was on Thursday. The rest of the year was hot humid summer and cold winter.

You might also notice that the grass is green. And it is growing. In fact, I am going to need to mow my lawn soon. I haven't mowed it since October, but it has been green the whole time. To be fair, it is green throughout the fall (once it starts to rain), winter, and spring; however, in the summer, if you put no water on it, it will turn brown. Still in the Midwest unless there was snow in the fall and winter, the landscape was brown.

To be blunt I much prefer the climate here in Grants Pass. But then, I am biased.

A man was in New York and he went into a church and saw a red phone on the wall. When he asked the pastor what the phone was for, the pastor said, "That's a direct line to God." The man said, "Can I use it." Pastor said, "Oh, sure. The call costs $20,000."

The man traveled through many states always stopping in a church and seeing a red phone asking and getting the same answer, "Yes, direct line to God, $20,000."

Until one day he got to Southern Oregon and when he asked got the response, "Yes, direct line to God, 20 cents." Twenty Cents! How come? "Oh, this is Southern Oregon. It's a local call."

So long for now from Grants Pass Real Estate.

chuck

Royal Empress Tree

This is what will be the blossom for the Royal Empress Tree, also known as the Princess Tree or the Paukownia Tree. This tree is widespread in the South and the Midwest, and the East Coast where sometimes it is regarded as an aggressive invader. However, it is not widespread here on the West Coast probably because the conditions for its easy spread are not met.

The wood is prized in China and Japan and used for jewelry boxes and furniture. Sometimes it is planted in the USA with thoughts of selling the wood. There are reports of selling a tree for $20,000. However, I have not found any markets for it.

I bought it for it's beauty and fast growth. It was touted as growing up to 40 feet in eight years. I have had mine for about 12 years and it is about 20 feet tall. I got it by mail order from http://www.raintreenursery.com/ for $15.00, though now it is listed at $9.75. It came in a little pot and was about 6 inches tall. I thought, "What have I done!" But it grew 2 feet that summer. Then it died down to the ground in the winter. They did say it would do that, though.

The next year it grew to 4 feet. And died down to the ground. The next year it grew to about 8 feet and stayed up. From the first it had huge leaves. After 10 years it bloomed. Lovely blooms. Overall I find it to be a wonderful specimen tree here in Grants Pass Real Estate.

So long for now.

chuck

Daffodils are up! Is Spring far behind?

Daffodils are up! They started coming up in January and now have blossoms on them. It won't be long before they are blooming. Even though it is still winter, can spring be far behind?

Daffodils are great here in Grants Pass Real Estate. They are hardy. They are perennial, coming up year after year. They multiply. Plant a few and wait and you have more, then lots more. They don't have enemies. The deer won't eat them, they are poisonous to moles and gophers who also won't eat them. And they are beautiful.

In this photo you can see some of the daffodils. And the taller plants are garlic. Garlic also comes up by itself. These started in late October and will be up and ready to pick in the late spring or early summer. Or you can let them go and watch the beautiful blossoms and let them die down and come up again in the fall.

Here is another harbinger of spring. These crocus are up and lovely.

Even though it is still winter here in Grants Pass Real Estate we still have some nice weather and it is mild enough to have daffodils and crocus come up early.

So long from Grants Pass Real Estate for now.

chuck