I was in Portland staying with the grandchildren in early-June when the weather took a turn for the better. Not only was I able to spend time with our wonderful granddaughter and grandson, I had the opportunity to work a little in the gardens of our son and daughter-in-love.
Being working parents, Gene and Rebecca have little time during the week for gardening. And their weekends are generally spent playing catch-up on the chores. I remember those days so well; it can be frustrating when you want to be gardening but either the weather doesn’t cooperate when you have time, or other tasks encroach when the weather is nice. So when I find a few extra minutes, I like to help them out with a little weeding or watering.
Besides, it’s good for my morale to be able to work outside no matter where I am. And it makes me appreciate my own garden on the coast. By this, I do not mean to insinuate that gardening in the city is harder or easier than gardening on the coast, it’s just different. Lots of things we can grow in Tillamook do well in Portland and visa versa. My favorite Hosta and Japanese maples are two examples of plants that thrive in both areas. There are lots of others like grasses and penstemon, too.
It goes without saying Portland’s roses far exceed ours in blooms, and the same with tomatoes. We are back to those pesky old heat units again. It is warmer in the city sometimes by 10-15 degrees, which keeps the soils and the air warmer, allowing for a longer growing season. And plants like rudbeckia and peppers like the additional heat, too.
Part of my problem in Tillamook County is lack of full sun, something that is a feature in Rebecca’s garden. Her lavender, beautyberry, and all her veggies do better than mine. But I try not to be too jealous as Rebecca shares her bounty willingly.
Besides, I have things in my garden Rebecca can’t easily grow. Crops like the lettuces and spinaches that prefer a little cooler weather will thrive in on the coast. Most of my flowers are moisture- and shade-lovers, too. Pansies, hydrangea, and primrose are just a few examples that come to mind. Escallonia do better in my garden than in Portland.
Our soils are dramatically different as well. Rebecca’s garden has a lot of clay. Mine is on the sandy side, naturally. So I choose plants that like a moist but well-drained soil. Rebecca’s plant choice tends to the ones that like a dry, poor soil, like cistus (rock roses). Both of us are composters, though, so we can amend our soils to accommodate a wider variety of plants.
Then of course there is the difference in amounts of rain. Hard for Portland to top the average 111 inches we get in our garden. Talk about needing plants that like a moist climate!
Rebecca planned for and planted a native perennial garden in her yard. Mine was planted more by Mother Nature. But we pass our natives back and forth. My Tellima grandiflora (foam flower), which tends to be invasive in my garden, are much better behaved in Rebecca’s. They do not spread nearly so easily in her denser clay soil. Her false Solomon’s seal do well in my garden as a trade.
Some of our weeds are different, too. Where I am plagued by field bindweed, Rebecca fights an invasive clematis. We both battle with blackberries and buttercups, and of course, dandelions, giving us common enemies.
One plant that seems to do well in both gardens, regardless of sun, rain or soil conditions are the daisies. They seem to know we love them and thrive where they are planted. I use my tall Shasta Daisies as a backdrop in the border. Rebecca prefers the shorter Osteospermum that come in a lovely variety of colors. There is simply something about daisies that makes me smile…memories from childhood, perhaps. Or the fact that they seem to go hand-in-hand with summer.
I am a bit partial to daisies as that is the name of our granddaughter, now 15. Like the flower, our Daisy is bright and full of life and makes me smile. But then again, both my grandchildren make me smile. Every day I am with them I realize how lucky I am to have them so close by. And how lucky they are to have a grandmother that lives by the beach.
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