Gardening Journal, May 2025

The tubers are making an appearance! We have potatoes and Dahlias making their grand entrances. Columbines are in bloom everywhere. We have a giant light pink variety, white, purple, Mrs. Barlow, and Black Barlow. I have high hopes for my native columbines, but so far, it’s just leaves.

My long-neglected cascara trees are responding well to TLC. (I didn’t know they liked and needed babying.) I had what I considered a failure of a hardy kiwi vine. I had hopes it would cover an old clothesline–instead, it flopped on the ground looking pathetic. Some babying with compost and extra water, plus the addition of a vertical trellis, and suddenly she is upright and reaching for the sky! It’s a miracle!

The onions are growing. We had our first Oregon iris bloom. Our color-changing Mutabilis or Butterfly Rose is in bloom, and the not-so-miniature mini rose is covered with buds. (The roses are miniature, the plant is not. I would buy 10 of these if I could find them for sale. The one I have came from a Freecycler.)

The blueberries are covered in blooms, and there’s a lot of bee activity around the raspberries, so something is happening there.

Plus: we had some rain! In May! W00t!

The bareroot plants seem to be doing well for the most part, although the Oregon grapes are going to keep me guessing until it’s time to plant them in the fall.