Pocket forests, roses and raspberries, and hosting moths

I was really inspired by Basil Camu’s presentation on pocket forests: https://youtu.be/bkCC6dLITiI?is=y9nBDxqP7jEryX9b. I would call our yard a wildscape, and maybe it’s a bit of a pocket forest.

I am planting my first shrub roses! I found a few from David Austin that will grow in part shade.

Along with our bird friends, we have been enjoying our second crop of raspberries. Our raspberries have become a bit of a pocket forest, so we will need to rehab our raspberry raised bed in the spring with amendments and more soil (it sank–that happens), plus a new group of plants. It’s not unusual to have 20-25 volunteers every year, so we have many plants to choose from.

Be our guest
I accidentally planted Pacific Willow. (Long story.) I really need to give them away because they really want to live near a stream. They are a host plant for the Western Eyed Sphinx Moth, and guess who found us? How do they know?? The plant is crawling with bright green caterpillars.

Fall blooms
The anemone is blooming, and it’s lovely. And the geraniums will not quit!