Billie's Folly

My meadow is a purchased mix of low-growing clover and grasses with a sprinkling of English Daisy, Baby Blue Eyes, and Sweet Alyssum.  I may add a few more wild flower seeds next year.  If we mow often, the flowers don't get a chance to bloom fully.  But we do so because weeds blow in that we don't want going to seed.

Cafe au Lait dahlia.   I thought I left California behind, but I seem to have brought the weather with me.  An Oregon June from my childhood was rainy on and off with temperatures in the 70's, and typically a week thrown in of beautiful spring weather.  4th of July parties were iffy for sunshine (often rain), but by the end of July it was getting dry and warm.  August was the most dependable month, with averages in the 80's, and a few "really hot" days into the 90's.  We usually had a beautiful late summer in September.   But the last few years in Oregon have been exceptions--or the new norm!  2021 was our year of extremes.  We had an ice storm in February and an unprecedented heat dome (reaching 116 in Portland) in June--which led to one of the worst fire seasons in history.  2022 had five days over 100 degrees.  This year we had a few days reach into the 90's in May and only four days of rain in June.  We've basically had non-stop...

I don't know if I mentioned that I now have a small vineyard on my property.  I was approached by our local Tumwater Winery because the owner knows I have a couple acres I'm not using, and I'm in forestry/agricultural zoning.  This part of my property is on a slight southern hillside and I was having to keep the blackberries and tall grasses at bay by hiring big mowers to come in the summer to keep the fire hazard down.  I had considered renting goats to keep it in check, but I think I would have needed to provide shelter for them.  And Sadie might never have recovered from the excitement!