A good plant

 

 

The previous owner planted yellow Potentilla shrubs along the front of the house, and they bloomed beautifully all last summer requiring nothing more than an irrigation drip line. An excellent choice for this harsh climate, where it often goes well below zero. Also known as "shrubby cinquefoil" it's one of the most popular landscape shrubs because of the exceptional hardiness and easy care. 

In the winter, these looked well and truly dead, but new growth is just appearing. I'll do a light pruning for shape and that should be it for the summer, other than a touch of fertilizer. It would be fun to start some new landscaping projects, but to be honest, why mess with the natural setting. Keep it simple and don't create more work. I have plenty of gardening in Seattle. 

Having been here now in the dead of winter, it's fun seeing nature emerge just fine and dandy from under the piles of snow. The vast burn areas on the hills around Wenatchee were the most beautiful delicate, velvet green when I drove by Wednesday. The miles of orchards just starting to bloom.

Despite my worries (or maybe because of them!) the house and yard came through the winter without any problems. The deer rubbed some bark off the young Locust trees, but didn't manage to kill them. They are tough as nails with thorns like nails. When the trees get bigger, maybe the deer will think twice.

Our next step is getting the irrigation running, probably in early May. Some spring house-cleaning then we're good to go for another 6 months. Hopefully all the deer poop down by the river goes away, it sticks in soles of your shoes like glue. They used our place as their bedroom all winter, but haven't seen much of them this trip.

The April weather is still unpredictable. One minute you need a down jacket and the next it's tied around your sweating waist. I took a hike at Pearrygin Lake with my new friend Karen yesterday. We had Maya and Karen's granddaughter with us. The girls are the same age and best friends, like two cute peas in a pod. How fun. The big excitement was a garter snake trying to sun himself along the trail. I'm sure you could hear the screaming all the way to Winthrop.