Gardening in Portland

I've been spending sometime outside gardening these last few glorious days. It's different gardening here in the Pacific Northwest. I'm still getting used to the idea that in zone 8 I can grow practically anything. In fact, the challenge is more in getting things NOT to grow. For example, here is a plant that in Indiana I would have been happy to see in my garden.

Here someone told me it is called wood hyacinth. It grows easily and spreads both through bulbs and through seeding. It has taken over parts of the old flowerbeds around the back yard. I am trying to thin it back right now while it is still blooming and before it seeds. The fun part is that the bulbs look almost exactly like good daffodil bulbs so I need to dig them out while I can see the blooms.

Yesterday I planted the rest of our little vegetable garden. First I had to, yet again, remove grass roots. Last year we dug out this part of the old rose garden and then covered it with newspaper and about 4 inches of three-way mix mulch. But the persistent grass has managed to sneak it way in from the sides and up through the newspaper anyway. At least we know the earth is fertile! I planted what I think of as a salad and salsa garden--lettuces, spinach, carrots, radishes, tomatoes, onions, peppers. Today it there is a nice soaking rain. I will be checking the rows anxiously everyday to see what comes up.

Welcome spring!