Xardíns históricos de Castrelos

Xardíns históricos de Castrelos March 2012

 Pazo Quiñones de León, Xardíns históricos de Castrelos March 2012

Pazo Quiñones de León, Xardíns históricos de Castrelos March 2012

The French garden, Xardíns históricos de Castrelos March 2012

Xardíns históricos de Castrelos March 2012

Click here for more photos of the Xardíns históricos de Castrelos.

The Xardíns históricos de Castrelos are a series of gardens, or a large garden with many parts, in Vigo, Galiza.  It is a pleasant, if not spectacular, garden.  The Pazo (Palace) Quiñones de León is a beautiful structure & backdrop for the garden.  It houses the Museo Municipal de Vigo "Quiñones de León," certainly worth a visit in itself.  According to the museum website: O Pazo Quiñones de León é en si mesmo un documento histórico e unha obra de arte como edificio. (The Palace Quiñones de León is itself a historical document and a work of art as a building.)  Completed in 1633, it is an example of an urban Spanish renaissance palace set in the Galician countryside.  Upgrades & renovations, including the gardens, were made by the Marquis de Alcedo in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  The gardens were designed by the prestigious Portuguese landscape designer Jacintho Mattos, based in Porto. There are 6 distinct parts: the entrance garden, the rose garden, the French garden, the English garden (also called the tea meadow), the terrace at the bottom of the meadow, & the bosque beyond, which features an allee of immense Eucalyptus globulus.

Bradner Gardens P-Patch plot B29B

Bradner Gardens P-Patch plot B29B when it was given to me on November 10, 2012

Bradner Gardens P-Patch plot B29B 5 days later

Downtown Seattle from the Bradner Gardens P-Patch November 2012

Tool shed, restroom, meeting room & kitchen at Bradner Gardens P-Patch November 2012

Inside the tool shed at Bradner Gardens P-Patch November 2012

Click here for more pictures of Bradner Gardens Park.
Click here for the Bradner Blog.

I was very happy to get half of a plot there after waiting for only 3 months.  It is located on Mt Baker Ridge, 1.6 miles from my current home in the Mt Baker neighborhood & 1.8 miles from my future home at Rainier Vista in the Rainier Valley.  When the Rainier Vista house is built, it will have a small shade garden.  My current garden is mostly in sun.  I moved a number of perennials for sun to plot B29B.  I will plant vegetable seeds in the spring.

The Bradner Gardens Park P-Patch is perhaps the nicest p-patch in Seattle.  There is an excellent view of Downtown Seattle.  The tool shed is spacious & filled with tools.  In the same structure, there is also a restroom with tile-mosaic walls, a kitchen & a meeting room with a fireplace.  The 1.6 acre park contains a pavilion, a native plant garden with a bioswale & seasonal pond, ornamental theme gardens & a basketball court.  From September of 1970 to June of 1971, I was in the 6th grade at John Muir Elementary School Annex on the property that became Bradner Gardens Park.  The baby boom caused John Muir to become so crowded that the 5th & 6th grades were temporarily relocated there in portable classrooms.  

Below is the plant list for plot B29B.  I have a plan for a formal, nearly symmetrical perennial & vegetable garden.  The plot is said to be 100 square feet, but is really about 60 square feet, not that I'm complaining. 

Plant List

Ajuga reptans ‘Black Scallop’ (Carpet Bugle): 4
Allium cristophii (Star of Persia): 10 bulbs
Allium karataviense: 10 bulbs
Allium unifolium: 50 bulbs
Beta vulgaris ‘Perpetual’ (Swiss Chard): seed
Brassica napus ‘Purple Top’ (Turnip): seed
Brassica oleracea ‘Gai Lan’ (Chinese Broccoli): seed
Brassica oleracea ‘Tundra’ (Cabbage): 4 from seed
Brassica oleracea ‘Yu Choi’ (Chinese Greens): seed
Brassica oleracea ‘Vates’ (Collards): 4 from seed
Campanula medium (Canterbury Bells): 4
Campanula portenschlagiana (Dalmation Bellflower): 4
Clematis integrifolia: 4
Cucurbita pepo ‘Sunburst': 2 from seed
Daucus carota ‘Caracas’ & ‘Merida’ (Carrot): seed
Fragaria vesca (Woodland Strawberry): 12
Geranium sanguineum (Bloody Cranesbill): 4
Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’ (Japanese Forest Grass): 4
Hemerocallis ‘Bela Lugosi’ (Daylily): 1
Hemerocallis 'Root Beer' (Daylily): 1
Hyacinthus ‘Peter Stuyvesant’ (Hyacinth): 8
Iris hartwegii: 4
Lamium maculatum ‘Beacon Silver’: 4
Lilium auratum (Gold Band Lily): 5
Luzula sylvatica ‘Aurea’: 2
Nectaroscordum siculum: 10
Paeonia veitchii: 1
Penstemon x mexicali: 8
Phaseolus vulgaris ‘Serengeti’ (Bush Bean): seed
Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus ‘Minowase’ (Daikon): seed
Scilla peruviana: 5
Spinacia oleracea ‘Bloomsdale’ (Spinach): seed

October Garden Pictures

Aster novae-angliae 'Hella Lacy' October 2012

 

Crocus kotschyanus October 2012

Quercus gambelii October 2012

Rosa 'Queen Elizabeth' October 2012

Zauschneria latifolia October 2012

October 2012 in Seattle was warmer & much wetter than normal.  The mean temperature was 53.8F/12.1C.  The normal mean temperature is 52.8F/11.6C.  Total precipitation was 6.71 inches.  Normal precipitation is 3.48 inches.  The highest temperature was 75F/23.9C, the lowest 38F/3.3C.  There were 3 days with heavy rain, 14 days with rain, 16 days with light rain, 18 days with fog, 19 cloudy days, 5 partly cloudy days & 7 fair days.  The weather changed abruptly with 0.19 inches of rain on October 13 & more than 1 inch of rain over a 3 day period.  There had been no significant rainfall since July 20, a freakish period of 84 dry & mostly sunny days.  Suddenly, very wet fall weather began & continued throughout the month.

This will be the last regular posting of pictures from the Cascadia Garden.  In November, I will start posting urban landscape photos from various places in Seattle.  After 4 years, photos from my garden have become repetitive. Also, I plan to leave this property within the next 6 months.

Green Wall Trellis

Green Wall Trellis October 2012

Humulus lupulus (Hops) October 2012

Green Wall Trellis October 2012

Environmental Works October 2012

This green wall trellis is a project I noticed while out walking on Capitol Hill in Seattle.  You may find it an interesting idea for your home or office.  These are the offices of Environmental Works, housed in an old fire station on 15th Avenue E.  You can read about this project from the sign pictured above.  So far, there appear to be very few green walls in Seattle.