"...And an Orchard, for a Dome."

Last on our list of things to do is put in a lawn. The house has been our focus for so long that the yard has to fend for itself. The Glacier Stream used to flow right through our land, so we essentially live in a giant gravel pit. Great well water, but no dirt to speak of. A couple of times throughout the summer we break out the weedwacker and cut everything back. This summer, while trying to figure out where the ground starts and the beggar's lice ends, I found a treasure. Several, actually. My first discovery was the huge patch of Daisy's coming up alongside our container garden. I'd been trying to grow them out here for years, but they could never establish themselves long enough to survive the winter. My kids found some old seed packets in my garden bucket and went to town. Go figure...

Next were the blueberry bushes we found along our property line and throughout the south side of the yard. Not sure when they moved in, but we were thrilled to have the company. I love our juicy Alaskan blueberries! While not enough to make a batch of muffins, we have enough to keep the kids on a blueberry treasure hunt.

As I finished up with the "yard," I moved toward the stairs that come down from our sun deck. They had  suddenly become overrun with huge, tropical looking fireweed. As I cut them back, a stunning columbine appeared. Then three more blooms emerged from the side of the staircase. I turned off my weedwacker and gently pulled the rest of the weeds away by hand. I'm not quite sure how this beautiful flower came to grow in the gravel by my stairs, but it was nothing like the wild columbine that line the dike along the river. Those plants are a brighter red and yellow, and the blooms are about half the size.

Mom and Rich had this exact flower in their yard. I took pictures of all the flowers in their garden before we sold the house. I'm not sure how this plant took root at the bottom of my stairs. Rudy thinks it looks like an alien and has taken to using the front door. I like to think that it's there for a reason. If only for the smile that it brings each time I walk by.