My Mid Beacon Hill Rock Wall

I know this is supposed to be more of a neighborhood blog than a garden blog, but now that May is here, I can't promise you won't be seeing pictures of plants. Anyway, this post is semi-topical, since it contains pictures of plants that grow exceedingly well on the western edge of Beacon Hill.

Like Ceanothus (top left, varietal Julia Phelps) and Sedum (the yellow one is Angelina).



This rock wall was overgrown with weeds last year, so we planted a bunch of stuff to try to keep the weeds at bay. It's remarkable how well it's working. (Not that I didn't spend the entire day yesterday liberating these plants from the weeds, but still, at least they've been growing and taking up some of the space.) That stuff with the yellow flowers is donkeytail Euphorbia. The orange and pink flowery stuff at top is heather. The green leaves closest to the camera is Ceanothus "Point Reyes." The rest are various Sedum.



This Ceanothus "Point Reyes," like all Ceanothus, is evergreen.



I put some orange Carex grasses (or are those chocolate sedge? it's hard to tell...) in as well. I think I like them here.



A Mexican feather grass and a bunch of Sedum "Autumn Joy," which will turn purple and produce beautiful flowers in the fall.



That yellow stuff is Sedum "Angelina," which grows so well in our yard, I feel like I could just sprinkle it on the ground and it would start taking over.



The Crypromeria cristata are definitely not dying, as we feared this winter.





They're a total freak show. I love them.





Euphorbia, Sedum, heather.



The donkeytail Euphorbia and Ceanothus "Point Reyes" are cohabiting nicely so far.



Let's revisit the Ceanothus "Julia Phelps," since I think it might just be the loveliest plant in all of May.



This is when the blue blossoms explode like fireworks.





To get a better feel for how vivid that blue is, check it out next to the yellow Sedum.



OK, a quick peek at the front yard too. More Sedum.



And Allium in a container with a ginkgo tree.



Pretty!

Upcoming South End Events

Sorry about the lack of activity here this week -- we've been moving things (including my computer) around in the house. Things should be all settled this weekend, though.

Anyway, here are a few upcoming Beacon Hill and Georgetown events. I'll get these all added to the top of the right column soon.

Saturday, May 3, 4:00 - 9:00 p.m. -- El Centro de la Raza's Cinco de Mayo celebration at the Jefferson Community Center.

Saturday, May 10, 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. -- Georgetown Art Attack (the monthly art walk). I think they have their own website, but I can't find it right now.

Wednesday, May 14, 6:30 p.m. -- Sustainable South Seattle meeting at Beacon Hill Library.

Monday, May 19, 7:00 p.m. -- A presentation about the history of Georgetown by the Friends of Georgetown History (I think) at the Georgetown Community Council meeting at Coliman Restaurant.

CORRECTED DATE AND TIME: Saturday, May 24, 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. -- A historic walking tour of Georgetown sponsored by the Friends of Georgetown History and WJE Architects. Meet at Georgetown City Hall.

Saturday, June 7, 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. -- Georgetown Art Attack.

Friday and Saturday, June 13 and 14 -- Georgetown Music Fest. Here's one of the handful of photos I took at last year's event:



Saturday, June 28 -- Artopia in Georgetown. Here's one of the many photos I took at last year's event.



Sunday, July 13, 10 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. -- Georgetown Art & Garden Walk. Here is one of the many photos I took at last year's event:



Is that it?

Full Throttle Bottles Grand Opening Party

I accidentally crashed the Full Throttle Bottles grand opening party last night.

A couple of neighbors joined us for dinner at Jules Maes, then we all walked over to Full Throttle Bottles afterward to pick out a bottle of wine or some weird beer or yummy cider or whatever.





And Erika told us they were about to have their grand opening party and that we should stick around. So we did.

There were hors d'oeuvres and music in the back room.



The Field Roast people were cooking up some sweet (at left) and spicy (at right) hot links.





I talked to LaDele from Friends of Georgetown History about her latest postcard find and one of the Field Roast partners about her naturopath business in that Georgetown space where the CPA psychic used to be.

We admired John Bennett's jukebox collection.



I especially enjoyed the German chocolate-y cake and the Black Cherry Cream Soda. Thanks, Erika (and kilt dude whose name I can't remember because I am lame), and good luck to you guys with your beautiful little store.

I Think I Am Going to Cry Now

An excerpt of some personal writing from Debbie Bonilla, the Beacon Hill woman who was murdered by her husband on Friday night. She wrote these words just two months ago:

I have been sober for 4 ½ months. It is nothing short of a miracle. It has been difficult, incredibly difficult, but then again so has the rest of it. I have such a long way to go, and I have no doubt that I am my own worst enemy. But I have glimpsed another way, and I long to see more. I have felt genuine happiness, and I want to feel more. I have come this far, and I want more.

If you'd like to remember Debbie, her family is accepting donations for an education find for her five children -- you can find the information through the link above.

I posted the link to the P-I article earlier; here's the Times story.

Georgetown Pharmacy Building to Be Sold?

There's been some talk that some of the renters in the Miller Building -- the motorcycle guy, the Georgetown Pharmacy, Urban Press, and Griffin -- may have some tougher times ahead of them. Apparently one of the other renters is in the process of purchasing the building, and they're not saying a lot about wanting to try to keep the current tenants in place.

I haven't looked into any of this myself, but I don't doubt the source. And it seems so very likely. While I love the old Georgetown Pharmacy (and once planned to buy something there but it wasn't open yet), every time I pass by it, I'm amazed that it's still with us.

The motorcycle place:



Georgetown Pharmacy:

Beacon Hill Man Charged with 2nd-Degree Murder

From the P-I website:

A Seattle man has been charged with second-degree murder, accused of repeatedly stabbing his wife with a 13-inch barbecue fork in front of their two young children Friday.

In filing the charges against Juan Carlos Bonilla, 33, King County Prosecutor Daniel Satterberg added an aggravating factor -- that the slaying was committed as an act of domestic violence.

Debra Lynn Bonilla, 38, suffered at least a dozen stab wounds, including one to her heart, in the attack at her Beacon Hill home. Despite the efforts of the staff at Harborview Medical Center, she died several hours after the attack. She had five children, three from a previous marriage.

...

Bonilla has a violent history of assaulting his wife, according to court documents.

In 2001, when the couple lived in Alaska, Bonilla allegedly beat his then-pregnant wife so badly, he broke her nose. He also allegedly threatened to stab her to death.

In 2003 in Minnesota, Bonilla was arrested for assaulting his wife, but it was unclear if he was convicted. Just last year, Seattle police arrested him again for assaulting her.

Debra Bonilla sought a protection order that day, writing in her petition that her husband threatened to kill her if she cheated on him and constantly believed she was unfaithful. ... [But she told a friend] that "the protection order was basically unenforceable because Juan Carlos would always come back and force his way into the house."

Chuck's Garden

When I told Chuck B., the San Francisco garden/neighborhood blogger who inspired me to start this blog, that we were coming to the Bay Area for a few days and wanted to meet up with him, he insisted that we stay with him and his boyfriend at their exquisitely remodeled house in Bernal Heights. When I tried to resist, he told me that San Francisco hotels are infested with bedbugs and that I really did need to stay with them. So we did. They were excellent hosts, and my only regret about our stay is that everything about my own house and garden seems so totally wrong now. Anyway...

I spent yesterday morning tooling around Chuck's "My Back 40 (Feet)" garden, thinking I would be the envy of the entire American garden blogging community when I posted these photos proving I had been there. (And I am so unworthy of the honor that I can't even identify most of these plants, even though he told me their names a dozen times each.)











































After the garden tour, Chuck, who must have been quite sick of us by then, agreed to cart us around the city and take us to the airport.

First we went to the Golden Gate Park Botanical Gardens, where he knew the staff by name.







I'm tempted to try to grow Gunnera, but I don't think we have a good place for it -- our yard is too hot and sunny and windy.





The Julia Phelps Ceanothus is a few weeks ahead of ours in Seattle.



Then Chuck took us to Valencia/Mission, where he took a ton of photos and I just shot some street art.











Thanks for everything, Chuck and Guy!