Barbara B. Harrell
@bbharrell.bsky.social
Organic gardener, nature lover, habitat restorer, night protector, cook, piano player, family historian, retired Ob-Gyn MD, proud mom and grandma, and a lot of other stuff
Lettuce in our garden is still outgrowing bugs and slugs despite the ideal slug weather, but must be floated in water before eating. (Slug poop.) Surprised to find a few coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea) still blooming inside the fence. Dry heads already being devoured by birds, earlier than usual. 🌱
November 20, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Lettuce in our garden is still outgrowing bugs and slugs despite the ideal slug weather, but must be floated in water before eating. (Slug poop.) Surprised to find a few coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea) still blooming inside the fence. Dry heads already being devoured by birds, earlier than usual. 🌱
8 years on, and I'm still relieved by the #nature we see from our bedroom here in the middle of #Bellingham, compared to the view from our last home in the middle of #Seattle. Did what I could to green things up there, but built is built, I guess. Crows were the only birds we could attract. #habitat
November 15, 2025 at 4:32 PM
8 years on, and I'm still relieved by the #nature we see from our bedroom here in the middle of #Bellingham, compared to the view from our last home in the middle of #Seattle. Did what I could to green things up there, but built is built, I guess. Crows were the only birds we could attract. #habitat
Our loaded flowering crabapple (malus 'Adirondack') today. Planted as a small sapling in 2019, and selected because #birds like its fruit. (Not all crabapples are palatable to birds. These need to be sweetened by a hard freeze.) Robins cleaned them off in Jan '24, but nobody ate them in '25. 🌱
November 14, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Our loaded flowering crabapple (malus 'Adirondack') today. Planted as a small sapling in 2019, and selected because #birds like its fruit. (Not all crabapples are palatable to birds. These need to be sweetened by a hard freeze.) Robins cleaned them off in Jan '24, but nobody ate them in '25. 🌱
Dreary if badly needed November rain has set in here in the #PacificNorthwest. It has its charms, but does kinda squelch hiking and gardening (for me, anyhow). Here's a reminder that summer is just around the corner😊 🌱 #wildlife #habitat #gardening
November 14, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Dreary if badly needed November rain has set in here in the #PacificNorthwest. It has its charms, but does kinda squelch hiking and gardening (for me, anyhow). Here's a reminder that summer is just around the corner😊 🌱 #wildlife #habitat #gardening
October 30, 2025 at 1:12 AM
Time for Seiryu maple (Acer palmatum dissectum 'Seiryu') to shine. Just getting going, now that the neighboring dogwood has lost most of its leaves. We're in a lull between storms, and flocks of bushtits have been visiting Seiryu daily, feeding on something. Not sure what. 🌱 #Japanesemaples #PNW
October 27, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Time for Seiryu maple (Acer palmatum dissectum 'Seiryu') to shine. Just getting going, now that the neighboring dogwood has lost most of its leaves. We're in a lull between storms, and flocks of bushtits have been visiting Seiryu daily, feeding on something. Not sure what. 🌱 #Japanesemaples #PNW
I was wrong. That wasn't peak color yet. Maybe this is 🌱
October 22, 2025 at 2:41 PM
I was wrong. That wasn't peak color yet. Maybe this is 🌱
Garry oak (Quercus garryana) aka Oregon white oak, prime #native #habitat, used to be common in #westernWA, but the usual culprits nearly eliminated it. Some remain in San Juan Islands, eg Turtleback Mountain Preserve on Orcas, where oak seedlings are protected from deer to assist #restoration.
October 18, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Garry oak (Quercus garryana) aka Oregon white oak, prime #native #habitat, used to be common in #westernWA, but the usual culprits nearly eliminated it. Some remain in San Juan Islands, eg Turtleback Mountain Preserve on Orcas, where oak seedlings are protected from deer to assist #restoration.
Another small series from our main back slope #restoration, from 9-17-23, 11-9-24, 2-15-25, and yesterday 10-17-25. The big hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) straddles the line between our property and a City of Bellingham greenspace that includes a branch of Whatcom Creek below. 🌱 #nativeplants
October 18, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Another small series from our main back slope #restoration, from 9-17-23, 11-9-24, 2-15-25, and yesterday 10-17-25. The big hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) straddles the line between our property and a City of Bellingham greenspace that includes a branch of Whatcom Creek below. 🌱 #nativeplants
Back from two days on gorgeous Orcas Island with its spectacular views from Mt Constitution summit, our inn on Eastsound, various trails on protected Turtleback mountain, but there's no place like home. That's Satomi dogwood (Cornus kousa 'Satomi') at peak color on our #PacificRim side. 🌱
October 17, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Back from two days on gorgeous Orcas Island with its spectacular views from Mt Constitution summit, our inn on Eastsound, various trails on protected Turtleback mountain, but there's no place like home. That's Satomi dogwood (Cornus kousa 'Satomi') at peak color on our #PacificRim side. 🌱
Decided I needed something for fall pollinators, so I added 8 Hall's asters (Symphotricum hallii) and 6 Douglas asters (Symphotricum subspicatum). Instant buzz of little native bees. I really do think our #nativeplantrestoration of the back #lawn is finished now, except for growing! 🌱
October 2, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Decided I needed something for fall pollinators, so I added 8 Hall's asters (Symphotricum hallii) and 6 Douglas asters (Symphotricum subspicatum). Instant buzz of little native bees. I really do think our #nativeplantrestoration of the back #lawn is finished now, except for growing! 🌱
Welp, here it is today, after I harvested a few stalks. Very strong celery smell. Plan to try it in a Chinese stir-fry dish. 🌱
September 10, 2025 at 10:55 PM
Welp, here it is today, after I harvested a few stalks. Very strong celery smell. Plan to try it in a Chinese stir-fry dish. 🌱
Every once in a while, I'll glance out the window and see a nice set of antlers in our back yard. Today's blacktail bucks bent, browsed, and broke the heck out of our osoberry (Oemleria cerasiformis), but actually I believe they improved it, lol!
🌱 #nativeplants #PNW #Bellingham #wildlife
🌱 #nativeplants #PNW #Bellingham #wildlife
September 7, 2025 at 10:28 PM
Every once in a while, I'll glance out the window and see a nice set of antlers in our back yard. Today's blacktail bucks bent, browsed, and broke the heck out of our osoberry (Oemleria cerasiformis), but actually I believe they improved it, lol!
🌱 #nativeplants #PNW #Bellingham #wildlife
🌱 #nativeplants #PNW #Bellingham #wildlife
Late summer 2025 from near the back edge:
1) blue elderberry (volunteer)
2) evergreen huckleberry, Douglas aster, meadow rue (volunteer), sword fern, western red cedar
3) closer view of Douglas aster intermixed with sword fern
#habitatrestoration #nativeplants #PNW #Bellingham 🌱
1) blue elderberry (volunteer)
2) evergreen huckleberry, Douglas aster, meadow rue (volunteer), sword fern, western red cedar
3) closer view of Douglas aster intermixed with sword fern
#habitatrestoration #nativeplants #PNW #Bellingham 🌱
August 31, 2025 at 12:50 AM
Late summer 2025 from near the back edge:
1) blue elderberry (volunteer)
2) evergreen huckleberry, Douglas aster, meadow rue (volunteer), sword fern, western red cedar
3) closer view of Douglas aster intermixed with sword fern
#habitatrestoration #nativeplants #PNW #Bellingham 🌱
1) blue elderberry (volunteer)
2) evergreen huckleberry, Douglas aster, meadow rue (volunteer), sword fern, western red cedar
3) closer view of Douglas aster intermixed with sword fern
#habitatrestoration #nativeplants #PNW #Bellingham 🌱
We planted 3, and here you can see how small they were in May 2018 (orange flowers beside fence at top of bank):
August 26, 2025 at 2:35 PM
We planted 3, and here you can see how small they were in May 2018 (orange flowers beside fence at top of bank):
Anybody recognize this flowering quince (Chaenomeles) cultivar? Sold here in #BellinghamWA as 'Cameo' in Oct 2017, when we were rushing to stabilize a neglected slope. Definitely not double peach-colored Cameo. (We loved our Cameo in Seattle.) Now ~ 7' tall by > 10' wide, after repeated pruning. 🌱
August 26, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Anybody recognize this flowering quince (Chaenomeles) cultivar? Sold here in #BellinghamWA as 'Cameo' in Oct 2017, when we were rushing to stabilize a neglected slope. Definitely not double peach-colored Cameo. (We loved our Cameo in Seattle.) Now ~ 7' tall by > 10' wide, after repeated pruning. 🌱
Slug not seen at 7 AM, chowing down on squash blossom at 8 AM. Yuck! Invasive European garden slug, scourge of #PNW gardens. We have both red (Arion rufus) and black (Arion ater). Yesterday one ate to the ground all five of my covered 3" endive seedlings. (Photo below is from 2022, but same idea.) 🌱
August 25, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Slug not seen at 7 AM, chowing down on squash blossom at 8 AM. Yuck! Invasive European garden slug, scourge of #PNW gardens. We have both red (Arion rufus) and black (Arion ater). Yesterday one ate to the ground all five of my covered 3" endive seedlings. (Photo below is from 2022, but same idea.) 🌱
Nothing says August like pollinators dancing inside squash blossoms. Hoping to avoid blossom-end rot this year, after amending the soil to make it less acidic. We'll see. Meanwhile, thank you to all the bees! 🌱
August 14, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Nothing says August like pollinators dancing inside squash blossoms. Hoping to avoid blossom-end rot this year, after amending the soil to make it less acidic. We'll see. Meanwhile, thank you to all the bees! 🌱
Stunning. Even in 1972 when @steveharrell.bsky.social
and I brought our baby with us to live in rural Taiwan, it was obvious that the US was far less supportive of #children, culturally and structurally. But now, from Youyou Zhou's piece at Washington Post, on why #birthrate is so low here:
and I brought our baby with us to live in rural Taiwan, it was obvious that the US was far less supportive of #children, culturally and structurally. But now, from Youyou Zhou's piece at Washington Post, on why #birthrate is so low here:
August 14, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Stunning. Even in 1972 when @steveharrell.bsky.social
and I brought our baby with us to live in rural Taiwan, it was obvious that the US was far less supportive of #children, culturally and structurally. But now, from Youyou Zhou's piece at Washington Post, on why #birthrate is so low here:
and I brought our baby with us to live in rural Taiwan, it was obvious that the US was far less supportive of #children, culturally and structurally. But now, from Youyou Zhou's piece at Washington Post, on why #birthrate is so low here:
@steveharrell.bsky.social and I inherited this mature climbing hydrangea (Hydrangea anomala subs petiolaris) when we moved her 8 yrs ago. We righted its tilting trellis with ground-fastened guy wires (usually hidden by ornamental grass). One of my favorites on our non-native side, year round ❤️ 🌱
August 5, 2025 at 8:12 PM
@steveharrell.bsky.social and I inherited this mature climbing hydrangea (Hydrangea anomala subs petiolaris) when we moved her 8 yrs ago. We righted its tilting trellis with ground-fastened guy wires (usually hidden by ornamental grass). One of my favorites on our non-native side, year round ❤️ 🌱
Bunny thinks she's hiding. Yesterday morning when I walked out of the garage, she was waiting in front of the garden gate. She moved away when I approached, but not until after one of those slinky-style stretches that prove rabbits can fit through a 2-inch hole. 🌱 #rabbits #wildlife #nature
August 3, 2025 at 10:38 PM
Pulled this out of our herb bed this morning, thinking it might be some variant of clover. Probably cached by a Steller's jay. (We don't see many squirrels inside the fence, and we do see jays with peanuts.) Didn't know peanuts would grow here, lol. 🌱 #Bellingham #PNW
July 31, 2025 at 9:02 PM
Pulled this out of our herb bed this morning, thinking it might be some variant of clover. Probably cached by a Steller's jay. (We don't see many squirrels inside the fence, and we do see jays with peanuts.) Didn't know peanuts would grow here, lol. 🌱 #Bellingham #PNW
Here's how it looked July 10, 2024:
July 30, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Here's how it looked July 10, 2024:
Finished replacing our back lawn with natives! Last step was the addition of 8 soapberry/russet buffaloberry (Shepherdia canadensis) plants, positioned to shade overexposed salal (Gaultheria shalon) in PM. (Deer have ignored soapberry on our back slope.) Pics today.
🌱 #lawnreplacement #nativeplants
🌱 #lawnreplacement #nativeplants
July 30, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Finished replacing our back lawn with natives! Last step was the addition of 8 soapberry/russet buffaloberry (Shepherdia canadensis) plants, positioned to shade overexposed salal (Gaultheria shalon) in PM. (Deer have ignored soapberry on our back slope.) Pics today.
🌱 #lawnreplacement #nativeplants
🌱 #lawnreplacement #nativeplants
Anna's hummingbirds and 'Lucifer' crocosmia, inside the garden fence because deer. This goes on all day, when they aren't doing competitive aerial displays or dive-bombing flocks of bushtits (or the occasional barred owl!). Usually they retreat when I appear, but not today for some reason. #birds 🌱
July 26, 2025 at 10:44 PM
Anna's hummingbirds and 'Lucifer' crocosmia, inside the garden fence because deer. This goes on all day, when they aren't doing competitive aerial displays or dive-bombing flocks of bushtits (or the occasional barred owl!). Usually they retreat when I appear, but not today for some reason. #birds 🌱