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The Botanical Building at Balboa Park and a book review: The Conservatory,...
Our next stop at Balboa Park was The Botanical Building, aka the Lath House. This structure was originally built for the 1915-16 Exposition and is one of the largest lath houses in the world. The...
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Sunny but chilly, a morning walk around the 'hood
Our days of perpetual sunshine (plus a record-breaking number of dry January days) had come to an end, replaced by low grey skies and threats of snow. So when last Tuesday was unexpectedly sunny I went...
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Walter Anderson Nursery, serving San Diego since 1928
Before we left for San Diego last month, I had a chance to ask local like-minded gardener friend John Kuzma about nurseries he likes in the area, he mentioned Walter Anderson (John has been known to...
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A pair of drive-by gardens in San Diego; Agave / LOVE
I was at the wheel when I spied something out of the corner of my eye (on a side street), that I didn't think could possibly be real. A quick glance in the rearview mirror to make sure nobody was...
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Not so fast there Portlanders! Winter is coming for you
We came so close to escaping winter this year. Sure, our weather had been cool the last few weeks, overnight lows in my garden in the mid to upper 20’s, the days “warming” to the mid 40’s. Nothing like...
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A private greenhouse full of exceptional plants (a tour)
I've long been enamored with all the cool plants on the Instagram account pills23. Since I knew they were based here in Portland I fired off a casual "can I come visit sometime?" message and (lucky...
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Greenhouse fun continues; Raintree Tropical and a bonus drive-by garden
Knowing I'd need a winter "pick me up" (yes, even after a visit to San Diego), I planned an outing to Raintree Tropical with friends Tim and Evan. This nursery is south of Portland, in Silverton, and...
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Walking through the collapse at Jungle Music
During our trip to San Diego last month a friend recommended Jungle Music as a possible nursery visit. A quick look online wasn't confidence building (what a horrid website) and I learned they were in...
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Five days of horticultural adventures...
Last week I traveled up to the Puget Sound area for tons of plant related fun—starting with a visit to the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden (oh you know there will be future post!). While there I...
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The Gardens at the 2025 NWFG Festival
There are two types of gardens at the Northwest Flower & Garden Festival, the small "city living" gardens and the big expensive display gardens. The city living gardens have historically been my...
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Winter Jewels Hellebore party at Little Prince...
Over the weekend Little Prince of Oregon held their first annual Winter Jewels Hellebore sale, I ventured down to check out the action. LPO is a wholesale nursery and rarely open to the public, so I...
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The Carhart Garden, during the '24 Garden Fling
For some this was the first garden of the 2024 Garden Fling, but for me (and those on the same bus) it was the second garden we visited. There was confusion as we entered, compounded by the fact the...
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Froggsong, a Fling Garden
Froggsong Gardens was another "first day" garden during the 2024 Fling, and it was also our lunch spot where both buses stopped at the same time and we were all able to mingle.The listing on Froggsong...
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The Berk/Kessler Garden, a Puget Sound Fling stop
My visit to the Berk/Kessler Garden in Seattle was on the "bonus" Monday of the Garden Fling weekend last July. I'd been wanting to tour this garden since I first saw it from across the street, while...
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A pyrrosia scavenger hunt, at the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden
This year, during my annual February stop at the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden, I tried to stick to a few themes when snapping photos. Typically I just point the camera at anything that catches...
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Some plants I grow and some plants I lust after, at the RSBG
I've been shopping at the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden on-site nursery long enough to have accumulated a nice little collection of their plants. In addition, there are several plants I've...
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A visit to Seattle's Volunteer Park Conservatory
It was a rainy February afternoon in Seattle, and I was done with the NWFG Fest (but not done with plants—duh) so I decided to visit an old haunt, the Volunteer Park Conservatory on Capitol Hill. I...
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There are 130 acres, so what haven't I seen?
That's the question I asked myself when I booked our tickets to visit the Huntington Gardens mid-November 2024. It goes without saying the Desert Garden is always my primary destination, but even I can...
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Spring!
Looks like we made it, to spring that is, and I for one could not be happier. It's so nice to be sliding into the growing season, look around the garden, and see life, not the scorched earth hellscape...
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Women in Horticulture, Chemeketa Community College
I recently attended an event called Women in Horticulture (celebrating women with Community College and Technical Institute roots) held at Chemeketa Community College in Salem, Oregon. I went not...
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Windcliff, visiting during the Garden Fling
What better to do on a rainy spring day than edit down the 100+ photos I took at Dan Hinkley's home, Windcliff, last summer? It's pretty ideal to have a stash of photos to dip into whenever the mood...
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We Fling at Heronswood
It was great fun to visit Hersonswood Garden last July with my fellow Flingers (the same day we also visited Windcliff, Dan Hinkley's current garden). I think there were roughly 90 of us, but the...
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Yes actually, I will be making this a lifetime project
When he thought you were taking a little too long to complete a task, a prior boss of Andrew's would ask, "are you going to make that a lifetime project?" I thought of that snide remark as I started...
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Bay Area Garden Extravaganza Part 1 (people & plants)
I stole the title of this post from Gerhard, nothing else I came up with quite expressed the way I felt, it was an extravaganza of the highest order. Let me backtrack just a bit. Andrew and I had...
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Jim Bishop's glorious San Diego garden
The one private garden I managed to visit during our January trip to San Diego was that of Jim Bishop and his partner Scott Borden. I was briefly on the Pacific Horticulture board of directors with...
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