Photos from walking in the neighborhood...

I had this post all lined up for earlier in the week, before the storm pushed it to the sidelines. Diving back into it now I had to laugh at the white rock sprinkled around this small desert-style planting I found in the neighborhood. My first thought upon seeing it again was "snow!" But of course it's not.This planting is tucked into the corner formed by a driveway and sidewalk, a great spot to soak up a little bonus heat.
I've not seen an Agave americana var. striata planted out in the ground here before, it will be interesting to see how it does.
Not sure on the ID of this other agave, it looks to have sustained a little damage early on, but is recovering nicely.

Same house, up in front of the garage.
And on the other side of the front garden. The shrub up near the corner of the house is a Schefflera delavayi, but I don't know what the one between me and the schefflera is. I am curious.
One last shot from the garden, a Sophora prostrata.
Okay I lied, that was the last plant shot, but they also had this pile of busted up cement in their hellstrip. I wonder if they have plans for it? Maybe a nice little crevice garden made from urbanite?
Love the agave on the front porch of this house.
But I was very tempted to march up there and pick up the poor toppled over opuntia.
The hard to read sign says "Hug Someone With Your Eyes", a nod to our current masked faces I assume?
I've walked by (and shared) this spiky little patch in the past, just thought I'd check in with an update.
Dasylirion wheeleri at the top, and Agave ovatifolia.
Another A. ovatifolia I believe, and I am just not able to ID the great looking agave at the bottom of the photo.
Now we've jumped to another walk on another day and a brief look at the McMenamins Kennedy School spikes. Photos in this post were taken before the recent winter weather, but these plants have all seen it before and should be fine.
Agave 'Sharkskin'
This next garden was a fun find on a street near me, first a gorgeous Yucca desmetiana 'Blue Boy'...
And a tall shaggy Echium wildpretii with an agave tucked in just behind it (Agave parryi). I need to do another walk-by and see how these held up to the cold, snow, and ice.
Oh, and there's also a nice Agave utahensis, which doesn't usually like our wet winters—it looks good though!
Agave ovatifolia in another garden. Do you get the idea there are a lot of these in Portland? Yep! You would be correct.
Which came first, the hamamelis (witch hazel) or the shutters painted to match?
Such a good color, and it looks even better with lichen.
Nice colorful combo of hebe and Yucca 'Color Guard'.
It's an Arctostaphylos double shot! And another reminder for me to get out there and prune on my Arctostaphylos densiflora ‘Harmony’.
Moss makes a beautiful ground cover...
Rock cover too!
This guy! I think he's been up there for awhile, judging from his festive hat.
Yep, another Agave ovatifolia! Andrew spotted this one and snapped these photos.
I love the combination with the colorful grass-like plant, which I think is libertia.
These final three photos aren't from a walk, but taken as I varied my route home one day to avoid a traffic back-up. Some of you might recognize this as the former home and garden of Sean Hogan. The agave, palm and arctostaphylos are all in the hellstrip.
I think this is another A. ovatifolia, just grown in shady conditions. The pup throws me though, as they don't usually send out babies... so I could be wrong, or maybe it's not a pup.
And that's a wrap on this completely biased look at what a few of my fellow Portland gardeners are up to...

Weather Diary, Feb 18: Hi 47, Low 37/ Precip .21