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Where the desert has been made to blossom like a rose...
It's been quite awhile since I've featured one of the black and white plant photos from my extensive collection (thanks to my husband Andrew, who enjoys hunting them down). Some of the photos are so...
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Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden, before it all unraveled
Going through and editing/uploading these photos was more of an emotional experience than I anticipated. This visit to the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden was a stop on our way up to the 2020...
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Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden; the stumpery. Because really, we all...
Yes we do!!! In my fantasy garden I have another half-lot that's full off downed stumps, exposed roots and a lot of moss and ferns. Of course there's also another half-lot that's a desert—a girl can...
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A trio of whales and other interesting creatures
Here I am at yet another garden I was tipped off to by a friend. A friend who knows how happy it makes me to see other agave lovers doing their thing here in Portland...I took these photos back on...
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Wednesday Vignette, R E S P E C T
The Pacific Bonsai Museum is located right next to the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden in Federal Way, WA. Unfortunately I didn't have time to walk through the bonsai museum during my February...
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It was opening day at Joy Creek Nursery...
I saw the posts on Facebook, last weekend Joy Creek Nursery opened for another season of gardening fun, I made a mental note to visit soon. Then Andrew—husband with new wheels in the driveway, just...
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If it’s a good plant, you’ll see it here—at the Cactus Club Resort Garden...
As published in the Desert Times—June 10th, 1947, Palm Springs, CAThe gardening cognoscenti are turning out in droves to admire the new look of desert-style gardening. For as long as we can remember...
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Sad but also excited; removing my Grevillea rivularis
Damage from our quick week of winter is showing up around the garden. One of the first "oh no!" moments came early, when the foliage of my Grevillea rivularis turned brown, seemingly overnight.It's a...
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Fang! A neighborhood garden shop opens for the season
I don't remember how exactly I connected with Rik Barr and his work with plants at Fang, but we've followed each other on Instagram for a couple years now so that must have been it? As he was deep in...
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Wednesday Vignette, peas in a pod
Back to the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden and a surprise found tucked into a stump.Did you spot it?Peas in a pod, on a painted rock? I left it in place for the next person to discover.Weather...
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If not that, then this...
Last October a Facebook friend shared photos of front garden (perhaps hellstrip) agaves I wanted to check out in person. I got the approximate location and then I dove around looking, looking,...
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It's spring, so I prune
The first few sunny, dry days, a bit of warmth—you know, the days that smell like spring—and I'm out there in the garden looking at things with a critical eye. Naturally there's plenty of clean-up to...
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March Bloomday
Many of my fellow Portlanders have been disparaging the month of March. True it can be a fickle month. Cold rain, morning frost, and those sunny days that have you thinking that's all behind us, only...
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Love Lessons from a Forty-Four-Year-Old Plant Shop in New York City | The New...
Andrew shared this video with me, it came up as a recommendation in his news feed. It's complex. There are the plants, which of course I enjoyed seeing. I also enjoyed the glimpses of life in a NYC...
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Wednesday Vignette, brown with green sparkles
I bought this Comptonia peregrina last fall and didn't get it in the ground because I needed to remove the Ceanothus 'Dark Star' first. That project is on track but in the mean time I've loved watching...
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Sent to the West Coast...
Anthony always knew he was headed for the big time; the only question was, whether this meant big time East Coast U.S.A. style, or back home, in Italy. As "luck" would have it, neither one. Anthony was...
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Finding Rhododendron forrestii, and how I learned we definitely aren't...
Back when I visited the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden (post here), I was especially enamored with Rhododendron forrestiiThe way it hugged the ground and spread out seemed quite fantastic.As...
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Jimi Blake and Noel Kingsbury: A Beautiful Obsession
The complete title of the book is A Beautiful Obsession: Jimi Blake's World of Plants at Hunting Brook Gardens—and it is just that, a beautiful obsession. As gardeners I expect that you...
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Sedum obtusifolium, who knew?
It's a special day when I discover a new to me plant at my fingertips AND it's something I want to grow. May I present Sedum obtusifolium...I do not recall ever laying eyes on this beauty. What...
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Wednesday Vignette, lichen fur
I've tried to delete this photo several times, thinking I just did not need to unleash it on the world. Tried. Came so close. But the lichen is just so epic that I found I just wasn't strong enough to...
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