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August Garden Blogger's Bloomday, and then some
Yes, I'm posting early. Garden Blogger's Bloomday isn't until Sunday, the 15th. Then again this isn't just a Bloomday post. When I'm out there taking Bloomday photos I tend to get distracted by many...
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The latest addition to the "green wall"
The fence on the south side of our back garden is covered with so many plants now that Andrew has taken to calling it my "green wall"...Here's the latest addition. These bromeliads have all been...
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After 20 months it was finally time to visit home...
COVID really messed with my ability to get up to Spokane and visit family, the last time I was able to spend time with my parents was December of 2019. Once we were all vaccinated—in early May—I was...
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The Vercler Castle, again
During our recent Spokane adventure Andrew and I stopped by to visit my brother Ryan at his new place. I was thrilled to discover he now lives near the Vercler Castle! (original post on the "castle"...
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Farwest 2021, the show goes on...
Back in the day I made two annual trips to the Oregon Convention Center; in February for the (now defunct) Yard, Garden and Patio Show and then in August for the Oregon Association of Nurseries Farwest...
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A special evening at Thicket
Last Thursday the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon and Thicket Garden Shop teamed up for a special "After Hours" event...It had been so long since I'd been out and about at a nursery in the company of...
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And then there were three...
Longtime readers may remember I've admitted to not caring for staghorn ferns. Well, until suddenly I did. Last summer I put together this trashcan-lid hanging staghorn based on a design I saw from Max...
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Gardening vertically
Recently I've shared a few examples of my newer vertical gardening efforts—the mounted bromeliads, the hanging staghorn and the pizza screen staghorn—but there are lots of other plants hanging around...
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Back in the saddle (on the trail, or rather the rocks) again...
You know that bit of wisdom about getting back in the saddle when you've been kicked off the horse? Last weekend Andrew was heading up to the Salmon River to try out a new fishing rod and asked if I...
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Want some ivy?
Ivy... a word that stirs feelings of fear in many a Portland gardener. English ivy (Hedera helix) gone wild covers the trunks of some of our tallest trees in acres of close-in public and private...
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Reworking a small driveway-side planting area
Last winter was incredibly mild here in Portland, well until late February. Plants were actively growing when a quick cold snap complete with snow, ice and cold temperatures swept in. One of the plants...
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It's a small crevice garden, in spirit
It's interesting to me how you can look at something for years, without really seeing it. Then one day, suddenly, your eyes clear and you wonder how you—FOR YEARS—didn't really see...That mossy rock...
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A couple of late summer garden vignettes
Today's post consists of two vignettes I appreciated while doing a deep watering last weekend. I spoil my bromeliads, ferns, epiphytes and carnivorous plants, but everything else gets by on a tough...
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Spiky plant tats to commemorate and celebrate
I have no tattoos. I appreciate good ones on other people, but have never felt the need to get one myself. That said, back in July I became obsessed with the idea of an agave tattoo. Not a permanent...
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Blooms in September...
Last weekend I did something that would have been completely normal at any other time in my life—that is took a little road trip up to the Seattle area to visit friends and gardens. However I am...
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I went for a walk...
Today we're flashing back to Sept 2nd, when I decided it was time to go for a walk. I remember thinking when I could finally walk to McMenamins Kennedy School then I'd know life was returning to...
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My plant haul from a long weekend up north...
It's time to start posting about my recent trip up to the Tacoma/Seattle area, and what better way to start than with plant shopping and what I brought home?! I drove up the afternoon of Thursday,...
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Ten years later, we meet up at another McMenamins
Blogging has produced many rewards over the years, chief among them the people I've met and friendships I've made. Ten years ago I met Peter (the Outlaw) when he and his then partner Tom paid a visit...
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Private Gardens of the Pacific Northwest, a book...
May of 2020 (in the midst of COVID lockdown), I received an email about scheduling a photo shoot in my garden, for a book. I had just finally cleared my calendar of all scheduled visits for the summer,...
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Under the loquat; planting below a limbed-up tree
Every year I post a (fairly) comprehensive tour of both the front and back gardens. I was taking photos for those posts when it occurred to me that I still haven't shared images of two of the areas I...
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