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Happy New Year 2017!
Working my way through the hundreds of photos I snapped last October, at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoeniz, AZ, this one stood out. During my visit I was rather captivated by the overall design...
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In a Vase on Monday: New Years Festivus
As is my tradition I quickly cleared out the Christmas decorations and bought flowers to ring in the New Year. The crazy "carbuncular" tulips (my husband's description) were purchased, but the rest of...
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Portland Bloem, in my neighborhood!
I'd left Trader Joe's and was headed home. I let my eye wander to appreciate a recently painted building and it's cleaned up surroundings. That's when I saw this sign, and the name — Portland Bloem—...
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Wednesday Vignette, Tropicalisimo! (in the basement — cause it's damn cold...
It was the overwhelming scent that alerted me, then glancing around I saw the flower. Like magic, once again a Brugmansia bloom opens in the basement.Poor thing is slightly out of sync with our...
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Attention Portland foliage lovers!
I'll be the first to admit I've been writing a lot about flowers lately, however I still am first and foremost a foliage lover. My garden has flowers, interesting flowers (I think) but the plants I've...
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Garden Visit! Greg Shepard of Xera Plants, at home...
Waaayyyy back in September Greg Shepard, co-owner of Xera Plants, invited a group over for a tour of his 4-yr old garden and an informal talk on low-water gardening. In his words: "This restricted...
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In a Vase on Monday — slim pickins
Since my garden is a frozen wasteland at the moment (as of this writing on Friday the 6th, low 20's with another ice storm on the way for the weekend), I decided this Monday's vase would be a recycle...
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Basement gardening — my version of sticking my head in the sand
With another round of snow and ice predicted for the weekend I planned a few hours of basement gardening — where I could at least attempt to be blissfully unaware of what was happening outside.It was a...
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Wednesday Vignette; "then and now"
Then, August 2015Now, January 2017Weather Diary, January 10: Hi 38, Low 31/ Precip .35" rain + too much snow (not sure what the total was at midnight, guessing about 4")Wednesday Vignettes are hosted...
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Winter White
My apologies if you're getting tired of seeing snow and ice photos...I can tell you I am getting tired of seeing snow and ice. Late Tuesday evening we were supposed to start seeing snowflakes, which...
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Let's visit a Phoenix big box store...
(too much winter! my mind wanders back to Phoenix in October...)My sister-in-law wanted to meet-up to get my opinion on paint colors and you know I love to check out the plant offerings at the big box...
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Bloomday, a day late and battered
So yes, I cheated. Snow was in the forecast and I knew, due to my schedule, that even under the best of scenarios if it melted on queue (which of course it hasn't) I wasn't going to be able to take...
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Adding insult to injury
Last Friday, still unable to drive anywhere, I set off on foot for our local market. In front of our house I passed a neighbor and her small child, returning from snow-play in the park. The child was...
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Wednesday Vignette — No More Cutting!
This makes me sad. This very planting is where many of my Opuntia have originated, as well as many that I've given to friends. Our deal has always been that if it fell to the ground (via a careless...
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My brothers garden...
I first visited Phoenix on a business trip in, oh...1994-ish, and then again the following year. I fell deeply in love with the desert. In 2000 my brother, Darin, had the nerve to up and move there —...
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Adding to my brother's garden, a visit to the Old West Cactus Farm
My brother had heard the Old West Cactus Farm, just north of Phoenix, was a good place to find a bargain. He wanted a few things to add to his new garden so we hit the road. Looking at their website I...
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Salem Hardy Plant Society Study Weekend: visiting the Schreiner garden...
So back to June — in Salem, Oregon — and the private gardens of the 2016 Study Weekend. The final day of the tour found us heading north, which meant towards home. There were more gardens to see that...
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My Los Angeles haul...
No doubt some of you have caught wind of the fact I jumped on a plane last Monday, (the 16th), and headed south to the land of palm trees, sand, sun and blue skies...aka Los Angeles. I love this city....
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Wednesday Vignette: I wanna go back to school, if I can go to Pitzer...
One of my "must see" destinations during last week's trip to Los Angeles was Pitzer College in Claremont, CA...imagine a college campus where the grounds are managed by the former curator of the Desert...
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Kuzma Garden Tour, 2016 Version
As is tradition, here I am — once again — posting about my summer (July 16th) visit to the Kuzma garden, while stuck in the middle of winter. Subconsciously I must hoard these photos, waiting until I...
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