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West Linn garden visit, part one...
Last summer Mark Leichty, of Little Prince of Oregon Nursery, shared photos of a garden he'd visited. I loved what I saw and asked about visiting the garden in person—then forgot all about it. Fast...
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West Linn garden visit, part two...
We started this tour yesterday, in the front garden, and just entered the back garden when I paused—that's where we pick up today. Posting photos of a garden tour like this—where I wander around and...
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Floral riches, Bells of Ireland version
I first discovered Bells of Ireland (Moluccella laevis) sometime in the mid-1990's. I was living on Seattle's Capitol Hill and there was a wonderful cut-flower shop—Urban Flowers—just 2 blocks from my...
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Let’s drop by the Huntington, disoriented
I began this series "let's drop by the Huntington," because I wanted to start chipping away at the hundreds of Huntington Garden photos from my December visit, but I was frustrated by updates to the...
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Wednesday Vignette: #lifegoals
Search the hashtag #lifegoals on Instagram and you'll find all sorts of odd, disturbing, inspiring, hilarious, terrifying images. Yet for some reason I couldn't help but see that hashtag superimposed...
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Torn between two loves; the cactus and the car
Another of the black and white photos Andrew has given me over the years. This one has always made me wonder at the almost perfect balance of car and cactus. Is there a story of the car? Or is the...
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A visit to Felony Flats Botanical Garden...
Welcome to Felony Flats Botanical Garden. This fabulous garden belongs to my friends Eric Peterson and Robert Bringham, the name of their garden is a bit of word play on the fact their garden is...
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Enjoying my birthDAY...
Last Monday was my birthday. Andrew took the day off and since far-flung travel wasn't an option (COVID concerns) we set out on Highway 30 to hit Cistus, Means, and Joy Creek Nurseries (what I will...
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And so I watered...
I make a sort of game out of watering the front garden—how long can I hold out? How little can I get away with? I do it as infrequently as possible. I push these plants to see just how far they can go....
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Wednesday Vignette; revealed!
Back in June I shared photos of a passiflora volunteer (aka sucker), and mused on it's possible identity (here). Well, the first flower opened yesterday and confirms that it's Passiflora 'Snow...
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You know it's been a good week when...
...your spouse expresses concern about all the new plants you've acquired.Yes, it really happened. I was super excited about a new plant and made a point of showing it to Andrew (I don't always share...
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Nursery visit: Hughes Water Gardens
Each year I pay at least one visit to Hughes Water Gardens in Tualatin, OR—about 20 miles south of my home. This is where I first saw Euphorbia griffithii ‘fireglow’...As you would expect, their...
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A return to the lizardland garden...
One Friday afternoon Andrew and I headed out to take a walk. He hoped to end up somewhere he could get a fishing line in the water. I decided I wanted to check on a guerrilla garden I wrote about last...
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Jungle cactus update...(blooms!)
Back in June, when I shared my burlap jungle cactus installation, I got a couple questions about watering. Specifically: Will spraying with a hose will be sufficient watering? And: How DO you water...
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Wednesday Vignette: cactus rock
Jane Finch-Howell (aka the Mulchmaid) recently presented me with this well traveled, painted rock. She'd visited Skyler Walker and Alan Fritz's garden in Ilwaco, WA (Skyler writes the blog Tangly...
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Heather sent me there...
My friend Heather posted images of this garden to Instagram that were so, well, interesting, that I couldn't help but ask for the address so I could go see it for myself. The greenhouse looked pretty...
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Bromeliad blooms...
In addition to unexpected epiphyllum blooms, I also have several bromeliads sending up their bloom-spikes. This one (NOID) was the first, starting a couple of months ago.Then in late July my Billbergia...
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And I was afraid there would be no seeds...
A bit of backstory; I lusted after a plant known as Ptilostemon afer when Peter, Alison and I visited Far Reaches Farm in 2018—if you happen to click on that link, it's what I refer to as the...
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What's with the begonias...?
I'm paraphrasing a bit with that title. That's not quite what Andrew said, when he questioned my purchasing of a few big-leaf begonias at the everything store (buy salmon, raspberries, a coffee maker...
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Wednesday Vignette; if Derek Jarman lived on the Southern California coast
Derek Jarman's garden at Prospect Cottage in Dungeness, Kent, is known for it's inhospitable conditions and instantly recognizable style, with found driftwood and metal artwork interspersed among the...
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