Magnolias are a romantic bunch, thought of like southern belles with a blousy bloom, a fleeting moment of floral perfection. Whenever I confess to love them madly, I’m met with a questioning glance. This does not equate. She of the spikes, desert plants and love of foliage…magnolias? Yes!
Just in from a day of working in the garden (you know: “working”) and I got to wondering, is pruning the new planting?
Nothing will ever compare to the thrill of an open expanse of soil and corresponding trip to the nursery, but there’s a joy to be had in having planted something that’s grown up big and tall. Something that can benefit from a little helping hand to sculpt it into the best version of itself. Plus as my garden matures there will be less planting, more pruning – I might as well frame that positively…
A few years ago, at a party for “plant people,” I was introduced to a friend’s new beau. His first question, “favorite genus?” I didn’t hesitate, not even for a second, before answering…agave!
As I may have written here previously, my being a part of this plant lust endeavor can be traced back to a love for agaves and my personal blog, danger garden. My business partner Megan and I met because we read each other’s blogs, and we wrote about our passion for agaves, a lot. Of course being two introverts it took our third partner, Patricia, to actually get us talking, in “real-life.”
Recently we enjoyed lunch with friend-of-plant-lust Derek Powazek. Having escaped the big city (San Francisco), Derek seems to be adjusting to life in Oregon just fine. I won’t share too many details but he’s only been here a few months and has already bought a home, built raised beds and started a vegetable garden. There’s talk of chickens. He did admit there’s one thing he’s missing…
One of my very favorite things to do is to walk a new neighborhood. Be it in my own city or one I’m visiting only briefly. There are always things to discover and they’re easier to see when you’re on foot…
I am attracted to dark houses, they seem more grounded in the landscape. Of course the fact they emphasize the plantings is a bonus.
It started with an innocent comment on Facebook. I mentioned I’m running out of space in my garden, and with no big projects this year I wasn’t sure where all the plants I’ll have to buy this season were going to go. Grace encouraged me to think about planting in containers as a way of squeezing in a few more. What!? Obviously she hasn’t visited my garden, otherwise she would never encourage the madness, and I told her so. She responded saying “I bet you don’t have more than I do”…
Sounds like a challenge right?
First I should tell you a little bit about Grace. She’s a fellow Oregonian who lives south, in Albany, and blogs at Gardening with Grace. Grace is also part of the plant lust team, she joined up with us last fall and works behind the scenes as a research consultant helping to flesh out the plant lust listings. She is also the author of Grace in the Garden: Thirty Years of Blunders and Bliss.
Do you ever look back on your plant crushes from the early years, when you were a beginning gardener? I definitely went through a flower-floosy stage in my mid 20’s. Then there were the anti-color years. I don’t think I’d even heard the romantic notion of an all-white blooming moon garden but I was still obsessed with the idea of keeping out those annoying colorful flowers, only the white ones for me!
Once my love for foliage took center stage I embraced variegation, again preferring shades of white – I liked the stark contrast. I remember a dynamic duo of ribbon grass (Phalaris arundinacea ‘Picta’) and variegated iris planted quite near each other, the idea makes me shudder now. What was I thinking?
As my tastes have changed I’ve found myself shying away from white in the garden. Flowers, foliage, containers…all of it. My eyes read white like a spotlight, or a sort of black hole, sucking everything in, calling far too much attention to itself. Instead I’m drawn to yellow and green variegation, or increasingly green on green. (more…)
A couple weeks ago I wrote: “my garden is finally a place where I find myself winter engaged.” Today I thought I’d focus on a few of those plants, the ones that keep me sane through the winter. Key plants that look good, individual things that I can concentrate on. A garden with layers and layers of interest isn’t as needed in the wintertime, I don’t spend that much time outdoors. Something that grabs my attention and briefly pulls me into the garden is all I ask. An occasional unexpected surprise is nice too, a sort of reward for my time and investment.
There are three categories my winter-interest plants fall into. First are the evergreen stalwarts, the plants that just always look good (Old Man Winter permitting).
First off Agave weberi, because who doesn’t want a big bad agave right outside your door?
Showtime! Well, not quite yet, but it’s the time of the year I start thinking about them, the annual garden shows. How better to break the spell of winter?
I’m lucky to live in region that really does garden shows, not some “home improvement” show where a couple of landscape companies are stuck in the corner and they promise to install the latest in hi-tech outdoor kitchens, fire bowls and water features (but nary a plant is mentioned). (more…)
My garden is finally a place where I find myself winter engaged. I don’t advert my eyes but rather intentionally partake. Getting to this point involved a lot of visiting gardens and nurseries during the winter months. How better to see what looks good this time of the year?
Our local Chinese Garden, Lan Su, recently held a series of free open days. I decided to see how some of my favorites were doing, it’s always nice to catch up with old friends.
Toward the end of a four-hour stroll through the Huntington Botanical Garden I stopped to photograph the aptly named Kniphofia ‘Christmas Cheer’ (my visit was on December 22)…
That’s when I came under attack by a rather territorial hummingbird. Once he realized I wasn’t competition for the goods he went back to feeding and I attempted to photograph him. This is the best I could do, when he stopped for a moment on the neighboring bamboo.
What is it about hummingbirds?
