We're four days back from spending a long weekend in Palm Springs, and I've yet to catch up with myself. My family lured me out of town by giving me the trip as a birthday present. Smart. I've a wee tendency to imagine catastrophe and thus inclined to stay close to...
Last weekend was the annual migration -- tender plants up from the basement, shade pavilion greenhouse walls down and those plants set free. It really is quite the production, I was fortunate my husband helped move a lot of them. About the 15th trip up the stairs he...
I'm starting to think every front garden needs one. Mine sure does. A big old, stop-the-car, would-you-look-at-that, jaw dropping, statement plant. The kind you make sure to drive by when you're in the neighborhood, like an old friend. Exhibit A The Agave salmiana...
Controversy! Some of us at plant lust and friends love snow, and others hate it. I’m in the minority on the love-it side. Snow makes my heart happy. We only see it every few years in Portland, and it’s usually fleeting. I watch the winter weather forecast eagerly,...
No, I’m not talking about the harvest. For most of us autumn means an abundance of falling leaves. Leaves you rake, leaves you use the blower on, and then there are these. These you simply pick up by their stems, almost like you’re collecting a wildflower bouquet. I...
We've all watched new homeowners move in and take over an existing garden. Some work with what they bought, taking out and adding to, making their mark on what was created by another - but now belongs to them. Others opt for the scorched earth approach and can only...
Have you noticed a trend of stylish shops with stylish plants on display? I'm seeing a lot of good plants in new places, and I like it. My stepfather was stationed in Germany when he was in the military, and always remembers coming across a sign which read "Grün ist...
I can't tell you how many times people have gone gaga over the lowest priced plant in the garden. Isn't it funny, how you can moon over some rare and expensive plant. And then you finally add it--just to have peeps push past to rave about some inexpensive annual...
I am blessed to live in an area with great nurseries and great gardeners. That point was driven home again last weekend when I crashed a friend's open garden. Our local Hardy Plant Society was playing host to gardeners from all over the Pacific Northwest (and beyond)...
I’m curious, have you ever been tasked with writing a description of your garden? On the surface it sounds simple, but then emotion gets in the way. All those things you see (they’re out there in the future, you can see them clearly), that others might not. You need...