We had a wonderful, cool misty break from summer heat last week. The plants and the Portlanders seem to be in much better spirits. I know I am. We've naturally been showing off sun worshipping plants the last few months, but I don't want the woodland plants to feel...
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'm hearing a lot of grumbling over how awful our gardens are looking. I share your grumblings. So I thought I'd go on patrol for things that aren't entirely terrible. Have you noticed how a tight shot shows what you might otherwise have missed? I wholeheartedly...
My brain likes puzzles, and the longer I live in my own flip flops, the more I appreciate this as a bona fide creative strategy. Puzzle working is in my bones. My parents claimed I could work a wooden US puzzle when I was just three--and lickety split. Now it's my...
Turns out the grass isn't always greener. I'm always saying, look at those lucky Californians, they can grow all the super cool stuff. But the drought and water shortage--not so lucky. I enjoyed an article on Annie's Annuals & Perennials' blog this week. Nursery...
This weekend I felt like a high roller. Picture less Vegas vacation, diamonds, cars and rolling around on piles of cash. More rolling around on piles of groundcovers and you've got the idea. We're among gardeners here. You guys get it. Thanks to Tamara of Chickadee...
Mass planting has its place, as evidence by the Hakonechloa shown above in my previous garden. People couldn't resist petting it when they walked past. It was a such successful grouping, mentioned by Ms. Nestmaker way back when. I actually put that together,...
Tell me I'm not alone. Now that it's all moist and mossy out there, I frequently see moss that stops me in my tracks. There are just so many strange-good variations. I'm pretty sure people think I'm nuts, stooped and closely examining a rock or a spot of bark dust in...
Proximity to mountain, valley, and ocean is high on the list of Portland grooviness. Every year around this time, I go on a retreat with my fellow Book Babes. We’ve been making the trek for twenty years now, and almost without fail, we get glorious weather for our...
Truth be told, I’m having trouble sticking with the Plan, big P plan. Oh, I’m weeding and shopping and planting, but I seem to be happiest muddling my way through without a blueprint. But see all that grass up there, I can do better. A...