Am I alone in finding little inspiration in the winter beds?
Or so I imagine, until I put on my galoshes and go out for a stroll. Oh sure, squishy mud O’plenty. But seems there are some wonders to behold if I don’t sit inside and sulk.
The Hardy Plant Society of Oregon holds a giant spring sale–and also a smaller Fall Sale. Oh, there is still a gaggle of crazy gardeners vying for fabulous plants, but the fall sale is a little more mellow than spring’s Black Friday crush. And a great feature of the fall event is an opening lecture by a groovy plantsperson. This year, the incomparable Sean Hogan of Cistus Nursery with a talk on his top 40 plants. (more…)
Why yes, there is more. Tons more. And we didn’t even make through all the gardens. It reminds of when my Art History teacher recounted living in Paris. It got to a point, he said, where he’d think, Ho Hum, another wondrous cathedral, and then waltz past with a baguette slung across his shoulder. “It was like trying to eat a whole cheesecake.”
Yep. Huntington’s Desert Garden is wondrous–but I wouldn’t want to try and eat it in one sitting.
I don’t know how one tells a story about Huntington Gardens. I’m overwhelmed every time I try to sort photos into some logical order. I could make a career of studying the plants here–and which are likely to grow together naturally. Visiting this garden raised so many questions.
Thusly, I’ll give you pictures. For now, they can tell their own dang story.
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. (more…)
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 Leben,” green is life. Indeed. We never really knew what the sign maker intended. I guess it could be interpreted as a drug reference, but we like to think it’s a gardening thing.
Recent Design Within Reach catalogs showed off their fancy pants furniture alongside big agaves and cacti. I’ve noticed agaves and yuccas and opuntia, oh my… in all kinds of fashion photography. It makes perfect sense to me. Plants should be a part of our lives. Grün ist Leben.
Birthday-season has kicked off in my world, and I have a gift giving occasion just about every weekend from now through the end of the year, making September-December one big holiday party blur. For reasons I can’t explain, not everyone wants plants as gifts, so I’m venturing outside of the nursery shopping I’d really rather be doing during this frickin’ perfect planting weather. Happily, plants are having a moment in stores of all kinds, so there’s still some garden-y inspiration to be found while wandering the aisles.
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…
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