Surprised to hear we can grow olives in Portland, Oregon? I was. Before we moved here from San Francisco 9 years ago, I had purchased a potted olive tree (Olea europaea ‘Arbequina’) from an olive oil retailer (Stonehouse? McEvoy Ranch? I can’t remember) in the Ferry Building. We kept it in the little enclosed patio space in our rental — here’s a photo of it as a…
We’ve had a pretty spectacular autumn — it’s been (mostly) dry, sunny, and warm. Every morning when I wake up, I look out the window and say a little, “Really?! Again?! Thank you!” to the universe. As a result, some annual plants are still putting on a really good show. But it seems that’s about to end as we have much cooler temps and plenty…
Conifers sometimes get a bad rap. I regularly hear them disparaged. People sometimes refer to them as old fashioned, or passé, or worst of all, boring. Maybe you’re one of those people? Well, sit tight, I hope to change your mind. While I acknowledge that plant fads are worth paying attention to, and knowing what’s trendy can be important, at the end of the day, I’m…
At some point, long ago before I was a full-on gardener, I read that there’s an often overlooked surface on which to garden: vertical ones. This was before the proliferation of nifty things like Wooly Pockets that allow anyone who wanted one to create a vertical garden, indoors or out. It was also before I was aware of the vertical gardens of Patric Blanc Vertical Gardens, which have…
I’ve previously posted about my favorite new shade garden plants for 2015, and this time I’m posting about my favorite new 2015 plants for sunshine. In the midst of January in Portland, Oregon — as I write this — lots of regular sunshine is a bit of a dream, but here we go anyway! In my garden, plants in the sunshine need to wear a…
Like many people who geek out about various things, when new stuff is released that you haven’t seen before (or didn’t know was possible) it’s terribly exciting. Even more exciting when it solves a problem or fills a gap. So, for those who are into gardening, it’s always exciting to see the new plants released each year. Often, they are improvements on old favorites, but…
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