I know we’ve had some super hot days here and there, but I’ve really been enjoying the weather this summer. My memory may be faulty, but the stretches of days in the mid-to-low 80’s during the day, with under 60 at night, this summer have been unusually (at least in recent years) plenty — and that’s my kind of summer weather. Warm enough (but not…
Hard to believe we’re already approaching the summer solstice! I was away for about 10 days in May, which was a rough time to be leaving the garden. Happily, not too much happened in my absence. And it’s been blissfully cool since my return. I feel like that’s about to change next week, so I’m soaking it up now since it won’t be back until…
I’ll be away from my garden for a little while soon. And it’s the time of year when new things are happening in the garden daily. The Ceanothus blooms are just beginning to pop, our Trachelospermum is going to burst into bloom any day, and the first of the rose buds has colored up. I’m going to be visiting some beautiful gardens while I’m away…
I say this annually, but this is the most wonderful time of the year. After the clocks change and we get more daylight at the end of the day, and the weather swings wildly between chilly drizzle and (excitingly) warmer sunshine, it gives you a peek at the glorious season of growth ahead. It’s well under way, actually, and each day it’s exciting to visit…
We’ve had drainage issues on this property. You can read about how we’re managing some of them using bioswales: Let Me Tell You About My Bioswales. The bioswale on the south side of our property is in the middle of a path. We did this because it will allow us to have plantings on either side in a relatively narrow space. It hasn’t been too…
So far winter has been relatively kind to us (*knocking on wood*) — especially after last year’s ice storm after ice storm extravaganza. And as a result, it’s been easier to be outside noticing the slow progress towards spring. A dip into colder weather can place some things on pause, but others are responding to the increasing light. I know I am. We’ve now had…
As I write this it’s a cold, blustery, rainy November day. I’ve been working to close down the garden for winter, which although I’ll be doing some trimming & hardscaping projects, means that all other gardening activities have ceased until February or March. I’ve planted & moved everything in the beds that needed it, I’ve planted my spring bulbs, I’ve dug up my dahlias &…
There are so many things happening in the garden in late spring that it can be difficult to narrow down beloved plant combinations to just one or two options that I like best! But here are a couple that I’m particularly fond of right now. As always, I’m looking for the following criteria: The plants look beautiful for as long as possible. Different things happen at…
In the first installment in this 3-post series, we visited the wonderful Danger Garden. This time, we’re visiting the beautiful garden of Greg Shepherd, co-owner of Xera Plants. I remember first learning of Xera after moving to Portland through their unique and wonderful plants stocked at both Portland Nursery and Garden Fever — they were often plants that were new to me, and they had…
We’re having a super hot, super dry summer here in Portland. Like many places, we’re breaking records and are headed until uncharted territory. When planning what to plant here in our garden ~6 years ago, my criteria was: low maintenance, drought tolerant, and multi-season interest. Of course there are exceptions to this, but I try to keep them to a minimum. But even with…
We’ve had lots of visitors and trips in the last 6 weeks, so haven’t been working as much on the garden. Larger projects (ie: this year’s path project) were put on hold until schedules cleared up again, but we’ve still enjoyed as much time in the garden as possible with our guests. We’ve been able to enjoy the nice days by sitting together in the…
With the exception of a few stretches of chilly weather, we’re having an exceptionally mild winter here in Portland. This means not only are the usual suspects showing signs of life (daphne, edgeworthia, crocus…) but there are signs of life everywhere you look. New growth on shrubs, lawns, perennial crowns — it’s delightful, but I’m trying to quell too much excitement because it might mean…
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