Category Archives: Plant Portraits

late but great

Some of the feelings about my late summer/fall garden this year can be broken down into two categories: 1) What took you so long? and 2) Wow, you look so fresh! I’ve been both irritated by tardiness and appreciative of … Continue reading

Posted in design, journal, Oregon garden, Plant Portraits | 8 Comments

notes on the September garden

September is a big month in this garden…the equivalent of a king’s tide (the highest full-moon tide that temporarily erases local beaches). But this is no act of nature. Big, tall plants have always been a preference. Still, the height … Continue reading

Posted in garden travel, garden visit, Oregon garden, Plant Portraits | 9 Comments

shopping for phlomis at Windcliff

“What looks good when the garden is just starting to stir in April? In my garden, in one word, phlomis. Unscathed, fully clothed, holding it together all winter. I didn’t expect phlomis could deal with this much rain, hail and snow, … Continue reading

Posted in garden travel, garden visit, Oregon garden, plant nurseries, Plant Portraits | 13 Comments

coastal PNW gardens late July

Driving north on Highway 101 now is a very different experience than just a few weeks ago. The roadside attractions are no longer mauve foxgloves, which seemed to go on forever, but now mauve fireweed, Chamerion angustifolium (formerly Epilobium angustifolium), … Continue reading

Posted in garden visit, journal, Oregon garden, Plant Portraits, pots and containers | 6 Comments

the summer I planted pale yellow snapdragons

A farm stand was selling six-packs for $3 of these pale snapdragons, bordering on chartreuse. All wonky and swaying, not ramrod straight. Never having grown snaps before, I’m unclear if a lack of basal growth is normal or just a … Continue reading

Posted in journal, Oregon garden, Plant Portraits, pots and containers | 7 Comments

bloom day 7/22; dierama drama

I admit that there’s a bit of a grudge match component to plant trials in the Oregon coastal garden. There are countless plants I foolishly trialed in my dry zone 10 garden that hated the lack of winter dormancy, and … Continue reading

Posted in Bloom Day, journal, Oregon garden, Plant Portraits | 8 Comments

herbaceous stuff

I admit I’m enthralled by the range of herbaceous plants that can be grown here on the Oregon coast, zone 8b. I should be putting my energies into building up evergreen and woody structure, but for the moment, aside from … Continue reading

Posted in journal, Oregon garden, Plant Portraits | 9 Comments

Grevillea ‘Poorinda Blondie’

One of the so-called “toothbrush” grevilleas, I planted ‘Poorinda Blondie’ in November 2020, and its wingspan is now just over 6 feet. Height is roughly 4 feet, approximating a V-shape. (I can’t remember if I bought it in a gallon … Continue reading

Posted in journal, Plant Portraits | 4 Comments

Six on Saturday

‘Eurydice’ lilies opened this week, an asiatic with martagon-esque, downward-facing blooms. Zone 10 gardeners are reminded that lilies do not necessarily return every summer for us, so arborator cave (grower beware!) 2. The echeverias are blooming — the one above … Continue reading

Posted in Bulbs, clippings, journal, Plant Portraits, pots and containers, succulents | 4 Comments

dragon trees

A few years ago I had the opportunity to help with a small front garden, that was designed to receive only occasional hand watering. I planted agaves and other succulents, dymondia, some bromeliads, three Hesperaloe ‘Brakelights,’ (all of which withered … Continue reading

Posted in photography, Plant Portraits | Tagged | 7 Comments