Category Archives: Oregon garden
revisiting the Courtney garden June 2026
I first visited Mary and Harlan Courtney’s garden in late July 2022 and wrote about it here. It is a strikingly unique, materials-driven, artfully idiosyncratic approach to managing a slope, where the retaining infrastructure designed by Harlan is as prominent … Continue reading
Posted in garden visit, Oregon garden
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mid-summer miscellany
By the end of July the garden is definitely over the top. A surging, buzzing, no-holds-barred spectacle I’ve been looking forward to since spring. Even Alstroemeria ‘Third Harmonic’ can barely keep up. The Silver Spike grass, Achnatherum calamagrostis, seems to … Continue reading
Posted in journal, Oregon garden
9 Comments
seductive Orange Hawkweed
Ecological degradation starts innocently enough. On a walk into town, an unexpected jolt of clear orange spotted peripherally doubled me back to the rack of plants always on offer outside the local senior’s center. For sale for $6, and I … Continue reading
Posted in Department of Instruction, Oregon garden, science
6 Comments
a city garden’s rare trees
On May 30 I visited another fascinating Portland garden through the Open Gardens program of the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon. Sometimes the open gardens are closer to me in the farmland surrounding the city, where they of course tend … Continue reading
Posted in garden visit, Oregon garden
6 Comments
when color becomes controversial
My compact form of Senecio/Brachyglottis greyi is now shining forth in bloom. And this is after getting frequently trimmed for size to keep it off the manzanita. I love it in the nubby pearly bud stage, which lasts a while, … Continue reading
Posted in journal, Oregon garden, Plant Portraits
7 Comments
more from June
Isn’t June great? I’ve decided to hang out with June for as long as possible, so bear with me for yet another post on what’s possibly my favorite month. Looking at other June gardens is a great way to find … Continue reading
Posted in Bulbs, climate, journal, Oregon garden, plant nurseries, pots and containers, succulents
7 Comments
scenes from the garden June 25, 2026
The only way to keep up with June is weekly reports. Last week the biennial Verbascum phlomoides was in bud, and the four or so planted last fall have started to open this week. I’d forgotten but obviously I got … Continue reading
Posted in journal, Oregon garden
7 Comments
the pond and creek at Dairy Creek Meadows
Dairy Creek Meadows was one of two gardens I visited last weekend under the HPSO Open Gardens program. Both were familiar to me, one because I had visited it a few years back (the Courtneys’ garden), the other because I … Continue reading
Posted in garden visit, Oregon garden
4 Comments
scenes from the garden June 19, 2026
These photos were taken over the past few days. More things are coming into bloom like thalictrum, sanguisorba and dierama, but I’ll catch up with them later. The ground is pretty well covered, and shifting plants around will be minimal … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, Bloom Day, Oregon garden
8 Comments
revisiting Old Germantown Gardens Portland OR
I visited this garden in 2014 with a group of garden bloggers and didn’t really absorb much of the back story of its creation. Visiting again this May, my knees aching after lengthy explorations along its sloping paths, I researched … Continue reading
Posted in garden visit, Oregon garden
8 Comments