Category Archives: climate

“garden for fire”

This piece appeared in the Opinion section of the Los Angeles Times February 13, 2025, by historian and landscape designer Wade Graham under the title: “Do more than clear brush. Garden for fire.” I wrote to the author asking for … Continue reading

Posted in climate, design | 1 Comment

clippings 2/6/25

The Purple Fernleaf acacia was radically limbed up while I was in Oregon, due to its canopy encroaching on neighboring roofs and fences. It was one of the more shocking sights in the garden upon our return in October. Marty … Continue reading

Posted in climate, clippings | 6 Comments

Bloomday January 2025

The 15th of every month occasions a long-running tradition for bloggers to post on blooms in their gardens wherever situated on the globe (started by Carol J. Michel). In my currently stripped-down SoCal garden, made lean on a diet of … Continue reading

Posted in Bloom Day, climate, Los Angeles garden post 2024, succulents | 4 Comments

August keeps its cool

August can be a rough month. In either of my gardens, I’ve never had to deal with summer rainfall, flooding, plants getting pummeled by rainstorms like some of the East Coast and South are suffering under. And coastal Los Angeles … Continue reading

Posted in climate, Oregon garden | 5 Comments

thank you, Garden Fling 2024

A quick thanks, a few photos, and a short introduction to the Garden Fling, in the off chance a reader of AGO has never heard of this special garden tour. Since 2008, the garden tour now known as the Garden … Continue reading

Posted in climate, garden travel, garden visit | 10 Comments

wet and cool in a temperate rain forest

I get it, most local people I talk to are ready for sunnier days. This day has flushed sunny, rainy, and sunny again several times, all before noon. The 90″ of rain that makes this temperate rain forest possible, a … Continue reading

Posted in climate, Oregon garden | 9 Comments

March mixes it up

The month of March, fittingly named for the god of war, here at the coast is a pitched battle between winter and spring. Winter battles for supremacy lobbing hail, snow, and night-time freezing temperatures, but it’s a dead-ender’s ploy. Spring … Continue reading

Posted in blog, climate, Oregon garden | 7 Comments

Oregon Coast garden in February

I apologize up front for the contrasty results of my point-and-shoot on this brilliantly sunny morning, but it will be too dark for photos within the hour under these temperamental skies. (This is as far as the working collaboration with … Continue reading

Posted in climate, Oregon garden | 8 Comments

rainy day thoughts on fences

Having inherited a boundary fence in the back garden, I think about it quite a bit. It’s been an insistent presence since we moved in, devoid as the space was of anything but fence, grass and bark mulch. Fences in … Continue reading

Posted in climate, design, Oregon garden | 8 Comments

ice storm aftermath

Some quick notes on the recent ice storm, that for us on the Oregon coast descended on Saturday, January 13. A fine icy mist encrusted everything — houses were entombed in ice, including doors, roofs and siding, a very peculiar … Continue reading

Posted in climate, Occasional Daily Weather Report, Oregon garden | 8 Comments