Category Archives: Oregon garden

clippings 9/9/26

Posted on September 9, 2026 by Denise

Rumex sanguineous, the bloody dock, which I love saying and writing, has been flawless all summer. Which is gratifying because, as an edible, I assumed my battalions of snails and slugs would have made lacework of it. Apparently not to … Continue reading →

Posted in clippings, Oregon garden | 6 Comments

Dairy Creek Meadows June 2026

Posted on September 7, 2026 by Denise

A couple of the gardens I’ve visited through the HPSO Open Gardens program this summer involved the owners’ experimenting with a naturalistic planting style as they gained more space to garden. Sometimes called the New Naturalism or the New Perennial … Continue reading →

Posted in design, garden visit, Oregon garden | 7 Comments

last weekend of August garden touring

Posted on August 31, 2026 by Denise

I attended a couple HPSO Open Garden tours last weekend, one close to home in Manzanita on Sunday, and the other on Saturday about 60 miles east. From the first garden visit on Saturday I took home only plants, no … Continue reading →

Posted in garden visit, journal, Oregon garden, pots and containers | 5 Comments

clippings 8/23/26

Posted on August 23, 2026 by Denise

I checked out the local dahlia grower’s fields yesterday, but it’s still very early for much of a show. In local gardens around town, dahlias left in the ground have been up and blooming for a couple months. The grower … Continue reading →

Posted in clippings, cut flowers, journal, Oregon garden | 5 Comments

the view mid-August

Posted on August 18, 2026 by Denise

Here’s the view of the Oregon Coast back garden through the sliding doors, a view I look at a lot. Like both my gardens, it’s small and densely planted. It’s still exciting to throw back the curtains every morning and … Continue reading →

Posted in journal, Oregon garden | 6 Comments

crocosmias and smoky skies

Posted on August 4, 2026 by Denise

Crocosmias bring a freshness to August, particularly in the early bud stages when the whole plant embodies something plump and juicy. Looking at them gives me a craving for nectarines. But we’ve all seen them at their worst, in overgrown, … Continue reading →

Posted in climate, Oregon garden, Plant Portraits | 5 Comments

revisiting the Courtney garden June 2026

Posted on August 2, 2026 by Denise

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 | 8 Comments

mid-summer miscellany

Posted on July 29, 2026 by Denise

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 | 10 Comments

seductive Orange Hawkweed

Posted on July 12, 2026 by Denise

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

Posted on July 8, 2026 by Denise

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