Category Archives: Oregon garden
local plant obsessions
(Edited 10/8/22 — grey shrub is Olearia moschata, thanks to the folks at Xera Plants) On this isolated part of the Oregon coast, sourcing plants has been its own adventure. Mail order has been a huge resource, but some plants … Continue reading
Posted in Oregon garden
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mid-September coastal Oregon garden
I was actually hoping to do a Bloom Day post for the 15th, but photos wouldn’t load, etc. For the time being, this little becalmed boat of a blog seems to have righted itself and is wobbily under sail again, … Continue reading
Posted in journal, Oregon garden
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glistening September views
This morning’s mist was heavy enough that the downspouts gurgled. The garden embraced the moisture with its leaves and petals, in a heart-melting effect that can best be described in one word: glistening. A full rainy day is predicted for … Continue reading
Posted in journal, Oregon garden
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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
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the curvilinear Courtney garden, Banks, Oregon
Before starting a tour of the Courtney garden in Banks, Oregon, USDA zone 8b, it’s only fitting to first visit the “engine room,” the workshop of Harlan Courtney that fabricates the idiosyncratic hardscape of Mary and Harlan’s garden. The house … Continue reading
Posted in garden travel, garden visit, Oregon garden
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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
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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
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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
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full sun near the coast
Democracy is a garden that must be carefully tended, said one of our 21st century presidents. (Care to guess which one? Hint: his spouse famously broke with protocol and planted a vegetable garden near the White House. Ah, what innocent … Continue reading
Posted in climate, journal, Oregon garden, pots and containers
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a visit to the Vetter garden
I’ve been religiously checking the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon’s Open Gardens schedule to see what lines up with my own schedule for the approximate 2-hour drive from the coast over the Coast Range to Portland. And there were a … Continue reading
Posted in design, garden visit, Oregon garden, pots and containers
5 Comments