Category Archives: journal
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
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
6 Comments
a rainy spring/early summer
In this notoriously rainy slice of the Oregon coast, 2022 rainfall has exceeded all expectations and delivered above average inches fall, winter, and spring. And how! And like a starving person led to a banquet, I’m probably the only one … Continue reading
Posted in climate, journal, Oregon garden
8 Comments
a multiverse of springs
Thanks for the comments regarding successfully flying commercially with plants. I do feel even more emboldened! With my two little gardens, one in frost-free zone 10 and the other in zone 8b, I feel like I’m tumbling in and out … Continue reading
scenes around the bay
Mitch visited a couple weekends ago and took this photo of the daffs on our table. I indulged in armloads of them for the house when I chanced upon a grower a few miles south of Tillamook off highway 101. … Continue reading
Posted in journal, MB Maher
7 Comments
garden miscellany 2/28/22
A quick garden report then we can all get back to doomscrolling. (Here’s a list of solid, experienced relief organizations that can help.) Another atmospheric river is hitting the Oregon coast, but here in coastal Long Beach we’re climbing into … Continue reading
Posted in clippings, journal, pots and containers
6 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
catching up with the zone 10 garden
We arrived last Friday, and other than sleeping, I don’t think a broom has left my hand since. The informal team of neighbors and friends who took turns watching over the garden since we left the second week of October … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, journal, pots and containers, succulents
6 Comments