Category Archives: pots and containers
caudiciform plants for the win
I confess the loss of Beaucarnea ‘Gold Star’ was one I dreaded the most during our extended absence. It was one of the first plants I rushed to check upon return. Survival of caudiciform plants was a theme. Right up … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, journal, pots and containers, succulents
10 Comments
taking stock of the runaway garden
I know “runaway garden” is an oxymoron, but even so the SoCal garden (zone 10) seems to have been on a journey without me, cycling through various caretakers, some benign, some less so. The last few days have been the … Continue reading
Posted in agaves, woody lilies, journal, pots and containers, succulents
11 Comments
my own private tulipomania
There’s a lot of the traditional horticultural canon that can be grown well here at the moist Oregon Coast in zone 8b/9a that I’m skipping so far– hellebores, roses, rhododendrons, hydrangeas, hostas, maples, Oriental poppies, peonies, clematis to name a … Continue reading
Posted in Bulbs, Oregon garden, pots and containers
5 Comments
checking in on the zone 10 garden
The Long Beach, CA zone 10 garden had a caretaker in residence for almost a year while we’ve been on the Oregon coast. I think they may have been watering the containers before decamping in July, but I’m not really … Continue reading
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
6 Comments
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
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 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
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
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