Why Portland is called the City of Roses

I stopped to smell the roses the other day...and I took their pictures too!

Color!

Size...this one was as big as a salad plate!

Fragrance!

Contrast!

This was my favorite...a mama and her babies!

Spring in a Minute

It's been a long, cold, wet winter (again) here in Portland. The ground is beginning to yield to some sweet green sprouts but the pots and urns are still sadly wanting...
Garden Gal to the rescue!

Voila!...a pot of lovely color and texture...Tete a Tete Daffodils, Ruby Red Tulips and miniature Iris plants just make the world a little brighter. Yes?

Helpful Hint from Garden Gal: Plant bulbs deep in your containers. Later in the season, add summer annuals in soil on top of them. The bulbs will sleep all year and wake up again to let you know that Spring is on it's way!

Tasmanian WHAT?

This, my friends, is the Tasmanian Devil. In real life, the Tasmanain Devil is a carnivorous Australian marsupial. The cartoon version is brought to us by the creative folks at Looney Tunes.

This lovely garden friend is a Tasmanian VINE...a unique evergreen vine from Tasmania, Australia. The foliage is evergreen and dainty with dark green slender leaves. The vine loves to climb a trellis or fence. It can grow between 6'-8' and will thrive in a protected area in partial sun. In the spring, it has greenish-yellow trumpet-shaped flowers that fade to lavender. But the real treat comes in late summer...

The berries look like teeny, tiny eggplants and they last into winter...Charming!

The Ariadne Garden

There is a fantastic community garden in our neighborhood. The Ariadne Garden is located on a site in NE Portland where 2 houses burned down years ago. Farmed and tended by volunteers, it is a neighborhood haven...thriving and buzzing with activity all spring and summer. The harvests include yummy vegetables and beautiful flowers. The fruits of the labor are: donated to elderly residents of the area, sold to help defray costs (Compost! Water bill!), and the remainder is divided between the workers.







“How deeply seated in the human heart is the liking for gardens and gardening.”
~Alexander Smith
Scottish poet

A Love Story

Once upon a time, in a very soggy Portland garden, a grey-green leafed Rosa Glauca and a candy colored Columbine (that moved here all the way from Santa Barbara!) lived together in perfect harmony.

A transformation!

Yesterday, I freshened up a garden bed for a lovely new client. When I started, it looked like this:

Three hours later, it looked like this:

I planted a mix of Hostas, Ferns and Brunneras. By summer, it will start to fill in, by next year, it will be gorgeous! Need your own garden renewal? I'm here to help! Call 503-757-5563 or email: dotproblem@msn.com.

What's blooming this week in Portland

Candytuft is an early season delight. In full bloom now, this versatile evergreen plant is very easy to grow. Candytuft prefers full to partial sun and a well drained soil. These perennial plants are perfect for rock gardens. They do well in average or poor soils, and tolerate dry soil conditions. Water them during dry periods, once or twice per week.

Spring is springing in Portland!

Hooray! The first sign of the season...Snowbells bounding up from the earth to show off their delightful shape.

Call Garden Gal for fresh and lovely garden ideas for Spring! 503~757~5563

What's (still!) blooming this week in Portland

Beautyberry (Callicarpa) is a garden favorite for so many reasons. It provides color and interest in the garden well into October. This deciduous shrub grows between 4' - 6' tall and is adaptable to both a sunny location and to partial shade. Left to it's natural growth, it has a lovely draping shape. In the spring, tiny blooms appear on the stems, but the real treat happens in the Fall. Clusters of purple-pink berries cover the branches. They look a little bit like bubble gum balls, don't they?
You can read more about Beautyberry here.

Putting the Garden to Bed for Winter

Step 1: Begin with a gorgeous Fall day. We won't have too many more like this for the next 6 months here in the great Northwest.

Step 2: Find yourself a willing assistant. It helps if he sings "The Bear Necessities" while collecting leaves.

Step 3: Find a place to start, cut off all dead stuff and remove weeds...

so it looks like this....

Step 4: Put down a nice warm blanket of leaves. Mine were graciously provided by our Japanese Maple.

Try to keep in mind that your assistant might get distracted...

Step 5: Cover the leaf blanket with a comforter of good, rich and smelly compost.

And voila! Your garden is ready for a long winter's nap.

What's blooming this week in Portland

Japanese Anemone...a wonderful late summer bloomer. A great addition to any garden...at it's best when many other flowers have given up for the summer! The flowers look similar to poppies and bloom on tall stems that rise above the foliage. A fabulous cut flower! Anemones grow from 1'-5' high. They like a little protection from other plantings or trees, and do best in dappled sun (above). However, I have seen them planted and thriving in full sun (below) and also in full shade. Anemones are quite the adaptable perennial!

Beech Street Garden Tour

My new friends Will and Steven invited me over for a tour of their garden. It's a fantastic melange of flowers, hostas, vines, conifers, water, garden art, trees and even a greenhouse full of cactus! C'mon, let's have a look....

Our host Steven in the back garden...












A garden flower created (from the outside in) out of a glass platter, a wire basket, a glass lampshade, a napkin ring and a vintage earring. Charming!

What's blooming this week in Portland

Japanese Lantern (also called Chinese Lantern) Physalis alkekengi is a lush, sun loving perennial. The foliage is pretty and long-lasting, the white flowers in summer feed the bees and best of all, the bright orange fruit coverings in fall look like tiny paper lanterns. Just in time for Halloween and Thanksgiving flower arrangements!

Japanese Lanterns are very hardy in a warm spot, but be careful to not over-water, they don't like to have wet feet. They grow 2-3' tall and wide and send new shoots out in the most surprising directions! A delightful garden element, but keep your eye on them or they will take over...make sure they know who's boss!

Craig and his Craig's List Edger

This is our dear friend Craig and his new gardening toy. He found a true gem on Craig's (no relation) List.

It's a vintage King O' Lawn gasoline powered lawn edger circa 1950's. The sound it makes is a total throwback to my childhood, and it sparks a little if you scrape the concrete!

I love the little guy made from a letter "K" wearing a crown. Happy Edging Craig!