A Garden Parfait

A client wanted a little curb appeal in front of her shop on NE Alberta Street. Garden Gal to the rescue! We started with ginormous galvanized tubs that normally provide beverages to farm animals. Then we added layers...just like a parfait.

First layer: River rock. Lots of it. The rock has 2 purposes...to provide drainage and to make sure the containers don't get "borrowed" by someone.

Next layer: add landscape fabric to to help keep soil from slipping through the rocks. Water will drain through, so our plants don't drown.

Bark dust follows. This was done simply as a cost saving measure...Bark dust costs much less than planting soil.

Next, we add a layer of about 9" of enriched planting soil.

And here's our final product...filled with grasses and perennials!

A beautiful garden parfait!

What's blooming this week in Portland

Peonies! I drove past a house in my neighborhood the other day and caught sight of these gorgeous blooms at 35 MPH! Took my camera back today and met Karen, the mistress of the peonies. I have seen red, white and pink varieties, but never this sort of salmon-y color. Karen tells me this one is called "Hawaii". The blooms are about the size of a dinner plate!

Peonies are perennials that love sun here in the northwest, but need some cover in warmer climates. It's a good idea to stake the plants as they grow, or the heavy blooms will tip the branches to the ground. Don't plant them too deep...the "eyes" of the bulb like to be only about 2" below the soil. And they don't like to be moved once established. A bit high maintenance perhaps, but totally worth it!

What's blooming this week in Portland

This gorgeous little cloud of blue is called Pulmonaria. It is a perennial herb that grows in mounds of spotted leaves with clusters of blue (or pinky blue) blossoms. The plants like semi-shade which makes Pulmonaria a great choice for gardens here in the northwest. Here's more info from Wikipedia:

The lungworts are the genus Pulmonaria of flowering plants in the family Boraginaceae, native to Europe and western Asia, with one species (P. mollissima) east to central Asia. According to various estimates there may be between 10 and 18 Pulmonaria species found in the wild, but the taxonomy of this genus is very confusing.

The scientific name Pulmonaria is derived from Latin pulmo (the lung). In the times of sympathetic magic, the spotted oval leaves of P. officinalis were thought to symbolize diseased, ulcerated lungs, and so were used to treat pulmonary infections. The common name in many languages also refers to lungs, as in English "lungwort" and German "Lungenkraut". In some East European languages, the common name is derived from a word for honey, e.g. Russian "medunitza" and Polish "miodunka".

English colloquial names include Lungwort, Soldiers and Sailors, Spotted dog, Joseph and Mary, Jerusalem Cowslip, Bethlehem Sage.