A noun. A verb. A blog.
Colour as punctuation: a bold blast marks a point of entry and a transition between levels Bet you’re as fed-up-to-the-teeth as we are with February 2015’s relentless, white-on-white colour scheme. Let’s think colourful thoughts, shall we? Have a looksee at the inspiring ways this Portland garden has used colour – Colour! Remember what that is? […]
A close-up of the bottle paving in Portland-area Bella Madrone garden There’s something magical about glass, isn’t there? Even when we can’t see through it or when light can’t penetrate from behind (like a stained glass window), it still manages to capture the light. As we approach the time of dull days, I like to […]
Hooray, it’s November 30th! Doing a little dance over my last post for #NaBloPoMo 2014 (National Blog Posting Month), and this amazing garden installation is dancing along with me. It’s called ‘Red Army’ and it’s by British artist Ray Smith, on display in the sculpture meadow at Kentuck Knob. That’s the lesser-known brother of Frank […]
You’re lucky if you have frogs in your garden. They help keep down the bugs. Even metal ones. Frogs and toads, like ferns, usually prefer moist spaces. (You can help by offering them a toad house for shelter from hot, baking sunshine. Make one easily using a broken plant pot, set on its side like […]
An almost-panoramic view of a Pittsburgh driveway that doubles as an entry courtyard. Nice to see a driveway that paving choice and framing makes both doubly functional and beautiful Of course, my whole garden would fit into this many times over. Still. Inspiring.
This lush rain garden was on the 2014 Through the Garden Gate tour in Hogg’s Hollow Hogg’s Hollow is set in a (surprise!) hollow – a steep-sided ravine – in some places steeper than others. The lucky homeowners who live in this charming setting aren’t always so lucky during heavy rains. Water scoots down the […]
This picture shows me where the white tulips are winding down As garden bloggers, we’re often trying to present only the pretty pictures – making the camera show us off to our best advantage. But as gardeners, we really need to look at the “bad side” of our gardens sometimes, using photographs as record-keepers and […]
Lovely home, lovely garden, lovely expanse of green “lawn” I’ve seen a few artificial lawns about town. They’re surprisingly lifelike! It takes a closer look sometimes to spot one – they’re getting better and better at making the pattern more random. But even artificial turf might need weeding. For example… Unless this is artificial dandelion […]
Ignore the unplanted pots. Notice only the giant ferns. Please. This picture isn’t here for any particular “pride of urnership“, but to illustrate my two wacking great ‘Kimberly Queen’ Australian sword ferns (Nephrolepsis obliterata). Both, you might have read, have spent the last few winters indoors. In the urns. In my living room. It has […]
What or who is this cute little creature? It feels like it’s on the tip of my tongue. It isn’t the Little Prince’s fox, but…who? Any ideas?
Two chairs: Here, they’re sculptural (Bella Madrona garden) What’s a chair but a piece of art you can sit on? Two-by-two, chairs are the perfect couple – invitations to conversation and affordable, form-meets-function focal points for your garden. Take a seat – from three great gardens in Portland. Which is your fave? Café-casual. Cappuccino, anyone? […]
Hey garden, your slip is showing! A pet peeve: the use of landscape cloth as a weed barrier. Sure, it’s water-permeable, but it always seems to escape at the edges or, because it’s slippery, the mulch used to cover it slides off in the middle. It looks like the earth is coated in black plastic. […]