Moonstone Gardens

2010-04-27T12:16:00.000-07:00

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Hello Grandma

2010-04-01T13:36:00.000-07:00

Greetings all you great gardeners! The sun is out, the flowers are growing and I'm....worn out. My age has been catching up with me and a bout with cancer last year has left me unable to do what I used to in the gardens. Coupled with the crippling economy, I have become an independant consultant for Moonstone instead of a full time employee and so I will no longer be writing the Moonstone Gardens Blog. Since there is no one else to take over this task for now, we are putting the blog to sleep as humanely as possible.
But....I'm still writing, and photographing and beading and would love to have you stick around at my home blog, Our Grandmother's Gardens.
I'll be posting pictures of the Village Green and The Oregon Garden as they come into bloom as well as other gardens that I visit. You'll also get to meet all of my cats!
So please stick with me. I'd miss you all horribly if you left.
Cheers,
Cindee Eichengreen

March Garden Stroll

2010-03-18T11:00:00.000-07:00

Twitterpated birds are swooping in from everywhere and the flowers are beginning to bloom. Yes, I think Spring has hit the Pacific Northwest. My condolences (really!) to those of you still buried under snow and mud. This post isn't about bragging, but about hope.

The Cornus argentea looks like a chandelier with all of it's new foliage popping up.

Thalictrum 'Illuminator' is a great companion of Pulmonaria 'Leopard'.

Malus 'Pink Spires' is one of the first crabapples to bloom.

Flowering Current (Ribes sanguineum) brings in the Hummingbirds.

Primula vulgaris are some of my favorite primroses. This is a very old one called 'Quaker Bonnets'.

Another great primrose is Primula sieboldii. Although it looks fragile, this is a work horse. Spreads nicely.

The lilacs are budded and waiting.

Although not in their prime, the Hellebores are still quite showy.

Geranium 'Hocus Pocus' creates a dark contrast to it's golden neighbor.

One of my favorites, the checker lily (Fritillaria mealagris), makes a daring display with Pulmonaria 'Trevi Fountain'.

The Ferns still look like something from "The Little Shop of Horrors".

Anemone nemerosa 'Bracteata' are just beginning to open their ruffled blooms.

The Post of the Week is Five Mile Furrow.

Who's That?

2010-03-11T09:29:00.000-08:00

I'd like to introduce you to some of my favorite friends in the garden.

Magnolia 'Caerhayes Belle' is the color of bubble gum and the bud is as big as a grapefruit.

Veratrum californicum is a magnificent architectural plant for the shade.

Epipactis gigantea 'Serpentine Night' is a terrestrial orchid also called a stream orchid. The species of this plant spreads quite rapidly in moist soil, but this one is better behaved.

Bletilla striata is another terrestrial orchid. I killed this twice before I found a good spot for it where it florishes now.

Bletilla striata 'Alba' is the white form of the above.

My favorite hydrangea is 'Ayesha', also called 'Silver Slippers'. The cupped petals look like a lilac, don't they.

The primroses are all blooming here now and my favorites are auriculas. I babied these in pots in the greenhouse for years until I read an old gardening book that stated they were hardy in my zone (USDA zone 8). So I tried one outside and it was very happy. Now they all grow outside and I don't do anything with them except throw a little compost at their feet.

Another Primula aricula in deep purple-blue. Sometimes you get a beautiful powdery bloom on the leaves, but if you want to keep it, they are better in pots as the irrigation washes it off.

I love Primula 'Dorothy' because her flowers are so delicate and petite.

Primula 'Linda Pope' is an unusual primrose with powdery, serrated leaves and soft purple flowers.

Meet Trillium rivale 'Purple Heart'. The whole plant is tiny, but prolific. After it blooms, the blooms turn upside down and rest themselves on the surrounding soil where they drop their seeds.

Coming out of the shade. The Tigridia pavonia is a striking flower in orange, yellow or pink. Also called Mexican Shell Flower.

Polygonum orientale is also called Kiss-Me-Over-The-Garden-Gate. This is just an annual and seeds itself nicely. It grows a towering 6-8 feet in one season. Not aggresive like other knotweeds. You can tell what it is in the spring by it's little red stems.

Nicandra is also called Shoo-Fly since flies don't care for it, although I'm not sure why since there is no fragrance to it at all. It has lovely blackish buds and the seed pods look similar. This grows about 3-4 feet and self seeds.

Erythroniums are near and dear to my heart. This is our native variety (oregonum) that grows everywhere in our woods.

Erythronium revolutum is a bit fancier.

Camellias are such versatile plants and I have many sasanqua and japonica varieties. This is 'Nuccio's Pearl'.

I love the fimbriated petals of 'Fred Sanders'

Agave parryi is striking, but not very friendly.

My blog of the week is We Three, Ginger Cat Tales. It isn't really a gardening blog, but the most wonderful blog for anyone who likes cats. Check it out here.

"Gardens of Pennsylvania" Retreat

2010-03-04T13:07:00.001-08:00

Enjoy a relaxing garden vacation March 20th and learn about 3 great East Coast Gardens. The Village Green Resort offers “The Gardens of Pennsylvania” Retreat where it explores Longwood Gardens, Chanticleer and Morris Arboretum in a presentation by Cindee Eichengreen. We offer you your room, Dinner for 2 with a Bottle of House Wine, Full Buffet Breakfast and a guided tour of the Village Green Gardens.
This retreat price is for 2 people (bring a friend or spouse) and costs just $89 for a standard room or $109 for a Deluxe Garden room.
For Reservations, call 1-800-343-7666
The Village Green is a Garden Resort locatedd in Cottage Grove, Oregon, just 20 miles south of Eugene. To view our website, click here.

The Fern House at Morris Arboretum

The Ruin at Chanticleer

Chanticleer Pool House

Longwood Conservatory

The Famous Longwood Fountains

The Mahogany Garden

2010-03-01T10:29:00.000-08:00

Quirky themes for gardens have always been my specialty, as well as color in the garden. I love semi-monochromatic gardens. So when I found that I was acquiring quite a few plants with foliage in hues of mahogany, purple, russet, and burgundy, I decided to give them their own garden.

Following are pictures from the beginning of the Mahogany Garden to the present.

New foliage of Acer 'Esk Sunset' (often erroneously called Eskimo Sunset, but was named after Esk Nursery)

Jon got creative with the chainsaw to avoid cutting down the stump of a fir tree.

Chocolate Cosmos with Canna 'Durban'

Pacific Coast Iris 'Buff Beauty'

Sumac 'Tiger Eyes' lends a nice contrast.

Check out my blogger of the week - Peace in the Valley - here

Snout-Hunting in the Woodland

2010-02-18T13:26:00.001-08:00

We have 2 Springs in Oregon. We always get approximately 2 weeks of beautiful spring weather in February and then it goes back to being cold and rainy until June. But our "First Spring" is always enchanting because it is when the snouts appear. Sounds like we're hunting pigs, but what we're really looking for is the snouts of wonderful woodland plants.

Polygonatum biflorum is a tough little woodlander that spreads nicely but isn't invasive. Snouts above, plants below.

Dactylorhiza fuchsii is a terrestrial orchid that likes growing in damp soil in the woodland. Very easy to grow. Snout on top, and flower below.

Disporums are one of my favorite woodland plants. This one is Disporum 'Night Heron'.

Arisaema serrata comes out of the ground like a rocket.

Podophyllum pleianthum poke their noses out early and can get frosted if not covered with evergreen branches

Eye Candy

2010-02-08T16:51:00.000-08:00

There is nothing like a picture to inspire us gardeners. So since I'm not terrifically witty today, I thought I'd rely on the pictures to speak for themselves. Just sit back and let the gardens seep in.

Brugmansia at Morris Arboretum, Pennsylvania

Grand Thistles at Great Dixter, UK

Spiral Staircase in the Palm House at Kew, UK

Rhododendron Grove at Bloedel Reserve, Bainbridge Island

Brighton Pavilion and Gardens, UK

Under the Wisteria Arbor at Chanticleer, Pennsylvania

Stone stairs leading out of the Grotto, Stourhead, UK

Tulbaghia Sweep at the Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Boat House at Trevarno, Cornwall, UK

Stone and Aconitum at Hever Castle, UK

My pick for New Blogger of the Week is Crystal Coast Gardener

Garden Show UK Style

2010-02-01T15:37:00.000-08:00

With all of the garden shows happening on the West Coast of the US this month and next, I thought I'd give a little comparison to the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show in England. Although the Hampton Court Show is listed as the biggest flower show in the world, I honestly can't say that it's better or worse than the ones in the US. But they are differant.

The Hampton Court Garden Show is held in July, so all of the display gardens are created outdoors instead of inside. This garden was mulched with slate pieces. Very lovely, but impractical, if you walked on them, they broke.

I loved the simple color scheme of this birch garden.

There was a rather large pond with a cute little tiki hut built on it.

This display was called "Couch Potato" and was put together by a bunch of college students. All of the plants in it were in the solanum family. There was also a couch and a TV in the display, off to the side.

I normally don't care for contemporary gardens, but the colors in this one were so rich and elegant.

Romney carts were quite popular and you could get them small enough for a children's play house, or large enough for a guest room.

One massive tent was given over to extravagant displays of flowers, fruit, and vegies. I'd love to shop in a produce department that carried veg like this!

The tropical Flowers were quite stunning.

I call this "Cactus Dessert Cart".

They were raffling off a stone cottage and actually built a stone cottage in the pavillion so you could see what it looked like. This is the real thing, not cardboard!

After a very long, hot day, my sister and I walked our weary feet back to the bus that would take us to our car and paused for this jail-break photo.

New Blogger of the Week - The Born Again Gardener

Hellebore Days

2010-01-29T10:22:00.000-08:00

The Village Green Resort is hosting it's 2nd annual Hellebore Days on February 20th along with Northwest Garden Nursery. The event offers overnight stay, dinner entrees for 2, a bottle of house wine or sparkling cider, Winter Interest Garden Tour, evening presentation on Winter Gardens, full buffet breakfast, and a self guided tour of Northwest Garden Nursery to see (and buy) their outstanding hellebores.
Cost is just $89 standard room or $109 for a deluxe room. Cost covers 2 people. Bring a friend and split the expense.
For reservations, call 1-800-343-7666

For other retreats, click on the moss chairs in the sidebar.

High Five For the High Line

2010-01-27T10:07:00.001-08:00

What do you do with a defunct raised railroad bed? Make it into a nature park, of course! That’s exactly what New York City did with their High Line elevated railroad. Being too expensive to tear down, it sat there unused until Mayor Bloomberg gave the go-ahead to make it a park.

Situated in the Chelsea district, it is a lovely little oasis of green in a sea of concrete. Natural plantings of grasses, trees and native wildflowers give New Yorkers a nice place to stroll, relax or people watch (indeed, the Standard Hotel received the nickname of “The Eyeful Tower” when hotel guests started treating night-time High Liners to their own little exhibitions).

Old flatcars have been made into chaise lounges for sun soaking and many of the old rails are still in place and artfully incorporated into the design of the garden.

I’m always delighted when I see something big and ugly become something big and beautiful, but what I’m especially happy about is that the High Line has created habitat for wildlife where there was none before. The grasses and wildflowers are a rich seed source for many small birds. The trees create a mini forest in the city. The only addition I would suggest would be nesting boxes for birds in the spring.

At the far end is an amphitheater facing huge glass windows that look down on 10th street.

Sitting in the amphitheater watching people go by on the street was fun, but being on the other end and looking up to see them all watching you was a little strange.
Currently the High Line runs about a half mile, but on completion of the next phases, will extend 2 kilometers. Good Job, New York!

The Oregon Garden - A Pleasant Winter Walk

2010-01-22T13:32:00.000-08:00

Any day without rain is a pleasant day in the Pacific Northwest, so when I found myself working up at the Oregon Garden Resort, I made sure I took time to stroll the lovely setting of The Oregon Garden below the resort. Even in the dead of winter I found much to inspire. The Golden Yucca below was quite vivid.

I have always enjoyed the silhouettes of trees...

...even if it is just so that bird nests are easier to find.

Winter Jasmine in a pot livens up the doorway.

Lightening-like white branches accentuate the shape of this weeping birch.

The Gate in the Children's Garden is entertaining in any weather.

A train chugging along through the Children's Garden delights visitors of all ages.

While I was browsing through the books in the Visitor Center, I picked up information on their annual Quilt Show - Stitches in Bloom - that is being held January 27th and 28th, so it looks like I might be taking a trip north again for the quilt show and another stroll through the gardens. For more information on the Quilt Show or The Gardens, click here.

Winterthur Children's Garden

2010-01-18T11:28:00.000-08:00

The Children's Garden at Winterthur was one of the most charming that I have played in. I visited it in September of 2009 with my daughter and neice, and even though none of us were children, we still have child-like hearts and enjoyed the garden to it's fullest.

This whimsical sign warned us to stay out of the fairy ring...

...but when Bryn (my daughter) disobeyed, she got sprayed with a jet of water.

We looked for Trolls under the Troll bridge, but they must have been out for lunch.

The Thatched Cottage was right out of a fairy tale.

Bryn sat on the throne, pretending to be a princess.

This little Fairy Door opened...

...so you could peek in the window at the fairy kitchen.

A giant nest proved most enticing...

...to Bryn and Nina who first "Hatched"...

...and then begged to be fed.

for more information on this great garden, click here.

A Virtual Stroll Through Longwood Gardens

2010-01-13T10:31:00.000-08:00

Longwood Gardens has always been on my wish list of gardens to visit and last summer my daughter and I were lucky enough to spend a week in Pennsylvania, touring gardens and taking in historic Philadelphia. Longwood proved to be even better than I expected.

One of the first sights I saw was this beautiful and intensely fragrant arch of Brugmansia.

The Conservatories at Longwood are spectacular (and massive).

There is a stunning indoor Children's Garden. It is centered around water and there were many little ones playing in the water and having a grand time. These storks blow bubbles in their basin.

The conservatories are climate controlled so it is very comfortable to spend the entire day here, which you could easily do.

The Orchid Room smelled heavenly.

Longwood has the most pristine waterlily and lotus ponds I have ever seen. Dead foliage and flowers are removed daily and the water is dyed black so it is more reflective and also inhibits algae growth.

The Gardens are famous for their huge fountains and shows go on all day long.

However, I preferred the smaller Italian Garden and it's lovely formal fountains.

There are 3 tree houses in the garden and they are all wonderful. One had a glass beehive in it with a volunteer who explained the life cycle of bees.

We spent all day in this fantastic garden and could easily have come back for another day or two. I highly recommend a visit.

Before and After - The Sitting Garden

2010-01-07T14:41:00.001-08:00

I sometimes get jaded and feel like I'm spinning my wheels. That is the time I bring out the "before and after" pictures to show myself that the world is turning and the flowers are growing and all is well.

The Sitting Garden - Before

The Sitting Garden - After

The Sitting Garden in 3 Stages of growth

Fire and Form in the January Garden

2010-01-05T08:09:00.000-08:00

January doesn't have to be a blah month. Brighten it up with these colorful and shapely choices.

Coral Bark Maple with Hoar Frost.

Mahonia 'Charity' makes a great winter companion for Red Twig Dogwood.

Vibrant in both color and fragrance, Witchhazel 'Ruby Glow' is a favorite.

A combination of Red Twig Dogwood (in the back) and 'Mid-Winter Fire' Dogwood (front) creates a dazzling display even on the darkest days.

Cyclamen give a ground-level glow to the winter garden.

Flame Willow adds a stylish complement to conifers.

The winter plum coloring of Cryptomeria japonica 'Elegans' makes it a show-stopper.

The stark white pollards at the Getty Garden in Los Angeles give a bright dimension against the brilliant blue sky.

Weeping Pussywillows can become quite ragged and blobbish unless cascade-pruned.

Take advantage of winter to appreciate the silhouettes of Japanese Maples.

Ghostly Birches stand guard in the Oregon Garden.

Some of these pictures have been used on other posts on this blog, but I have used them again for emphasis on January. Please forgive.

Virtual Garden Tour of Stourhead

2009-12-28T14:31:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Tiny Tours- a little virtual something to help you through the doldrums of winter.
I'm starting our tours with Stourhead, in England, since it's one of my very favorite gardens. Not overly flashy, but extremely serene and peaceful.

The Gate into the Estate is quite beautiful in itself.

The stables were outrageous. Such lucky horses!

One of the first gardens you come to at Stourhead is the Walled Garden. There were many bright flowers and huge flocks of butterflies. Most of the garden is quite natural and green. This is one of the few places with riotous color.

The drive up to the house is lined with 600 year old chestnut trees.

I didn't have time to tour the house (next time). Thought the cattle out front were quite interesting. The statues on the roof were originally in the temple of Apollo, but they were vandalized so much, they were put up out of reach.

The route around the lake is 2 miles, but there is so much to see that it wasn't even a question of whether we would walk it all, but rather of how long it would take us.
This is the Palladian Bridge. It crosses a tiny bay in the lake. From the Pantheon, across the lake, it looks like the bridge crosses a river that empties into the lake. Nice little bit of visual trickery.

From the Palladian Bridge, you can get a view of the Temple of Apollo up on the hilltop.

The Pantheon is a photographer's dream. There are a number of places to photograph it on the route around the lake.

Here is the Grotto, seen from the lake side.

The River Maid sits behind a small bathing pool in the Grotto.

There are a number of ancient trees that prove the age of these gardens.

The Gothic Cottage was off limits when I was there because the slate roof was causing weight problems. They had scheduled to remove the slate and re roof in the original thatch. I imagine that project is complete now.

Wildlife was abundant. I was enchanted by this mama coot trying to coax her baby into the water.

The Temple of Apollo sits high above the lake. There is a fork in the path before you get to the temple which reflects life. You can go to the right and the way is steep and rocky, but you are rewarded by a visit to the temple and outstanding views of the lake. Or you can go left and the path is level and smooth, but there are no rewards. (PS the rocky, steep path was worth it.)

A view of the tiny island from the Temple of Apollo.

A churchyard at the end of the walk revealed some exquisite headstones, many so old you could no longer read the writing on them.

What's Blooming?

2009-12-22T12:40:00.000-08:00

I can't find a single thing blooming outdoors after our deep freeze last week, so I'm posting pictures of my kitchen windowsill, which keeps my spirits up during the drearier days of winter.

This is the sight that greats me each day when I step into the kitchen.

I got this orchid from my beloved brother who raises them and has greenhouses full of these exotic beauties. He lets me take home blooming plants as long as I bring them back before I kill them. The Gardenia next to it gives me a little tropical jolt when I give it a good sniff.

I love this green amaryllis. I'm one of those people who likes the oddball plants.

Winter Warriors and Spring Promises

2009-12-18T11:30:00.000-08:00

Our deep freeze has thawed and temps are back to normal. Today is a balmy 55 degrees with no rain. I took this opportunity to wander through the garden and make note on what survived with gusto (warriors) and what is a piddly mound of mush (non-warriors).

Almost all of the conifers emerged unscathed. This little beauty is my favorite Cryptomeria called 'Little Diamond'.

Although most of the plant mushed out to a brown mess, the pulmonarias showed some serious constitution by popping out new growth instantly. You can't keep a good pulmonaria down.

This whole vignette is made up of warriors. The Hebe armstrongii in the forground didn't even shrug. The Euonymus and Eleagnus in the back are tough cookies. What suprized me was the golden cypress that was given to me with the promise that it would break my heart because it wasn't hardy here. Well....it is.

With the deepening winter also comes the promise of spring and I go out regularly hunting for little treasures. This is the bud of Ribes 'Elk River Red'. I can't wait for the ribes (flowering currant) to bloom, because the hummingbirds always show up with the currant flowers.

Last year our temperature didn't get as cold, but we had some serious wind which resulted in this Garrya Elliptica 'James Roof' getting dessicated so badly I had to cut it back by half. This year, even with the cold, it held up great because we didn't have the wind.

As I walked through the garden, I also noted that the tips of the Reticulata Iris and the Snowdrops are popping through the soil. This is the beginning of a daily pasttime called "Snout Hunting". Each time I see the snout of a spring treasure erupting from the earth, it brings a special thrill.

For all of you who have enquired about Molina, my office cat... She is doing very well, living on a shelf in my bathroom, where she feels safe from our wussy dog. She finally came out of the bathroom on her own a few days ago and yesterday she took a walk through the garden outside, accompanied by Foos, who she thought of as a great bother.

Brrrrr.....It's Cold!

2009-12-10T13:28:00.001-08:00

For the past few days, we have been getting very cold weather. Down to 10 degrees at night and never above freezing during the day. I took my office cat, Molina, home with me because it's too cold for her to be outside at night. So she's enjoying the warm nights in my house with 12 other cats that I can't bear to pitch out into the cold.

The cold has brought some serendipitous treats though, like the ice sculpture that our fountain created. Quite lovely.

So what do you do when it gets this cold? If you are lucky enough to have some snow with it, don't worry too much, the snow will insulate the plants. If it's dry, and no snow, you can do several things. Throwing sheets over tender shrubs will help keep desiccating winds from drying them out and causing further damage. A product on the market called "Wilt-Pruf" helps by coating the plant with a waxy substance that preserves moisture, but it needs to be applied before the freeze. Here at the Village Green, we have a "Survival of the Fittest" philosophy. If we lose a plant to the cold, we replace it with something equally interesting, but a bit hardier.

Poinsettia Care

2009-12-02T11:26:00.001-08:00

'Tis the season for poinsettias and a little understanding can keep yours looking great well into the New Year.
Brrr...it's cold outside. And nothing feels the cold quite like a poinsettia. A good shock of cold air can defoliate your poinsettia in record time. Therefore when purchasing poinsettias, do not buy any that are sitting next to an outside door or in a draft. Purchase your poinsettia and get it right home. If you're running errands, get the poinsettia last. It will not appreciate sitting in a cold car. When you get it home. make sure it is placed out of the path of drafts.
Lighting is important. Your poinsettia will do best in bright, but not direct light.
Just like you and me, poinsettias like dry feet. Water only when the top inch of soil is dry and then make sure there is no water left standing in the saucer or pot wrapper. If you want to leave it in the pot wrapper, punch some holes in the bottom of it and place on a saucer. Leaving your plant sitting in water will spell certain death.
The red "flowers" are not flowers at all, but bracts (or modified leaves). The actual flowers are the little yellow things in the center. When choosing a poinsettia, choose one whose flowers (yellow thingys, remember) are not open fully. This is a less mature plant and it will last longer.
And not all poinsettias are red anymore. They now come in many shades of red, pink, white, yellow and orange and you can even find plants that have been dyed purple or blue or whatever. The bracts also come in several styles. There are rosette forms and marbled varieties.
The garden centers are bursting this time of year with all types and you should have no trouble finding your favorite and keeping happy for the Holidays.

Thabks to Gray's Garden Center, Eugene, Oregon, for allowing me to photgraph their poinsettias.

Garden Labeling

2009-11-25T09:17:00.000-08:00

Over the years I have experimented with many different types of labeling. I started out, as many of us have, by sticking the labels that came with the plant into the ground next to it as I planted. Not only was this ugly, but these labels are cheap and disposable and degrade in the sunlight to the point that within a year they shatter. There is nothing fun about kneeling by a plant and picking up a hundreds tiny bits of shattered white plastic.
So I graduated on to sturdy plastic stakes that I wrote on with a sharpie. Not long after I learned that sharpies wear off within a year and I'm left with a blank label. Great for temporary labeling, but disastrous when trying to remember the name of some rare little something wonderful. Another thing I found really annoying with the white stakes was they looked like little headstones placed throughout the garden.
I finally began to hit on something great while I was visiting the Van Dusen Garden in Vancouver, British Columbia. They had black labels with white lettering. They were very unobtrusive, yet easy to find. I called the garden when I got home and talked to the volunteer who headed up their labeling program and she was very helpful. They bought their stakes from a Canadian company, but I was able to find black stakes through a wholesaler here in the States. The labeling was done with a Brother labeling machine, available at any office supply store. The hardest part was finding the label tape that is black with white lettering. Some office supply stores carry it, but you may have to special order it. It's also more expensive than the white tape.
I was told by the lady at Van Dusen that these labels would last for at least 3 years, but I have most of my original labels that I made 9 years ago, still intact and looking good. If the label is getting direct sun, the stake will fade to a charcoal grey color after 5 years or so, but it still is very unobtrusive.

This is an interesting way to label shrubs or trees. The label is just for the purpose of identification by the gardener. It isn't easy to read from the path. But if that's all you need. it works great. The wire slides as the shrub or tree grows, limiting the possibility of girdling.

One last tip - If I have a perennial that I think I may remember, but I'm not sure, I usually bury the label that came with it alongside it as I plant. The label will usually stay intact without the sunlight on it and if I forget what it is, I can find out again when I dig it up to divide it.

Appreciating Winter

2009-11-18T13:42:00.000-08:00

Winter is the least favorite season for most gardeners, but it doesn't have to be all drudgery and misery. Keeping a positive attitude and looking for the beauty in winter goes a long way. The garden isn't dead, it's only sleeping, and walking through the garden on a frosty morning, you can see many of her dreams.
A few tricks I came up with to appreciate gloomy days are:
*Foggy days are now misty days. Mist sounds more magical than fog.
*The structure of the garden is much easier to see in the winter.
*Mosses are verdant, velvety accents.
*Seedheads left up in the garden feed the birds and add rustly sounds.
There are many plants that add interest to a winter garden. I would never be without Sarcococca (Fragrant blooms in January) and Daphne odora (fragrant blooms in February). I planted them by my front door so I can enjoy their fragrance as I go in and out. They both need shade in the summer, so plant them on the east or north side of the house by a door or window.
Hellebores bloom from late January into late March and then hold their bracts in muted tones much longer. New breeding has come up with fabulous colors and forms.
Witch hazels are another excellent choice for a winter garden. Most bloom in January -March and some are fragrant. My favorites are 'Ruby Glow', Jelena, and 'Sunburst'.

This picture of Hamamelis 'Ruby Glow' was taken on January 24th. It has wonderful fragrance and beautiful flowers. An added bonus is spectacular foliage color in the fall.

Flame Willow gives brilliant color in the winter. These plants benefit from a hard cutting back in the spring. The best color is one new wood. They grow back with amazing speed. Picture taken January 17th

Coral Bark Maple is another bright barked tree that glows in the winter. Picture taken October 21st

Snow is beautiful in the trees and on the ground. Ignore the negative aspects of it and savor the small gifts like these quail tracks. Picture taken March 9th.

Rime on roses is a sublime treat. Anytime there is heavy frost in the garden is a good time to get out with the camera. Picture taken November 27th by Greg Smith

A single Hellebore blossom frozen in a basin is a thing of beauty. Picture taken January 19th

From Ugh to Awesome for $0

2009-11-05T12:51:00.001-08:00

I have learned that there are good things that come from a recession. One of them is creativity. When faced with projects that have no budget, what do we do?
One of my autumn projects is to replant the planters in front of the lodge. I usually fill them up with sword ferns, cyclamens, maybe some pansies and flowering kale. But this year there was no money for fall planters. Many of the plants I had in them over the summer were done, leaving more plants dead than living. Before I could wring my hands in dismay, however, Melinda (our so-savvy manager) reminded me of a planter I had done last year using twigs and berries and evergreen boughs. So off I went, clippers in hand to gather whatever I thought would look good stuck into the dirt of the planters. I concentrated on things that I knew would hold over for a long while. I didn’t want to have to do the planter over anytime soon. I collected artichokes, Corsican hellebore, cotoneaster berries, pyracantha berries, callicarpa berries (purple), red twig dogwood branches, rosemary, rosehips, gourds, small white pumpkins, and laurel clippings. I started by wetting the soil well and then just stuck the branches in until I had built up a pleasing arrangement. Most of these elements should last a month or more. Some will last all winter. I can remove anything that looks ratty later and add season favorites like holly and juniper. Where I would normally have spent approximately $150 - $200 for fall plants, I now have all of my planters done for free.

Rake or Hammock. Hmm...

2009-11-04T15:15:00.000-08:00

Today was one of those perfect Fall days. Sunny, cool, colorful and that wonderful smell that comes with falling leaves. I did some light pruning, planted some elephant garlic in the Children’s Garden and moved compost. It feels great to be out in the sun.
Long ago, I used to teach a class called “Putting the Border to Bed”. In it I would outline all of the tasks for autumn, including clipping all perennials back and cleaning the ground spotless. I don’t do that anymore. One reason is that a super tidy garden is not conducive to wildlife habitat. The birds and the beneficial insects like a little leaf litter here and there to rummage around in and hide under. Perennial seed heads left up offer an abundance of seeds for little birds. A certain amount of leaf litter adds insulation to the soil and feeds it as it breaks down.
After a good storm I love to walk through the woodland, picking up small branches that have fallen from the trees and breaking them into smaller pieces. Then I toss them back into the woodland to decay and nourish the plants there. Large, matting leaves are removed from the woodland so that they don’t smother the plants beneath them, but smaller leaves, such as Raywood Ash and Japanese Maple are left where they fall. Larger branches are piled on the side as habitat for toads, frogs, newts and such which help keep the garden free of pests.
A wonderful book, which I re-read often, is Mirabel Osler’s “A Gentle Plea for Chaos”. It reminds us that the best gardens are where we gently sculpt Mother Nature, not dominate her completely. Let the roses ramble a bit, don’t be too quick with the rake and look at your garden from the viewpoint of the little creatures that live there.

Berries + Birds = Beauty

2009-10-26T11:59:00.000-07:00

Last week I was in my office and looked out at a stand of Mountain Ash trees that is in the corner of the lawn. The trees were moving, but not in the way the wind would cause them to move. On closer examination, I realized that they were filled with cedar waxwings gorging themselves on the berries. A few hours later I noticed that migrating robins had joined the feast. Within a day, all the berries were gone.
I love the huge clusters of red berries on the Mountain Ash (botanical name, Sorbus) but I really love seeing the birds on them. I certainly don’t begrudge them their meal. In fact, front and center in the garden outside my office is a large pine tree that has been loosing it’s battle with pine borers. I know that I will eventually have to take it down. So when two Mountain Ash trees sprouted under it, I left them, hoping they would get a little size on them before I took the pine out. They are now 10-12 feet tall and had their own berries this year to feed the wildlife. They also have lovely white flowers in the spring – an added bonus.
I heartily recommend this tree to anyone who wants a medium sized tree in their garden. I would caution not to locate it over a patio or sidewalk since the berries and the birds can make a bit of a mess. You will also have to weed out a few stray tree seedlings from areas where you don’t want them. Mountain Ash may not be the most exotic or unusual tree on the market, but it is worth having for it’s beauty and it’s place in the bird food chain. There are many different varieties of Sorbus available, but I don’t think the birds find much different about them. So ask your nurseryman about their favorite and see what you think.

A Good Book, A Warm Fire, A Great Garden

2009-10-23T11:05:00.000-07:00

Top: Viburnum 'Pink Sensation', Center: Magnolia 'Vulcan', Bottom: Magnolia 'Caerhays Belle'

Today it is raining and cold outside. I don’t mind being wet. And I don’t mind being cold. But I hate being both. So it’s a good day to stay indoors. I have my favorite cat and a new book that I’ve been waiting impatiently for. It is “The Gossler Guide to the Best Hardy Shrubs” by Roger, Eric and Marjory Gossler.
Roger is a good gardening buddy of mine that I have known for quite a number of years. He likes to talk, but unlike most people who talk a lot, he actually has something to say. Whenever I am around him, I feel like the eager student in front of the brilliant professor.
The Gossler family raise the best and the unusual. They are a haven for the plant collector, but should be seriously considered by the average homeowner as well. As the blurb on their dust jacket points out, most housing developments are planted with the same generic landscape plants. These boring shrubs are chosen for the same reason that the cardboard–flavored tomatoes are chosen for the supermarket. They grow fast and they ship well. But these insipid shrubs are just as tateless as the tomatoes. To get a ripe, juicy, knock-your-socks-off shrub, you need to go somewhere like Gosslers. Here are just a few of the trees and shrubs that the Gossler family has turned me on to:
Magnolia ‘Caerhays Bell’ – I had no idea what the bloom would look like. Roger said I needed it, so I bought it. It bloomed it’s second year and the blooms were HUGE, iridescent and bubblegum pink.
Calycanthus ‘Hartlage Wine’ – Guests here at the resort ooh and ahh over it and write the name down on their assorted scraps of paper which they reverently tuck into their pockets like the treasure that it is.
Edgeworthia - I love winter blooming shrubs. This one is stunning for it’s silver felted buds and bright yellow flowers.
Species Rhododendrons – Living in the Pacific Northwest, I was seriously jaded about Rhodies until Roger showed me some that have the most spectacular foliage.
Illicium anisatum – Another WOW plant we have growing in the woodland. Fragrant foliage and confetti flowers.
Chionanthus (Fringe Tree) – White, silky fringy flowers. A stunning small tree.
Fothergilla ‘Mount Airy’ – An absolute knock-out in the fall. The color is so intense it will burn a hole in your retina.
Viburnum ‘Pink Sensation’ – A lovely russet pink snowball viburnum.
Hamamelis- Witch hazels have become one of my favorite plants since being introduced to them many years ago by the Gosslers. They flower in winter, are a graceful shrub during the summer and then have vibrant color for the fall. What more can you ask.
Magnolia ‘Vulcan’ – A deep ruby red. This tree grew and flowered quickly and gets rave reviews from guests each spring.
There are many more shrubs and trees that have made their way from the Gossler Nursery to our gardens. If you want to spice up your garden with a plant that will awe your neighbors, check out their book, available through Timber Press and then get on line (http://www.gosslerfarms.com/) or call for a catalog at 541-746-3922. For a real treat, call for an appointment and visit the nursey where you will also find an awesome display garden.

Cats in the Garden

2009-10-17T19:11:00.001-07:00

We talked a while back about gardening with Dogs, but what about all of my kindred spirits out there who are cat people? And what about you poor folks who’s neighbors are cat people?
It seems the worst thing about gardening with cats is finding little “presents” in the flower bed while you are digging. Kitties seem to like the same loose soil that plants do. There are a number of ways to deal with this, some more appealing than others.
I have a brick planter in front of my house, covered by an overhanging roof. In the winter, the soil in this planter is much dryer than soil in the outlying areas, so the cats would use the planter as their bathroom, leaving a rather offensive smell. I cured this by throwing several tangerines in a blender with some water and pouring it along the back of the planter. The cats don’t like the smell of citrus, especially tangerine and left it alone for a good month or more. Another idea that works is to keep the soil moist. Cats search hi and low for a dry spot to poop in. I eventually solved the problem for good by planting a low, evergreen hedge (sarcococca) in the planter and keeping it trimmed tightly so there is no room for cats to get in underneath and dig. Now I’m rewarded with the sweet-smelling winter flowers of the sarcococca instead of the not-so-sweet smell of cat scat.
Similar problems can arise in the winter with cats digging beneath your deck where the soil is dry. Skirting around the deck is just about the only way to cure this.
I think the worst problem with cats is finding cat poo in your vegetable garden. You don’t poop in their food dish, why would they think this is OK? There are several ways to handle this. One friend remarked that since they had built a deer fence around their garden, they didn’t have deer, but they also didn’t have the annoyance of cats. If you don’t live in deer country though, fencing your garden to this degree can be a little drastic. You could try fencing around the garden with 5’ wire fencing with 2” openings, but you will have to use metal posts since a cat can (and will) climb a wooden post. Since the cats are looking for loose dirt, one friend of mine sticks plastic forks – tines up- in any patch that he has just cultivated. He keeps a bucket of them by the garden path. Another friend keeps the cats out of the garden by giving them their own sandbox at the back of the property. Believe it or not, I think this has been the best solution out of all of them. The cats would much rather poop in sand than have to dig in irrigated soil, so they use that and leave the rest of the garden alone.
My last solution is any one of the sprays available to keep animals away from your garden, but you won’t want to spray this on your vegetables and you need to repeat spray often.
Since we have talked at length about cats and their bad habits, in all fairness, I think I should also include some fun elements to put in the garden for those of us who do love our cats. The first is height. A cat loves to climb and have high spots to survey their domain. The carpeted cat towers are great for a covered back porch or deck. A wooden ladder leaning against a tree can be great fun. They also love warmth. Our cat, Dashiel had a favorite flat rock by the studio that he loved to sleep on in the sun. When he died we buried him under it so now it’s his headstone. Patio chairs are often claimed by the cats to sun themselves on. If this bothers you, give them their own sunny blanket or towel somewhere else.
Last but not least – Spay or neuter your cat so that we don’t increase the population. Free kittens are always available at your local shelter, you don’t need to grow your own.
If you have other tips and tricks about living with cats, I’d love to post them on the blog. Simply reply in the comment box.

Autumn Seed Toss

2009-10-09T10:05:00.001-07:00

Above: Shoo Fly Plant - Nicandra

Below: Kiss-Me-Over-The-Garden-Gate

Polyganum orienatale (Persicaria orientale).

As I walk around the gardens this late summer day, I am noticing all of the holes where nothing was planted this year. I’m not particularly apologetic about it. The recent event where the economy met the crapper has cut our staff down to a skeleton crew, and still they managed to keep the gardens looking lovely. But in an attempt to trouble shoot for next year, I am realizing that many of these holes can be filled up next year with annuals that we grow in-situ with seeds.
You may ask what gave me this brilliant brainstorm. It is, simply, the Kiss-Me-Over-The-Garden-Gate that grows around the entrace to our gardens. This annual, botanically known as Polyganum orientale (aka Persicaria orientale) self-seeds itself every year and comes up each spring all on it’s own. Each year at our festival in September, we have multitudes of visitors asking what it is and where they can get it. One frustrated lady tracked down my e-mail address and lamented that she hadn’t been able to find it in any nursery. Well, no, you probably won’t. The only time I have seen it offered in the nursery was when they came out with a new variety a few years ago. It had variegated leaves and paler flowers, but didn’t have the same “Oomph” as the original. I haven’t seen it since.
So how do you get it? Find someone who has some, steal or beg some seeds and toss them into your garden immediately (as in now, autumn). Don’t till the soil first, don’t bother covering them up. Just toss them. Next spring they will come up with two oval, pointed leaves and bright red stems. Thin them out a bit and then keep them watered. By fall you will have 6’ plants dripping with dark pink-red flowers.
There are other annuals that will come back year after year by reseeding. Nigella (Love in a mist), Nicandra (Shoo Fly Plant), and Datura meteloides (poisonous) all reseed each fall and come back each spring with no effort on our part. One caveat is that if you want to get rid of these plants, you may have to weed them out several years before they are completely gone. But I would never want to get rid of them myself.
Other annuals that grow well with little preperation are Marigolds, Zinnias, Morning Glories (Ipomea varieties are not invasive like bindweed), Amaranth, and Cosmos. These just need to have the soil worked up a bit, a little fertilizer added and then plant and water.
Seeds are so much cheaper than plants and you don’t need a greenhouse to start many of the annuals available. The hardest part is waiting for the soil to warm up enough before you plant them. Put them in too early and they’ll rot. I wait until May for most of the annuals. If you have to get a quicker show, start them on a windowsill in April.

Steal a Little Creative Inspiration

2009-10-04T10:17:00.001-07:00

I am a collector and a thief…..I steal clever ideas from other gardens and collect them in photographs, lists, and tattered folders. I rarely, if ever use these ideas exactly as I stole them, but I collect them and then go through them, touch them, experience them and then create my own version of these bold strokes of creativity. They are my muses, my mentors and my teachers.
For instance, after years of photographing other gardens, I have finally realized that what attracts me first are the elements that would attract a child. Anything whimsical, creative, cute or clever. I may take a picture of the black taro to have in my files, but it’s the beautiful ironwork grate that covers the mundane drain that really catches my eye and begs to be photographed.
On a recent trip to Chanticleer, in Pennsylvania, I took picture after picture of their Apple House. Originally a small cellar-like structure for storing apples, they had painted murals of chipmunk holes on the inside and made it a completely charming little piece of the garden.
Another idea that I stole with my camera is their habit of putting brightly colored chairs, usually in pairs, all over the garden. A little bit garden art, a little bit invitation to sit and rest, enjoy the view, stay awhile.
My daughter, Bryn was with me for this trip and I could see the same excitement sparked in her inner child as I felt in my own. She loved the restrooms that were created to look like a Japanese dwelling, the creative ironwork or woodwork that graced every bridge, and the clever little boxes that held the plant lists for each garden.
The feature that blew us both away was The Ruin. Not sure if it was an actual ruin of a stone house or whether it was created, but it was sublime in it’s detail. Stone books graced the library, a giant stone “pool table” mesmerized us both (and the pun was not lost on either of us).
I had planned to “skim” through this garden on our way to another, but even though we were exhausted from catching the red-eye flight from Eugene just 14 hours earlier, no sleep, a nightmare experience with the rental car agency and hot, humid weather, we ended up spending many hours basking in the creativity of this garden.
Notice how I have written about this garden without mentioning any of the plants? The plants were equally clever and beautiful and bountiful – not a hole in any single garden, but what made it beyond special was all of the little artistic touches outside of the plants.
So here’s a challenge for you. Go through the pictures you took at your last garden tour, or garden show. Check out how many were of plants and how many were of clever little accents. I think it’s a very powerful lesson on designing any garden.

A Gift for Autumn

2009-09-09T07:08:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, as I walked through the Woodland, I noticed four of the cyclamen in the Woodland were blooming. When I returned after a 3 day week-end, there were forty. In another few weeks, there will be closer to 400 or more. These little harbingers of autumn are so delicate, you would expect them to bloom in the summer, but in a turn of the clock, they start blooming in fall and often bloom well into the winter. The variety I’m talking about is cyclamen hederifolium or, literally ivy leaved cyclamen. The foliage emerges not long after the flowers and is patterned in silver. The foliage will last long after the flowers fade, finally disappearing in the late spring as it goes dormant for the summer.
These little beauties grow off of a corm that can start out the size of a cherry pit and eventually become as large as a saucer. They don’t tolerate much water in the summer, while they are dormant, so put them in a spot away from the irrigation.
I buy them in the winter and plant them in our planters by the front door, then when they fade, I take them down to the woodland and tuck them in with the rest of the patch.
By spring, you will notice seed pods the size of a small marble attached to tendrils wrapped up like a spring. The seeds are often carried off by insects, such as ants that eat the waxy coating and then drop the rest of the seed along the trail back to the ant nest, so it is not uncommon to find a line of cyclamen seedlings leading away from the original patch. Since the little darlings seed so freely, you will soon have a respectful patch without any large investment.

Weed or Wildflower?

2009-08-13T11:36:00.000-07:00

I’ve heard a weed described as “any plant that is growing where you don’t want it to be”. So by that terminology, a rose may be a weed if it’s not growing in the right place. But what about when you have a plant commonly thought of as a weed that is growing in the right place?
A few years ago, some of the plant known as Common Mullein (Verbascum) showed up in our garden. I knew this weed from seeing it growing in ditches and disturbed areas. I liked it’s grey, velvety rosette of leaves, so I left it for a while. I planned to pull it at the end of the year. Mullein is a biennial and will form a rosette of leaves the first year and then send up a flower spike the next. I didn’t want it to flower because one mullein can produce 180,000 seeds which can stay viable in the soil for 100 years (no lie!) But I didn’t get around to pulling it out. So the next year, my mullein plant sent up a spike of soft yellow flowers. It was stunningly architectural and in just the right spot, so I decided it could stay, but I promised myself I would pull it out before it set seed. Fortunately, I have a way of procrastinating and being rewarded by wonderful happenings.
On the day I was finally going to get around to pulling out the mullein, I was astonished to see the tall seed spikes covered with goldfinches. One stalk held 14 of the beautiful little yellow birds hungrily devouring the seeds. This clearly was a two-for-the-price-of- nothing bargain. So I gathered some of the seed and scattered it around other parts of the garden (I can hear some of you shuddering). The next year I had more stately mulleins and consequently, more goldfinches. Since then I have noticed that it’s not just the goldfinches that love the seeds, but also the chickadees and this morning I saw a nuthatch working it’s way up and down a spike gathering seed. Since the seedlings are very easy to weed out (and make excellent compost), I feel like this is one weed that I can welcome into the garden. I have had mulleins in the garden for 6 years now and would feel deprived without it.
Another plant, that I used to think of as a weed, is Portuguese Laurel. It grows extremely fast and drops it’s messy fruit over patios and driveways. The birds that come in to eat the fruit drop purple poop over everything else. BUT… Those birds are very often Cedar Waxwings. Whole, huge flocks of them, happily hopping from branch to branch gorging themselves on the small black fruits. Luckily, our Portuguese Laurel is not hanging over any patios or driveways and if we can locate a bench just far enough to avoid a purple poo bath, we can sit and listen to their delicate chatter and admire their beauty.

FYI - Mark your calendars for the 7th Annual Gathering of Gardeners on September 19th and 20th. This festival and symposium is held every year in the gardens at the Village Green.

Saturday at noon we will host Territorial Seed Company's Great Northwest Tomato Taste-Off.

There will be vendors selling plants, tools, garden art and food. plus live music on the stage.

Lectures this year are:

"Proper Pruning at the Proper Time" - Scott Altenhoff

Late Season Vegetable Gardening - Josh Kirschenbaum

Native Plants in the Neighborhood - Mike Nehls

For more information, visit http://www.gardenersevents.com/

Bambi or Beast

2009-08-03T11:30:00.000-07:00

With housing developments sprawling wildly across the country, it should come as no surprise that we suddenly have deer in our back yard. Yet we are surprised - and filled with anxiety - and angry when the plants we so carefully nurture are browsed down to stubs. While we hoped that the deer would just relocate in the hills, we must face the fact that the hills are covered in houses too and the only refuge for many deer is the back yards of America.
There are ways of co-existing, but it means making a few sacrifices and doing a lot of thinking on the same level as a deer. If you think carefully about what it would be like to be a deer, you can easily comprehend what they desire and are comfortable with and what they don’t like and are fearful of.
Enclosure – Deer usually won’t jump a fence if they can’t see where they are going to land, so fences have to be either too high to jump – 7 feet minimum, or solid enough that they can’t see through them or over them. If they can jump into your garden from an uphill point, you may want to consider other tactics besides fencing. If you have a very large area that makes fencing cost prohibitive, you could consider fencing a small area (artistically, of course) and using that area for a sitting garden with all the roses, and tender delicacies that the deer love, using tougher, nasty tasting plants for the outer perimeter.
Discomfort – There are ways that you can make the deer uncomfortable enough that they stay out of your garden, preferring the neighbor’s stress-free environment instead. Heavy duty fencing with 2 inch openings can be fashioned into “foot traps” by cutting sections approximately 2’x 4’ and bending the ends down 4 inches so the fencing is slightly elevated off the ground. These sections can then be laid on the ground and groundcovers planted around them. The groundcover will quickly cover the fencing. The deer will not walk on the groundcover because they don’t like the sensation of their hooves getting caught in the 2” spacing in the wire. Anything planted behind a 4-foot deep border like this will be fairly well protected. Other tricks consist of stringing fishing line across their paths, and running short lengths of electric fencing with peanut butter-smeared pieces of foil attached to it. The deer will taste the peanut butter- once.
Deterrents – There are many deterrents on the market for deer. Most sprays are egg based and need to be reapplied often. More natural deterrents like blood meal and carnivore urine usually deter most gardeners as well. Bars of soap tied into the plants sometimes work, as does human hair, but are really ugly. Chicken wire around trees will keep the deer from browsing on the new growth, but when the males are rubbing the velvet off their antlers, that chicken wire makes a great scrubber. Besides, chicken wire, soap mobiles and little bags of smelly blood meal are not conducive to paradise.
So what if enclosing, harassing and deterring doesn’t work? Than it may be time to adapt.
The best way to keep deer damage to a minimum is to populate your garden with plants they don’t care for. Like children shunning the Veggie Bar for the McDonalds next door, the deer will decide that they would rather dine on your neighbor’s roses than on your nasty-tasting hellebores. Below are a few plants that add great beauty, yet hold no culinary interest for deer.

Daphne odora – This is a fabulous plant that blooms in February when every promise of spring is cherished. The small pink flowers are intensely, exotically fragrant. The waxy, lightly margined leaves are evergreen and lend an elegant element to the garden all year. Give this plant filtered shade and heavy pruning to keep it bushy.

Liriope – Recent introductions have been taking Liriope out of the shadows and into the spotlight. L. ‘Silver Dragon’ is a breathtaking beauty with the iridescence and arrogance of a rooster’s tail. A shimmering silver stripe runs down the arching blades, adding sparkle to a shady garden.

Aconitum – For those of us who desperately want delphiniums (a deer delicacy) aconitum is a terrific substitute. It comes in different shades of blue, purple, yellow and cream on tall spires. By planting a variety of different species, you can get bloom over a long period of time. Prefers moist, fertile soil in partial shade. One caveat – Aconitum is extremely poisonous.

Hellebores – Also called Lenten Rose and Christmas Rose because of their extremely early bloom periods, these plants are not roses at all, which is good news for gardeners in deer country. They bloom in different shades of white, cream, yellow, green, pink, purple and nearly black. Hellebores have a delicate demeanor that belies their tough constitution. To keep them happy, give them filtered shade with a woodsy, humus-rich soil.

Ferns – With so much emphasis on texture, ferns are almost a necessity in the garden, and their deer-resistance is an added appeal. Deer Ferns (blechnum spicant), as their name implies, can frequently be found in deer country. They have both sterile and fertile fronds, which are quite different in appearance from each other. While the fertile fronds lie flat to the ground and are broader, the sterile fronds stand straight up out of the center of the plant and are very narrow. The resulting look is both elegant and otherworldly.

Allium – Allium is an architectural plant. There is an allium for every space in your garden. In the kitchen garden, of course, you may plant onions, garlic and chives – all allium members. The tall, purple-headed ‘Globemaster’ lends drama to the border with its vertical presence topped by a large purple ball of tiny florets. There are many dainty alliums that are at home in the rockery. A. thunbergi ‘Ozawa’ offers delicate blooms in September, A. acuminatum blooms in early summer. A few Alliums are so spectacular they can stand by themselves as accents or specimen plants. Allium schubertii has massive, airy heads the color and texture of lavender sheet metal. The illusion is of giant sparklers poised to explode at any second. Allium cristophii is another spectacular fireworks-type plant. Its head is not as airy as schubertii, but carries a profound impact nonetheless.

Note: Thanks to Scott Hoffine for the adorable picture of Bambi.

Rancid Peanut Butter and Crabapple Ammunition

2009-07-29T11:40:00.000-07:00

We’ve been having record breaking heat here in Oregon this week – 106 degrees yesterday – so I’ve been getting up early to work in the garden while the temperature is bearable. This morning I found my self cutting dead wood out of a Clerodendrum fargesii.
Clerodendrums and I have a love-hate relationship. I shouldn’t be surprised since among it’s common names is “Tree of Good Luck” and “Tree of Bad Luck”. They are brittle, borderline hardiness, the foliage smells like rancid peanut butter and if you prune them too heavy, or if they freeze back, they send up suckers everywhere and create a thicket. BUT in the fall they are my favorite tree. The Clerodendrum trichotomum (called also Harlequin Glorybower) is my choice for it’s creamy, intensely fragrant flowers in late summer. When the flower drops, a brick red calyx opens up, forming a perfect star with a metallic blue berry in the center. The glorybower makes a small tree about 18-12 feet tall. If you’re lucky, you can find a variegated form called “Stargazer”. Our Stargazer is over by the pool at the Village Green and it has a pale blue clematis (possibly Mrs. P. B. Truax) rambling through it. Yum.
Another nice family member is Clerodendrum bungei. It has medium sized mop heads of cerise pink buds that open up into a ball of flowers. Unfortunately, this clerodendrum is not fragrant like it’s big sister. It’s more shrubby, reaching about 4 feet tall.
The Clerodendrum fargesii that I was pruning in the bird habitat is not as nice as either of the two above, but it makes a fragrant thicket, which is a good thing to have in a bird habitat.
Another thicket plant we have in the bird habitat is sumac. Not a fancy one, just regular old sumac. It creates a perfect screen for birds to take shelter in.
None of these thicket plants is good for a postage stamp sized lot, but if you have a lot of space, thickets can be quite lovely and a haven for wildlife.
While I was in the Bird Habitat, I also noticed the Dolgo Crabapple hanging low to the ground, heavy with fruit. This crabapple is really lovely in the late summer. It’s fruit, the size of quarters, turn a deep cherry red. I grow it as an ornamental, but I imagine you could also make them into jelly. When I was a kid, we used crabapples for ammunition in neighborhood war games. They left a good welt, but they were plentiful and tasty too. When I first planted the Dolgo, I stood there and picked off about two thirds of the fruit to relieve the weight on the branches and keep them from splitting. It was a long, tedious job. But then I realized that if you take the branch and shake it a bit, a lot of the apples fall off and instantly thins the tree for you. So now a few minutes of shaking relieves the branches of their excess weight and supplies me with a nice pile of ammunition.. Garden war games anyone?

Are You WiltingYet?

2009-07-28T12:00:00.000-07:00

Outside my office, at this moment, it is nearing 100 degrees and it isn’t even noon yet. While many people are tucked into air conditioned buildings, or soaking in the lake, I know that there are a few of you who are still out in the garden. Whether by choice or because you work outside, here are a few tips to keep you a little bit cooler and healthier.

Protect skin with Sunscreen. Apply it throughout the day. Just doing it in the morning isn’t going to help you at 2:00 when the sun is the worst. Sunscreen towelettes are very handy to tuck into a pocket.

Protect your eyes with sunglasses. It’s possible to sunburn the whites of your eyes, which is not a pleasant feeling (it feels like a bunch of sand is in your eyes). Also, UV rays can do serious damage to your eyes. Get in the habit of putting your sunglasses on and leaving them on. You could be saving your vision. When buying sunglasses, check to make sure they have UV protection. If they’re safety glasses, that’s even better.

Eat for the Heat – Eat light lunches and then have a snack in the afternoon. Fruit gives you energy to make it that last few hours. Pretzels replenish the salt you’ve lost through sweat. Small cans of V8 also give you a boost along with a shot of salt. Sports drinks are good for replenishing sodium and electrolytes. Caffeine brings the blood closer to the surface of the skin and will actually make you feel hotter. If you must drink soda, drink something without caffeine. Water is even better.

Drink LOTS of water to avoid dehydrating. A good idea is to take a clean gallon jug. Fill it half full of water at night and freeze it (leave the top loose so it doesn’t burst). In the morning, fill it the rest of the way with water and you’ll have cold water all day. On hot days you should be drinking a minimum of 64 ounces of water. That’s ½ a gallon. You should be drinking water before you get thirsty.

Dress for Excess (Heat)-
Light colors are cooler than dark colors. Natural fibers will breathe better and keep you cool.

Hats are encouraged for outside workers. They keep your head cooler and shade your eyes and face from the sun. Cloth hats can be preferable to straw hats in that you can wet them down to keep you cooler.

Bandanas – Soaking a bandana in the sprinkler or with your ice water and tying it around your neck will also keep you cooler.

Powder – Powder in the summer will help keep you from getting that “sticky” feeling as you sweat. It will also make you feel cooler. Keep some garden caddy and dump some down your shirt (or your pants – honest) whenever you’re feeling particularly damp.

If possible, schedule work out in the open for the morning hours. During the hottest part of the day, do any work that needs done in shaded areas.

Be alert for signs of heat stress. If you start feeling light headed, nauseous, or shaky you need to get into the shade and get cooled off. Pour some water over your head, hands and feet. Severe cases of heat stroke can be fatal. If you have an elevated temperature, hot dry skin, confusion, headache or numbness you need to seek medical help immediately.

Dogs in the Garden

2009-07-27T10:47:00.000-07:00

I love animals and I have a lot of them. So I've learned the hard way how to garden with them. I consider my pets to be part of my family and I garden with them in mind, just as I garden with the people in my family in mind. Although a well-trained dog may stay out of areas where you don't want him, I find that giving in can go a long way when arguing with a mutt about a hole or a path. A garden is for the enjoyment of all. Even the pets. Although I'd like to cover all pets, today is for the dogs. Enjoy.

The best advice I have ever received for gardening with dogs is to let the dogs choose their paths and then garden around them. This is especially practical considering that different types of dogs will use a garden differantly. Terriers like to dig. Border collies and other herd dogs may want a circuit to run, and a guard dog will want to see what’s going on. Planting shrubs and trees a few feet inside a fenceline can give your dog a place to run each day without much noticable damage. One pet owner I talked to had a dog that would regularly jump their 6 foot fence until they cut a small window in it and screened it in with chickenwire. Now the dog can see what is going on outside and he no longer jumps the fence.
If you are designing a new garden, let the dog specify a route around the garden first, and then design around it. If the garden is already established, see which shrubs get regularly damaged and then consider moving them. It is easier to move the shrub than to train the dog, but if shrub relocation is not an option, then you can try different tactics such as temporary fencing to break up a dog trail, hoping that he’ll create one in a different area.
Digging can be a real pain to a gardener since dogs seldom dig where we actually want a hole. Try to understand why the dog is digging. Some dogs have it bred into them. They were vermin hunters that would dig out the rats or moles. These will be the toughest to work with. Chicken wire layed out under the mulch will deter this habit, but it is not particularly fun for the gardener either. I would try small pieces in areas where the digging is the worst before I would do any bigger areas.
Our big Mastif-mutt digs a huge hole each spring, but it is because he wants a cool place to lie in. Therefore, once he has dug his hole, he may dig on it more now and then to get to the cooler dirt, but he won’t dig any other holes in the garden. In the spirit of peace, I let him have his one, big hole each year and then fill it back in come autumn. I do try to persuade him to dig it in an out-of-the-way place though by digging a small hole over on the side of the yard. He is usually more than happy to expand my hole than to start a new one.
If you have a water dog who is getting into your fish pond, try netting over the pond for a few weeks along with setting up a rigid wading pool for the dog. If you play with him in the water, throwing his ball in, splashing him, etc, he may learn that this is his pool and leave yours alone.
For the problem of urine burns in the lawn, train your dog to use a specific area of the garden that is mulched or graveled for his toilet. You can usually train them easily by taking them out on a leash for a week or two to the spot where you want them to go and giving them praise after they do their business.

There are a few safety precautions to take into accord if you have pets in your garden. Many people are concerned about poisonous plants, and if you have a pet that chews on plants often, it would be wise to consult a poisonous plant list and choose your landscape accordingly, however, in 50 years of gardening and pet owning, I have never had a poisoned pet, even though I grew some highly poisonous plants. The bigger danger is from chemicals used on the plants. Poisoning from slug bait is a common and ghastly death in pets. If you must use slug bait, invest in one that is not poisonous to pets, such as Sluggo.
Pets can also be harmed by weed and feed applied to lawns (especially if they walk through it soon after application) or from pesticides applied to plants. A common problem is spray that drifts into a pet’s water bowl. If you truly love your pet and want to co-exist with them in your garden, consider going organic. HOWEVER – be aware that just because something is organic does not mean it isn’t poisonous. Organic only means that that product was once living. Nicotine, although perfectly organic, can be much more lethal than many chemical pesticides.
Some rather mundane products may be dangerous as well. If you have dogs, you should not use cocoa mulch. It smells like chocolate and dogs sometimes will eat lethal amounts of it.
Tools and toys can be dangerous to pets as well. Older pets can fall into swimming pools and not be able to escape. Barbeques should always be supervised around pets and gardening tools should be picked up and stored.

To make your garden a paradise for your pets, provide clean drinking water, shade on sunny days, a little entertainment (toys, trails, holes, etc) and a relaxed attitude about your landscape.

Quaint, custom doghouses can become garden art.
If you have a comfy dog bed in the shade on the patio, you probably won’t have your dog laying in your flower bed.
Never leave an animal in a greenhouse. If the sun comes out unexpectedly, the temperature can reach killing range quickly.

Do not feed your pets outside. Food can be infested with fly eggs quickly and bee stings are more likey from pets competing with hornets and wasps for food. Feeding outside is also likely to bring in wild animals like raccoons and possoms.

Give, Believe, Be Happy

2009-07-23T09:39:00.000-07:00

There is nothing worse than a garden snob. Someone who has great gardening knowledge but won’t share it, like the auntie that leaves one ingredient out of a recipe before passing it on.
I have been lucky enough to have a number of mentors who happily passed their garden wisdom on to me. Most were family members, especially the grandmothers, and my parents who raised me in a nursery environment. Also all of my siblings who are attached to horticulture in some way or other.
But it’s the unrelated people who I want to talk about today who gave me opportunities to learn and who sometimes pushed me to get out there and create.
The first is Liz Lair, a fabulous, intelligent gardener who created a wonderland on Cleveland Street long ago. She would allow me to come and work in her garden and learn about the different plants, but more importantly, how to grow them.. She was the first person that ever stressed to me the importance of the soil. She also taught me that the “why and how” of gardening was more important than the “what”.
The next mentor I had was Wendell Gray who owned and operated Wendell’s Nursery on the corner of 7th and Polk for many years (sadly, it’s not there anymore). I worked a number of years in Wendell’s nursery and here I learned how to get out and share my knowledge. Wendell encouraged me to look at photos that customers would bring in of their yards and give them ideas on design. He started feeding me side jobs of folks who wanted someone to come to their house and design a garden, and he got me my first commercial jobs, pushing me when I resisted because I didn’t think I knew enough. My first really big job, at Belknap Hot Springs was something I would never have even thought about, but Wendell had already made an appointment for me and said to “just go check it out.”. That job lasted over 5 years and led me to the job I have now with Moonstone Hotels.
Sometimes believing in someone, especially when they have yet to believe in themselves, is the most selfless gift we can give. So please look around and find someone who is hungry for the type of knowledge you can give them. Even if it isn’t about gardening; even if it’s just to let them know that they have a gift and you will back them up in their trek to explore it and shape it. It may be a small gift for you to give, but it will be an enormous gift for someone to receive.

The Hidden Advantages to "Chop and Drop"

2009-07-22T10:20:00.000-07:00

Here at the Village Green, Head Gardener Jon and I are a good pair. I’m creative and messy. He’s very tidy and organized. He’s a big strapping guy and I’m a weenie woman. So I have the luxury of creating fun vignettes with plants and he plants them for me. I go on a clipping spree and he picks up my piles. He’s my hero. But there are times when being tidy isn’t always in the best interest of the garden.
Years ago I read somewhere (I think it was Ann Lovejoy) about a method called chop and drop, where as you deadhead or clip back a plant, you just cut it up in small pieces and drop it behind the plant to compost right there. I LOVE this method, and I’ve found a few unexpected advantages to it.
Two years ago I cut back some trumpet lilies that had formed little bulbils on their stems. I laid the stems in a pile on the edge of the Fragrance Garden to be picked up, but they were hidden by the roses and so stayed there until fall when we cleaned up the rose bed. By that time, all the little bulbils had fallen off and the leaves on the lily stems had composted on top of them. The next spring I was greeted with a small crop of little green lily stems amongst the roses. This year, we were blessed with a beautiful, fragrant new colony of Trumpet Lilies.
Now I could have picked the bulbils off and planted them in a pot and babied them until it was time to plant them out, but I don’t have that kind of time or patience. This was much easier. I have done the same thing with a seeding patch of Lady Jane Tulips and I often leave alyssum under the roses to go to seed. The old plant dies over the winter, but offers compost and protection, so I have new little alyssum seedlings the next spring.

Paint and the Pursuit of Tackiness.

2009-07-21T14:19:00.000-07:00

Our head gardener at the Village Green - the hard working Jon, recently painted a few of our dried alliums in the Children's Garden. I had done this years before up at a previous job (a lifetime ago) and got some very interesting reactions. Although most people thought it was fabulous, a few were taken aback and a couple were outright offended. One gentleman asked me where I had found the wonderous red alliums in the garden yonder.
"I painted them", I replied.
"You can't do that," he blustered. "It's not fair."
Fair? Sorry Bub, but all is fair in love and creativity.
I have a far away friend, Cleo, who has the most outrageous red hair I have ever seen. I knew her for years before we had a discussion about our family trees. She told me her grandmother was from Ireland.
"Oh, that must be where you get your red hair", I chimed.
"No", she replied, "I get my red hair from Loreal."
While I stood there agape, she educated me to the fact that in the pursuit of creativity it is not only our perogative, but also our duty to cheat. Paint the sun blue, make a sculpture out of toilet paper, paint the plants in your garden. Just because it hasn't been done before makes it all the better.
So we have multicolored Allium schubertii in the Children's Garden. This fall, I'll bring them in, paint them white, dazzle them with glass glitter and use them as the toppers on our Christmas trees. Is that cheating? Who made the rules? ARE there really any rules?
So my question for you today is "When was the last time you played with a can of spray paint?

PS. Today I was musing over the insipid pink hydrangea nigra in the Widow's Walk. Last year I had Jon cut off all their heads. I'm after the black stems and pink does not belong in a garden of black, purple and acid green. But after the go at the alliums, I decided "why not paint the hydranges too?" So here's Allie (Jon's Sweetheart and Gardener Extraordinaire) painting the hydrangeas black.

Chimeras- Tame Beasties in the Garden

2009-07-21T14:14:00.000-07:00

We all remember the wonderful mythical beasts where two species melded into one – The head of a woman on the body of an eagle (a Harpy) or the man-bull Minotaur. But did you know that this can really happen in the plant kingdom?
When two different species interbreed, they are called a Chimera, just as the intermingled monsters used to be named. But the plant versions are hardly monsters, but charming additions to our gardens.
Two such chimeras are Fatshedera – a cross between Fatsia and Ivy (Hedera) and Heucherella – a cross between Coral Bells (Heuchera) and Foam Flower (Tiarella).

Out and About in the Garden

2009-07-20T16:33:00.000-07:00

Gardening is an ephemeral art. We take a spot that’s covered with crappy soil, construction debris and weeds and create a tapestry rich with beautiful flowers and health-giving food. We create fragrant Shangri-Las to soothe our troubled souls. We make rich, painterly borders knowing full well that if we decide to stop tending these gardens, Mother Nature will move in and take over. In a matter of a few years, your Shangri-La could be a field of thistle.
But that doesn’t seem to bother most gardeners. We are quite happy to live in tthe moment. Like the seasoned traveler, we have learned that it’s the journey and not the destination that is the real prize.
Many years ago I found my grandmother on her knees in the garden planting gladiolus. I asked her what color they were and she replied that she had no idea, someone had given them to her. Then she added, to my amazement, “I don’t much care for glads, they remind me of funerals”. When I asked her why she would plant something that she didn’t like, her response was “I’ve been stuck in the house all day and I HAVE to get my hands in the dirt”.
So it is with gardeners. We lust after plants that won’t grow in our climate and we spend hideous amounts of money on the newest and biggest and best. But what we’re really craving is just getting out and getting our hands in the dirt. We have a connection with nature that is a bit primal. Well, maybe a bit more than primal. We’re the only people I know who get REALLY excited over a dump truck full of manure.
Gardening is healing. When giving garden tours, I am often treated to a very sympathetic “Oh, what a lot of work you’ve had to do”. My standard reply is that it isn’t work, it’s therapy. And it is. I sleep wonderfully at night. I LOVE to weed. There is something very Zen about weeding. Not all weeding mind you. Wrestling a large clump of grass out of cold, sucking clay doesn't ring my bells. But pulling that same grass out of a bed that I have tended lovingly with manure and compost leaves me with a weed that departs the soil with a sigh, not a scrabbling scream.
So get dirty, revel in your green knees, and claim your moment of therapy in the garden.