Almost Spring!
Hot Garden Fix On A Cold Day January 5, 2010
Finding a way to get your gardening urges met in the Northwest anytime before February is an act of pure dedication. It’s usually just too wet and cold. With cold being purely relative to what those experience in other parts of the country, our version of cold does have its opportune moments. But, the bottom line is, that until the Northwest Flower and Garden Show, we find our “needs” fulfilled through seed catalogs, and rushing out during the odd break in the weather to go do some winter pruning or quick clean up chores.
This New Years week however, I was determined to get a dose of warmth, greenery and inspiration long before February, bulbs, seeds and the first of the winter blooming plants. I decided that a pilgrimage to the http://www.volunteerparkconservatory.org/was deeply in order. And, WOW was I happy I did it. The photographs I came away with from this trip are enough to satisfy my urges for quite some time!
Upon entering the elegant, antique glass house, the temperature hits you like a brick. There is a small entry area, where it seems, most people start to strip down immediately to enjoy life without 5 layers for a while.
Then the first thing you see are the Orchids. Utterly spectacular displays behind wire cages, safe from sticky fingers who might try to make off with souvenirs. The photos I took of these deserve a post all their own, so a small teaser will have to do until the next post.
The house that shows off the tallest plants is green and lush with a dense jungle feeling. Then you can go left or right to venture into the other sections of this giant glass house. To the right is the Seasonal House, changing out seasonally to showcase the latest and greatest. The Holiday displays were still up this week, showing off the lovely poinsettia and foliage combos.
Beyond the Seasonal House is the Arid or Desert House with the spectacular cacti, succulents and sedum that may be ubiquitous in many parts of the country, but here, they are a rare treat.
Sinningia Leuchatricha
Heading back the other direction, you feel like you should be hearing tropical birds and monkeys swinging about as you enter the Tropical House. The pictures in the grid at the top of this post gives you a small taste of what the colors were like. Such a unique thing to see on a cold gray day! 
Beyond the tropicals were the Cycad House. A very architectural group of plants fill this lush house with foliage colors and textures.
After I got my fill of the heat and humidity of the Conservatory, I came outside to a fairly sunny day. DOUBLE bonus! Here are some shots I took on my way to the car and a few I pulled over to take on my way home.
Looking North East across Lake Washington
I hope you enjoyed my day at the Volunteer Park Conservatory. I certainly got my fix- for a little while. 
The ‘Honest Scrap’ Award December 18, 2009
The honor that is the “Honest Scrap” Award has now been bestowed upon me. But, the utter prestige and ranking that go along with such an award may be lost on you if you don’t know what it means to be invited to join the club.
The story of the “Honest Scrap” Award according to Google goes like this: East African Bloggers began this tradition in Nigeria then passed it on to Bloggers in Uganda and then went international.
As the tradition goes there are a few conditions that must be fulfilled to earn this great honor:
1) I have to: speak boastfully, blow one’s own horn, bluster, boast, crow, exult, gasconade, gloat, grandstand, hotdog, jive, pat oneself on the back, prate, puff, rodomontade, showboat, shuck, swagger, vaunt about the award itself and receiving the award.
2) I have to invoke the name of the “Great and Powerful OZ”, no wait that’s a whole other post. I mean mention the Blogger who bequeathed the honor on me: Dan Eskelson of ClearWater Landscapes http://clearwaterlandscapes.com/wordpress/2009/12/18/the-honest-scrap-award/ What a great guy!
3) Choose 7 other Bloggers who I admire for their wit, wisdom, content or otherwise magnificent design intellect and let them know of their distinction.
4) Show the names and links of those I have now conferred this massive exaltation and the links to their Blogs as well.
5) Last but not least, I have to now list ten little know things about myself in complete and total honesty.
Here goes, may I prove myself worthy:
7 Bloggers who I bestow the “Honest Scrap” Award to:
Carrie Stokes: http://ReadBetweenTheLimes.blogspot.com
Andrew Keys: http://www.oakleafgreen.com/
Scott Hokunson: http://bhld.wordpress.com
Rebecca Sweet: http://www.gossipinthegarden.com
Ivette Soler: http://thegerminatrix.com
Susan L. Morrison: http://www.garden-chick.typepad.com
Laura Schaub: http://interleafings.blogspot.com/
And now for my ten honest things:
1)
I have, in fact become my Mother.
2)
My Husband of 22 years "gets" me and all my quirks!
3)
My "Sweet Little Bunny" is my proudest creation.
4)
Had a "vision" that I would someday build and own this home, and I did!
5)
My Father in Law "Sal" lived with us for over 10 years and he was the best friend I ever had.
6)
Clearly, my destiny as a total goofball was pre-ordained and unavoidable.
7)
Obviously shy, introverted, indecisive and lacking passion- NOT!
I have a "connection" to animals that transcends love.
9)
I married a Rock & Roll God who also happens be a killer Bass player!
10)
My reverence, constant wonder and awe at the magnificence of the universe is paralleled by my need to laugh at the insanity of it all!
Plants with “Multiple Personality In-Order” November 17, 2009
When I work with my Personal Garden Coaching clients, I am often correcting or updating old outdated landscape designs installed by a builder who did not care much about plant selection, or a former homeowner who did not have access to good plant selections back when the original landscape was installed. When you add-on top of that our climate being predominantly gray for a potential 10 months of the year, it can take some time to teach the reasoning behind choosing certain plants or more likely why NOT to choose certain plants.
The plant palette in a short season, gray climate has to work much harder than in a milder climate or even a harsher climate where a clear blue winter sky or loads of snow can create a wondrous complexity of colors and textures. (This is where my college Color Theory class serves me well!) Under our skies, colors can look very drab and muted here. Foliage, textures and combination’s need to be viewed under the auspices of a micro lens not a macro one. 
Placing a plant or multiples of plants with a one dimensional performance or personality is possible, but it takes a larger area to pull that off, so that other plants have room to contrast against them from a distance. Not to mention the investment factor, if a certain plant is going to make it home from the nursery, it better be a solid performer, for what we pay for these beauties nowadays!
In today’s generally smaller lots, most people will be viewing a design or particular plant much closer from the street, patio, or window than they may have seen them in years past. Therefore, each plant that I recommend has to have more than one reason to make it on to my list of “Go To” or “Best in Show” plants. In every plant category, evergreens, deciduous shrubs, perennials, ground covers, there are choices that I have relied on for the last 20 years or more to execute more than one distinct trait and to collaborate with others to create a consistent WOW factor over the changing seasons. I call those plants, plants with “Multiple Personality In-Order.”
For example, a Viburnum Bodnantense ‘Pink Dawn’ with its lovely growth habit, early blooms before the exquisite foliage and last but definitely not least, the fall color. Now THAT is a home run example of a plant with all of the personality qualities that I would love to see in a top performer in the Northwest climate.
Sedum 'October' in its fall glory
Euonymous & Sedum in early spring
Another example would be a simple little evergreen shrublet that comes in many varying colors of foliage called Euonymous Fortunei. (Shown here with Sedum ‘October’ with its own personality that color changes through the season as well.) This plant has SO many options for sun and shade, as well as a wide variety of color mixes on the foliage to make a comfortable union in a white garden or a bold tropical inspired design. Even better though is that almost every cultivar turns a lovely rusty pink in the winter and then reverts to its former foliage color in spring. How cool is that?
Euonymous 'Emerald & Gold' showing it's winter color
Another great plant that has made its way on to my list of plants with multiple personality characteristics is the Pieris ‘Flaming Silver’. The show begins in early spring with the new foliage opening an intense hot coral color, then fading to a soft salmon just before it blooms with its dripping white clusters of sweet-scented bell-shaped flowers. In early summer it fades back to its original white variegated foliage, which is no slouch either!
Even though my “Go To” plant palette remains fairly consistent over the years, there has been a great shift in how they are used, by varying the combination’s, heights, drifts, textural mixes and matches, I have devised ways to design groupings that can fit many design styles and personalities.
How many plants with “Multiple Personality In-Order” are in your design “Go-To” list?
New growth on Pieris 'Flaming Silver' in early spring
Pieris 'Flaming Silver' in late spring
Diamonds Are Good, But… November 13, 2009
The containers I bring into my landscape are like a fine setting for whatever great jewels I have planned to set in them. The setting for a diamond, a pearl, or any precious stone is not only a support structure, but a feature of the design itself. Liken it if you will to the quintessential “Little Black Dress” of your wardrobe, without the fabulous shoes to go with it.
Weeping Cedar centerpiece
When I am with a Personal Garden Coaching client and I am advising the use of a container anywhere, I am emphatic that the container they choose MUST be a style that they REALLY love. Because even when they are empty, a good-looking container can still be a statement piece of its own when placed well. An investment in your garden, long-term, a container will be with you like a great piece of furniture.
A well styled container can be as much a part of the overall design as anything else. It will be a supportive companion to a specimen plant. It can highlight a shape or textural difference. It can also be a vehicle for seasonal changes that brings interest to a bare area in winter.
'Inaba Shidare' Japanese Maple
Winter in particular brings a huge opportunity to review your containers. Most places will have them on clearance and it gives you an opportunity to save money on making a style statement in your landscape.
Pinus Strobus 'Pendula', Heuchera 'Caramel', Euphorbia 'Glacier Blue', Festival Grass
Though I am a girl who loves her jewels, I have to say, the setting says MUCH more about who I am and what I like.
A Candy Colorful Rainbow of Winter Color November 2, 2009
In the no man’s land of the Winter garden, after the Japanese Maples have closed out their Fall show, there is the “hurry up and wait” for Spring. The landscape can look a wee bit barren if you don’t actively plan for the rainbow of color options that are out there waiting for you. Many people, just close the door on the winter garden and miss out on a plethora of foliage and bloom options.
Here’s one idea for your full sun spot with great draining soil- (here in the NW, that HAS to be said!)
Collection of colorful Heather's
All of these Heather’s were purchased during the cold, dark, wet months of Winter. I just couldn’t resist getting a bunch of these. Some are Spring blooming, some are summer or fall blooming. I don’t really care when they bloom as long as I can have color like this to look at during a long gray Winter!
Have you made a plan for your Winter garden color?
Mmmm, Buttery Garden Goodness October 30, 2009
Resisting a good plant rescue is very hard for me. When I cam across a severed chunk of buttery Corylopsis Pauciflora a few years ago, it was about to go into the trash pile. Too good to pass up, I thought. And my gamble has rewarded me richly with pastry rich, butter colored, fragrant flowers in the spring and elegantly textured foliage.
Deciding whether I like it more in bloom, paired with deep pink Hellebore in April or with deep pink Chrysanthemums in fall is a tough challenge. Someone putting me up to a decision like that would very likely have to provide some sort of decision make pastry to sway me one way or the other.
Corylopsis Pauciflora, Hellebore
Corylopsis is a spectacularly elegant alternative to Forsythia. When placed where you can appreciate the bloom and foliage up close, this plant earns it’s keep and gets better with every season. Pair it with darker foliage plants to really make her shine. I have it in a bed with Sambucus ‘Black Beauty’. Today, the Sambucus foliage has warmed from deep burgundy to a coppery bronze tone. Next to the Corylopsis it’s transcendent.
Corylopsis pauciflora, Sambucus 'Black Beauty', Ghost Fern
The most alluring point of interest about this plant to me is not the bloom, it’s the lovely foliage. Delicate, and deeply textured leaves are each a work of art unto themselves. And when they reach fall, the colors of butter yellow turn to ocher yellows and rich rustic amber.
Star of the Fall Show Needs Backup Singers October 28, 2009
The focus on all of the glorious color of fall is righteous indeed. After a spring and summer of sumptuous floral displays and vegetable tableau’s that can rival any formal shrub border, it’s only natural to get a bit more introspective about the use of the giant color wheel of fall and delve into the details. I also think it’s important to take a good, long step back and see who else is out there helping to make that color sing. 
Top performers know there is a bevy of behind the scenes action that lifts up and supports the lead. They are all of the names that are rarely on the fronts of magazines or books. They dazzle in a more understated way. I like to think of them as the back up singers of the plant world. Silver and grey are the back-up singers that I regularly look for in most plant combination’s that I design. They are reliable, show up consistently, and are rarely demanding of the limelight.
Barberry 'Crimson Pygmy', Nandina 'Gulf Stream', Spanish Lavender, Wooly Thyme
Sometimes the melody under the song is even lovelier when you listen close. You could even think of it as an up light on the stage. The bold and bawdy red lead singer out in the front of the house always looks better with a little supportive light from underneath, from the side, or in the back. Who sings back up in your garden designs?
Artemisia 'Cirrus' with a leaf from Euonymous Alata
Nandina 'Gulf Stream', Salvia 'Tri-Color'
The Last Gasp of Fall Color October 23, 2009
Rhus Typhina or Sumac is in all her glory right now. I saw this in my E-Mail today http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/potd/2009/10/rhus_typhina.php and thought about the ones in my neighborhood with such glorious color on them I had to run out and take some pictures to share.
In some areas of the country this small tree might seem ubiquitous as we sometimes feel about some of our common trees here in the green Northwest. But, you have to hand it to Mother Nature on this one- she out did herself!
After chatting with neighbors on this lovely fall evening, I found a couple of other fall color shots that stood out too. Enjoy!
Autumn Blaze Maple
Leafy Carpet
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day Post October 15, 2009 October 16, 2009
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- Japanese Maple ‘Inaba Shidare’
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- Eunoymous ‘Monstrosus’ & Sumac ‘Tiger Eyes’
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- Sedum ‘Bertram Anderson’ with Euonymous ‘Emerald -n- Gold’
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- Nandina ‘Gulf Srteam’
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- Nandina ‘Gulf Stream’
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- Nandina Domestica
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- PJM Rhody with Chrysanthemum
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- Sedum ‘Bertram Anderson’
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- Zinnia ‘Profusion Pink’ with Salvia ‘Tri-Color’
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- Basil ‘Magic Mountain’
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- Orange Geranium
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- Nandina ‘Firepower’
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- Rose ‘Flutterbye’
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- Rose ‘Flutterbye’
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- Rose ‘Flutterbye’
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- Erigeron ‘Santa Barbara’
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- Yarrow ‘Moonshine’
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- Chinese Plumbago
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- Cotoneaster
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- Hardy Geranium
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- Variegated Geranium
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- Spirea ‘Magic Carpet’
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- Chrysanthemum
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- Coleus with Oxalis ‘Sunset’
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- My favorite Lobelia ‘Cambridge Blue’
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- Variegated Wallflower- Erysimum
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- Viburnum ‘Spring Bouquet’
