Blog
Garden Design for the Greater Community
For my latest Pacific Horticulture article I had the pleasure of talking with seven different designers and gardeners about their public-facing, community-engaging projects. Read Garden Design for the Greater Community to hear their stories. You’ll learn how your own efforts to reclaim vacant ground, even if that’s just your own front yard … more
Wild Ginger Love
privacy a sheltering hood of shining green, shaped in the symbol of love two lobes atop a point, heart overlapping heart, like boudoir sheets unmade, the leaves cover, they drape, hiding and revealing what’s bare and what’s blossoming below. the name: Wild Ginger, an erotic personality, confirmed by musky spice when … more
January Velvet
Soft-fogged darkness, muted winter mornings, a warm mug of strong brew, and the swaying wands of Douglas Spiraea’s seedheads in complementary hue— rich as earth. Whorled outreaching form rising to ungloved touch, as plumply furred as a small creature crawling from hibernation, angled sunward, against the weight of rain. See their … more
Cedar Waxwing’s Autumn Song to Rosehips
I flock with my fellows, on November gusts we glide, guided by memories of last year’s feast— sweet, seeded, and plentiful. We descend together and sing our piercing songs to the bounty of rosehips red and bite-sized. My dusky tail feathers spreading squared and wide, colored stormy sky with yellow tip— … more
The Vine Maple Lovers
Every summer day they passed under vining tree arms, dappled shade overhead, crunch of gravel underfoot. The old couple- he on his way in, she on her way out- moved on a busy current, all summer long under the green they flowed, tanned arms shade-patterned by the many hands of palmate leaves. … more
Bumble and Sparkle with Calamint
“No bees!” is not a command Leela is willing to learn. “Sit, rollover, shake,” and “stay” she’s mastered, but something about the allure of bees flying at her nose height is as irresistible as a squirrel’s swishing tail. The potted calamint (Calamintha nepeta ‘Montrose White’) at my deck stair makes … more
Blanket the Ground – Native Groundcover Communities for Biodiversity, Habitat, and Beauty
Where in your yard are you less inclined to putter, to weed, to trim and tend? What out-of-the-way spot needs a low maintenance solution that reflects your garden ethics and style? If your property has a hellstrip, a parking strip, a grassed area between sidewalk and street, this is a great place … more
Summer Solstice Blues
1. I sing the Blues on the longest day, but I don’t weigh down, not with sadness, not for the rare rain, I do not bend, I bobble bluely, catching every breeze, setting tables for my friends, the small bees, the flower flies flower spiders, and beetles. My blue is the summer … more
Book Review: The Pacific Northwest Plant Primer
This spring, I’ve replaced some of the original plants in my home garden, things planted when I first moved here twenty years ago. I was young, in love with the classics, a good place to start a garden education. Winter daphne (Daphne odora), with it’s earliest perfumed blooms, I’d planted all around … more
Flora Gold for a Gray April
The mood is gray-black lit by gold-yellow. The month is April. Daffodils reign. Under atmospheric river storms, sodden snow, and great big inhales of sunshine, we dig the ground and plant. Looking up from the squelch squerch beneath my boots, golden bright daffodils beam pure joy. Popping out in their hundreds … more