wet spring followed by this, a parched, dry fall. crush of katsura leaves underfoot releasing toasted warmth, buttery, cozy, smell of fall. catch a whiff of gardenia-scented silverberry blossoms, of sweet perfumed eternal fragrance daphne, or salad freshness of sasanqua camellia, and rotting figs, fermenting apples, wildfire smoke on the wind. dry … more
“Recently, I spent a day at the cottage where I used to live, and noted with a pleased surprise – to be exact, it was a feeling of having done good unconsciously – the progress of the things I had planted nearly 10 years ago.” George Orwell Arms heaped with … more
Claytonia sibirica Early morning traffic streams by on 1st avenue. The dog reads the morning news, sniffing mown, tightly edged grass and rank, pollen-scattering grass with equal attention. We pass creosoted utility poles, auto service lot / squat, one lone tent on the roadside, men in muted colors shouldering their few possessions, … more
driving north on I-five, Mount Hood out the passenger side window– awesome– but it’s the budded willows that draw me again and again, in road side ditch, furred golden-gray bright against the bleak stems of winter scrub, a small bird alights from one, later, a plump red-tailed hawk and my attention … more
Oemleria cerasiformis – Plant of the Month Celebration In bleakest February a vigor entered my life, no, it was a cucumber. The scene is fogged, speared by low-angled light igniting small flames of vegetal green. A zig right and up, switchback, engage legs, strength to propel away from lawn, parking … more
1. What plants go here? Imagine the rare valley snow has thawed and the garden shows it’s face again—the crisp leaves of fall long-turned a sluggier shade of brown, the ground sodden, muddy. Imagine a new blue-sky day with long, low rays of warm sun. What plant catches that light and reflects … more
when I describe the limbs as muscular, do you see it? the oak, the Oregon White Oak, standing solitary in its golden savanna? or if I say scrub, do you know you’re on lean land and the oak grows to fit? a tree that makes its home from Southern California to Vancouver … more
1. Clean white flutter atop a luster of green, Setsugekka, I’ll find a home for you, close in near outdoor kitchen conjured from steel and craft, with you becoming a leafy wall in a fresh young garden, a new room to inhabit, your scent lifting on November’s breath. You captured her heart … more
Fraxinus latifolia Grays skies of October welcomely wet, wool sweaters and boots return, dust and wildfire smoke retreat. And under this muted lid, a pool of green gold in the lay of the land, the lowland fold. Bright against moody Doug fir and dark oak bough, singing clear near bleached … more
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