Category: Random Acts of Gardening

Photo: Getty Images Information provided by the Regional Water Providers Consortium (RWPC) Using resources wisely and understanding water conservation is important in the Portland metro area. Portland receives about 37 inches of rainfall annually. Only about 12 percent of that precipitation falls June through September. We tend to use the highest amount of water during […]

Rhubarb, Allium and Podocarpus lawrencei ‘Red Tip I am a proponent of tucking edibles in amongst ornamental plants. But this garden design strategy has its drawbacks, especially when the pleasing nature of a plant combination relies on a particular attribute of the edible plant. In my case, the dilemma involves rhubarb. When should I harvest […]

I do a lot of hand watering of my garden. One of the most frustrating things about gardening for me is keeping the garden hoses unkinked and not in a big mess of a knot when in use and tidy when not in use. I purchase hoses that purport to be kink-free, but so far […]

The mock orange as viewed from my living room window I see it. I smell it. I love it. It’s an exclamation point in my garden. I’m talking about the mock orange (formally known as Philadelphus) that is exploding right now with deliciously fragrant, single, white blooms. Mine usually blooms around summer solstice, but this […]

Honey Perfume, a Florabunda Rose Shrubs provide structure, texture, color and scale to gardens. They are sometimes evergreen and often deciduous. And ideally they are low maintenance. Most often they require exposure to some sun during the day and often require a lot of sun. What comes to mind when you think of a shrub?  […]

Sungold Cherry Tomatoes – Photo: WikiCommons It’s May 17 and today’s the day I bought tomato plants—at Garden Fever! this year—for my community garden plot. I intended to buy only three cherry-type tomatoes, but I couldn’t resist trying two others as well. Black Cherry, Sweet Million, perennial favorite Sungold, Oregon Spring (an Oregon State University […]

The view is always a little bit different each time I wander out into the garden. Yesterday, the part of the garden I kept coming back to actually is a view from my bedroom window. It overlooks a just-about-to-burst-open pink Rhododendrons yakushimanum, a stalk of bleeding heart Dicentra ‘Gold Heart’, a variegated Lonicera nitida (‘Lemon […]

I have struggled to maintain a healthy lawn for a number of reasons: lots of shade, the soil is likely too acidic, grubs, and lots of wet soil (there’s a layer of grey clay that runs through my yard, which Barney, my adorable golden retriever, finds irresistible…and he’s willing to dig to find it). Doesn’t […]

Giant hogweed* (Heracleum mantegazzianum). Photo: WikiCommons. Invasive species are animals and plants that are not native to an ecosystem and that cause economic or environmental harm. They can take over landscapes and drive native wildlife away. More than 50,000 non-native species have been introduced to the United States throughout our history, but invaders don’t have […]

I have grown potatoes in potato towers for the past two years with moderate success. I planted one layer and then tried to keep up with the fast-growing stalks and leaves by adding alternating layers of straw and a potting soil/compost mixture. New potatoes grew along the elongating stalks. At the end of the season, […]