Flora and fauna of Oregon in copper at UO Alumni Center

Flora and fauna of Oregon in copper at UO Alumni Center

December 04, 2017 If you happen to be in Eugene, Oregon, and want to see beautiful nature art, visit the University of Oregon’s Ford Alumni Center and look for the big hearth wall. On a visit to this pretty college town last summer I fell for the work Contemplari Natura ...
Sunset at magical Cannon Beach, Oregon

Sunset at magical Cannon Beach, Oregon

September 27, 2017 I’m not a beach person. I don’t enjoy lying in the sun, sweating on the sand, nor do I like to swim in the ocean. You don’t do any of that at Cannon Beach, in Oregon, which is one of the reasons I enjoy it so much ...
Sunny day at Portland Japanese Garden

Sunny day at Portland Japanese Garden

September 25, 2017 A trip to Portland, Oregon, wouldn’t be complete without seeing the city’s luminous Japanese garden. During our mid-August visit, we had to try twice because the first time, on a Sunday afternoon, we simply could not find any parking, even after circling for a half hour. Even ...
In the Thicket of things: An urban boutique nursery in Portland

In the Thicket of things: An urban boutique nursery in Portland

September 24, 2017 Sopping up a plateful of sausage gravy with fluffy, fist-sized biscuits at a picnic table outside of Pine State Biscuits, I glimpsed an open gate and profusion of plants just a dozen yards away, tucked behind a nearby building. We were in Portland, Oregon, on a mid-August ...
Lan Su Chinese Garden, a downtown Portland oasis

Lan Su Chinese Garden, a downtown Portland oasis

September 23, 2017 While vacationing in Portland last month, we visited Lan Su Chinese Garden in downtown Portland. It was my third visit, and I find I enjoy it more each time I see it. Chinese gardens have had to grow on me, so different do they seem from the ...
Strolling into danger -- Danger Garden, that is

Strolling into danger — Danger Garden, that is

September 22, 2017 Every three years I manage a trip to Portland, and each time ( and ) I’ve been fortunate to visit the garden of my friend Loree Bohl — fellow spiky plant lover, the prolific blogger of Danger Garden, and a collector-gardener with an incredibly artistic and meticulous ...
Columbia River Gorge, waterfalls, and flower farms, a scenic Oregon drive -- before the fire

Columbia River Gorge, waterfalls, and flower farms, a scenic Oregon drive — before the fire

September 09, 2017 I debated about writing this post right now. During our August road trip from San Francisco to Portland, we made a day trip along the majestically scenic Columbia River Gorge, the “playground of Oregonians” that’s currently on fire. As the Eagle Creek fire has raged for a ...
A narrow side yard lives large in the garden of Rebecca Sams and Buell Steelman

A narrow side yard lives large in the garden of Rebecca Sams and Buell Steelman

September 08, 2017 I don’t think I planned a family road trip from San Francisco to Portland just to have an opportunity to swing through Eugene, Oregon, to visit the garden of Buell Steelman and Rebecca Sams, the husband-and-wife design-and-build team at Mosaic Gardens, whose work I greatly admire and ...
After the volcano blows: Crater Lake National Park

After the volcano blows: Crater Lake National Park

September 04, 2017 Mt. Mazama spilled its guts in a massive volcanic eruption 7,700 years ago, emptying itself out to such an extent that the mountain collapsed in on itself, creating a 3,900-foot-deep caldera. As the centuries ticked by, the caldera partially filled with snowmelt and rainfall, transforming into a ...
Exploring outside Portland: Columbia River Gorge, lavender farm on the Fruit Loop, and Cannon Beach

Exploring outside Portland: Columbia River Gorge, lavender farm on the Fruit Loop, and Cannon Beach

August 20, 2014 Before the Garden Bloggers Fling in Portland, Oregon, last month, my husband and I took a few days to explore the city and surrounding region. On our last day we rented a car and drove east along I-84 to see the majestic Columbia River Gorge. Vista House, ...
Love just around the bend at Bella Madrona: Portland Garden Bloggers Fling

Love just around the bend at Bella Madrona: Portland Garden Bloggers Fling

August 17, 2014 For our final tour on the Garden Bloggers Fling in Portland last month, our bus stopped on a rural highway and deposited us in a field with a few pieces of rusty farming equipment strewn about. Not sure what to expect, I walked through open gates adorned ...
kangaroo paws acacia

Rocking a gravel garden in the Kuzma Garden: Portland Garden Bloggers Fling

August 14, 2014 After the barely controlled excess of Floramagoria, the next garden we toured on the Portland Garden Bloggers Fling seemed, at first glance, restrained, even austere. No seating was visible aside from garden walls and steps. With the exception of a few monumental, colorful pots placed as focal ...
Garden magic and whimsy at Floramagoria: Portland Garden Bloggers Fling

Garden magic and whimsy at Floramagoria: Portland Garden Bloggers Fling

August 13, 2014 As we entered the intriguingly named Floramagoria garden on the recent Portland Garden Bloggers Fling, thunder rumbled and raindrops pelted our group of 40 or so bloggers. The reasonable — and hungry — among us ran for the two covered pavilions with box lunches in hand. The ...
The Dancing Ladies Garden of Linda Ernst: Portland Garden Bloggers Fling

The Dancing Ladies Garden of Linda Ernst: Portland Garden Bloggers Fling

August 11, 2014 Do you ever fantasize about another gardener living right next door? Linda Ernst and Joanne Fuller are living the fantasy. Aside from being friends and next-door neighbors, they both love to garden, and each tends a beautiful space linked by a friendly gate in back and a ...
The artful Fuller Garden: Portland Garden Bloggers Fling

The artful Fuller Garden: Portland Garden Bloggers Fling

August 08, 2014 We were treated to two gardens for the price of one on the 3rd day of the Portland Garden Bloggers Fling last month. Friends, gardeners, and art collectors Joanne Fuller and Linda Ernst live next door to each other in a charming older neighborhood, with a friendly ...
Splendor in the grass at Rhone Street Gardens: Portland Garden Bloggers Fling

Splendor in the grass at Rhone Street Gardens: Portland Garden Bloggers Fling

August 07, 2014 The 3rd and final day of touring on the recent Garden Bloggers Fling in Portland, Oregon, dawned cool and misty — exactly what Portland should be, at least according to heat-shunning me. After two days of unusual heat, I was thrilled, even when it started to thunder ...