December Garden Rockstars
It’s mid-December, and most of my garden is now fast asleep. This week’s rain has knocked off the remaining fall leaves, perennials are silently slumbering underground, and there’s no longer the buzz...
View ArticleCreating Winter Interest in the Garden – Part 1
When designing a new garden, I always consider how it will look in the dead of winter. Especially since I design in a temperate zone 9 climate, which means our gardens are on display every single day...
View ArticleCreating Winter Interest in the Garden – Part 2
Welcome to Part 2 of Designing a Winter Garden (if you missed Part 1, click here.) I recently walked through a new client’s garden, where she kept apologizing for its appearance. She was afraid it was...
View ArticleFour-Season Structure with Trellises, Tuteurs, and Obelisks
Late winter is the perfect time to talk about adding four-season structure to the garden, using something as simple as a decorative tuteur, trellis, or obelisk. Take a look outside, and you’re likely...
View ArticleProportion and Scale in the Garden
You know that feeling when you walk into a garden, and you instantly feel relaxed and calm, like everything is okay with the world? Well, that wasn’t the case when I moved into my new home a few years...
View ArticleFoxtail Lily Frenzy
I’d like to introduce you to my new obsession – Foxtail Lilies (eremurus ‘Oase’) I’ve wanted to write about these for months, ever since I bought the tubers at the Northwest Flower & Garden Show...
View ArticleDesigning my Pollinator Garden
You may remember my Rain Garden’s before-and-after (if not, click here.) In that post, I mentioned my goal was not only to transform this section of my garden into a Rain Garden but to also have it...
View ArticleAdding Height with Flowering, Towering Plants
I can’t get enough of tall, flowering, towering plants, whether they’re perennials, grasses, or shrubs. In fact, when wandering through a nursery or reading a garden magazine, the words ‘oversized...
View ArticleDesigning with Spire-Shaped Flowers
When designing a garden, one of my favorite flower shapes to include is spires. Spire-shaped flowers are typically triangular, with a broader base that tapers up to a point (similar to a cone or a...
View ArticleDesigning with Ball-Shaped Flowers
I love designing with ball-shaped flowers. Don’t get me wrong, I also adore spire-shaped flowers (click here if you missed that post!) However, there’s something about spherical shapes that always...
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