Plant in threes, drifts of five , odd numbers, and so on.Plant trios are pleasing, not stuffy. Two plants create formality -one on each side of the path, the door, the gate-they are sentrys ! In JJ De Sousas Portland garden rules are broken..who needs rules anyway ?
Lots of threes and fives going on here at the front door. Sometimes you break the rules, and sometimes you don't. Garden-makers privilege.
Sometimes there's just lots..as in JJ's splendid collection of succelents all lined up in matching black pots. The patine of aged concrete and brick and stone were a clever counterpoint to the slick contemporary touches.
JJ is the proprietress of Digs inside and Out in Portland , read Pam Penicks' excellent post on her shop
here
Who needs rules indeed! Sometimes two will do, looks good and feels right :)
ReplyDeleteThis garden was too fun !
DeleteThat shot of her front door is fabulous!
ReplyDeleteLots of fabulous areas in this garden Alison..
DeleteGreat photos of JJ's garden, one of my very favorite.
ReplyDeleteThat back garden must be a nice refuge on a normal PNW grey day or the chilly spring mornings.
DeleteHer color synchronicity certainly helps to pull things together regardless of the number of plants she uses. I use sets of 2 quite a bit myself but I can't say it comes off as well - it usually means that I like the plant a lot but I'm not sufficiently confident about growing it to buy more.
ReplyDeleteI feel better about buying in two's after seeing this garden. It certainly works ...
Deletefinally tackled this garden today too, and Loree's. Can't believe there's not a single foot or shoulder in your photos!
ReplyDeleteOh Denise, I took so many crappy photos on this trip..weeding through them has been dispiriting I must say. I can crop out feet and shoulders but shots that are badly composed or out of focus are hard to fix ! I was having so much fun (in spite of the heat ) I let my concentration ebb. Maybe I'll have to go to Toronto after all ,just to redeem myself !
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI plant many drifts of one...lol. But you're right, gardener gets to choose and rules are made to be broken. So the next blogger fling is in Toronto? Hmmm...
ReplyDeleteYes indeed Sue, here's your big chance to try on Fling for size...there is a group of UK bloggers that are pondering Fling-ing across the pond !
DeleteJJ certainly has a talent for breaking the rules beautifully! I loved her garden. Isn't it amazing how every garden is different, reflects the personality of the gardener, and each is beautiful?
ReplyDeleteThe quality of Fling gardens was so outstanding and so diverse !
DeleteI noticed JJ's twosies as well! How fun to see another post that points it out. I wish I'd thought to ask JJ whether she intentionally broke the odd-numbers "rule" or whether it just worked out that way. Thanks for the link love to my Digs post, by the way!
ReplyDeleteYour photos were fab Pam..it was a no brainer to link to it !
Delete