GardenBook

  Time didn't permit capturing images of everything blooming in my garden this month-though it's definitely not the bounty of July and August. The annual rite of plant fatigue makes its appearance this month with the predictable flopping, the touch of mildew and the scourge of spider mites. On a positive note, the grasses look great, the roses are powering up for a fall bloom and the fuchsias are happy with the cooler nights and mornings.  I've made an effort in the last year to add more late bloomers to my garden . The Aster below has been here10 years-plus  and has been moved at least twice that I can recall. I don't know where I got it and the tag is long gone .  I planted 3 of the aptly named Aster  'Purple Dome'  which are an unobtrusive bright green mound throughout the season and as fall nears they transform to this mass of purple.  This is Aster laterfolius 'Lady in Black' which I will need to move this fall. I planted it too close ...

  If I lived in Portland and was in the market for garden design services  the living portfolio that is the private garden of designer Darcy Daniels would be a strong argument in favor of her firm Bloomtown Gardens . Ironically it wasn't the blooms that were the big draw for me in this garden. It was Darcys' skill at combining foliage shapes, textures and color in both shade and sun.I found it particularly inspiring and wished I had had more time to take it all in. I still have my photos to refer back to, and those of others as well including several on the Bloomtown website . Since I am embarking on yet another renovation  of my front garden in the next few months I've been paying close attention to details of gardens I've liked this year, especially those that feature plants that I can grow here in mine.  Streetside approach. I wish I'd taken more photos of the robustly planted hellstrip.  A sidewalk strollers view. The hellstrips in this Portland n...