GardenBook

 I admit I love a well done cramscape and the Berk-Kessler garden in Seattle is a great addition to my Cramscape Hall of Fame. In case you are wondering about previous entries to the CHOF , well there aren't any because I have only recently (i.e. yesterday) invented it. I fancy myself to be a cramscaper but have come to the realization in the last year that I am a Cramscape Imposter particularly when it comes to the edges of my garden. The Berk Kessler garden exposed my tepid attempts at packing the plants in. It wasn't long after returning from Puget Sound Fling that I started acquiring, dividing, and moving plants to correct my cramscape failures. Lets take a look at what inspired me in this abundant PNW garden.    I've visited a fair number of gardens public and private in the US. It took me many years to realize that some plants -though perfectly cold hardy-just don't care for my summers here in Northern California wine country. We can grow Cabernet all day but many...

 Garden Fling 2024 Puget Sound has wrapped up and  after spending a few days on post trip garden clean up and watering I have started to work though the hundreds of photos I took visiting the lineup of splendid gardens into which we were welcomed. My posts here on the blog will appear in no particular order and reflect no hierarchy of preference.  Day two of the Fling began with a visit to Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden in Federal Way Washington. This garden was founded in 1974 on 27 acres of property donated to the RSF by Weyerhauser Company. Currently the garden comprises 22 acres in a classic PNW forested woodland and boasts the largest collection of Rhododendron species worldwide.   The Rhodies flowering is long past-in my area of Northern California it's an April/May event depending on the location and proximity to the coast and the Redwood forests. But if you are in the right climate, up in the PNW the foliage gifts us another season.  I can't ...

  I don't even remember all of the so-called designs I implemented for the hell strip in the 30 or so years I've lived in this house. I know the original street trees in the neighborhood (mostly installed around 1983)  were all the dreadful Hackberry most of which were removed either by the homeowner (in my case) or more recently by the city. The trees technically belong to the city , and as I recall they took care of the removal and planting a replacement tree but only chipped in a modest amount per square foot for sidewalk repair. By that time sidewalks all over the city were lifting so they developed a list of approved trees that worked much better in the narrow strip between the sidewalk and the street.  I chose Crape Myrtle which took quite a few years to get going so between the sidewalk repair and when the new tree went in I replanted for sun with the thought I could just move/ replace them if and when the area got too shady. It took several years but shade happene...

  Such a bad blogger I've been for the last several months, but I'm hoping to ramp back up again. I have plenty of photos but since retirement I have taken a deeper dive than ever into the garden and it's hard to pull myself away .   May is one of my favorite months in my garden-no more frost, minimal rain and the horrible late summer decline is still a couple months off. So let's have a look at the blooms that are showing off this month.  I  was pretty certain I couldn't grow Leucospermums in my garden. They were not seen for sale in garden centers in my area, though I could drive for an hour and find them. Most of the hardiness ratings were about 25c and we do typically get below that a few times in the dead of winter. On a visit to the Ruth Bancroft garden for a members plant sale weekend I decided to give it a try. I bought a quart size of 'Helena' -pricey- and put it in a container. I was happy it didn't die the first winter and my goal was to get a...