Browsing the gardens is the highlight and it’s difficult to come away empty-handed from the marketplace.“Wish ‘Shoe’ Were Here” garden was created by the APLD, Washington Chapter. An enormous shoe, the likes of Sex and the City gals, occupied front stage. An intriguing garden layout and some delightful art were its highlights, along with a few choice plants, like Fuchsia ‘Lechlade Gordon’.

Some of my fellow APLD WA members, d4collective, created the signature garden, “The Garden in Verse”. I loved their use of fabric outdoors to create a cocooned, soft, moon garden.

“Next Stop, Hotel Babylon” was a very contemporary garden with vertical and roof-top planting – one of my favorites.

“A Day Well Spent” by Christianson’s Nursery had some interesting edible highlights in their garden. “Paradise (to be) Regained” was a cute, sustainable garden designed by seventeen-year-old, Courtney Goetz.Karen Stefonick’s “A Wrinkle in Time’ had a ‘crystal ball’ and an attractive patio design.“Run Little Pigs, Run!”, a garden designed by Susan Browne, was full of humor and design interest.

Another favorite garden was “The Japanese Garden: Bridging History”. Beautifully designed by Phil Wood (another APLD member), this garden was simply stunning. Well considered details and it included cherry trees in full bloom (about 2 months ahead of schedule). No small feat!!

A few highlights in the market place for me were Abraxas Crow (one is now happily residing in my garden), a ceramic artist’s colorful totems and many of the glass blowers. A new artist I have not seen before had exquisite ceramic prayer wheels. And who could stay away from seeds and plants? Not me!

Abraxas Crow

I found a photograph in Gardens Illustrated that has inspired me to try something similar (or maybe just outright copy it!) in this deer-ravaged area. Nassella tenuissima and Perovskia surround boxwood balls. It’s simply gorgeous and the only thing that would disappear over the winter would be the Perovskia. I have Nassella in another area of the garden. It’s doing okay but not fabulous there. It would probably do better relocated. I have boxwood nearby, so continuing it into an adjacent area would create more design continuity. I love Perovskia, too, so I guess I’ll just have to include Perovskia ‘Little Spire’. And it will look fabulous with the yellow flowering perennials in the background. They say that the sincerest form of flattery is copying. I’m sure that’s true. While I wouldn’t recommend it in all cases, sometimes a good idea is worth copying when it makes perfect sense. Besides, the garden I saw this combination in was in Provence –my favorite area in the world AND this combination is virtually deer-proof.

Nassella, Perovskia & Buxus

Photograph by Guy Hervais, Garden of Guy Hervais Courtesy of Gardens Illustrated

Hamamelis 'Diane'

colorful Hamamelis ‘Diane’ with its thread-like red blossoms

delicate Cyclmen coum

Cyclamen coum

fragrant Viburnum bodnantense

Viburnum bodnantense

Others I’ve discovered are Sarcococca (can’t miss its fragrance), Galanthus, and Petasites. And it’s only February. Woo-hoo!

Stunningly beautiful water fountains

I had the good fortune to attend and speak at the APLD Conference 2 weeks ago in Dallas, Texas. I was pleasantly surprised that Dallas was even better than I expected, but that was based on a trip over 10 years ago to deal with a commercial interior design high-tech client. We saw more freeway and open dry space than inner city.

The inner city areas we visited were graced with magnificent old trees lining the streets, providing copious amounts of shade. Fortunately, it was not that hot, so the shade was nice but not necessary. We saw some gorgeous gardens that were inspiring for landscape designers or gardeners. I’ve attached only a few photos this time – more next time. I was very pleasantly surprised to see good rain storage techniques, use of low-grow & low-mow lawns, native or adaptable plants, and green roofs.

One night some of my fellow APLD members and I wandered outside of our hotel to the nearby IM Pei building and the amazing water gardens designed by Dan Kiley. Descriptive words that come to mind for my experience are ‘glorious’, ‘stunning’, ‘amazing’ and ‘mind-blowing’. I was bowled over by the size and character of this water feature. There were occasional trees in strategic locations, but those seemed to be the extent of the plants in the area I saw. During another day, I saw that there was another area other than what we saw at night, but they had drained the pools for cleaning that day.

The day I left, I visited the Dallas Museum of Art. They had some splendid displays – one on African masks that was very colorful and a great display of material combinations that make gorgeous art. Another display centered on the concept of ‘space’. It was fascinating and spoke to all artists and designers about the importance of what is in between objects in a room or on a canvas.

Each time I have attended the APLD International Conference I have come away inspired. It was a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious experience.

Below are photos from conference gardens.

Clever Central Pivot Gate

Recycled Fencing

Visitors wander through the garden past the crop circle.

When you have a large garden (ours is roughly 2/3 of an acre), getting your garden presentable is an exercise in patience as well as exhausting. This past winter killed nearly every zone 8 plant in my garden – and there were quite a few. Many had been in the garden for over 10 years, so were mature specimens. They left large holes. The Tetrapanax ‘snag’ I left because it is actually kind of interesting and the birds like to perch on it. (I’m finding new Tetrapanax popping up from the roots as of the first of July.) Our long, cold & wet spring meant waiting to get the dead plants replaced. Constrained by less time and diminishing budget meant that not all was perfect for the preview tour on June 30 even with many volunteers. I owe a HUGE thank you to all who helped get the garden ready for that day! I had until July 10 to complete the remaining garden tasks before the big ANLD (Assoc. of NW Landscape Designers) garden tour. It was open to the public for the price of a ticket to see 6 other gardens. The proceeds benefit the student scholarships that ANLD distributes each year.

A Lutyens style bench in red-orange says come and sit a spell.

A view towards the Sunset award-winning pebble mosaic and the garden beyond.

For the past several years leaves of my Himalayan blue poppy (Meconopsis betonicifolia) have shown up on schedule, but without any flowers. Mind you, when I first planted this stunning perennial, I did what I was told. I snipped off any flower buds. The second & third year it flowered beautifully. Then no flowers for about 4 years! Last year I noticed the plant was putting on another rosette or two of new leaves. This happened after I eliminated some of the encroaching Astilbe chinensis ‘Pumila’. This year – ta da! – a glorious blue flower appeared with more buds to follow along its tall stem.

This is not a plant for non-gardeners and people who just like to look at their gardens while someone else cares for it. This plant doesn’t grow everywhere either. In the United States, the Pacific NW (where I live) is one of the few locations where it can be grown. Then you have to site it just right. It prefers mostly shade, but it likes a little morning sun. Acid, moist, well-drained, humusy soil, and cool temperatures are additional aspects to consider. If you have the patience, these flowers are well worth the wait.

Beautiful Yuccas, Agaves taller than me, blooming Aloes and many other succulents caught my eye everywhere I looked. Even on a cloudy, cold afternoon, I could feel sunshine emanating from these plants. Even the gorgeous bark of Eucalyptus felt sunny. I can hardly wait to go back and see this garden in the summer! Enjoy the virtual visit through these photos.

Above right is a photo of one of the plastic covered frames. Note the space near ground level.

Today is the opening day of the NW Flower Show in Seattle. For me and my good friend, Bonnie, it means an annual pilgrimage to the show beginning early tomorrow morning. This is the shot across the bow of winter and our first fix of spring. We buy plants, seeds & garden art. We listen to speakers. We talk gardens until we are silly and then do it some more. For the first time, I will be on the podium side of the stage. I am giving my maiden talk at this show on Saturday night at 5:45 in the Rainier Room. My talk is entitled ‘Understanding Basic Design Principles: Getting Started on Good Garden Design’. It’s pulled right out of a chapter in my book, which now has a working title of “Understanding Garden Design: A Complete Handbook for Aspiring Designers”. Not sexy, but it gets the message across.

Every year I get together with a couple of my dearest friends for Christmas High Tea at the Heathman in downtown Portland. We arrived at 1 p.m. sharp to begin tea. No rain. Just clouds out there. A typical December day. During considerable conversation, we browsed our way through tiny cucumber sandwiches, mini-pita pockets, chocolate cupcakes and lemon bars. When we considered ourselves fortified in mind and body, we headed for the door only to discovered large, fluffy snowflakes floating delicately to the sidewalk and evaporating. At least they temporarily disappeared. After we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways, I quickly headed for my car across the street. Once I was out of the garage and onto the city streets, so was everyone else. During my hour and a half drive home (the one that normally takes 20 minutes), I just tried to enjoy the snow. Snug in my 4-wheel drive RAV4 with new tires, I was more worried about the crazies who’d never driven in snow. As soon as I turned onto my street, I saw our house and garden cloaked in snow. The next morning, I went out into the garden to see what I could see in all of the snow. Ever noticed how quiet a garden is with a few inches of snow? Exquisitely silent, with all bones showing and none of the weeds. It’s hard to say that in mid-summer. I enjoy it when I get it, because it is always an exceptional experience.