Unexpected Color Echoes

Repetition of color in a garden is an easy way to bring a sense of cohesion to a design and is often called a 'color echo'. When designing 'foliage first' this color echo may be between a leaf and a flower or even between two or more different leaves, yet there are many more adventurous…

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Reduce your Water Bill with these PNW Survivors

How was your water bill this summer? $200? $300? Over $500? Was it higher than usual and worse than expected? While the cause could be anything from a leaky toilet to an inefficient washing machine, chances are your landscape may have been the main culprit. Whether you have an automatic irrigation system or hand water…

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Shades of September

  It's an odd time of year. Neither summer nor fall. Cooler but not cold. Perhaps chianti rather than sauvignon blanc but not-quite-ready-for-a-full-Bordeaux type of weather I typically head into the garden to see what is new – newly blooming or in leaf – not newly going into decline! So what is there to get…

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A Movable Feast

I have just returned from a week long trip to Florida which for this Seattle-ite was pure horticultural eye candy! (I was speaking on the HGTV designer stage at the Epcot International Garden and Flower Festival for three days) . Everywhere I looked there were houseplants – growing as hedges or clambering up trees! Even…

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