Posts Tagged ‘trees’
Gaura – a whirl of tiny butterflies
Movement is important in a garden. It lends an informal atmosphere and softens otherwise stiff plantings. Grasses are often used for this, especially taller varieties but a few perennials are also perfectly suited for the job and one of the best is whirling butterflies (Gaura lindheimeri). The common name is a perfect description for these…
Read MoreThe Subtle Beauty of Vine Maples
We have a very special tree – The Hobbit Tree. Deep in the forest at the edge of our property there is an old gnarly vine maple (Acer circinatum), defying gravity and dripping with moss. It was all but buried under blackberries and reed canary grass and surrounded by alders and several Douglas fir trees.…
Read More12 Months Later
Is it really only that long? I suspect like many gardeners I'm better at writing a To Do list than celebrating the Ta Da moments. I'm so busy worrying about the deer munching on the end of an elderberry branch (and yes they do eat elderberries), that I forget to look around and take in…
Read MoreSunset Inspiration
I’ll often ask clients what their color preferences are for container garden plantings or as a palette for a new garden border. It can often be hard for them to articulate, however, and ends up being a series of Q & A – reds? Yes. Oranges? Not sure. Blues? Maybe. I find that I need…
Read MoreGazing Skywards – a fresh look at trees
There’s something magical about looking up through a leafy canopy. Dappled light adds a luminous quality to foliage, with such backlighting revealing details and colors which might otherwise go unnoticed. Several trees have wonderful downward facing flowers which are partially hidden by the surrounding leaves yet when viewed from below not only are they…
Read More