Scheming on what to plant in front of our window (where the rhododendron was) I decided to take a walk for inspiration. I’ve shared this garden many a times, and I thought perhaps I might discover a new-to-me plant which just begged to be planted in my garden, or at least an interesting combination of colors and textures. I do covet these planters, and I'd take them planted up just like this. But I've already got planters on the other side of our front door and don't want to get to carried away.
I've got no ice-plant in my garden...maybe it's time.
This photo has me thinking of color-blocking.
I find that Yucca rostrata is the answer to many of life's garden questions.
Then again a tiny leaf has it's place too (Sophora prostrata 'Little Baby').
Complete with a well placed agave (probably A. parryi).
Love the two-tone effect on the Opuntia.
Silver and green...must remember to mix in some silver!
How to freak out my husband? Bring home a Eucalyptus, this would not fly at our house.
Maybe an Opuntia hedge in front of our window? (Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery)
I believe the tree at the back is a Sophora of some sort, but the yucca, agave, callistemon is repeated throughout my front garden. Maybe more of the same?
I remember taking a photograph of these last year...
So fabulous!
In the hell-strip...this has to be the most unfriendly sidewalk plant ever, I love that.
Such a bright green Manzanita!
And more silver...
Okay, back to my house to scheme some more...where do you go for inspiration?
All material © 2009-2013 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
I vote for an agave combined with Mexican needle grass (Stipa tenuissima).
ReplyDeleteOh I can picture that...so beautiful! I've been on the hunt for a significant sized agave and come to the conclusion that if I can find one (haven't yet) it will be of a price that would make me unwilling to put it in the ground and risk death. Instead I've found two decent sized smaller ones (buy one get one free!).
DeleteWonderful inspiration walk!! Yesterday I was on an inspiration walk in Vancouver. It ended up with me finding three free agaves!!
ReplyDeleteI hope you found some front of house planting ideas.
Wait a second!!!...how do you find 3 free agaves, in Vancouver? I can see it happening in say San Francisco, but Vancouver? Lucky you! What kind are they?
DeletePetunias. Lots and lots of petunias. I can't wait to see what you plant and I completely agree about yucca rostrata. It's the perfect exclamation point (with jazzy hands!).
ReplyDeleteOh that would smell so good! Maybe I can make a petunia Chrsitmas tree like at the outlet mall?
DeleteA big Opuntia hedge could be just the thicket for the likes of Danger Garden...
ReplyDelete"just the thicket"....hehehe
DeleteAndrew won't consider eucalyptus? I'm not sure we can still be friends...
ReplyDeleteBut whatever makes the cut to replace the rhody, I bet it will be spiky!
I love that fuzzy, small, silver-leafed fluff that appears near the callistemon, and in the last-but-one picture. Do you know what it is?
I bought a eucalyptus in the early days of the garden. It grew and grew, as did his anxiety. I finally let him cut it down.
DeleteI think Fifi (below) might be right about the silver leaf plant, Artemisia absinthium? If so I saw one at the Broadway Fred Meyer just yesterday.
I'd love to know what the plant is on either side of "So fabulous." Is it a Cynara?
ReplyDeleteYou and me both! I don't think it's a Cynara though...
DeleteI was suprised you didn't mention the Penstemon pinifolius blooming so vibrantly around the bases of the opuntias and yuccas or the real nice Arctostaphylos gracefully draping over the wall above the aggregate pots.
ReplyDeleteI have to laugh a bit, those old concrete pots were such a mainstay of every mall and shopping center back in the day and were considered so ugly in the 80's!
I didn't mention the Penstemon pinifolius because I didn't know what it was...and (apology to all that do) I don't really like penstemon all that much. The "Arctostaphylos gracefully draping over the wall above the aggregate pots" though...I do LOVE that.
DeleteI like the big Opuntia hedge, too. Also gives you a great excuse not to wash the windows & I'm all about avoiding things like that!
ReplyDeleteOh god. Don't even mention our windows. There's a storm window over the big living room window and we need to take it off and wash the inside...what a job!
DeleteIs this garden currently viewed as a unique approach in Portland or is it more typical now? If there are any newer combinations or ideas at some of your favorite nurseries, take a look at those before deciding. It's a good time to consider going with the more predictable Danger Garden choices or something newer if it's available.
ReplyDeleteAll good ideas in the inspiration garden, the yellow mixed in with the silver and green is a combination which works well in my area of Texas.
I go shopping for inspiration at a local mall and I wrote about that earlier this spring.
Totally unique approach! There are lots and lots of fully planted up front gardens but the plant selection here is very different.
DeleteI remember your mall post, it was a good one! And nurseries definitely help too. I was just at Cistus last week for that reason.
I go to blogs like yours for inspiration! Whatever you ultimately pick to fill that space, I'm sure it will be wonderful. I suspect that, if you give the decision some time, you'll find several things that'll be just right - and then you'll have to pick between them.
ReplyDeleteThank you Kris! And you're right about having more ideas than space. Although I'm too far gone at this point (having made a couple of purchases and started down another path) Gerhards idea at the top of this page is haunting me!
DeleteThat garden is amazing! I wish I could take that kind of inspiration walks around my house. I love Sophora prostrata 'Little Baby' and how it looks in front of Yucca rostrata.
ReplyDeleteI'm lucky to have that one so close, there are however plenty of non-inspiring gardens between here and there.
DeleteWhatta yard! Wowww!
ReplyDeleteIs that silvery plant a Wormwood?
I think you're right Fifi...have you had success with it? I've killed the two I've tried to grow.
DeleteNo, I've never grown it but only because I haven't come across it in my plant nursery travels. My friend has an enormous silvery wormwood that I fondle when I visit her yard(!). I'd like to give it a try growing one though.
DeleteWow, what a fabulous garden. So many great ideas. Those yuccas are superb!
ReplyDeleteAren't they? Repetition really makes them pop.
DeleteI vote for Opuntia hedge, also.
ReplyDeleteI would too, except it's going to look terribly small for several years.
DeleteThat's the problem. There's no way I could round up the quantity of tall plants I'd need for that space. Plus the mailman cuts through right there so I need to maintain a bit of a safe passage for the guy. Still the look would be FABULOUS!
DeleteBlogs, books, and magazines especially on periods when we don't have the chance to have a day out and have a look around.
ReplyDeleteThose planters are interesting and I like the way they have chosen four different plants with different forms and textures. Also the yucca-agave-callistemon combo is a good one to stick with.
I'm glad you included magazines in that list...I hope we continue to have the printed version to enjoy years down the road. I've been working my way through a stack of old garden magazines from the early 90's that I picked up at a Hardy Plant Society meeting last winter. What fun!
DeleteI love that Manzanita. Would one of those work to replace the Rhodie? Or maybe an Arbutus unedo? I often have a hard time figuring out how to work silvery or blue foliage into the garden, too.
ReplyDeleteI really thought long and hard about both, but in the end height was a concern. Plus I already have 4 other manzanita in the front garden...
DeleteHmmmm...I get my inspiration from a mix of places...magazines, books, blogs...they all mix together in my addled little mind ;-)
ReplyDeleteYour mind sounds a lot like mine!
DeleteWhere do we go for inspiration? What? Are you fishing for compliments?
ReplyDelete