Greening Portland, the rural and urban versions

Last Saturday was a day of extremes. Bright sunny skies followed by intense downpours, repeat, repeat, repeat. Such is spring in the Pacific Northwest. Andrew and I made a quick trip out to visit a plant sale at Westwind Farm Studio during one of those sunny times. The lady in red (pink?) below was our hostess.

Attendees to the 2014 Garden Bloggers Fling in Portland spent a warm, sunny, July afternoon here. I did not since Scott and I needed to get back to the hotel to set up for the dinner later that night. In other words, this was the first time I'd been here...but with much anticipation of how wonderful it would be.

And it was! Thanks to the owner and hostess Maryellen who broke away from the sale to give us an impromptu tour of the garden.

The greenhouse was our destination, so many good things happening inside.

I am jealous. There, I said it.

Such fabulous plants.

There's a shady side too...

This big beauty was a remnant from earlier days, a planter extraordinaire.

Heading down to the pool area while looking back up at the greenhouse.

I could hang out there.

I love the horsetail, I know many don't. Maryellen shared that they've resigned themselves to it.

Walking back towards the sale area this arbor was worth stopping to gawk at.

Back at the sale...

Lots of great plants.

Some from Xera...

Others they'd propagated onsite and others from Blooming Nursery. I bought a sweet pair of echeveria. The next event will be the Lavender Festival, 2nd weekend of July, reports are there will be many cactus and succulents available for sale during that event. I'll probably need to be there.

So that was the rural, later in the evening we were back in the city and headed to meet a friend for dinner. The skies weren't so blue anymore, in fact there were raindrops falling as we stood outside and waited for a table. Luckily there were some interesting "green walls" across the street worth staring at.

The Woodlawn boasts all sorts of "green" attributes, in fact..."The Woodlawn is the epitome of green living in Northeast Portland" and among other things (which you can read about if you click on the link) it has "1100 square feet of living wall siding, The Woodlawn seamlessly blends the best of modern architecture with all of the benefits and aesthetics of natural flora." They think a lot of themselves!

I pledge to keep an eye on this installation and see how it fares over time.

Turning back towards the outdoor seating (risky under those skies!) of the restaurant we hoped to eat at Andrew noticed the "green roof" over the bike parking. Only in Portland...
Barrels cut in half and planted up.

The over flow water drains out the hole at the end and into a gutter, that then drains into another running perpendicular to the first. You can see it just above the street sign and the pedestrian crossing sign.

It then drips into a bioswale next to the street. I should have got a photo of it but 1) we were starting to make the folks sitting outside nervous with all our picture taking. And 2) our friend showed up and it was time to eat!

All material © 2009-2015 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.