Thursday, October 1, 2015

My Garden, Tour 2015, Part 1 - Streetside

It's become an annual tradition, one I rely on immensely from year to year. Being able to look back over photos of my garden and get a comprehensive snapshot of each summer - it's priceless. I am a little late with this year's post, I usually do the tour in August. I did take these photos then, on the 14th and 15th, the day before and the day of the Green on Green tour. It just took me a month and a half to get around to posting them...

We start at the front garden, as though you've just arrived.

And move slowly along the public sidewalk.

Taking special note of an agave or two along the way (Agave parryi 'JC Raulston').

Just for a moment we step off the sidewalk and onto the street, a necessary danger to get a good overall shot.

Another 'JC Raulston' - cause they're so good!

Hesperaloe parviflora 'Yellow'

Echium wildpretii, not reliably hardy here in Portland but if they survive this winter I should have 4 or 5 towering bloom spikes next summer.

Whiplash! The sky was cloudy and now it's blue...as I mentioned I took these photos over a couple of days. You're going to experience a few changes of light. So how about that Tetrapanax? Damn they make me happy.

As does this planting next to the front door.

Those Agave ovatifolia 'Frosty Blue' were pretty much the same size when they were planted. One of them is obviously taking it's vitamins.

This Callistemon ‘Woodlander's Hardy Red’ erupted in a new flush of blooms the day of the tour, wasn't that nice of it?

It's impossible to appreciate how big this Dasylirion wheeleri is from this picture. I am so thankful that it's positioned right in front of our door, so I see it often.

Looking back towards the plantings we just walked by...

And we head up the driveway towards...

The veggie garden. This year's Sun Gold tomato was insane. Truely out of control...and I loved it.

It was also a wonderful year for the basil, we ate it almost every night. Sadly I got tired of the Mina lobata (and the tomato it was smothering) before it bloomed. I pulled it out never having seen a single flower. I love the foliage though and I'm glad to have grown it. Tomorrow I'll take you into the back garden...

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

39 comments:

  1. Love it! I'm glad you showed us a lot of photos of your front yard. I meant to document it during our visit in June but time got away.

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    1. Thanks Gerhard...and yes, that was a fast (but fun) evening. So glad you and your family were able to visit.

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  2. So nice to see how things have changed from last year. What's the plant behind the bloodgrass in front of the chimney? Also, is that dark-leaved plant in front of the window a canna?

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    1. OMG, that was just a year ago wasn't it? Time flies. Tomorrow's post shows off how much that area north of the patio has changed. It's amazing. The plant behind the blood grass is Fatsia japonica, it's also the same plant next to/behind the yuccas in the shots where the house sidewalk and driveway meet (the multi-trunked shrub). And yes, it's a Canna.

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  3. Subtle changes and refinement! You are a garden artist I would have loved to come tour it in person.

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    1. I wish you could have been here again this year too Laurin!

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  4. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that the predictions I've heard for a mild winter actually happen, for the Echiums' sake! That would make a fabulous display! I really enjoyed reliving my visit during that tour. I've been saving my photos for a post on a cold, wet, winter's day. I adored that grouping of plants beside your front door.

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    1. I am trying not to let myself think too much about how amazing it would be, but I have to admit my mind does get carried away sometimes. It's so gratifying how that area by the front door really came together, especially how the self-seeded Euphorbia knit it all together.

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  5. OH, those wide views are gorgeous! I bet your neighbors really enjoy seeing something so different from the normal lawn and hedges. You have a real talent for putting plants together so their forms and textures play well off each other.

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    1. Such kind words, thank you VW! I think some of my neighbors feel it's a bit too wild...

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  6. Your garden simply never ceases to amaze Loree, more, more, more! And to think we're only on to the front garden which is fabulous already, more delights to come from the back :)

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    1. Ah, thanks guys. I'm missing blog posts from you...hope you're up to fun things that are getting in the way of blogging.

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  7. Cool. Love all the spikiness (is that a word?) and the curly things that hold the tomatoes up!

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    1. Oh yes spikiness is definitely a word, and thank you for using it.

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  8. Everything is so well balanced, looking at your front garden from every angle. R was just pointing out to me how many large shrubs are all competing for the same spaces. After 11 years, I guess some editing is in order.

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    1. Shrubs in your garden? Will you be able to move them to open spaces?

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    2. Oh, yes! Plenty of open spaces.

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  9. I hadn't notice that this was a DG tradition, but it's a good one! Amsonia is such a great plant and looks great with the succulents/agave.

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    1. Feathery softness and spiky solidness...a match made in plant heaven.

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  10. Looks good! What is the groundcover under the Manzanita with J.C Raulston? It's a nice touch of green & looks very healthy.

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    1. That's Blue Pacific Shore Juniper and I LOVE it! When all of my ground cover Grevillea bit the dust during the winter of 2013/14 I dug them out and planted several more Blue Pacific, 5 actually. They're still small in the photos but eventually will make a lovely blue/green carpet and knit all the small plants together. I can't wait.
      http://plantlust.com/plants/juniperus-conferta-blue-pacific/

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  11. I truly regret that I wasn't able to make the Portland Fling. I would have loved to have seen your garden. The color of your house is a great complement to the garden. How nice that that Callistemon gave you some blooms at the perfect time!

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    1. If you ever do make it out to Portland you know you're welcome here!

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  12. It looks great Loree! I love how you use repetition of the same plant elements. I'm also becoming enamored of the Tetrapanax, especially since seeing it in Denise's garden.

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    1. Tetrapanax would be a great addition to your garden Kris!

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  13. Your entire garden is glorious, but that plant combo to the right of your front steps is SOLID. Love!

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    1. Thanks Kate, I'm so happy I finally got to meet you!

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    2. Me too! I hope to get more involved in the Portland garden bloggers community & HPSO in the coming year, so here's to seeing more of each other.

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  14. I'll echo what the others have said -- so beautiful. Love the colors of the house and that glorious front door. Fabulous tour!

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  15. So beautiful! That planting by the front door is incredible. So many changes over the years - house color, that fab chartreuse door and the plants! Remember all the phormium you started out with? You do such a great job of balancing plant lust and design. As always, yours is one of my favorite gardens!

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    1. Thank you Mr. Outlaw...and it is pretty remarkable to think back to the beginning and all the changes we've made.

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  16. This is the third time that I've been back to look at these two posts about your garden. You have such a terrific sense of design esp. as it relates to scale and positive/negative space. And then there are your plants. My Synellisis is a brown fading mess and your matching pair on either side of the back path are still stunning. And you are clearly having success with your 'Axminster Gold' that you wondered about earlier in the season. Though we garden in radically different climates a visit to your garden is always an inspiration!

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    1. Thank you so much, and you mustn't give me too much credit! These photos were taken in August, my Synellisis is now a yellow fading mess. And that 'Axminster Gold' really did take off, although now its leaves are a disaster due to some creature devouring it.

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  17. I have tuned into your blog for the love of all things spiky, but it is the deep cranberry colored, smooth barked shrub behind the Agave parryi 'JC Raulston' that wowed me in this post. What is it? (fingers crossed that it will live in Rhode Island...)

    Beautiful garden, as always

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    1. Thanks jc...that's Arctostaphylos x ‘Austin Griffiths', Arctostaphylos/Manzanita are west coast native shrubs. I wouldn't say it's impossible to think one might grow in Rhode Island if you're in the warmer parts. But they hate summer water...we're pretty dry in the summer...so that might be an issue.

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    2. Alas, I can come up witha dry place in the summers (this summer would have been ideal), but there is nothing I can do about our winters....
      Thanks for the quick answer- love your blog!

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