Tuesday, April 3, 2018

I've driven by this garden a hundred times...

Seriously, I have driven by this house at least a hundred times. I never once noticed the garden until last week, when it made such an impression I had to circle back to get a closer look.

It was the oddly (in a good way) pruned conifers, with their little trunks, that first caught my eye.

For a moment I thought maybe they were Chamaecyparis lawsoniana 'Wissel's Saguaro' but after looking at online photos I've decided they aren't "saguaro-y" enough to be.

The extra-wide hellstrip was nicely planted up.
Blooming Euphorbia, with their chartreuse bracts, brighten up a grey cloudy day.

And the blooming Heathers/Heaths (help!?) add color and texture.

A nice way to frame a neighbor's tree.
Yucca filamentosa 'Color Guard' sentinels at the property line.
With a gorgeous Phormium backer.

Times two on the other side.

A thin side yard gets tall Bamboo for privacy.

And a third similarly pruned-up conifer, in the front garden, for balance.

So much color, without the screaming of spring bulbs.
Does the Trachycarpus seem a little random to you? I can't decide.

On top of the side wall...

At the driveway/garage end...
What a nice (and nicely tended) garden.

Weather Diary, April 2: Hi 52, Low 37/ Precip trace

All material © 2009-2018 by Loree Bohl for danger garden (dg). Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

27 comments:

  1. That Hellstrip alone would make it a noteworthy garden. I am always hesitant to plant pairs of things but they seem to have had good luck keeping them alive and similar sized. I bet they pruned those evergreens by the steps to keep the sidewalk clear so no one would complain and force them to remove them.

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    1. If your hunch is right then they certainly made the most of it.

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  2. What a great garden....using all the space! I am happy you noticed: ) Thank you for sharing!

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  3. It's a really nice garden (although I do think the palm seems out of place to me). I wonder what triggered your notice all of a sudden. Perhaps the trimming given to the conifers?

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  4. Very artfully done! I'm so surprised you haven't toured this garden before. As you say, it's especially nice to have all that color and visual interest without any bright blooming bulbs. I really like the steps, the stonework, the wall, and the house, itself, too.

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  5. It is a very interesting garden. I like it. Wouldn't you love to be able to tour the back garden. I wonder what treasures it holds. You need to befriend these people.

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    1. I bet there's a nice party (entertaining) space behind the wall.

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  6. Portland has the best landscaping, I swear!

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  7. The palm and bamboo seem a little out of place but maybe they're a clue to what's going on in the back yard. I like the garden and admire how well kept it is!

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    1. Interesting you felt the bamboo was also out of place, it felt like it belonged to me.

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  8. The gardener has done a nice job using repetition and a simple, very effective color scheme with varied shapes and textures. This is really the kind of garden I'm struggling towards, that looks at least as good in winter as it does in summer. The palm does stick out, but I see it as an exclamation point, rather than a sore thumb. The heaths (Erica) are blooming now. The orange heathers (Calluna vulgaris) are not.

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    1. Thanks for the heaths and heathers lesson (we'll see if I member). I'll have to do a drive by again in the summer to see how it looks then.

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  9. That is an interesting pruning job on the conifers by the front steps. I really like the way the steps and path start at the corner and meander toward the house. The palm does seem a bit out of place to me.

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    1. The steps and path to the door are done so well! Not just a straight-shot boring sidewalk.

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  10. I'm a little mystified about what made the garden fail to jump out at you before. The palm screams "plant people here", in case the wealth of other plants left any doubt...

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    1. Usually I am driving by on the street in front of the house, which is fairly busy. Maybe the hell-strip hides the garden? When I saw it this time I was crossing the street, just a block away.

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  11. This is so great. The hardscaping in this garden is just the best. I wonder if you have ever unknowingly crossed paths with these gardeners at some of your Portland events.

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  12. What a pristine garden for the time of the year! You need to bag an invite to see what's behind those walls.

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    1. "oh god, that lady's out there again with her camera, should we just invite her in so she leaves us alone?"...

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  13. Very interesting garden. I really like it! Thanks for sharing.

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  14. To my eye the palm is discordant with the other plants , because when I think of palms, I think of tropical landscapes. BUT I think I need to readjust my thinking of what belongs where since, if the Trachycarpus enjoys this climate, then it "belongs," and I just need to train my mind, that, yes, this fits with this landscape!

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  15. Another Yogi Berra-ism: the more you look, the more you see.

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