The Ferrante garden, during the 2025 Study Weekend

Jenn Ferrante's garden was my second stop on the first day of the 2025 HPSO Study Weekend. I've been to this garden before, first in 2014 with the Garden Conservancy,  and then in 2019 for the last Portland Study Weekend.

The gravel mulched hellstrip plantings are always pristine.

Lots of folks up in the garden proper.

Jenn (left, the garden's owner) and Nancy (right, former HPSO President and all around Portland garden enthusiast). Jenn's wet weather boots and short sleeve tee (with warmer jacket tied around her waist) illustrate the wacky weather day it was.

Heading into the side yard, description from the event booklet: "Rustic basalt paths lead around the house to a shady plant-filled east side, a private back corner oasis, and a through to the sunny west side with a large deck."

Looking backwards...

What a nice patch of painted fern, with a little black mondo grass to bring out the dark tones in the foliage.

I've coveted this hanging planter since I first saw it in 2014. Editing my photos for this post I finally realized I could do something very similar with a couple pieces of galvanized gutter that I've had collecting dust in the garage for a few years now.

My version is coming Spring 2026!

Jenn clearly has a thing for foliage, and for orbs. Had I included all the photos I took that day you'd have already seen many, with many more to come.

Flowers aren't forbidden though, and actually I think this might be the first Epipactis gigantea 'Serpentine Night' I've ever seen blooming in an open garden.

More from the official description; "Numerous clematis, hydrangea, and daylilies (that might make you rethink daylilies) are tucked in with other perennials, rare gems, trees, and shrubs all chosen for their foliage. Quirky and rustic garden art if thoughtfully placed throughout the garden, and the original old concrete walkway and terracotta drain tubes that were dug up during the garden's development have been artfully repurposed throughout." 

More orbs...

The terracotta tubes mentioned in the garden description are a favorite feature of mine.

Days before I walked this garden I'd noticed my own (much smaller) Chamaecyparis lawsoniana 'Wissel's Saguaro' had turned brown. I was sad to see the same thing had happened to this stellar specimen.

I'm glad she left it though, instead of yanking it out before the tour, after all it still has serious presence in the garden. I do wish I'd had a chance to ask how long it had been brown and what her long term plan was.

On to the deck also mentioned in the garden description...

Looking back at the pathway, post-deck.

And finally I'm on the front porch of the house, looking down on the round bowl that greets you when you climb the steps and decide whether to go left, or to go right...

The Bit at the End

Oh this is a fun one!  If you read Garden Rant then you might have already saw it, if not then get ready to roll your eyes; Gardening By Meme – A Screwtape Fantasy. My favorite line, "Social media pile-ons can be harsh – let them work for you." I'll admit I had to look up "A Screwtape Fantasy" as I had no idea what that meant. Here's what YOURDICTIONARY says; To mess things up, to corrupt, to be devilish. [or] slang, Internet, To bump a particularly old topic thread on the internet or in an electronic forum, by posting an ironic or humorous reply to a previous message. 

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All material © 2009-2025 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.