Looking for an old photo the other day I ended up spending a little time reminiscing about “the good old days”… maybe you know the ones? I’m talking about pre- winter 2008 when Portland gardeners could grow huge Phormiums and Cordylines and expect them to live through the winter. 
Just thinking about it I get all melancholy. 
The front garden looked so good… 
If you live in a climate like Portland’s, (zone 8, lots of winter moisture, summer drought, only a few weeks with real heat) and are looking to add a little spike to your garden you should consider Dasylirion wheeleri and Hesperaloe parviflora. These two plants are my under appreciated spiky rocks. 
I first planted Dasylirion wheeleri (Family: Ruscaceae) in 2007. I had four, but I did lose one in the winter of 2008. The other three have never missed a beat. They are even doing that fray on the end thing that they’re known for. 
I spend about 2 minutes a year caring for them. Maybe cutting off a dead leaf, or pulling a leaf from the neighbors tree trapped in the jagged spikes. 
That’s a pretty low maintenance plant! The same can be said for the Hesperaloes (Family: Agavaceae). I’ve got five of them and rarely do a thing to care for them, yet they just keep on looking good. 
Well, I guess I could have pulled the random tree leaf out of the middle of this one and cut off the broken leaf before I took this picture. 
Of course when they bloom they look extra good, but that’s the one downside of growing them here in Portland. It rarely gets hot enough for them to flower. **update - I've been told that a little extra water helps to get the lovely blooms! Water your Hesperaloes!**
Rare but it does happen, and when it does it’s beautiful. The flowers last for weeks and they attract hummingbirds like mad. I also love their curly white filaments. 
I’ve grown both of these in containers as well as in my (fairly heavy) clay soil without issue. 
Oh and there is one other spiky standby in my garden that deserves a shout-out…Yuccca rostrata (family Agavaceae), it’s also a spiky dream that sails through our cold wet winter with ease. 
But I really wanted to highlight the other two, since it seems I’ve overlooked their two minutes of danger garden fame. 
Yes of course the very day I posted my little weather rant I also spent the entire day working in the garden…without even a jacket on! It was 68 degrees! Nothing short of wonderful let me tell you. I started out the day by mowing the lawn (for the second time this year) and then edged…for the first time. This always makes things look so crisp and clean! 
It was a little disturbing. I wonder what these three are up to? 
I love the look of Hosta as they emerge in the spring. So spiky…to later become so soft. 
The Solomon’s Seal has really multiplied this year! I’m finally feeling like I can dig up a few and transplant them to the north side of our house, last count 17 tips emerging from the soil! 
The Clematis armandii blooms are bursting, unlike past years they are not very fragrant. 
I’ve shared pictures of my Syneilesis (Shredded Umbrella plant) before, but they are just so cute I have to share a couple more. 
Did you notice the bright green plant in the background above? It’s a Veratrum Californicum. The key (as with all big leafed plants) is to plant it where wind doesn’t shred it’s leaves. And to pray for no hail storms. 
Maidenhair fern forest. 
Fresh Ligularia leaves. 
I think these little white tips may be Rodgersia tabularis? At least I hope so. You can also spot my slug deterent in this picture. I cut the bottom out of a clear deli container. That way light and water get in but (so far – knock on wood) the slugs don’t slime their way up and over the sides. It’s not pretty but I only leave them on as things are emerging. 
Do as I say…not as I do. 
I bitch about the Bishops Weed that someone planted in my front garden but I’ve gone and introduced Sweet Woodruff in the back garden. A while back in a post on ground-covers I mentioned that I hadn’t really experienced it spreading. Well, I’m setting the record straight. It spreads. Boy does it spread. But doesn’t it look fabulous with the color of Black Mondo Grass? 
Speaking of color I love the bright acid yellow green of the new growth on Hakonechloa grass. 
I’ve already got my Echiums for the season. Echium pinnata purchased at the Yard Garden & Patio Show. 
And my summer love…Echium candicans ‘Veriegata’ from Cistus. 
The Yucca baccata I bought last summer (also from CIstus) finally went in the ground. That’s the magic of winter….new spots open up in the planting beds where previously there were none. 
Blooming Acacia Pravissima, or Ovens Wattle. These smell just like my neighbors fabric softener sheets (now you’re wondering how I know that right? Their dryer vents near our driveway). 
Ignore that tacky peeling paint; just imagine a beautiful new chocolate brown paint job. How great would the Acacia look now? 
I bought this Bergenia last spring specifically because of its multicolored leaves, and I am so happy to see that they’re back! 
Nothing like a little red to really set of bright chartreuse huh? 
I am slowly starting to bring containers out from the shade pavilion greenhouse. As that frees up room I’ll start bring some up others up from the basement to enjoy brighter light. I am a slave to my plants… 
I enjoyed the flowers of the vine growing on our gate so much last year I planted a Passiflora this year. Big beautiful white Passion Flowers….if of course it chooses to flower in its first year. Otherwise I’ll just enjoy the leaves. 
Ah….a day spent in the garden. What a life. Of course the next day we were back down to a 52 degree high with intermittent rain showers, but it was nice while it lasted. 
It’s finally April, thank god. Maybe things will start to improve, weather wise? I know that nobody wants to read an entire blog post that’s just rant on cold rainy weather so just keep in mind this isn’t actually about the weather. No! It’s about Friends of Trees, and mud. There are just a few statistics thrown in because I dig statistics, especially when they are about the weather.
So…the Portland Airport (just 4.85 miles from my home) received 6.43 inches of rain in March, average is 3.71. That's the 5th wettest March on record (7.52 is the record). And to make matters worse, it’s not just been a few rainy days…no we had measurable rain every day in March except 3, that is 28 days of rain (23 of them consecutive)! 
Actually there are 4 of them in a row, that's making quite the Paperbark Maple statement don't you think? 
FOT is behind the planting of Japanese Snowbells (Styrax japonica) in our parking strip, planted before we lived here. Since then 2 other neighbors and FOT have planted pairs in their strips. Makes for a nice floral display when they are all in bloom. 
Here they are up close, and there is another set just a few feet away. 
They are supporting a pair of Tulip Trees (Liriodendron tuliperfera)
These babies get big! Here is a huge old specimen just a block or two away. 
Of course that picture was taken last June, you can tell because the sky is blue…not grey like it was for almost the entire month of March. 
Here’s Lila checking out the mud. 
Since October, FOT volunteers have planted more than 27,000 trees and native plants. That’s a lot of muddy shoes. 