Category Archives: Cool plants

Be they great for background, solitary primadonnas, ugly ducklings, unexpectedly edible or – to my mind – in any way cool and interesting, but somehow underrepresented in the horticultural world, chances are I might write about them here. I also have a lot of fun finding beautiful planting combinations which are fun to feature.

Belated Bloom Day and Foliage Follow-up – March 2014

Posted on March 19, 2014 by annamadeit

…. or as it could also be called; “The dance of the yet unplanted”. Temperature-wise, this winter was a rough one, and it was also a very busy one. So busy, in fact, that most everything procured last fall are … Continue reading →

Posted in Bloom Day, Cool plants, Foliage Follow-Up | Tagged citizenship, Color, daphne, ferns, flag, foliage, hellebores, mini-daffodil, podophyllum, spring flowers | 19 Comments

A stroll through the Lan Su Garden

Posted on October 21, 2013 by annamadeit

The Lan Su Garden is a true gem in our city. It is a garden the size of a city block, which was built as a collaboration between Portland and its sister city Suzhou in the Jiangsu province in China. … Continue reading →

Posted in Cool plants, Gardening and Landscaping, Local interest, On Design | Tagged chinese, details, garden, Lan Su, mosaic, paving, plant vignettes, poetry, stone | 20 Comments

Fall foliage, berries, and a few blooms too…

Posted on October 18, 2013 by annamadeit

How I could completely miss both October Bloom Day and Foliage Follow-up is beyond my comprehension. When I finally realized it, and wandered out back to survey the garden, I realized I had indeed missed a bunch of things out … Continue reading →

Posted in Bloom Day, Cool plants, Foliage Follow-Up, Gardening and Landscaping | Tagged autumn, Bloom Day, Color, fall, flowers, foliage, Foliage Follow-up, garden, Green, red | 10 Comments

Going gaga over green flowers

Posted on October 6, 2013 by annamadeit

The delight of the out-of-the-blue, sudden blossoming of one of my cacti a few weeks ago – for the first time in seven years! – carried with it another surprise… The flowers were green! How cool! Their obvious oddball appeal … Continue reading →

Posted in Color, Cool plants, Gardening and Landscaping, Just for fun | Tagged Anna Pavord, bulbs, Green, green flowers, phyllody, Plants, unusual | 28 Comments

If you can’t plant a tree, plant a rain garden!

Posted on September 28, 2013 by annamadeit

As our world is warming, more and more water evaporates. And, as we all learned in physics class, what goes up must sooner or later come down. As Portland is bracing for at least a week of more or less … Continue reading →

Posted in Cool plants, Environment, Gardening and Landscaping | Tagged Design, East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District, guide lines, Native plants, NECN, rain garden, storm water, workshop | 10 Comments

Garden tidings, September 2013

Posted on September 16, 2013 by annamadeit

Did you know that over 50 of the world’s 165, or so, species of lupine can be found here in the Pacific Northwest? Well, I didn’t either, until quite recently. I love seeing the blue expanses of it covering the … Continue reading →

Posted in Bloom Day, Cool plants, Foliage Follow-Up, Gardening and Landscaping | Tagged Bloom Day, cactus flower, Corokia cotoneaster, Foliage Follow-up, green flowers, Lupine albifrons, mountain meadow, Native plants, Pacific Northwest | 13 Comments

Veni vedi WeHoP – part 3 – fabulous plants, color, and texture

Posted on September 9, 2013 by annamadeit

While the previous two posts about our awesome adventure focused more on overall shots and a chronological narrative of our trip, I figured I’d cram a few more photos into a final post on the matter. It was such a … Continue reading →

Posted in Cool plants, Gardening and Landscaping, Uncategorized | Tagged Color, combos, flowers, foliage, garden, landscape, Pacific Northwest, Plants, texture | 16 Comments

Veni, vidi, WeHoP – a glorious garden geek adventure – part 2

Posted on September 8, 2013 by annamadeit

We got out of our cars less than a minute after we left Heronswood, stretched our travel weary limbs, and began exploring the offerings of Celestial Dream Gardens. But, alas, we got distracted! A few yards after getting back on … Continue reading →

Posted in Cool plants, Gardening and Landscaping, Just for fun, Nice People | Tagged Celestial Dreams Gardens, Desert Northwest, Design, Far Reaches Farms, foliage, garden, Kitsap peninsula, nurseries, road trip, Shayne Chandler, WeHoP | 22 Comments

Veni, vidi, WeHoP – a glorious garden geek adventure – part 1

Posted on September 8, 2013 by annamadeit

It started with an invitation to visit WeHoP – Western Horticultural Products – a Pacific Northwest plant broker that tests and experiments with an enormous variety of plants to determine their suitability for the PNW climate, and then supplies them … Continue reading →

Posted in Cool plants, Gardening and Landscaping, Just for fun, Nice People | Tagged garden, Heronswood, Kitsap peninsula, landscaping, Plants, road trip, Valley Nursery, WeHoP | 23 Comments

Rubus lineatus – not quite on the wild side…

Posted on August 21, 2013 by annamadeit

You can always tell the pot smokers from the non-users the first time they as new visitors walks up our driveway. At a particular point in this short journey, the hemp users invariably jump, which always makes me giggle because … Continue reading →

Posted in Cool plants, Gardening and Landscaping | Tagged Curb appeal, foliage, garden, leaves, Plants, Rubus lineatus, Shrubs | 19 Comments