2009

In honor of all the 'best of' and 'year end' lists, I'd like to wrap up this amazing year with a month by month look at the year that was the least productive work-wise, and pretty low on the social events and traveling due to a swelling belly, but most life-changing year in my personal and married life.

If 2007 was the year of bike racing, and 2008 was the year of weddings, 2009 was the year of the baby.

JANUARY


Sorry about starting out with a photo of me with a gun in my hand, but January in Portland is pretty uneventful, and shooting guns is very exciting.

FEBRUARY


In February, I had a booth at the Yard Garden and Patio Show and talked to visitors for what seemed like 3 days straight.

MARCH


I turned 34 in March.

...and celebrated by visiting Los Angeles and the Huntington Gardens.

...and a weekend at the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs.


APRIL


Our most beautiful cherry tree fell over in a freak wind storm and our back yard will never be the same (at least not for another 15 years when the new tree is mature).

MAY


The garden in May is lovely. We spend most of our afternoons and evenings in the back yard with friends BBQing and sitting around a fire.
*Note: This month's photo should be of me shredding on my mt bike, but at this point I am 6 months pregnant and leading a less 'extreme' lifestyle.

JUNE


Although I was doing lots of designs for clients this year, I only got to install one large project with the help of some able-bodied sub contractors.

JULY


I posed for some silly maternity photos with my friend Heidi Swift.

AUGUST

I was supposed to have a baby in August, but she wasn't interested in vacating my uterus yet, so I decided to remodel the bathroom 2 weeks before my due date.

The final product was well worth it!

SEPTEMBER

Miss Sunday Joyce Cardinal graced us with her presence on September 6th, and our lives are forever changed.

OCTOBER

I go on my first 'real' bike ride in about 10 months. A lovely day I will not soon forget.

NOVEMBER

I go back to work part time but spend most of my time starring at and photographing the most beautiful creature I have ever seen.

DECEMBER

Every Sunday, we go to cyclocross races, and I miss not racing and look forward to racing again next year. We visit family and have our own little family and we're thankful for our health and happiness and creative careers and amazing friendships.

Finally, wedding bouquets

I am just now getting around to posting pictures of the bridal bouquets I did this summer for my friend's wedding. See the table arrangements here. It was a fun project and looking at the photos again in November already makes me long for summer.

Also, here are a few more photos of the table arrangements and boutonnières. (Photos by Heidi Swift)

Terrain Online

Trust me, I am an all-out supporter of local business. In fact, I love the fact that plant material is difficult to sell via the internet because what's the point of buying plants if you don't get to go to beautiful nurseries to the see the plants in person and pick up one or two other gems that weren't on the list but you couldn't resist?

I will admit though, that I have been dying to go to Terrain at Styer's in Philadelphia since they opened a couple of years ago. This is one of Urban Outfitters concept stores and from photos I have seen, the place looks awesome. If you have seen an Anthropologie store, imagine what they can do to a nursery. Here is a good set of photos if you like:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ohjoystudio/sets/72157604819436047/

Well, Terrain just opened an online store where they are selling their hard goods - outdoor furniture, containers, garden structures. This company goes to great extents to find and procure goods from around the globe, and I think they have a nice little selection of garden items too. www.shopterrain.com

New Addition

She's here! She's finally here! Ten days after her due date, following a long bike ride under the full moon, I went into labor and 15 intense, painful hours later, Sunday Joyce Cardinal greeted us. It was a moment Matt and I will never forget and we spent the next 2 days just starring at her, holding two armfuls of the most beautiful example of perfection we will ever know. If I were a poet, I would write books about it. In fact, I'm considering becoming a mommyblogger instead of writing about boring landscaping. Just kidding.

Let me address some of the questions I have been getting in case you, the internet, were wondering the same thing. We named her Sunday because we like the word and all it implies. Matt's mom's name is Sandra Joyce, so we played on that name a bit. Also, Matt and I met on a Sunday and were married on a Sunday, and yes - Sunday was born on a Sunday. We're big fans of this specific day of the week.

Night time IS very challenging. We've started down the path of darkness: co-sleeping. Sunday sleeps right next to me, between me and Matt. No, I am not worried about rolling over on her. This arrangement makes feedings very easy and she doesn't wake up screaming in another room which would stress out all three of us. I know this situation can lead to a hard habit to break, but from what I have read, it seems the benefits out-weigh the drawbacks. Let us hippie-out on this one, alright?

Yes, she is the cutest baby ever. Most people say she looks like Matt. She makes really funny faces and was born with an old man haircut. (long in back, bald on top.)
She weighed 7 lbs. 1/2 oz. and didn't even lose any weight in the days following birth as most babies do. (She's a really good eater - my pain is her gain!)

I was totally sober when I labored and delivered her. AKA - I had a natural child birth. Another controversial topic here, and one that I now see why most people go with the drugs. It was extremely painful and difficult - I'm not gonna lie to you. And, yes I did beg for an epidural once or twice, but we kind of assumed this would happen and we had prepared for it. When I asked for an epidural, Matt was to by no means allow me to get it. It worked, although Matt was kind of put in a pickle on that one. I am happy that no drugs were introduced into Sunday during the delivery and that is my consolation when I look back on the experience.



Anyway, the boss lady is stirring, so I'm going to end this post. Thanks for all the support and love, and I promise to stay focused on garden writing in the future. I am so excited to dig in the dirt again!

Wedding Flowers

Since I haven't been able to move rocks and dig holes this season due to the little bambina on the way, I took on a bit of a different "flower" project a few weeks ago - cut floral arrangements. My good friend Heather got married on August 9th in Washington Park and she asked me to do the arrangements - bouquets, boutineers, table arrangements, etc. We decided on dahlias which were in bloom and locally grown as the main flower in hot summer colors - fuscias, oranges, purples. With cream rose accents, viburnum and hypericum berries and foliage from my garden - choisya, cottinus and ninebark leaves. The days prior to the wedding I procured all the cut flowers and processed and stored them in the house - Matt said the house looked like a funeral parlor....The day before the wedding my friend Tess who is a professional floral designer helped me assemble the bouquets and the 20+ table arrangements which took about 10 hours.

The first photo is of a stunning arrangement that was on the dessert table - the photo does not do it justice - it must have stood 2.5' tall and weighed about 50 lbs. The second photo is one of the table arrangements with dahlias.

I am most excited about the bouquets - the bride's and two attendant's. I am waiting to get some of professional photos before I post them, because they need to be seen with the dresses and the pretty girls.

Congrats to Heather and Matt and I look forward to doing more floral arranging in the future.

Newest Installation (Before & After)

We just finished landscaping Keith and Megumi's house in NE Portland last week. I had worked on the design for it through this past winter. They wanted a clean, uncluttered design that incorporated retaining walls for mounded beds. They also longed for a better entrance to their back door which is their primary entry to the house. They have a little dog, and soon to be baby so we decided to build a fence that would allow for the back door to open into the back yard, creating a boundary between the back yard and street.

Keith built the fence and wall himself, and new automatic irrigation was installed. Superwonderful then prepped and graded the site and installed the new plants and sod.

The design includes many conifers - thunderhead pine, 'gracilis' hinoki, weeping cedar, 'creampuff' and 'snowsprite' cedars and evergreen shrubs including 'yuletide' camellia, 'green spire' euonymus and heavenly bamboo. The few perennials include bearded iris and japanese anemone.

The homeowners are ecstatic over the new landscaping, and I hear the neighbors can't stop complimenting it either.

A Nifty Little Makeover

Last week, with the help of some able bodied landscapers, we did a little switcheroo of an old, beat up grass pathway. The owner used the pathway quite alot and usually with a bike in hand, heading out of the basement to the front steps. Mowing, edging, and watering a strip of grass can be tedious and wasteful and we decided to replace the pathway with 1/4 minus gravel, a commonly used material for pathways which compacts better than pea gravel and makes walking on easier. (not to mention rolling bikes on...)



We also replaced the backyard lawn with new sod. The original lawn was a low-mow grass seed blend that gets a lot of hype in the gardening world for it's low water and no mowing needs. I will even admit that I'm the one that installed this seed for the client a little over a year ago. The lawn turned out to be an unsightly patch of clumping grasses, some of which had sent out flower shoots about 2' tall. Although this good-old-fashioned lawn will require mowing, watering and fertilizing, it really is nice to have a patch of grass to sit in and for the dog to play in.

Both the lawn and the gravel paths are edged with a 3 3/4" steel edging.

In Bloom

Here's a new bouquet created with foraged garden cuttings.

Peony, Smokebush, Black Mondo Grass, Japanese Forest Grass, Bleeding Heart (still in bloom in June!)

In Bloom

Here's what's in bloom this week: Roses, Peony, Poppy Pods, Flax Leaves.

Pink Overload? Maybe.

I hope to be back on the regularly scheduled program in the next couple of weeks. I will be working on two installations (well, pointing my finger, smiling, and saying please alot to the crew who will be doing the installations). I will hopefully have some photos of us removing old grass and installing gravel paths with steel edging. And after that, a complete remodel of a landscape that I designed this winter. The homeowners are doing a lot of the work themselves, and it's almost time for the new plants to go in.

Arrangement #3

These posts need better titles. Any suggestions?

This third arrangement from the garden is made with Calla Lily (same ones from a week ago), Icelandic Poppy, Poppy Pods. Cost = $0.00.

Arrangement #2

Here's the newest arrangement of cut flowers from the garden. Bearded Iris, Siberian Iris, Calla Lilly, Columbine.

Side Projects

Since I have put down the shovels and heavy machinery for the year, I have finally had the time and motivation to work on some new stuff that I have had been wanting to do for a couple of years. The first is to build a prototype for a vertical herb garden like the one I saw at the Chicago Botanic Garden. I should have taken photos of the process so you can see how it's built from start to finish, but here is a photo of the one I made recently after it was planted.

I will add some more herbs and maybe more annuals to fill in some more of the holes, and the idea is that as the plants grow, the holes will be filled in to hide the chicken wire. I used 4" pots of herbs and annuals which is a chunk of money, so using flats or growing things from seed would be more cost effective here. But, using herbs makes it more purposeful than say a succulent wall, or selecting plants solely for appearance. I'll post more photos as the plants fill in. It will eventually hang on the garage wall.

The other fun thing I will be doing this summer are the flowers for my lovely friend Heather's wedding. I am really excited about filling my house up with cut flowers from the flower market and making arrangements and bouquets all day. Right now we are leaning towards bright colors like chartreuse and fuscia, and some lighter pink and coral accents. Dahlias will be in season, so think big and bright!

I am not a huge fan of cut flowers in garden design, instead opting for plants with showy foliage. But, when we moved into our house we acquired, along with ugly lawn and dandelions, some columbine, irises, gladiolus, calla lillies and dahlias. So, I've left them in the garden and quite enjoy them, actually. I make arrangements with them all Spring and Summer. This photo is the first arrangement of Spring. Probably from early May. It is just columbine and astromeria. Viola!

Rain Gardens - Finally!

I'm super excited about 2 design projects I am working on now. One is the backyard for the residence in Lake Oswego where I designed and installed the front yard in December. The other is for a mid-century ranch house in NE Portland that needs a huge makeover while bringing forth that great mid-century style. I'll keep ya posted on both of these projects.

There has been a ton of change and work going on at Casa de Cardinal also. A few weeks ago, we lost our lovely cherry tree in a short but powerful Spring storm. We were truly devastated to lose such a beauty.

After the arborist chopped it up and removed it, it left this gaping hole in the yard. We are doing our best to deal with the lack of shade and privacy it gave us, and I am constantly thinking of what tree will replace it. Currently it is an Acer palmatum, katsura. (Katsura Japanese Maple). But, the mimosa tree is still in the running.


I am really liking this little corner of the backyard right now. I see it out of the french doors from the kitchen and it makes me very happy. The Agave is from Life + Limb and I just put it outside for the summer. It is getting a little sun burnt, but I hope it adjusts to the move.

And, I finally, after 3 and half years of living in the house replaced the gutters! Last year when I landscaped the front yard, I built 2 small rain gardens in front of the downspouts for stormwater retention. They never were used to their full potential because the gutters were such a mess and the downspouts weren't even connected properly. So, you can see that the downspout is now connected to a flexible pipe that goes under the walkway and empties into the depressed area which is filled with sedges and strawberries that have made their way over the raised vegetable bed and into the garden. They should do fine with wet feet in the winter anyway. I can't wait for a rainy day to watch the rain gardens fill up.

New, new, new

Despite a horribly difficult and unproductive day due to the truck breaking down on I-84 because of radiator problems, life seems to be moving forward quickly and seemingly all at once. I have finally nailed down a couple pretty fantastic assistants for the season, and even in my frazzled state today dealing with broken trucks and sketchy auto mechanics, they powered through the day and did great work without me. So, as every business owner knows how important good employees are, I am feeling very lucky to have Iva and Ben this year.

And, as the cat is out of the bag, I suppose I need to come clean on the internet here and tell those that do not already know that Matt and I are going to have a baby in August (or September). If there is anything that seems new to me these days besides sun breaks and cherry blossoms, it is having a baby growing inside me. And my belly growing with it.

Tonight we decided to cap off our crazy stressful day by buying a new (used) car. It was actually a fine experience and kind of made our day a little better. We are now proud owners of a 1988 Volvo station wagon. That's right - standard family mobile. Ehh - it's pretty cool nonetheless, and it might be the only one Oregon without liberal leaning bumper stickers on it. We plan to keep it that way.

So, it really does feel like Spring here now. Long awaited changes are happening, and we're preparing for a solid summer of sun and fun and continued newness.

Happy Spring ya'll!

Come on Summer!

I'm skipping Spring Fever and going straight for Summer.

It's around this time that I almost have myself convinced that the sun is never going to shine again and it will rain in Portland 362 days a year. I just got back from Los Angeles and Palm Springs with a fantastic stop at the Huntington Gardens in Pasadena. Just the feel of the sun on my skin was worth the cost of the airfare!

Another reason why I am longing for summer is this book: Sharp Gardening

But for now, we only have glimpses of Spring in the crocus flowers and plum tree blossoms. Many gardener's favorite season is Spring, but mine is summer. I do love the cherry blossoms, but my heart truly aches for big bold leaves of tropical plants and hot colors of summer.

My friend Tracy sent me this Spring-inspired photo today which might be the only time I have ever enjoyed pastel colors. (Except Superwonderful Pink, of course)

(photo by Tim Walker)

YGP Show Slideshow

YGP Show Build Out

The display is finally up and the booth is ready. Seeing all of the massive display gardens really makes me wish I would have dropped the tens of thousands of dollars that something like that costs to build (for 3 days!). Maybe next year.

My location isn't the best - I'm near the back next to a silly sun hat company with their tower of sun hats totally blocking the view of my booth, and my neighbors across the isle are a vinyl window company and a skin cream company that claims their cream will end acne, eczema, sunburn, etc, etc. *ugh*. Why couldn't I be next to Pistils Nursery or somewhere with a good view? Okay. End rant.

I got to walk around and check out the other booths today, and there are some really lovely displays. It's amazing what some can do with a 10'x10' square. The big, slick designers are there with their big, slick design samples and it's exciting to be in the same arena as them. As always, with a unique business name, and hot pink logo colors, I feel like I am a bit different than other landscaping companies and my display is quite different than most others too. Hopefully that will be to my advantage. I know my current and past clients think so. I hope I can woo some new ones too. Portland Spaces, the local design magazine that I absolutely love (forget Dwell!) has a great display. They built a 'living room' using a lot of the same ideas and materials as I did (plywood, recycled doors and windows, patchwork patterns), and they are right around the corner from me, so I'm happy about that.

Okay, can you tell I'm nervous and over-thinking this whole thing?

See you this weekend!

Save the Date!

February 27 - March 1st at the Portland Convention Center.

Just in time to plan your summer oasis in your backyard, Superwonderful will have a booth at the show and will have free herb and flower seeds for those that stop by.

Look forward to seeing you there!

A Valentine's Day Project - not in the mud.

This has nothing to do with gardening, but does have everything to do with two of my other favorite activities - baking and eating.

I swear, those crafty DIYers! How do they find the time? I envy being able to make things, take photos, give gifts, sell your art, blog about it, etc. etc. but how do they do it?

The crafty folks over at Twig & Thistle have created a lovely valentine's day project for you to make for your sweetie - A Sweetheart Brownie Valentine.

Every year Matt makes me a valentine by hand and they are all carefully displayed around the house. This year I am going to give him some love baked up in brownies and sweets in this sweet little bag and call myself crafty! (for a day)

Superwonderful's First Trade Show

The application for exhibiting at the show sat on my desk for months. The price tag for exhibiting wasn't getting any cheaper and my bank account wasn't getting any bigger, but I took the plunge and paid for a little booth at the Yard, Garden & Patio show.

I am planning the booth design now and need to get cracking on building the 10'x10' space. I won't be building one of the huge display gardens, but I want to make my booth as lovely as possible and I'm hoping to have a few specimen plants on display as well as photos and design samples. I'll finally get to feel what it's like to move into a convention center for 3 days and self promote. Ha! Please come to the show, drink some wine by local vineyards and stop by and keep me company. Dates are Feb. 27 - March 1st.

A New Design is Finished

It's funny creating garden designs while watching big flakes of snow fall out the window. Yep - it's snowing again in Portland, though this one is not supposed to last. What I picture in my mind when I'm creating designs is a hot, shady, colorful, lush garden with people lounging around laughing with cold drinks in their hands in pretty sun dresses and sandals. I think it actually helps my mental state in the winter to always be thinking in warm weather time.

This newest design is for a century old farmhouse in SE Portland. It is a complete remodel of the front and back yards including a new stairway and deck from the kitchen to the back yard. I cannot wait to see it completed. The owners are going to do a lot of the work themselves so it might be a two-year project.

Next up is a backyard design for Daniel Paisley and Mieke Clark for their St. Johns home complete with veggie garden, fruit trees, and a chicken coop!