My new best friend

I haven't been this excited about a landscaping book in a L-O-N-G time. I am going to be spending a lot of time with this book; it is, after all, Winter in the Pacific Northwest.

Rocktober

I love being able to say Rocktober. I think it makes October my favorite month. That and that I married the nicest guy in Portland in the month of October. It's a good one. All fall-y with bright yellow and orange trees and crazy light from a low setting sun.

The Ace Hotel is highlighting small businesses in Portland, and the boys and I got to go play in the photobooth one morning after drinking too much coffee at neighboring Stumptown. Here is the product: http://blog.acehotel.com/post/1224989201/ace-hotel-portland-small-business-superwonderful-garden

Thanks Ace! I do love thee, especially the Palm Springs Ace. I hope to see you again in March.

Happy Fall, happy planting.

San Francisco and Napa Valley

My husband and I made a split decision to load up the wagon and drive down to San Francisco to visit some friends last week. We had no real agenda except to eat good food, relax with friends and stop in Napa to visit a bicycle manufacturer friend, Curtis Inglis of Retrotec. I really didn't think about making garden tours part of the visit, but I ended up at three really cool places and the trip gave me some much needed design inspiration.

San Francisco is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever visited. The hills and views and neighborhoods could make anyone fall in love. I think it is my favorite climate for plant life (50 degree summers, I can do without though...). Palms and agaves mingle with eucalyptids and native ceanothus and wax myrtle. And Redwoods! Oh majesty!

Just like my last visit and all future visits, we stopped into Flora Grubb - my major nursery crush. This place wows everyone, even my 6 shopping companions who are not plant geeks. I love the Wooly Pockets vertical garden.


While considering options for the day over delicious Blue Bottle Coffee, our friend suggested the California Academy of Sciences. I had forgotten that this gem had just opened and the science nerd/ex-museum employee had to take a visit. It was really a fun museum. They had all the crowd pleasers - butterflies, dino bones and an aquarium, but my favorite part was the roof. The architecture of the building was spot on and the green roof was a perfect reason to get visitors to check out the sweeping lines of the building. The museum is touted as "the greenest museum in the world" so the green roof was a shoe in I suppose. But what if this roof didn't have a reason to be viewed? Like so many city buildings now - it would have been wasted space. I hope other visitors appreciate it as much as I did.


After saying good bye to friends and fog, we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge to Napa Valley and much needed sunshine. I had remembered reading about public gardens in Sonoma called Cornerstone, and I did a quick internet search to find the place. We stopped in to the free gardens and spent a nice afternoon strolling around. The gardens were designed and installed by architects, students, designers, artists and horticulturists from around the world. These are a few of my favorites.

Vertical Garden

About a month ago I was approached by Joe Hess of Osmose Design to design and install a vertical garden on the balcony of a penthouse in the 937 Condos in the Pearl District. His firm had designed the interior of the condo and they included a nine foot tall, four-sided column on the balcony. He needed a plantsman (plantswoman?) to select the plants for it, and through a mutual colleague, we were introduced. The selection criteria were the following: 1.) The plants had to grow no taller than 24". (the balcony is pretty tight, so there had to be plenty of room to move around). 2.) The homeowners wanted to be able to utilize some of the plants for cooking and eating. 3.) The plants had to sustain high winds and each side of the column needed plants with specific light requirements. Asthetically, we decided that it should be wild and whimsical. (If you are not familiar with the genius of Osmose Design, check out their work immediately - mindblowing! They are pushing the envelope of interior design like nothing else I have seen.) About a month after the installation, I went back to check on it, and it really is a sight to see. The photos were not doing it justice, so I made a little video of it here.

Crafty Containers

I have never grown tomatoes in containers - usually I just plant them throughout the ornamental beds, filling in bare spots. I don't have a ton of room for edibles, and just a little raised bed in the front yard that would be overwhelmed with plants as large as tomatoes. This year I decided to experiment with growing tomatoes (and a yellow squash) in containers.
One day while working, my assistant, Ben and I were scheming about types of materials to make containers from and we really wanted to use old steel pipes but the pricing was out of my personal budget. (I'd love to do it in a client's yard, though.) Ben used to work at Stumptown Coffee before I stole him back and he was talking about all of the burlap bags that they cycle through and we thought it would be cool to use the bags as containers. So, I got my very sought after 'Black Krim' and 'Sun Gold' tomato starts, added organic potting soil, fish meal and steer manure to the bags, and planted the starts. There are now 2 containers in a sunny spot against the garage between the 'Karl Forester' reed grass. Kind of charming, no?


Speaking of containers, my Agave attenuata is out of the greenhouse and back in the garden. I like being able to add a colorful container anywhere, and it makes it possible to have non-hardy plants in the garden. I love this plant!

Eye Candy

Okay so this isn't an interior design blog, and I am an outspoken critic of the tendency of bloggers to write about other people's blogs, but please let me indulge both of these urges now and publicly freak out over this home: http://www.designspongeonline.com/2010/03/sneak-peek-nancy-neil.html

At heart, I am a country girl - I grew up in rural Florida, and explored my neighborhood by foot and horseback. I lived in agricultural country, across the street from tomato fields and avocado groves. And most of our trees produced some sort of delicious tropical fruit like mangoes, tangerines, loquats (my absolute favorite) and starfruit. If I could live on a farm in Santa Barbara with my adorable family I would be as happy as a lark.

Treeeeeeebate!

What's better than planting a tree?...Getting paid to plant a tree!

The city of Portland is giving a $40 rebate if you plant a 6' or taller tree by May 1st. $50 if it's a native tree. If you want to plant a tree on your property, Superwonderful can help you select and plant the right one.

More info HERE on the treebate

I love garden trees. To me, they are the most important part of the landscape, anchoring all of the shrubs and perennials. They actually even resemble an anchor come to think of it. I have dreams of sitting beneath shady trees in the summertime. Remember the cherry tree we lost last April? Well, a new 'Rubra' dogwood is going in it's place. And, you better believe I'm gonna get my treebate.

(photo courtesy of New York Botanical Garden)

PS - I just realized the blossoms of the dogwood are the exact same color as the Superwonderful logo! I guess I picked the right tree!

Right Around the Corner...

On my walk today (in 58 degree weather!) I noticed a few plants in bloom. Do you know what that means ya'll? S-P-R-I-N-G is coming! Are you ready?

New Dawn Viburnum


Edgeworthia


Rhododendron (In Peninsula Park)


Witch Hazel


And, lilac buds!

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.