Neighborhood Gardens of Portland

I had the immense pleasure last weekend of attending my first Garden Blogger's Fling as it was, to my delight, in my hometown of Portland, Oregon. Not only did I attend three and a half days of private and public gardens (many of which were my first visits) and a few favorite nurseries, but I was so incredibly honored that Chickadee Gardens was a stop on the tour - it was like having 80 of my newest bestfriends playing with me in my garden. What a ton of fun!

Right now I am exhausted, to say the least. In a very good way.

As a prelude to the weeks-to-come blog posts about the incredible weekend, I thought it nice to visit some of my good ol' neighborhood gardens. Some are designed, some are simple, some just hell-strips....but all have something in common: they have heart. Let's check out a few of these neighborhood gardens (over the next couple of posts) that I enjoyed on many walks around the 'hood.

First up is a garden and hell-strip we pass when we take the long walk to Portland's Hollywood district. It is designed, to be sure, and very tastefully. **UPDATE** we passed by this garden again just yesterday and noticed a sign for landscaping - it was by Creative Landscaping, here is a link. This garden is featured on their website, have a look for more information.

That is a hell-strip to dream about. Water-wise and plant-sexy, it's one of my favorites. Feels more like California but very appropriate for our dry-summer climate.

This is actually the front yard.

Front entrance and garden.

Hummingbird fantasy...wow, that's some agastache! Nice arctostaphylos, too. Good favorites.

 A block or two away is a very different and thoughtful garden full of color harmonies and texture. 

The play of the chocolate colors of the cannas and the rudbeckias makes this work for me.

 Quite an inviting little garden, and in a hell-strip, too!

 I really appreciate the use of rocks as both a path and dry creek bed.

To me, this is quintessential summer garden imagery. I feel like I'm on a farm somewhere picking tomatoes when I see hanging sunflower heads.

Back in our neighborhood, just a couple of blocks from us is the "Eyebrow House" made famous by the hit show Portlandia.

Small but oh-so-effective garden with just the right amount of textures for this unusual home.

Around the corner from the Eyebrow House is this Hebe 'Quicksilver' with some heather and other great shrubberies.

This was last winter on a regular Mt. Tabor walk. I deliberately choose this street for our walks to see these moss-covered beauties.

On that same street, a lovely use of warm-colored stone. The plantings compliment the color and are interesting year-round - these photos are from last winter. Note the address bird!

In the summer this is a lush collection of sub-shrubs, perennials, grasses and trees. The color theme of the garden, I believe, compliments the house color.

A little further down the hill on a summer day, this struck me as a fun use of color. Why not?

Same neighborhood: I'm drawn to anything limbed-up. 

Here's a close-up of this:

Another Mt. Tabor neighborhood garden. How lovely is this design?

That's one very happy pug-shaped bee.

Down the street from the bee, I found these lovelies. I have a friend who really appreciates cream puff shaped shrubberies. Fifi, these are for you!

Earlier this summer also in the Mt. Tabor neighborhood I spotted a couple of dry wildflower-like gardens. Really lovely and wild.

It is carefree while maintaining a sense of balance.

Finally, another block of the Hollywood neighborhood last fall. A fairly large Hebe 'Quicksilver'. This plant did quite well for us this past winter, so definitely hardy to at least zone 8.

 Near the hebe, this restrained planting is always attractive to me. Upright sedums, grasses and cistus.

Portland has diverse gardening styles: xeric, lush and tropical, meadow, restrained, designed, cottage, urban friendly, butterfly friendly, weird and wonderful. As many styles as there are gardeners.

Thank you to everyone who came out to the Portland Blogger's Fling. We loved having you all here and we hope you can come back and explore our fair city even more! You are always most welcome, any time of year.

And on that note, this garden cutie-pie bids you a fond farewell. Thank you for reading and until next week, happy gardening!