Top 9 on Instagram

More and more people seem to be questioning the time they spend on their various social media channels. The exodus of my friends from Facebook has been noticeable, most of them heading to Bluesky—although those who come back to report say the plant-centric groups there aren't yet what they are on Facebook. This is why leaving any of them would be hard for me, because it's all about the plants and the plant people.

The core group of blogs I read is still relatively strong. Thankfully. And I can still waste plenty of time on Instagram, although I'm frustrated by the algorithms thinking they know more about what I want to see than I do. 

In past years my Instagram feed would have been filled by now with people who'd ran the stats and were sharing their Top 9 posts of the year, but I haven't seen even one this year! So, I thought I'd be the first. Afterall I am a very consistent—if late to the party—adopter of these things...

My nine squares (based on "likes" from my Instagram followers) are:

1. My garden, the peeling bark of Arctostaphylos x 'Austin Griffiths' with an Agave parryi 'JC Raulston'

2. A much-photographed vignette in the Indianola, Washington, garden of Nancy Heckler

3. My garden, blooming Mahonia x media 'Charity'

4. My garden, ice on a NoID Cholla during last January's horrible storm

5. Jurrasic garden beauty from the Vancouver, Washington, garden of Laura and Charlie Heldreth, @thehumminggardener

6. A gorgeous tree fern (Dicksonia antarctica) in Jeff Fairchild's Portland garden

7. My garden, the blooms of Billbergia nutans

8. My garden, the view across the front garden from the driveway

9. A shot I couldn't resist taking at Portland Nursery. We'd just come out of the coldest week on record here in 30-some years, so naturally their plants were under protection and the tables were empty--but the shot pretty much summed up how I (and many others) were feeling about winter

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All material © 2009-2025 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

A small, but colorful, visitor

We had a sunny stretch of days earlier in the month, and a small visitor kept stopping by to say hi, he's Ruby-crowned Kinglet...

We think the sun reflecting on the glass must have mirrored his reflection and made him curious? We tried closing the blinds, putting strips on the window to call out the glass, nothing stopped his visits.

It was fun to watch him so close.

It's horribly blurry, but this is a shot of his wingspan coming in.

During the same time our Kinglet started coming around, I received a Substack email from photographer David Perry (here). He'd has his own interaction with a "troupe of Golden-crowned Kinglets" which was fun to read about. Of course his photos are much better than these, but his thoughts about the visit (or visits in my case) being a gift were right on.

My what big eyes you have...

Only once was I there with my phone in time to take a quick video. It's not great, but it gives you an idea of what his visits are like. I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for the lonely guy. He's still stopping by, although a little less frequently, I hope has found a friend.

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All material © 2009-2024 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas

Here we are, it's Christmas Day. We're not traveling to be with family this year, instead spending this one at home in Portland. Because of that, and some reading I've been doing, I've been thinking a lot about Christmas traditions. Since we don't have kids many of the usual traditions never figured into the mix for us. 

Growing up I was lucky to have some pretty fantastic family traditions though. Then later, in my 20's, I somehow managed to fall hard for the consumer-based Christmas enchantment of downtown Seattle's lights and glitter and the shopping magic, all while working as a store manager during the intense retail holiday season. I lived Christmas HARD and loved it. Somewhere along the way though I lost that special glow the holiday season could bring. I try to find it each year, doing something that stirs the old emotions, but the pull is not as strong as it used to be.

Which brings me to the #santacones. Somehow this has become one of my most loved Portland Christmas traditions. 

A local guy, Chris Willis, has been sitting up hundreds of illuminated plastic Santas every year since 2010. He posts clues on Instagram that lead you to their location. Visiting the Santas has become a tradition for me, one that does give that feeling of Christmas magic, especially since there are always other people gathered around the windows. Some are the faithful, others are just walking by and pulled in by the glow.

Old fashioned store window painting added another dimension this year.

There's always that one person Santa in the crowd...

Look, up in the sky! 

I hope you all felt a little of that old Christmas magic this season, and thank you Chris Willis for doing what you do and keeping that magic alive. It's so very appreciated.

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All material © 2009-2024 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

Flora Grubb Gardens, in Los Angeles

After visiting Rolling Greens and The Tropics, Inc, I headed to the (not so) new LA location of the San Francisco giant, Flora Grubb Gardens. This was my final stop during our mid-November trip.

I'll be honest, my expectations were low. The buzz I'd heard about this location wasn't all that positive. I think someone had also told me getting there wasn't easy. They were right. Left turn against traffic, another immediate turn that wasn't obvious, aye yi yi! I could see it, but how to get to it!? Thankfully I finally made the right combination of turns.

In addition to the traffic and street issues, the location also had a few interesting deep drainage ditches that broke up the flow. You can see one of them above, here's another. Lots of ice plant...

Odd location (and extreme wind that day) aside, I thought this location was (almost) as magical as the original. I mean let's face it, our standards are much higher now than when the original Flora Grubb opened in SF back in 2007.

There were many plants I would have loved to have taken home with me. Agave victoriae-reginae...

Agave 'Blue Glow'

Leucospermum gueinzii

Leucospermum 'Veldfire' 

Leucadendron salignum 'Winter Red'

Labeled as purslane tricolor jewel...

Jelly beans!

Over on Instagram I raved about the way Dustin Gimbel's totems made the space and I will do so here too. They were fantastic. 

Agave xylonocantha 'Swordfish'

Blue, powdery blue.

There were several gorgeous Cyathea cooperi in the mix of shade plants.

Tetrapanax! $79 for a 3 gal pot.

Lots of beautiful bromeliads, I really wanted to take a couple home, but didn't want to pay to check a bag, so they stayed.

This was interesting to see, after drooling over the many Deuterocohnia brevifolia at The Tropics, Inc. This little planting in a rock pot was selling for $149.

Euphorbia evansii (only $12.99)

Mammillaria spinosissima

Cleistocactus colademononis

Inside the small building that fronted the space I spotted these ceramic containers from Michelle Derviss. 

If this one had been green or brown it would have been very hard to leave it behind...

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All material © 2009-2024 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.