The first day's gardens (Friday) were in North Portland making it easy for those driving down from areas up north to stop by on their way into town. I had a little open garden event that morning, for friends coming in from elsewhere who wanted to see my garden (I wasn't open for the official event), so I got a bit of a late start. The Eastman Griffin garden was first on my list.
I'd been to this garden once before, many years ago (2013 to be exact, it's the second garden in the post) but much had changed, not the least of which was the sidewalk border which had burned a few years back (I think fireworks ignited the fence?) and was replanted with a tapestry of xeric sun lovers.
What a gift to the neighborhood, to have all of these fabulous plants growing along the public sidewalk, Lobelia tupa...
Trachycarpus fortunei
Dierama pulcherrimum
Allium sphaerocephalon, I believe.
The garden description from our tour booklet: "We live and garden on two city lots, just steps from the bustling Mississippi Historic District. We have been gardening in this space since 1988. In 2003, we purchased the vacant lot to our south and the main garden was created."
"The garden is designed as separate garden rooms, starting with the "PNW garden" filled with large evergreen conifers and aspen trees. The understory is filled with shade-loving shrubs and perennials like rhododendrons, hydrangeas, camellias, fatsias, pieris, hellebores, fuchsias, hostas, and ferns."
The first time I visited this garden their Wollemia nobilis was was about my height, it's much taller now. It also looks to have suffered over one of our nasty winter spells (above), but it seems to be growing out of that just fine. It was also in a container during that previous visit, and is now in the ground.
"Walking through a kiwi-covered arbor takes you to the "tropical garden."
"Overstuffed beds filled with bananas, cannas, dahlias, gunnera, lilies, and abutilon great a riot of hot colors all summer long. Established perennial borders surround the tropical beds and are anchored by 12-foot obelisks holding climbing roses and clematis, which bridge the color gap between early spring and summer."
Of course I was rather taken by the acid-yellow (yellow/orange/green) bromeliads and the turquoise glass mulch.
As I was writing this post I asked Andrew (my art-schooled husband who knows his colors) how he would refer to the bromeliad's color. That started a conversation where I shared that I sometimes feel and taste colors. He said that only happened to him if he was playing with Led Zeppelin.
The house belonging to the gardeners is the green one with the angled addition. That's a multi-family building looming over them from behind.
Agaves!
A nice collection.
Are those plants on the purple pedestal real? I found myself wondering looking at my photos. I know there were a couple artificial plants in pots adding drama, Dayrol Griffin has been the floral director for Portland's Grand Floral Parade (part of Portland's Rose Festival) for over 20 years and some things have followed him home.
Peter Eastman (the other half of the garden's ownership) is the tree and shrub buyer for Al’s Garden & Home.
My photo doesn't accurately show just how tall this palm is. It's crazy tall, maybe the tallest Trachycarpus fortunei I've seen.
Turning back towards the tropical garden.
And taking the path back around to the front of the house.
There's definitely a lot of color in this garden!
And palms...
And shades of green... (many more Portland/HPSO Study Weekend gardens to come!)
The Bit at the End
Last month I received an email referencing a mention of my garden in a Sunday “At Home” section of the Seattle Times and asking about our pergola design (aka the shade pavilion). I was surprised as nobody had asked me for photos, but then when I found the story, and saw it was written by Erica Browne Grivas, I realized it was a photo taken during the open garden I mentioned hosting the morning I visited the Eastman Griffin garden. Here's the story; Building sheltering spaces for your backyard, if you're interested. Mine is the 3rd image in the series that starts a shot from Gillian Mathews garden. There are lots of great ideas!
— — —
To receive alerts of new danger garden posts by email, subscribe here. Please note: these are sent from a third party, their annoying ads are beyond my control.
All material © 2009-2025 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.
