The Ferrante garden, during the 2025 Study Weekend

Jenn Ferrante's garden was my second stop on the first day of the 2025 HPSO Study Weekend. I've been to this garden before, first in 2014 with the Garden Conservancy,  and then in 2019 for the last Portland Study Weekend.

The gravel mulched hellstrip plantings are always pristine.

Lots of folks up in the garden proper.

Jenn (left, the garden's owner) and Nancy (right, former HPSO President and all around Portland garden enthusiast). Jenn's wet weather boots and short sleeve tee (with warmer jacket tied around her waist) illustrate the wacky weather day it was.

Heading into the side yard, description from the event booklet: "Rustic basalt paths lead around the house to a shady plant-filled east side, a private back corner oasis, and a through to the sunny west side with a large deck."

Looking backwards...

What a nice patch of painted fern, with a little black mondo grass to bring out the dark tones in the foliage.

I've coveted this hanging planter since I first saw it in 2014. Editing my photos for this post I finally realized I could do something very similar with a couple pieces of galvanized gutter that I've had collecting dust in the garage for a few years now.

My version is coming Spring 2026!

Jenn clearly has a thing for foliage, and for orbs. Had I included all the photos I took that day you'd have already seen many, with many more to come.

Flowers aren't forbidden though, and actually I think this might be the first Epipactis gigantea 'Serpentine Night' I've ever seen blooming in an open garden.

More from the official description; "Numerous clematis, hydrangea, and daylilies (that might make you rethink daylilies) are tucked in with other perennials, rare gems, trees, and shrubs all chosen for their foliage. Quirky and rustic garden art if thoughtfully placed throughout the garden, and the original old concrete walkway and terracotta drain tubes that were dug up during the garden's development have been artfully repurposed throughout." 

More orbs...

The terracotta tubes mentioned in the garden description are a favorite feature of mine.

Days before I walked this garden I'd noticed my own (much smaller) Chamaecyparis lawsoniana 'Wissel's Saguaro' had turned brown. I was sad to see the same thing had happened to this stellar specimen.

I'm glad she left it though, instead of yanking it out before the tour, after all it still has serious presence in the garden. I do wish I'd had a chance to ask how long it had been brown and what her long term plan was.

On to the deck also mentioned in the garden description...

Looking back at the pathway, post-deck.

And finally I'm on the front porch of the house, looking down on the round bowl that greets you when you climb the steps and decide whether to go left, or to go right...

The Bit at the End

Oh this is a fun one!  If you read Garden Rant then you might have already saw it, if not then get ready to roll your eyes; Gardening By Meme – A Screwtape Fantasy. My favorite line, "Social media pile-ons can be harsh – let them work for you." I'll admit I had to look up "A Screwtape Fantasy" as I had no idea what that meant. Here's what YOURDICTIONARY says; To mess things up, to corrupt, to be devilish. [or] slang, Internet, To bump a particularly old topic thread on the internet or in an electronic forum, by posting an ironic or humorous reply to a previous message. 

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

The Eastman Griffin garden began Study Weekend 2025

I've never been one to rush home from a garden tour event, be it the Garden Fling, or Study Weekend, and start writing about the gardens I visited. Those events usually take place in the summertime when I'm too busy to sit down, edit and digest all that I saw. Plus I kind of like having a stash of garden visits to relive over the winter months. So, with that, I am ready to (finally) kick off my coverage of the 2025 HPSO Study Weekend held last June 27-30 here in the Portland area.

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!

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