The Wire Basket Project

I bought this wire basket at Terra Sol Garden Center in Santa Barbara last January, a stop on our trip home from Thousand Oaks.

It was this planting—also at Terra Sol—that inspired me to buy the basket, thinking I'd do something similar, especially the part with the fern growing out the side of the liner.

Over the winter months I replaced rotting burlap on a couple of my epiphytic fence plantings...

This one was challenging since the Pyrrosia rhizomes were actually growing through the burlap, thankfully I was able to work the loose weave apart and thread the rhizomes through.

I saved this large piece to use lining the wire basket, but just could not make it work. The folds got too deep and it just looked sloppy.

So I broke down and bought a premade coir liner.

Then I decided to line the basket with moss and put the liner inside.

 

Nope! The liner was now too big.

As luck would have it I'd originally bought a liner that was too small, so I went with that one.

I also sliced a few openings in the side, to help the ferns grow out through the moss.

Here are the plants I used. There are two Begonia grandis ‘Alba’, two divisions of Pyrrosia lingua 'Ogon Nishiki', and three 4" pots of Blechnum penna-marina. Once I got working I also added a 4" pot of Pyrrosia lingua, as the Pyrrosia divisions I was working with were just too sparsely leafed out to make any impact.

I bought the Begonia grandis at Thicket on Alberta, I think they'd potted up some of the volunteers growing under one of their nursery tables!

Working the Pyrrosia rhizomes through the side.

I wanted to stuff one of the Blechnum penna-marina root balls through the side as well, but couldn't get it to look right. Oh well, this plant is a fast spreader so it will be growing out and around soon enough.

Here you can see the plants all tucked in and the soil topped off. Before I moved the basket into place in the garden I covered the soil with a layer of moss.

I'd tried the empty basket form in several places around the garden and decided my favorite location was on the pathway to the shade pavilion. Can you see it?

There it is...

I've wanted to use Begonia grandis in my garden for years now, but since it's so late to emerge I've held off, knowing I'd grow impatient with the empty space. This planting felt like great excuse to finally use it.

Finally, I added a couple of Tillandsia to fill in and add a different texture. I look forward to watching the plants settle in over the summer months and hope everything (except the Tillandsia) will prove sufficiently hardy to return again next year even better.

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All material © 2009-2026 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude. 

Eric's West Seattle Garden

Earlier in the month I visited a garden in West Seattle that I'd been following online for years, it did not disappoint. The hellstrip plantings confirm that a gardener lives here, one who wants to engage with their neighbors.

I was accompanied on my visit by my friend Scott, and it was Eric Shalit's garden we were visiting. As we walked the sidewalk, checking out the hellstrip garden, we also admired the neighbor's magnolia...

Wow. That's just one plant folks, one very happy Brachyglottis greyi.

Before we ventured into Eric's front garden, he took us over to see it from the neighbor's property. This is the view from the sidewalk. Where lawn meets jungle...

Lobelia tupa

Now we're walking into Eric's space, which he shares with his partner Maliah, and a downstairs tenant. Eric's lot is 10,625 square feet (.25 acre) and he's been gardening here since 1989.

The way Eric replaced a driveway with wide steps into the lower level (rented out space) of the home was genius! Although I think he needs about 50 containers along the edges.

Pathway around to the back garden, and yes, the blue house is the one you saw above, its lawn hidden on the other side of these plantings.

Grevillea some-somebody

The first of many palms we'll see in the garden.

I thought the subtle coloring on this iris was rather fabulous.

There is a lot of bamboo in this garden, all planted by Eric.

And this crazy-cool windchime was made by Eric, he said the kiwi vine growing around it is the first thing he planted.

Athyrium otophorum 'Okanum' with a hydrangea.

I didn't catch the name of any of the hydrangeas in the garden, but they had great color.

Fatsia japonica, bamboo, Trachycarpus fortunei... and at the very right, a pond project Eric has been working on...

A nice Schefflera delavayi at the back of the pond.

And to the right, the fern that Eric so kindly sent me home with a piece of (its ID is still a bit of a mystery, but I've got two possibilities; Dryopteris affinis 'Stableri' and Dryopteris x complexa ‘Stablerae’).

I spy a loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) peeking out around the palm.

More loquat loveliness along with a couple Persicaria.

In the far back corner is a mix of Abutilon and Dahlias (and more bamboo).

Looking over my shoulder, towards the entrance into the back garden.

And ahead, the paver pathway makes an arc through the back garden...

There's a blooming Embothrium coccineum way up over the roof of the house. We'll see more of those "flame" colored blooms in a bit.

Another Schefflera delavayi, and a fine Podocarpus matudae.

Back to the pathway...

Rhododendron 'Ever Red'

So good!

The patio had just got a power wash and so was cleared of its contents. Behind the low wall are tall bananas (Musa basjoo) and the green trunk in the foreground belongs to a Firmiana simplex, the Chinese parasol tree.

Acanthus mollis blooms were also in the above photo, here's a close up.

Looking back towards the pond.

And up to the top of the parasol tree.

Rhododendron ‘Cowslip’, a hybrid of R. williamsianum x wardii.

A close up of the Podocarpus matudae foliage.

And an "undersides" shot of the fire pit (moved off the patio for maintenance). I love those feet!

Alligators and Embothrium coccineum blooms.

I seriously wanted to steel this vintage funnel. I did not.

Qiongzhuea tumidissinoda, also known as walking stick bamboo. I don't know that I've ever seen this in a garden. 

Eric referred to this planting along the north side fence as a sort of holding area, plants waiting to move into their "real home" in the garden. There are some choice plants in there!

Now we've worked our way back around to the front, sunny, garden and are rewarded with a Melianthus major bloom...

Melianthus major foliage.

Eric's Nolina hibernica 'La Siberica' (to the left of the palm) is enviable, especially since I now have no Nolina (that's the subject of a future post).

We're back at the front porch this fabulous garden visit has come to a close. I am so glad I was able to visit Eric's garden...

A slice of paradise for sure... thanks Eric, for spending your Sunday morning touring us around your garden!

The Bit at the End

A recent Garden Rant post Storm Goretti: Six Months On is all about the power of nature and the strength of gardeners, it really spoke to me. Quoting the last few paragraphs... "Gardeners become part of the gardens they tend. When you spend a significant amount of your time in a garden the relationship often becomes symbiotic. The best gardeners, those who garden because doing so is a part of them, are connected with the plants of the garden. Damage to the garden is like an assault on the gardener.

In the same way that the fallen beech is driven to survive against the odds, so gardeners make gardens against the odds. It doesn’t matter how unlikely a site; given half a chance someone will make a garden.

Doing so in defiance of whatever nature throws at us is all just part of the challenge. When we get knocked down we dust ourselves off and try again. It’s something intrinsic to gardeners that non-gardeners will never truly understand." Amen

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All material © 2009-2026 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.