Then and now... my garden at 20

On July 1st we celebrated 20 years at this address. I still find it hard to believe that I've been in one place that long. In the 20 years prior to landing here I lived at 12 different addresses in 5 different cities (all in Washington and Oregon, and I tend to round them to Spokane, Seattle and Portland). A pictorial "then and now" seems like a good way to celebrate this milestone. I am so thankful I took these 11 photos the day of our home inspection (May 2005, before the house was even ours), they've served me well over the years. 

Here's the front of the house on inspection day, before the lawn was dug for a sewer scope that ended up making it look like we'd buried a few bodies out there. 

Here's the now image. 

I am reminded of a question I was asked by the editor of Fine Gardening magazine when I was writing a story for them on the garden, "why are you trying to hide your house?" it certainly looks that way doesn't it? The thing is, I'm not trying to hide it, it just happened. Because the plants are always more important. And really, our house isn't that interesting.

Plus, the only people who see the house from a straight on viewpoint are the neighbors across the street. The views most people have are from the sides, as they're driving the street. I've always liked this angle, across our driveway, it's much more interesting and inviting.

This next image has always been a bit of a head scratcher, why did I take this photo? I must have just been trying to record all sides of the house, although I completely skipped the north side. Anyway, here's the backdoor and a bit of the driveway then...

And now...

The fact the pavement went right up to the house was a definite downside, that is until we brought the stock tanks in. Now it's a great place for plants that like full sun and heat and the home of my annual veggie garden.

From the driveway there's narrow entrance between the house (right) and garage (left) into the back garden. Straight ahead you can see our inherited wall-o-privet and a large rhododendron. The white/grey wall behind buddha is the neighbor's garage (now known as the orange wall). 

A now photo with the agavegate closed...

And open...

Stepping into the back garden, the side of the neighbor's garage marks the north end of the upper garden. On the right is the back of our house. Then...

And now...

The side of our garage (which borders the south end of the upper garden), featured a ginormous blue-blooming hydrangea. I couldn't figure out why anyone would paint their bedroom walls such an odd color of blue, that is until the flowers of the hydrangea began to open and I saw they'd gone for a color-echo.

The garage wall now...

Looking back through the opening between the house and garage then...

And now...

And a gate closed version.

This next photo was taken standing in the upper garden looking to the southwest corner. Believe it or not that fern at the edge of the garage is still there, although I trim it back every spring so it's a lot smaller. The chiminea went with the previous owners and that rose bush was ripped out our first weekend in the house.

Now...

Looking due west then...

And now...

Super blurry image but c'st la vie. This is looking to the northwest corner of the back garden, then...

And now...

The back of our garage. Many years before we lived here there was an alleyway (no signs of it now) and you could drive into the garage from the front or the back. We've never tried the back door to see if it's operable. You can also see that lawn ran all the way to the southside fence and there was no wall at that end of the property, just a slope down to the lower level where the patio is now.

Speaking of now...

And a little pulled back so you can see the wall we put in to border the patio...

Just one final photo, the back of our house, which I always thought would make a great outdoor movie screen.

Not any longer, as you can barely even see the back of the house now.

So, 20 years... how long have you lived in your home? Have you moved after creating an "all in" garden? I never thought we'd live here this long, and while I don't want to spend the rest of my life here I also can't begin to imagine what it would be like to leave this garden.

--   --   --

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.

Worth watching and reading...

I've recently watched and read a few things that I want to share with you. First up is a video from the New Yorker (no paywall) that runs about 30 minutes. It's beautiful! The Japanese Artist Who Sends His Work to Space, the "work" they are referring to are floral arrangements and the bit about going to space is just a small part of the whole.

Next a story from the New York Times, a gift article so you should have no issue reading it: Sweden’s Secret to Well-Being? Tiny Urban Gardens

Now we're off to YouTube to watch one of Darcy Daniels garden videos. She's a longtime Portland Garden Designer and the founder of eGardenGo. Her YouTube channel has lots of great videos but I especially enjoyed her recent tour through her own garden: My Portland Garden In July—A Few of My Favorite Things. This one might not be as interesting to everyone since it's very Portland-centric but Darcy's garden is gorgeous and always fun to visit.

The next piece I want to call your attention to is an article from Garden Rant, called Cutting Back. It's not necessarily an uplifting story, as it deals with cost cutting at public gardens, but I do think it's an interesting read that gets you thinking about what we value.

Here is another YouTube video, this one from Architectural Digest, Inside a Hidden LA Greenhouse Full of the World’s Rarest Plants. I don't know that some of the plants are really all THAT rare, but it's a great collection and a fun 15 minutes of your time. 

Finally, those you who enjoyed my post on Kipp's spiky drive-by front garden in Berkeley (here) may appreciate these posts from Panayoti Kelaidis' blog, Prairiebreak. First up post from July 23rd featuring blooming Calochortus (shown below, linked here) and then an older post from 2022 shows a glimpse of the back garden as well as the front garden in earlier days, that one is here.

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.

Pyrrosia hastata or polydactyla, that is the question...

A group with the Hardy Fern Foundation stopped by my garden recently, it was a wonderful experience—they were friendly and knowledgeable plant people who asked great questions. Not all garden visitors leave me feeling so warm and fuzzy—but that's a subject for another day. 

One of the HFF visitors commented on my Pyrrosia collection, honestly I'm not sure if the tone I heard in his voice was awe, or horror. I laughingly replied that I was aiming to be the National Collection holder, but of course we don't have National Collections in the United States, that's a UK thing (if you're curious there's no National Collection of Pyrrosia in the UK, they do however have two holders of that title for Agaves; Mr G Bowman and Ian Scott).

So don't worry, I'm not sharing my entire Pyrrosia collection today, but focusing on two species that are having a bit of an identity crisis; Pyrrosia hastata and Pyrrosia polydactyla. This is my first ever Pyrrosia hastata purchase, bought from Xera Plants back in 2013...

I did a little Google search to come up with that date and was surprised to see what the plant looked like back then, not only for its small size but for how differently the leaves/fronds were shaped (blog archives come in so handy!).

They've aged to have much longer lobes. 

As I've become more knowledgeable about Pyrrosia I've learned they can handle some sun, as you can see with this patch of Pyrrosia hastata (also from Xera Plants. but purchased more recently, maybe 2020).

So what's that identity issue I mentioned? Well it turns out plants sold as Pyrrosia hastata may actually be Pyrrosia polydactyla.

I first became aware of this issue when I saw Pyrrosia polydactyla 'MONTRCT' from Monrovia/Dan Hinkley on offer at Lowes. It looked like P. hastata to my eyes. I was confused.

I've got three different Pyrrosia in this stock tank planter...

Including my first ever purchase of Pyrrosia polydactyla from Secret Garden Growers, in 2019.

Here's a Pyrrosia hastata I adopted from a gardener who was downsizing, back in 2023...

Since he kept great records and passed them on to me I can say this plant also came from Xera Plants.

Interesting, eh?

Another Pyrrosia polydactyla purchased from Secret Garden Growers...

Close-up...

Earlier this summer I finally acquired one of the Monrovia/Dan Hinkley plants, Pyrrosia polydactyla 'MONTRCT'. It's still small but to my eye it's showing characteristics of both Pyrrosia hastata and polydactyla, as I know them.

By the way... this seems like a good time to remind you that I am not an expert. I know what I purchased these plants named as, that is, what the labels said. But beyond that I've not a clue. 

I think the first time I heard there might be issues with these two species was when I read the blog post Middle Finger Fern from Juniper Level Botanic Garden: "Pyrrosia polydactyla ‘Middle Finger’ is an excellent clone of the Taiwanese native five-fingered tongue fern with an exceptionally long middle pinnae. Quite a few nurseries, especially in the Pacific Northwest, offer this as another clumping, but uniquely different species, Pyrrosia hastata." 

I'd always thought of P. hastata as having three fingers, not five, something written about in another JLBG blog post, Counting Fingers. Confused yet? Ya, me too. A close-up of my Pyrrosia polydactyla 'MONTRCT'.

There are several Pyrrosia in this grouping...

Including another Pyrrosia polydactyla, also from Secret Garden Growers.

Such a thin narrow blade...

So different from the plants I know as Pyrrosia hastata...

This another adopted Pyrrosia from the same downsizing gardener I named earlier, 

It came to me labeled as Pyrrosia polydactyla 'Taipingshan' (Taipingshan Five-fingered Tongue Fern) from Plant Delights Nursery.

Finally, a Pyrrosia I myself purchased from Plant Delights, Pyrrosia hastata 'Storm Watch'.

It has those great black markings at the base of some of the leaves/fronds.

This post wasn't done with the intent of clearing up any Pyrrosia mysteries, I just wanted to share my plants and their names. I love them no matter what they're called.

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.