My friend Bridget moved back to Portland and made a great garden...

I met Bridget and her wife Mary when they moved to our neighborhood back in 2012. There was no mistaking she was a gardener and we became fast friends. We stayed in touch even after they moved to Louisville, KY, and Bridget opened a shop, Mahonia. As I’m sure you can guess (if you read the title of the post), they’re back in Portland and there’s a new garden. This visit took place early in October, hence the colorful leaves...

This was what I was aiming the camera at (through the kitchen window). I think Bridget said it was a Microsorum brachylepis 'Datun', although the leaves are much longer than my version of that plant. I love her creative planting!

Stepping out the back door you enter a long narrow garden and a comfy seating area, filled with plants of course.

Bridget definitely loves Mahonia, there are several fine specimens around the garden.

The outdoor dining table is a little further along in the space, making it a destination.

Plants in waiting…

And a most excellent container display by another entry. Bridget has clearly come over to the spiky side with this garden.

Loquat, Eriobotrya japonica.

Looking backwards before we leave the private back garden…

And now we’re out in public area along the side and front of the house. Yucca aloifolia I believe, joined by a couple Eryngium.

The plantings in this area have filled in dramatically since my last visit. I believe the wood rounds came from a tree cut down on-site, they create informal seating area perfect for neighborhood visiting.

Gravel mulch covers the garden and makes for a nice uniform look throughout.

Agave ovatifolia I believe, gorgeous!

Mary and Bridget were hosting a brunch that day, hence the group gathered for plant admiring.

Phlomis some-somebody. I really cannot believe how much this garden has exploded in growth.

Agave ‘Mateo’ along with what I think may be Dorycnium hirsutum.

I recently shared a photo of an Agave ‘Mateo’ in James Andrew Gould’s garden that was pupping, and now we’re seeing the same in Bridget’s garden. Perhaps there’s hope for baby agaves from my ‘Mateo’.

Picturesque fungus.

If you forced me to guess I’d say Arctostaphylos x 'Austin Griffiths', but really this could be any one of dozens of manzanita.

At the end of this post I’ll share a photo from indoors, looking out that big picture window.

But first there’s a little more garden to see.

So many agaves!

And Mahonia, of course. I believe this and the next are seed grown Mahonia eurybracteata [Cistus Silvers].

Everyone loves a blooming sedum, doesn't that just scream fall?

Fantasitc!

And finally, that indoor shot I teased. Doesn’t it look beachy? Thanks for sharing your gorgeous garden Bridget!

The Bit at the End

Another Garden Rant post by Marianne Willburn, but this one is much less wordy: Cultivating Informed Debate on Growing Greener Podcast. 

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

The Oregon Orchid Society’s 81st Orchid Show and Sale

Last Saturday I attended the Oregon Orchid Society’s Show and Sale. This was the second year in a row that I visited (last year's report here). One side of the room was devoted to plants (and accessories) for sale, on the other, tables were set up with a judged display. In real life I looked at the plants for sale first (scanning for ferns), but I'm going switch it up for this post...

I don't remember this last year, but there were several magnifying glasses laying around the display for folks to use to get a close-up look at the plants, as this fellow was doing.

Tempting.

Brassia gireoudiana, native to Costa Rica and Panama (yes, those are huge googly eyes on the wall behind the display).

Bulbophyllum NoID

Galeopetalum Arlene Armour ‘Conching’, I love how the brown looks as though it was painted on green petals. 

I enjoyed seeing this random bowl of Pinguicula worked into the display, since I'm still trying to decide how to best grow the ones I was recently given (if they don't die first).

This was interesting, a tree fern trunk (I believe the fellow working the booth said it was a Cyathea) drilled and planted.

Such fabulous markings.

The fibrous bits...

Okay, let's shop! Although honestly, I don't know if boxes full of plants in plastic bags will ever seem like a good thing to me (several importers bring plants to the show's sale).

This tillandsia was flat as a pancake, will it ever fluff up into a full plant again?

Cyathea arborea

A very tall, very flat, bromeliad...

Love those dark leaves, Solanum uleanum, $50.

A show like this offers fantastic people watching, and eavesdropping. Some of my favorite overheard remarks: "When I was in the jungles of Peru I found one that had fallen from a tree and I smuggled it back"... "I’m really more of a Hoya person" (yes, there were Hoya on offer, as well as lots of Anthurium)... "I don't really like it but I suppose I need to add this to my collection" if you don't like it, don't buy it, geez! And from a small child in the bathroom "...but I don't want to wash my hands!" Ugh.

There were fewer ferns on offer this year than last, and I arrived at the show earlier. Platycerium...

Selliguea platyphylla. 

Last year this same size plant was going for $55, this year $30. Seems like a bargain right?

I came home with this one.

And once I pulled back the plastic I was thrilled to discover a tiny new frond at the base.

When I saw the company name on my emailed receipt (TropicalExotique Asiatic Flora LLC ) I realized I'd bought my ant fern (Lecanopteris lomaroides) from the same folks at the Northwest Flower & Garden Show in Seattle.

It's doing well, I'm watching those two little nubbins as they're getting bigger. Could new fronds be in the making? I hope so!

The Bit at the End

Free online lecture alert! Life in the Shade: Exploring Lotusland’s Fern Garden on May 13th. Free! Ferns! Lotusland!...Register here.

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