I spent the last few days of summer in Seattle

When I made plans to drive up to Seattle for last week's Hardy Fern Foundation "Ferns of Miller Garden" class I didn't realize it meant I'd be spending the last few days of summer up in the Puget Sound area. It does seem fitting though, I kicked off spring by visiting gardens in the Bay Area, and I wrapped up the 2025 growing season visiting gardens in Seattle...

I left home bright and early on Thursday, September 18th arriving at the Miller Garden for the 10am tour...

This was only the third time I'd visited the Miller Garden, or more properly the Elisabeth Carey Miller Botanical Garden. Since the garden is located in a gated community—and visitation is limited to just 500 people annually—all visits to the Miller Garden are by (highly sought after) reservation with a staff member as a guide. This class was a tour through the garden's fern collection led by Del Brummet, Head Gardener at the garden, and my friend Emily Joseph, Nursery and Sales Manager for the Hardy Fern Foundation (as well as as well as Retail Sales Manager and Assistant Nursery Manager for the RSBG). 

Of course there will be a future post all about the ferns I saw, but here's a favorite; Parablechnum novae-zelandiae (synonym Blechnum novae-zelandiae).

After the tour wrapped up I visited my friend Michelle's garden nearby, a highlight was seeing the pair of large tree ferns (Dicksonia antarctica) she's planted.

Of course there were also agaves! (and there will be a future blog post)

This was an unexpected find, the Neukom Vivarium...

Headed to my friend Steve's shop Junior's I passed the building and noted the foliage pressed up against the windows. I'd never heard of it, but of course I had to check it out (yes, another future blog post).

If you follow kiiinnndddaaa/Paul on Instagram then you probably have an idea how amazing his garden is. I got to visit on Friday afternoon and I took a lot of photos, which I will be sharing. 

Thanks to Paul I tasted Holboellia coriacea (sausage vine) fruit for the first time. You don't eat the seeds but rather the gel-like substance around them. It was good!

My final stop, on the trip back to Portland, was at the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden. 

I didn't plan to take photos, but of course I did.

I also bought plants, which I suppose was inevitable...

Rhododendron yuanbaoshanense, a newly named species with large round and very thick leaves.

Rhododendron pseudochrysanthum, I'm hoping the second time around for this compact plant goes better than the first (dead, fairly quickly). Gosh this is a horrible photo, it's really a gorgeous plant.

And a very random purchase for me, but I loved those long trailing stems, Aeschynanthus sp. "pendulous evergreen perennial related to African violets"... is it hardy? Dunno... doubt it.

I didn't plan to do a haul post, but since I've not been very good at updating my plant list I find myself referring to these posts when hunting for a plant purchase or name, so here we are. This little cutie (another bad photo) is Ilex crenata 'Dwarf Pagoda' from the Pat Calvert Greenhouse. It's just a tiny thing now, but hopefully it will grow up to look like this or this.

Friends have told me stories about the bargains they find on the "get it before we toss it in the dumpster" rack at this big box store, so I since I was driving by I stopped to take a look. Nothing on the sale rack was interesting, but there were two Athyrium niponicum 'Regal Red' in the pile by the dumpster in the parking lot. How could I just leave them to the trash?

It's surprising how good they look once I cut away all the dead stuff.

I'd never heard of this agave until two weeks ago when someone was telling me about it. Agave parryi ssp. truncata 'Bed of Nails' from Windcliff Plants via Ravenna Gardens.

Paul kindly dug up a couple of Agave lophantha pups for me—love those red teeth—from a plant in his garden that came from Bryon Jones of the Pt Defiance Zoo. I've potted them up and will plant them out in the spring.

Last, but certainly not least, another big box of tillandsia from my friend Matt. He doesn't have the space to overwinter these beauties so I said I'd give it a shot. Granted I haven't started the Great Migration yet this year so I'm still feeling optimistic. Had he hit me up a month from now who knows?

Besides some big (not blurry in real life) tillandsia he also parted with these handsome Hohenbergia...

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

We're all getting older...

Out on a walk I found myself in front of a garden I used to visit rather frequently (2009, 2010, 2019 and many more), but it's been a while. What caught my eye (from the street) was the blue foliage of the Arctostaphylos and the fact plants in the hellstrip were pruned around the meter box.

Yucca leaves are cut back, the Arctostaphylos has been trained along the side (it even has a "pillow log" at one end).

It surely is a handsome plant, I wish I knew which one it is.

Okay, the temptation was too much, I had to walk around to the sidewalk and take a look at the garden.

It's been sixteen years that I've been putting eyes on this landscape. I've watched these plants grow up. That tall Yucca rostrata was chest high when I first saw it.

The home has had 3 or 4 owners that I know of, how wonderful that they've all let this plant (another Arctostaphylos I believe) continue to grow out over the driveway at this somewhat precarious angle.

It's a looker, that's for sure.

Turning back to the corner of the front garden I noticed (for what felt like the first time) how closely the Genista aetnensis (small tree to the right of the yucca trunk) was planted to the Yucca rostrata. I doubt it really seemed like an issue when they were smaller. I'm sorry I missed the Genista in bloom, it must have been dramatic (see others here).

Turning back to the hellstrip, there's another Arctostaphylos, with a skirt of opuntia.

Two more photos, both of a section of the front garden to the west of the home's front door sidewalk, another tall Yucca rostrata (actually a pair), a towering eucalyptus, agaves, and more...

It's really is crazy to be in one place long enough to watch a garden and plants (and not just your own) grow up and reach middle age. We're all getting older, everyday...

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Auntie Robin loves palms

I've followed Auntie Robin on Instagram for awhile now and met her in person while standing in line at Hortlandia last year (or was it the year before?). I knew the woman loved palm trees but I was not prepared for this...

I visited her garden in person last month and was blown away by the sheer number of palms.

Her garden is large—more than 4 times the size of my lot—and Robin says she's planted 19 different palm varieties and 48 total palms! I'm always curious about the roots of people who live in the Portland area but grow plants that aren't typically found here, so I asked Robin about that: "I am from Oregon but have traveled the world. I love the architectural way you can use palms. I am a sculptor and working with shapes and forms is my element. Throw in my love of plants and my nerdy side and I am a happy girl."

Those raised planters aren't just for looks, she uses them to create a custom planting soil mix and... "I build the raised beds with heat cables. I know I am on the edge of zonal denial. Plus, online there's a bunch of us that share data on winters challenges. They have taught me a lot over the last couple years." you read that right, she can heat the root zone of these plants!

A few more photos of the front garden...

And then we move to the back garden...

There's a large deck off the back of Robin's home, where you get a great view looking down on the back garden...

As you might imagine, when you've got a thing for palms, you also go all in for tiki culture...

The tiki lounge is tucked under the deck, perfect for enjoying the garden year-round.

I love these three tall planter bases, raised planting bowls are always the right answer to more plants!

Naturally there are big bananas, wherever there are palms, there are usually bananas.

Another covered lounge spot.

Do I see another palm? Yes of course I do...

Schefflera taiwaniana (Heptapleurum taiwanianum) with a Sinopanax formosanus on the left.

Looking back over my shoulder...

And up towards the house.. pretty amazing, right?

Robin was adamant that her garden isn't ready for prime time viewing yet, as she's still working on it (aren't we all?). I appreciate her letting me share these photos as they show just how much work she's done already, and I'll have something to compare to when she has her first big open garden. Thanks Robin!

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