Plant Talk

A Break in the Weather - Mid-December on the Oregon Coast

Is there a better time for a little getaway than during the darkest days of December? I was reminded how unpredictable weather along the coast can be yesterday when, after a bleak, rainy, windy night in Seaside, the sun broke through illuminating the empty beach, the waves, the seabirds, the dunes....the ocean is so majestic now when only a few dogs and a person or two stroll quietly along the Seaside promenade, or trek out to Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach....

A David Price encaustic painting-like sky outside our Seaside hotel room....and no, I didn't Instagram this. It's the real thing...(and we're headed to Portland to see David Price's show at The Butters Gallery)

A misty sea-scape in Seaside, an empty beach and promenade..

The sun breaks through over a tousle of dune grasses at Cannon Beach - such golden light and a bit of blue sky as we near the solstice...

As dusk nears, the sky grows moody over Haystock Rock and an eerily deserted beach....

Save Money, Connect With Nature...Decorate for the Holidays With What You Have

I miss being outdoors so much this time of year...it helps to bring nature indoors to enjoy in the warmth of the house, or display on the front door coming and going. 

What is more beautiful than pine and magnolia, white berries (fake or not)....especially combined with clear glass, white and beeswax candles? Stay out of the stores, use what you have, look with fresh eyes, save money, and keep in touch with nature during this darkest time of the year....with nature-inspired decorating.

I started with a wreath made by Mary Fisher of Cultus Bay Nursery, a simple circle of pine, cedar and magnolia leaves, turned upside down so the fuzzy brown indementum on the bottom of the leaves contrast with the greens. No red berries, that are so expected, plus don't look good with my orange door..and I love the pale blue bow, because I'm decorating for winter and solstice here, more than any sparkly, shiny Christmas extravaganza

But of course, I couldn't help embellishing a bit...so now it looks more like my own garden. I snipped bits of heart-shaped epimedium leaves kissed by frost, bristly bits of golden yew, and glossy, golden trimmed daphne odora leaves. The paler foliage shows up well against the darker greens, and the textures play off each other...bristly, shiny, smooth, leathery, ribbed...all the subtle pleasures of the winter garden -

Now come on inside....white and caramel-colored beeswax candles, a garland of tiny white berries, clear glass candle holders and I couldn't resist a fat little winter bird. I'll probably add a few wine-red or golden lilies for Christmas Eve...I'll need to replace candles, but this simple glowy tablescape will carry on through New Years, because it's all about winter light rather than Christmas sparkle.

 

 

 

What To Buy For the Gardener on Your List? Or Maybe For Yourself?

A utilikilt of a gardening skort? Organic bouquets from Marigold & Mint delivered fresh to you or your loved one's doorstep?

'Tis the season for my annual gift giving column in Pacific Northwest magazine. Are you looking for a special gift for the gardener on your list? Or maybe for yourself??

Whether you or the person you're gifting is a dirt gardener, new to town, a bouquet lover, or a reader, these are gifts I hope you'll love to give and to get....

Reindeer and a Camel for the Kids, Camellias and Mahonia for the Gardener

  Nurseries are full of cheer, gifts, greens, and even a camel in December. If you want to have well-stocked local nurseries in the springtime when plant fever strikes, we need to patronize them now. And they make it easy - many offer wreathmaking, fresh Christmas trees and greens, and then there's Molbaks with gorgeous poinsettias as far as the eye can see.

I spent a happy hour at Swansons reindeer festival last week; really, it was a chance to pick up some amaryllis and paper whites that I hadn't gotten around to forcing...but mostly I breathed in the smell of cut evergreens and sasanqua camellias in bloom. If you can take your eyes off Curly the camel, there are plenty of plants to consider. What a welcome respite from the buzz of the season....

A gorgeous specimen of Mahonia 'Charity' - a sturdy, handsome evergreen for the garden and a wintertime buffet for the overwintering hummingbirds...

'Silver Anouk' lavender, shaped and beribboned for the season

Hard to believe sasanqua camellias bloom in December and January - here's living proof...the combination of dark, glossy leaves and snowy blossoms is so satisfying...

And nothing beats 'Wickwar Flame' Scotch heather for a burst of color right when you need it...

 

As If the Moon Had Flowered - Art Show and Sale in Belltown Features Cardoons

Cardoons never looked so beautiful as caught at the perfect moment of their opening and grouped together in a flock of caramel-colored fluff on top of a blackened steel table in the Suyama exhibit space on Second Avenue in Seattle.

The cardoons are suggestive of everything from sea creatures to cupcakes, yet so essentially their natural, picked-from-the-stem selves. Overhead float bleached branches dangling slim ceramic shapes in ghostly white or ebony...The juxtaposition of hard and soft, earth and plant, uber-urban and organic is magical, the pieces covetable.

The Installation and Holiday Sale is a collaboration by ceramicist Patricia Smith and floral artist/farmer Katherine Anderson, of Marigold & Mint in the Melrose Market. It runs December 3, 2012 - January 4, 2013 at 3x10/Suyama peterson Deguchi (2324 2nd Ave.).

From the show description: "Smith and Anderson are concerned with nature and use it as their media. Smith works in porcelain (earth) in her studios in Connecticut and Paris; Anderson collects and works with things that grow out of the ground at her Snoqualmie Valley farm, Marigold and Mint. Drifts of dried cardoons, collected on Anderson’s farm and looking like giant dandelions, share space with a white thicket of ceramic icicles and droplets hanging from branches. Delicate wisps of seeds fall in glass jars. Together with white porcelain wave plates, the scene is reminiscent of fields in the winter moonlight. This spare organic clarity allows for the contemplation of the fragility of life."

The exhibit is a gift of the season - be sure and stop in...

Vee Garden Kickstarter - Help Fund Del Webber's Ingenious Edible Gardening System

Artist and dedicated food gardener Del Webber calls his Vee Garden "the greenest garden system ever." His Kirkland garden, where he produces a truly astounding amount of food, certainly supports that claim.  Del has nurtured this idea of self-sustaining, recycled pots, he's ready to start manufacturing them...and he needs your help.

Del's kickstarter program "Dances With Vegetables" runs through December 21. Learn more about this elegant system on his website  Vee-Garden.com; view Del's persuasively beautiful video and help fund the future of high-productive vegetable gardening here.

Here's how Del explains his quest: "Four years ago, the Vee Garden Project started as a public sculpture installation. I wanted to initiate a discussion about FOOD.  I wanted to engage the viewer to examine their relationship with food; to reflect on its history and its future; to consider the role of food in the urban environment and in their lifestyle, health, economy, community, and culture. What is likely to change about our food system with the shifting forces of population, climate, science, and geopolitics? Can we, as individuals, still have a place to participate in the food system, or have we surrendered all of our power?

During the exhibition, I had two frequently asked questions:

• “Why hasn’t somebody done this before?”
  and
• “Where can I get one of these gardens?” 

These questions became the launching point for the Vee Garden system."

Read my Seattle Times story about Del's garden here - it's such an impressively productive garden, where Del uses every inch of space, including his garage roof, to grow herbs, fruit and vegetables in 3-D pots...the plants are healthy and the potted system he's created is so clever...welll, take a look...

 

Ruby-crowned Kinglets Brighten Our Gardens - Yes, in December

Could these gorgeous green-and-red birds pick a better time to flit through Seattle? Just now, when the garden is getting truly soaked and turning brown, the flutter, life and animation of little birds is so very welcome.  And we could take a lesson in holiday decorating from their showy yet slightly subdued coloration. Skip the glitz and be inspired by a feather palette this year...doesn't their innate and natural beauty make glitter and sparkle look, well....tacky??

Ellen Blackstone of BirdNote (you can find many more beautiful bird photos and videos on BirdNote's website) - sent these photos along. She saw a female Ruby-crowned Kinglet at her suet feeder the other day. "The female in particular could be confused with a Golden-crowned Kinglet or a Hutton's Vireo, both of which you might see in Seattle in the winter. Check the eye-ring and consult a field guide to be sure which you're seeing," advises this expert. 

Another great charm of these birds is their amazingly long, complex song, which we won't start hearing until early spring. (Not so much to sing about in the dark days of winter?).  By summer, Ruby-crowned Kinglets have mostly moved on, nesting at higher elevations. So use bird-watching as your excuse to get a dose of fresh air, get out there and keep your eyes peeled..

Learn more on this BirdNote video about the Ruby-crowned Kinglet. And enjoy Gregg Thompson's photos of this jaunty bird -

The male with his red buzz cut...

And a quizzical female..

Heronswood Invites Same-Sex Couples To Get Married In The Garden - On December 9th

Are you or someone close to you planning to celebrate marriage equality in Washington State with a wedding? While most of us are still savoring this sweet electoral victory, the S'Klallam Tribe, new owners of Heronswood in Kingston, are getting busy making gay marriages happen.

Tell everyone you know - Heronswood is offering to host up to 20 couples on this historic first-possible-day of gay marriage in our state. Not only is this a beautiful and practical and heart-warming idea, but I think the tribe is building up a great deal of good karma for themselves and the future of Heronswood...and they're offering the gardens for free. No rental charge (donations gratefully accepted). Now that's the way to host, and to celebrate.

The details: On December 9 from noon to 5 p.m. the world-renowned botanical garden will open its gates for up to 20 same- sex couples looking to be among the first to tie the knot in Washington State.

As a part of the December 9 wedding event, same-sex couples can book their own private, intimate ceremony at Heronswood. Each ceremony can include up to 12 guests and a wedding officiant will be on site. While donations are appreciated, the rental is being provided free of charge.

While still a place of beauty and splendor, Heronswood, which was purchased by the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe this past summer, is in the middle of an extensive garden restoration effort. The expectation is to reopen the garden to the public, in part, through special events and open houses several times a year.

While Heronswood, which was purchased by the Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe last summer, is still under renovation, and won't debut at a wedding facility officially until spring of 2013, the opportunity to host same-sex couples as they celebrate their special day was too important to pass up.

“Heronswood is a magical place that has touched the hearts and lives of many people. We can think of no better way to show our support and express our congratulations to the gay community than to welcome same-sex couples as among the first to get married there,” said Noel Higa, Economic Development Director for the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe. The Tribe supported Referendum 74 while it was on the ballot.

Weddings on December 9 will be limited to 30 minutes, but the grounds will be open to wedding parties for pictures and self-guided tours.

Space is limited to the first 20 responding same-sex couples. For reservations, contact JoAnn at 360-297-6305 or send an email to heronswoodgardens@gmail.com.

Contact: Ginger Vaughan (ginger@quinnbrein.com) 206-842-8922

Doesn't this make you happy to live here and be part of our very generous gardening community?? Best wishes to all of you for a joyous wedding in a beloved Northwest garden (below) ...and, please, send me  photos from your ceremony to post here on Plant Talk .....I'd love to share the historic moment and the beauty of the garden with readers who will be with you in spirit....

Snowy Owls Passing Through Town - Update from BirdNote

 Snowy owls have returned to Seattle and been spotted in such diverse neighborhoods as Capitol Hill, Roanoke Park, near Fred Meyer on Lake City Way, and Edmonds.  Ellen Blackstone at BirdNote cautions  "Many of the owls are hungry and stressed, so please don't stress them further by approaching them too closely".

Here's a BirdNote story, with video about Snowy Owls that explains more about what is going on with these ethereal birds.

In one of those lovely moments of synchronicity, I'd just read Verlyn Klinkenborg's evocative piece on owls in the New York Times, when I heard that owls are arriving here. Is there a better nature writer than this guy? (Perhaps Diane Ackerman is as evocative- I'm deep in her beautiful new book Dawn Light - more to come on this..)

Here's a quote from Klinkenborg's "The Owlish Night":

"A bird form slants silently across the highway, just above the arc of the headlights. Impossible to say what color it is, but it is an owl. It is all I ever see of owls up around my farm, that swift, peripheral, ghosting drift across an opening in the trees." 

and.....

"I would like a holiday when all the hidden creatures around the farm would make themselves apparent just for an hour or two. They step out from their camouflage, from their hidden bowers, from their holes and burrows and nests and recesses. The owls would surely be among them." Read the whole piece here.

We have a moment, right now in the city, to keep our eyes peeled in the hope of catching sight of this creature that seems more spirit than bird....can you believe the absolute purity of those white feathers? Let alone the spark in those shrewd and ancient-looking golden eyes...

Thanks to Ellen and BirdNote for keeping us up to date on our avian friends, and to Rodney Campbell for the photo...