Archive for Dramatic Flowers

Pollinator Friendly Garden Makeover in NE Portland

NE Portland Yard Gets a Pollinator Friendly Makeover

pollinator friendly garden makeover in Portland

I’m Hilary Hutler and I am thrilled to be joining Carol and Landscape Design in a Day! Carol asked me to introduce myself and share one of my pollinator friendly landscape designs here on our blog.

About me:  While this is my fifth year working full-time as a landscape designer, I’ve been interested in horticulture and plants for many years. My first job was working with edible gardening on an organic produce farm, next I trained as a Portland Master Gardener which gave me a solid foundation for understanding all things plant-related in the Pacific Northwest. I continued taking landscape design courses while working at Pomarius Nursery, one of Portland’s most unique retail plant nurseries.

Pollinator friendly Rock Rose used in Portland garden makeover

Helianthemum nummularium ‘Ben Hope’ (Rock Rose Ground Cover) in NE Portland Pollinator Garden Design for front yard. May photo.

They specialize in growing and selling a much wider range of plants than a garden center.  Working at a plant nursery is an incredible way to broaden your plant palette so within just a few years I learned the existence of more ornamental plants (and how to use them) than I could have ever dreamed of.  I worked as a landscape designer on the Oregon Coast for several years and while I loved it and learned so much I live in NE Portland – that’s a long commute.

 

NE Portland yard in need of a residential landscape makeover

Before Photo – North Portland landscape needs a landscape design to give the new homeowner  pollinator friendly plantings, lots of color and friendly curb appeal. Photo by Hilary Hutler

How I met Carol founder of Landscape Design in a Day, a Portland Oregon company.

While Carol and I had met a handful of times over the years, we decided to consider working together in 2022. Carol was a fabulous business mentor to my friend and fellow designer Alana Chau, and had a unique approach to landscape design services, so when she invited me to meet up for coffee to discuss working together I said yes.   I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to learn from her.  We collaborated on a few designs in the fall of 2022, and I gladly accepted her offer to join Landscape Design in a Day.

 

Hilary’s Favorite Front Yard Landscape Design in N.E Portland

One of my most cherished projects is a landscape design opportunity I fell into by luck. I was walking my regular neighborhood route in the University Park neighborhood when I stopped to chat with a woman who was placing boulders out in her driveway to give away.

Pollinator friendly Hens and Chicks used with some existing boulders in garden makeover.

The boulders are planted with lots of Hens and Chicks filling in nicely between boulders with a mound of dark burgundy leafed Sedum above. (Sempervivums and Sedum hylotelphium ‘Matrona’.)

Her front yard was devoid of beauty – it was over planted with  numerous (as in over ten) Japanese Maples placed too close together and no understory plantings to speak of. The previous owner had attempted to build a large pond, but the project had fallen into disrepair and there were way too many boulders. She wanted to change the existing landscape from bleak to wonderful.  On a whim, I gave her my telephone number.

Well, our meeting up that day turned out to be one of those wonderful gifts from serendipity, because not only did I create a total landscape redesign of her front yard, we’re also now good friends.  She loved making the focus of the planting plan about feeding pollinators and colorful plants.  I loved being part of such an amazing new front yard.

Pollinator bee friendly garden plantings used in Portland yard makeover.

These pollinator friendly plantings are also low water. Purple Salvia, Cistus – Rock Rose and in the back the very dark purple is a spanish lavander named ‘Otto Quast’.  Spanish lavander blooms earlier than most lavander and that helps feed bees and bumblebees. May photo.

Front Yard Pollinator Paradise Landscape Design

I love this no lawn front garden design for colorful plants, fragrance, interesting textures and a perfect pollinator paradise.  Here are just a few of the plants I used in our very collaborative design process.

(These are all super duper pollinator friendly)

Pollinator friendly plantings of English lavender and Elfin Pink Thyme used in garden makeover.

English lavander in bud underplanted with “Elfin Pink’ thyme is a study in textures in May but by mid June their flowers will come on strong and feed many kinds of bees.

Hellianthemum n. ‘Ben Hope’ – Sunrose

Sedum h. ‘Autumn Joy’ and also ‘Matrona’

Lavandula s. ‘Otto Quast’

Salvia n. ‘May Night’

Cistus Purpurea –  Rock Rose

Helictotrichon sempervirens – Blue Oat Grass

Senecio greyi (Brachyglottis) – Evergreen Daisy Bush

Sempervivum – Hen and Chicks

 

Contact Us for a Collaborative Design Experience

We prefer collaborating with our clients at their kitchen table to get a perfect fit landscape design.  Are you looking for a designer who wants to help you find your style?  Would you like to support bees and other pollinators?  We love city landscapes and bringing the color and vibrancy of nature to our clients.  Contact us today! 

 

 

 

 

Northeast Portland Test Garden for Drought Tolerant & Pollinator Friendly Plants

Tips for Tricky Native Plants in NE Portland Garden Design

Northeast Portland Landscape Designer Hilary Hutler with pollinator friendly Fox Tail Lilly Flowers Bouquet.

Hilary Hutler North Portland Landscape Designer with Fox Tail Lilly  (Eremurus) an excellent pollinator plant

Welcome to part 2 of my blog series on drought tolerant pollinator friendly plants for North Portland home landscapes.

My disclaimer: This is my experimental and play garden so while some of the plants listed here are easy to grow and meant for a typical homeowner , others are a bit tricky or cause skin irritation, are a bit toxic or are especially thorny.  They are very interesting and plant-nerd cool plants that are also pollinator friendly and drought tolerant. I love foliage but obviously flowers feed bees and who doesn’t love flowers?

Mixing PNW Natives with Mediterranean Plants

Northeast Portland drought tolerant Canary Clover

Dorycnium hirsutum or Canary Clover is drought tolerant in St Johns Front Yard Portland Oregon

First up is Dorycnium hirsutum*. This plant loves it dry and handles the heat beautifully. It has such a soft sea foam green foliage that the wonderful flowers and colorful small fruit capsules (captivating on their own merits) are just the dessert to my mind. Be aware that this plant can seed around a bit. If you are not the person who can pull out a plant that has seeded in the wrong place…walk on by. The web still says it’s evergreen but here in Portland it often dies back and +comes back strong once the heat of summer hits. Common name is Hairy Clover Canary or Canary Clover, but it does not look anything like typical clover…hmmm. It lasts for perhaps as long as ten years but will cast a few seeds so you have a new plant to take its place.

Drought tolerant pairing of Lewisia & Artemesia Northeast Portland plants.

Lewisia thrives in north portland front yard also called Cliff Maid or Siskiyou Lewisia. Background silver plant is Artemesia ‘Valerie Finnis’.

I’m surprised with how big and healthy my Lewisia (our southern Oregon native plant Lewisia cotyledon.) I didn’t expect it to do well because it is planted in compacted heavy soil, (it prefers loose open dry soils) but it has really taken off.  It’s twice the size I typically see in Portland gardens.  As you can see by the picture,  I’ve planted it in front of the Artemisia ‘Valerie Finnis’.

Some Aggressive Plants Can Be Tamed by Planting in My Worst Soil Area

‘Valerie Finnis’ Artemisia is a beautiful mounding silver green shrub. It can be an aggressive plant so use it’s tendencies to your favor by planting it in a heavier clay soil area, as it can take over in loose open soil.  In my garden it is planted in my worst soil and totally handles the heat and dry conditions once established. You can let the flowers come on for a few weeks and then cut the whole plant back. The flowers are a pale yellow, that will feed pollinators and are not unattractive. I prefer to cut my plant back in May to prevent flowers because I love the silvery green leaves but also to keep the plant full.  If you don’t cut it back it gets leggy.   Note this plant dies back to bare stems in the winter.

Pruning tip for Artemisia:  I employ The Chelsea Chop, a pruning technique which is usually done in May and involves removing 2/3rds of a summer or fall flowering perennial.  This term was coined by Tracy DiSabiato in her excellent book “The Well Tended Perennial Garden” I happen to have sitting right next to my computer.  It’s an older book so you can get a good deal on this book at our Powells Books in Portland.

Drought tolerant & pollinator friendly plants for northeast Portland.

Drought tolerant planting combination is a thriller, colorful and great for pollinators too.

Create a Drought Tolerant Planting Combination for Year Round Interest

I’ve also had success with a combination planting of Echium*, Phormium, a small blue leafed Agave and Sedum rupestre ‘Angeliana’. This plant quartet has something going on all year round. The Phormium gives us year round structure, while the Agave gives both foliage color, contrast and texture. The mass of low semi-evergreen Sedum rupestre ‘Angelina’ adds a soft textured low foliage element and the Echium is the total drama queen with a 30” flower spike. Although Echium is somewhat toxic to people, the bees love it! And be aware the Sedum ‘Angelina’ is no angel and will spread, so best to use it in heavy soils and rarely water it to keep it polite.  Summer flowering Echium  must be pruned down at the end of the season to keep it from seeding about too much.  It can cause skin irritation so wear heavy gloves when handling this plant.  Echium will seed so I typically cut the spent flower stalk and put it in the garbage rather than my compost.

More Summer Flowers for Bees in North Portland

California Fuchsia, drought tolerant plant for Northeast Portland gardens.

Flowering for four months straight in hot full sun with no irrigation is my idea of a drought tolerant plant for my north Portland garden.

Epilobium ‘Catalina’ – California Fuchsia loves the hot dry Mediterranean summers we have and flowers from August through November. I see the hummingbirds flock to this plant for months.  Once it was well established it has never been watered since. This plant gets trimmed back a few times a year to keep it looking great but it’s worth it.

It also looks great adjacent to this public sidewalk in northeast Portland planted in this boulder wall.

Pollinator, bee friendly northeast Portland Eryngium.

Eryngium ‘Big Blue’ pulls our native bumble bees in by the droves. Like the Sedum ‘Matrona’ the flower itself is made  of many tiny flowers so lots of food for pollinators in a single flower.

Here’s a perfect plant that is both pollinator friendly and drought tolerant.  Eryngium ‘Big Blue’ –  Sea Holly in addition to attracting and feeding lots of pollinators, it adds dramatic beauty through the summer landscape and well into fall. The seed heads dry and remain a part of the garden view long after the silvery blue flowers have faded. Unlike many plants that claim to have blue flowers only to disappoint, this flower is absolutely blue.  And don’t forget our native bumble bees-they adore feeding from my Eryngium Sea Holly.

Purple Flowers Pollinator Plant Combination

Monardia Bradburiana – Eastern Beebalm is best in heavy soil and some shade to slow it down.  It is an excellent pollinator food plant and is native to the Midwest.  It is planted with a poppy called ‘Lauren’s Grape’ and the deep purple of this poppy is simply amazing.

Honey bees are busy feeding and collecting pollen from this dark purple poppy flower.

Papaver somniferum ‘Lauren’s Grape’ is fully drought tolerant in Hilary Hutler garden north Portland

You can grow it from seed and here is a source, Renees Garden   For great contrast with the poppy flower and foliage, I used Sedum ‘Matrona’ for its large succulent leaf.  The big flat umbel flower head is made up of a host of tiny flowers and has hundreds of nectar sites for pollinators.  It’s mauve purple foliage is a dazzler with this planting combo.

Pollinator & bee friendly northeast Portland garden plants; Eastern Bee Balm, Dark Grape Poppy and Sedum Matrona.

Eastern Bee Balm on the left, amazing poppy (Lauren’s Dark Grape) in the very back and Sedum ‘Matrona’ on the right.

My landscape in north Portland is a perfect place to experiment with plants for a drought tolerant and pollinator friendly garden in the Pacific Northwest.  With a thoughtful selection of plants, I’ve created beautiful and relatively low maintenance plantings that provide for pollinators, and is very drought tolerant.

Contact us to work with experienced landscape designers who love to use plants that conserve water, feed bees without sacrificing beauty and color in our home landscape.  We can make a difference in global warming by conserving water and protecting bees by the plantings we use in our Portland residential landscapes.

Success with Crape Myrtle in Portland Landscape Designs

Residential Landscape Design PortlandLandscaping with Crape Myrtle in Portland

I responded to a request for help from clients in Northeast Portland who were concerned their crape myrtle trees planted two years ago were not healthy because they didn’t flower. They had done their research on crape myrtle but unfortunately not from a source familiar with their trees cultural needs or growth patterns here in the Willamette Valley.

Let me knock a few myths out of the way to save you the same unease and help get our crape myrtle trees off to a good start.

  1. Crape myrtle are drought tolerant so don’t ever water them. Not so!

Latest wisdom is to water them deeply with a drip irrigation or soaker hose once every 10 days. Touch the soil with your hands down a few inches to ensure you are not over watering. It should be moist and then as you get closer to the time to water again it should be almost dry. This may change some once they have been growing for ten years in your landscape, at that time you might be able to experiment with occasional deep slow and long watering.   Then they might become  low water needs.

I like to design plant companions for the crape myrtle that have the same water needs. In this garden I have crape

Red winter flowers in Foster Powell landscape design

Red Chinese Camellia in Waldron Garden

myrtle with Chinese Camellia – Camellia sasanqua ‘Yuletide’ and American Switch grass-Panicum virgatum ‘Shenendoah’. The clients added ground cover sedum.    None of the plants near the tree need to be watered more than once a week ever after except perhaps for their first summer. A splash of hose water once a week is not at all what I am talking about, I am talking about slowly applied water and preferably drip system or soaker hose.

  1. Fertilize if you want a lot of flowers, that’s true for all plants, right? Not so!

First off, nothing is true for all plants. There are plenty of plants that are harmed by fertilizer so tuck that behind your ear for a future conversation. We typically have fertile soil here in the Willamette Valley, so I would never fertilize crape myrtle beyond adding garden compost to the soil once a year as a top dressing. Adding fertilizer will work against your goal of having flowers.A young crape myrtle in SE Portland landscaping.

  1. You must dead head (pinch off) all the spent flowers. No way!!

If I had to deadhead crape myrtle flowers, it would take a bazillion hours and eventually a ladder.  Nope, you don’t need to deadhead. When your tree is young, and you get a heavy crop of flowers you might want to thin out some flowers to prevent the young branches from breaking.

  1.  Flower timing will depend on our summer temperatures. True.

It’s got to be hot enough and stay warm even at night to kick off the flowering of crape myrtle here in the Willamette Valley. If we have a cool June which we do sometimes, the flowers will be delayed until it’s been warm enough for long enough. For a deeper dig into crape myrtle read my comments published in this in-depth article from The Digger, July 2020.

Sleep-Creep-Leap

These clients came from California, a climate where plants grow fast. They were not familiar with the saying “Sleep-Creep-Leap” which describes typical plant growth for the first three years.

A crape myrtle in the late Portland summer. Photo by Carol LindsayOnce roots are well established many plants grow fast and then after many years, they slow their growth. Just to be perverse, some plants grow slowly when young and then after they are a decade old, they grow much faster. It depends on the genetic makeup of each plant as to its growth rate.  Generally, it takes 3 years of root growth in a plant to get to leap.

Patience in our culture is a revolutionary idea. Contact me if you have more questions on your landscaping.

Portland Garden Designer’s Holiday Gift Ideas

Portland Garden Designer with Favorite Tilly Hat

Tilly Hat on Portland Garden Designer Carol Lindsay

Portland Garden Designer’s Gift Ideas

Here are my favorite items to give as gifts.  The Tilley hat, favorite therapeutic hand cream, inexpensive gloves, Garden Design Magazine, plants as gifts and pruning tools.

The Tilley Hat

You can buy a Tilley hat at REI, Bonnet in NW Portland at Bonnet or on line.  I love my summer (Hemp fabric) Tilley hat because whether it’s picking peaches or playing with my dog, my hat stays on, it’s easy to wash.  I am around a lot of dirt and it is still a cream color. It protects my face from the sun (is recommended by some dermatologists for that purpose) and it’s not too hot to wear in the summer.

Hand Care

http://www.crabtree-evelyn.com/collections/gardeners/60-second-fix-for-hands/Gar-Fix-For-Hands.html

Great Hand Care Product

My favorite hand care product is Evelyn and CrabTree  60 second fix for hands.  It has 2 products, the Ultra Moisturizing Hand Therapy and the 2nd product called Hand Recovery.  There are more heavy duty hand products out there but this one has a light fragrance and penetrates the skin.  It’s therapeutic.  I handle art supplies and  garden so I like a good hand product.  Andalou Naturals Hand Cream is also nice but doesn’t penetrate the skin nearly as well.

Gloves

I love having A LOT of gloves.  I’m a person who misplaces gloves and as a child I resented that nursery rhyme about the kittens who lost their mittens because clearly I was going to be one of those kittens.  I have 20 pairs of inexpensive work gloves.  Gloves are great stocking stuffers.

Portland Landscape Designer Loves Garden Design MagazineGarden Design Magazine

Garden Design magazine readers are garden enthusiasts! They love the full-length stories (some run 10 to 20 pages to include lots of glorious photography) on plants, gardens, and design ideas for you to put to use—all presented without ads.

There are no ads in Garden Design. Yes, you read that right—no ads.  Just 148 pages of beautiful gardens and plants delivered to you each quarter. These are more like books. I’ve given this magazine to gardening clients and they are over the moon and tend to subscribe on their own the next year.

Give a gift link: https://www.gardendesign.com/subscribe/gift

Plants As Gifts

North Portland Garden Design Itoh PeonyNorth Portland Itoh Peony in Garden Design

Itoh Peonies are so popular this year (2017) that wholesale and retail sources sold out completely. The variety called ‘Cora Louise’ was the most popular and the first to be gone from retail and wholesale sources.   Why are Itoh Peonies special?

They are tough enough for low maintenance landscapes so they are not just for serious gardeners……..and serious gardeners have simply lost their minds over these beautiful and sturdy stemmed plants.  If you have a gardener in your life who loves big colorful flowers……..this gift will express your love for years. A gift certificate to a local retail nursery with a photo would do it. Expect to spend $125 to $150 for a 5 gallon plant.  Here are links to Portland Nursery gift card, Cornell Farm gift card and a video explaining more about Itoh Peonies.

Another popular plant for gardeners that you can buy in December are Hellebores and the big garden nurseries will have these for sale starting in December through March.  These are somewhat toxic so don’t leave them where small children or pets can get them.

Pruning Tools

Pruners –  I love Felco and Corona tools the best.  Cheaper but very lightweight pruners and clippers from Fiskar are popular too.  Here is a good one called PowerGear.  Felcos are for the gardener in your life.  I still love my #6 Felco hand pruner for smaller hands and think they fit most women better than a #2 Felco hand pruner. Utube video on how to select ergonomic pruning tools for people who want to learn how to prune their trees and shrubs.  The right tools make a big difference in the outcome for your plants.

Colorful Cape Fuchsia Makes Beautiful Summer Memories

Add Cape Fuchsia to Your Modern or Cottage Portland Landscape

NW Portland roof garden with cat Cracker Jack

My cat loved to watch hummingbirds.

Hummingbirds love Cape Fuchsia for the nectar.  I love to use it in designs because it adds so much color, is easy to grow and the new varieties work well with modern and cottage garden styles.  This plant is a crowd pleaser and I use it frequently.

I planted my first Cape Fuchsia, Phygelius x rectus ‘Salmon Leap’ on my roof garden in Portland’s West Hills. It was at 900 feet and we had snow every year.  The house was designed so that the third floor master suite had easy access to and a view of my roof garden.  It had a hot tub that was 20 feet from my bed, a big overstuffed outdoor sofa with an overhead cover and plenty of Cape Fuchsia!  In spite of the colder winters, the Cape Fuchsia (native to South Africa) never flagged or failed in the 12 years I lived there.  I loved my roof garden and the only family members who loved it more were the 4 leggeds, Barley,  Cee Cee and Cracker Jack.  One particular day everyone was curled up on the sofa.  I was reading and pets were napping.  All was peaceful.  I heard a strange whirring noise.  At first I didn’t see anything unusual.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw my pets’ heads were going up and then down and then up, I saw a small blur.  What was happening?

Modern design for Portland roof garden

My roof garden 2006.

Humming Bird Mating Ritual

We were witnessing a hummingbird mating ritual.  The male made a 90 foot oval flight pattern to within an inch of his intended.  She was steadfastly ignoring him and drinking nectar from my Cape Fuchsia.  There wasn’t even a flicker in his direction.  The buzzing sound was made by his high speed downward trajectory.  It abated on the way up.   It was mesmerizing.  It was one of those beautiful summer garden memories that I treasure.    Just us mammals all watching the entertainment together.

Phygelius picture from Joy Creek

Phygelius ‘Salmon Leap’  (Janet Loughrey Photo from Joy Creek Nursery)

Cape Fuchsia Varieties for Hummingbirds

If you would like to have some close encounters with hummingbirds or you just love colorful plants, the Cape Fuchsia is the perfect addition to your garden.  The best hummingbird attractors are the older varieties because they flower in the most intense coral red shades.  My favorites are ‘Devils Tears’, ‘Salmon Leap’ and ‘African Queen’, but they can a bit too rowdy for a small yard.

New Varieties of Cape Fuchsia

The new varieties are more compact and a little tidier in habit.  The flower colors are available in more traditional flower petal shades.  When these new colors first came on the market I was annoyed.  I felt like they had dumbed down a great plant by removing the coral shades…….but then I saw it wasn’t an either or.  I now had more choices and that is always a good thing for a garden designer.

If you love modern landscape design style but don’t want to give up color, these new Cape Fuchsia are perfect  because they are smaller.  They look great in a mass.

2006  2 new varieties from Skagit Gardens:

Full sun easy care yellow sovereign cape fuchsia for modern landscape design.

Skagit Gardens ‘ Yellow Sovereign’

'Croftway Purple Prince' Cape Fuchsia for your modern landscape with intense dusky violet magenta colors

Cape Fuchsia ‘Croftway Purple Prince’ by Skagit Nurseries photo

Skagit Gardens’ Phygelius aequalis ‘Croftway Purple Prince’ has that intense dusky magenta violet color.  I think it looks really good with Black Mondo Grass………Morticia Adams where are you now?  The magenta violet glows in the evening light.  ‘Croftway Purple Prince’ is cold hardy for the Pacific Northwest and listed as zone 6 Yay!

Phygelius Aequalis ‘Croftway Yellow Sovereign’ is 18 to 24 inches tall by 24 inches wide.  Many plants with soft yellow flowers burn in full sun but ‘Yellow Sovereign’ can take the sun and heat.

Barbara Ashmun, Portland garden writer has a great article about Cape Fuchsia’s. It’s an older article but most excellent.

I don’t tend to use the older coral red colored varieties of Cape Fuchsia in front yards as the winter appearance is too ragged without a major trim.  If you love this plant like I do, simply cut it to the ground in mid December for a tidy look.  People who like a very tidy landscape may want to pass.  It will seem too messy for them.

If you’re interested in adding Cape Fuchsia to your landscape or are interested in a colorful modern landscape design, contact me.