Succulents and More™

On my April trip to Portland , one of the destinations I was most looking forward to was Bella Madrona. I’d been there once before, during the 2014 Garden Bloggers Fling , and had fond, if hazy, memories. For some reason, I never finished my post that I started 12 years ago, but here is a good one about Bella Madrona and the Fling written by Pam Penick on her blog Digging . Bella Madrona defies description. There are trees and shrubs and flowers, art pieces and found objects, a stream and a bog, several meadows, and even a secret forest inhabited by gnomes. As I was reading up on what others have written about it, I came across a term that captures its essence perfectly: pleasure garden. It makes me think of something grander, something that goes beyond plants; a space designed to bemuse, entertain, and thrill. When you look at the photos below, you’ll see what Bella Madrona is: lush, eclectic, playful, romantic, serene, mystical. I’d even call it whimsical if the w word wasn’t so wor...

In my previous post , I showed you the grounds at Dairy Creek Meadows, the 30-acre rural spread owned by long-time gardeners Craig Quirk and Larry Neill outside of Portland, Oregon. This post is about the greenhouse and the crevice garden that surrounds it, both masterpieces in their own right. I think you’ll be blown away. Let’s start with the greenhouse. It sits in the middle of a naturalistic perennial meadow designed in collaboration with Laura Crockett of Garden Diva Designs and inspired by the work of Piet Oudolf . The area is fully fenced to keep out the local deer population. When I visited, in early April, most of the meadow perennials were still dormant; take a look at this photo from Craig’s Instagram to see what it looks like in summer. The greenhouse is actually two interconnected structures from Hartley Botanic , a British manufacturer known for its classic designs and superior build quality. Craig told us that the glasshouses were delivered on two flat-bed trucks. And...