An invitation to visit my photo gallery

I recently upgraded my photography equipment to a Canon EOS 20D. This is a digital SLR type camera that takes very high resolution photos and has some of the creative controls that were not present in my previous point-and-shoot digital.

As I mentioned several posts ago I am taking a photography course from an online community called BetterPhoto (www.betterphoto.com). I have really been enjoying honing my skills and getting to know my new camera.

If you would like to browse a gallery of my most recent photos follow this link:

Darcy's Photo Gallery

When good plants go bad

Jekyll & Hyde
© 2005 Darcy Daniels

I came upon this amusing horticultural oddity today as I was out and about. The split personality of this small tree is an example of a dwarf Alberta spruce (Picea glauca ‘Conica’) that is reverting along its left side. This is easily prevented if the offending stems are cut away when the plant first shows signs of "alien" growth. In this case, this would have needed to happen quite awhile ago. This has been a long time coming ... a cautionary tale indeed.

Another sighting ...

I saw my first crocus bloom this afternoon. Every year I convince myself that this first sighting is extremely early, a rarity, a phenomenon to be sure ... although, I bet if I was actually tracking the dates I would have had similar thoughts last year when I sighted my first crocus, in what I'm fairly sure must have been about the 3rd week in January. Chalk it up to another case of a pent-up gardener seeking signs of spring wherever and whenever she can.

Signs of Spring

Emerging foliage of daffodils © 2005 Darcy Daniels

Galanthus (Snowdrops) © 2005 Darcy Daniels

These photos were taken just days ago, before the most recent cold snap. It's going to sound crazy, but even now, while we are in the grips of an ice storm I can't help but feel that we are on the verge of spring. Seed & bulb catalogs crowd my mailbox, each vying for my attention and their share of my budget. I know that within the next day or so, the weather will clear, the ice will melt and the sun will shine. Before you know it, the garden shows will commence (Seattle first, then back-to-back shows in Portland) and the gardening public will be stirred into a frenzy of anticipation. Upon reviewing and planning my own calendar, I see the weeks melt away as I plug in tasks and projects, my own as well clients’, which need to be completed before spring truly arrives.

Today in the Garden

White Primula
© 2005 Darcy Daniels

This may look like a new species of primula to you, but it is a real specimen in my garden. I applied the romantic, painterly effect to my original photograph in Photoshop.

Japanese Garden (Portland)

Lower Pond (click here for larger view)
© 2005 Darcy Daniels

Yesterday I spent some time at the Japanese garden. The pleasing structure of the garden makes it an enjoyable destination any time of the year. I went to the garden specifically to take photographs (I'm currently taking a photography course online, more about that later). I especially enjoyed photographing The Flat Garden and the Lower Pond of the strolling garden. The Flat Garden has a wonderful sea of raked sand, suggestive of movement and flow, which is a joy to try and capture on film.


The Flat Garden (click here for larger view)
© 2005 Darcy Daniels

Winter Protection

Last year as the weather worsened and the ice and snow storm began in earnest I adopted a rather cavalier attitude toward protecting the more tender plants in my garden; a kind of "survival-of-the-fittest-devil-may-care" mentality. I imagined that I was a participant in The Great Experiment - doing my part to determine the lowest threshold of hardiness of some of the more experimental plants in my garden.

Well as it happened, I lost many of my most treasured plants. Not that I mourned too loudly for them, I did my best to look at it as an opportunity to add new, even more lovely plants to my collection.

This year, as temperatures drop and the forecast calls for continued low temps and snow, I have decided to protect some of my borderline plants. I am taking a more conservative approach; please don't think me weak and unwilling to be adventuresome! As a rule, unless it is something really special and/or in a container that can be (easily) moved under cover, the limit of protection I offer is a layer of frost cloth wrapped around the plant.

Plants that I have wrapped in the garden:
Phormium (New Zealand flax)
Coryline australis
Melianthus major (honeybush)
Prostanthera rotundifolia (Australian mint bush)

Some of the plants that I cared enough about (or paid too much for!) that I moved to a covered location in the garage:
Dicksonia antarctica (Australian tree fern), tender succulents in containers, and miscellaneous treasures from the HPSO fall plant sale that did not get planted last fall and, being in their growers pots, are consequently more vulnerable to weather extremes.

Garden Makeover on Narrow, Suburban Lot

CLICK ON THE PHOTO for an enlarged view

This garden is located in Beaverton, Oregon on a narrow suburban lot. The upper right hand corner shows the space in spring 2004 BEFORE we began construction. The larger AFTER view was taken mid-December 2004, just as construction and the first phase of plantings were being completed.

We were able to greatly enhance the outdoor living space and give a sense of roominess to what initially felt like a small space. In part, this was accomplished by taking advantage of the change in elevation when dividing the garden into rooms. Additionally, turning the garden on a 45 degree angle was instrumental in creating interesting divisions in the garden. To convey a sense of permanence from the outset, mature, specimen-size Japanese maples and timber bamboo were used to create a “canopy” - immediately enhancing the feeling of privacy and seclusion the client desired.

This garden will continue to evolve, but as you can see, the initial bones are in place and the underlying structure ensures a beautiful outdoor scene, even in the middle of winter. I look forward to assisting this homeowner with the finishing touches and to help shepherd the garden as it evolves and changes over time. For the upcoming summer season, tender perennials and annuals will be utilized for a colorful fill. This garden will be colorful and full beyond its age by late next summer.