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Are olives viable for Oregon?

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With a column title like What I’m Hearing, I am always listening for new ideas, new plants, trends in garden centers and new plant trials. Recently in a conversation with Ann Murphy, a communications and marketing manager at Oregon State University (OSU), I learned that the OSU North Willamette Research and Extension Center in Aurora, […]

Small, tall and packed together

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The trend toward smaller spaces drives intensive use of perennials and grasses The midcentury ranch house with the huge yard is a thing of the past. Replacing it is the tall house with a small yard — and that’s changing the shape of home landscaping. Everywhere across the country, homebuilders are squeezing as many new homes […]

Don’t overlook these late bloomers

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Don’t overlook these late bloomers During the busy spring months, when customers are buying nearly everything that is in bloom, they might overlook plants that don’t show off their color until late summer. I have many plants in my garden that are just coming into peak flower in August and September. Whenever we open our […]

We study gardens: An update from OSU’s Garden Ecology Lab

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Gardens are unique and understudied systems that can have multi-faceted and positive impacts on the environment and public health. The positive impact of gardens is an important thing to consider when planning, installing and maintaining individual gardens as well as neighborhood-wide landscaping installations. It turns out that gardeners and landscapers manage and maintain a significant […]

Inspiration in other gardens

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Whenever I visit other people’s gardens, particularly at the start of the year, the conversation often turns to two questions. What new plants I am going to buy? And what were my favorite plants of the past season? I do not really have favorite plants for a season, but I might have a favorite plant […]

Specializing in the unique

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They would never be called a “garden center.” They would not be a place to go to for buying annuals in the spring. They have very few hard goods; it is unlikely that a customer would find garden chemicals, fertilizers, gloves and other items. Their locations are usually not in a metro area and they […]

Open gardens, open minds

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Gardening is a constantly changing hobby for many of us. When we visit garden centers, we are often not only buying plants that are familiar to us, but we are on the lookout for something new. Many private gardens have signature plants that might be a tree or shrub, or perhaps it is a plant(s) […]

An appetite for edibles

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When I grew up in southeast Portland in the 1950s and ’60s, my parents grew plenty of food in our yard. The parking strip in front of our house supported apple, peach, pear, plum and quince trees. The backyard held a full size cherry tree that boasted sweet fruit, provided comforting shade and supported both […]