Bill Thomas of Chanticleer, a pleasure garden, tells us a little about his inspiration. How did you become interested in gardening? When I was ten, my parents said I should take over the vegetable garden. I loved growing the plants from seed and soon even began eating vegetables. What would you tell a beginner gardener? Learn the rules and then break them as you wish. Favorite tool? Felco number 2. I love to prune and it does the job well. What would you tell your younger gardening self? Learn more, try more, and be less opinionated. Favorite garden book…
Meet Sue Goetz. In this profile, Sue shares excellent advice and tells us a little about where she gets her inspiration. Check it out below! What type of garden do you have? I call it my eclectic muse- an experimental ground for what works in design that I do for others and what inspires me! I ripped out my front lawn to plant a perennial community after visiting the High Line in New York, the Lurie Garden in Chicago, and the works of Piet Ouldolf. This part of my garden has taught me a lot about designing naturalistic meadows for clients….
Preston Pew of Cistus Design Nursery speaks about his inspiration and gives us some advice. Check it out below! How did you get interested in gardening? Growing up my family always grew a vegetable garden in Summer. I remember growing my first cherry tomato from seed and all of the wonderful red tomatoes it gave and how that gigantic plant grew from a tiny seed really made an impression on me. Aside from my love of hiking around the Cascades growing up near Mt. Rainier, and being in nature in general, I had no interest in gardening until I was…
Meet Amy Campion. In this profile, Amy shares her experience creating a space for NW native plants and the insects the support. Where do I garden? I gardened for 17 years in the Cincinnati area, and I’ve gardened for the past 10 years in Portland. My current garden is in Northeast Portland on a sunny, flat, 7,000-square-foot lot. How would I describe my garden? In Cincinnati, I mostly planted things I thought were pretty or interesting. I didn’t care where they originated from. In Portland, I continued that practice. You could say I had a collector’s garden. Then, a couple…
Meet Michael McCoy, Australian garden designer, author, and TV host. In this profile, Michael shares his experiences adapting a traditional English gardening mindset to accomadate climate adapted plants in his garden design. Where do I garden? I garden just north of Melbourne, Australia. My elevation is approximately 600m (1900 ft) above sea level, average annual rainfall is about 700mm (28 inches). The temperature can drop to -5C (approx 25F) on a winter’s night and rise 45C (approx 110F) on a summer’s day, but these are rare extremes. How did I become interested in gardening? I had no interest in gardening…
Meet Jeremy Schmidt, Researcher and Grounds Supervisor of Plant Delights Nursery and Juniper Level Botanic Garden, and owner of Hortco. Jeremy gardens in Raleigh, North Carolina, Zone 8a. He was recently part of the team that installed the new crevice garden at Rancho Cistus with Sean Hogan. How would I describe my personal garden? In its tenth year of growth, my home garden, the Bristol Briar, has served as a personal platform to trial daring horticultural display ideas and to test botanical theories, while maintaining the garden at the highest aesthetic standards. It is in this environment that I am at…
Meet David Perry, Seattle-based garden photographer and speaker at the upcoming HPSO Annual Meeting on November 6th. In this profile, get to know David and read some of his tips for taking better garden photographs. You can learn more about David at his website. What are 3 pieces of advice for people to take better photos of their gardens? Truth is, we nearly all crave some sense of intimacy in our lives and most of us walk through our days experiencing much less of it than we would like. So in a world that offers so little intimacy and leaves…
Meet Toni Gattone, author of “The Lifelong Gardener, Garden with Ease and Joy at Any Age“. She gardens in Marin County, CA, Zone 10a. In this profile, Toni shares her passion for gardening and the importance of adopting methods to garden safely and comfortably. You can learn more about Toni at her website. What type of garden do I have? My husband and I live on a small lot in a very pedestrian-oriented suburban neighborhood in Marin County, CA . We are blessed with a mild microclimate enabling us to garden most of the year. In addition to gardening with…
Meet Horticulturist Christina Pfeiffer, author of “Pacific Northwest Month-By-Month Gardening”. She gardens in Seattle, Washington, Zone 8. In this profile, Christina shares her expertise in planting and maintaining gardens that are sustainable in our changing climate. You can learn more about Christina and her lectures at her website. What is the most important thing people can do in their garden to mitigate the impacts of climate change? Take really good care of the soil. Minimize soil disturbance. Use coarse textured organic mulch that will promote both water infiltration and retention, and that will support soil building organisms. For gardens that…
Meet HPSO member Ruth Clark who gardens in Vancouver, Washington, Zone 8. Ruth has been opening her peaceful, park-like garden to HPSO members for ten years and her garden will be part of the Clark County Mini-Tour on June 11th. What methods do I use to reduce water usage in my garden? I don’t buy plants that need a lot of water. If the tag says ‘moist soil’ it goes back on the table. I’m really just trying to reduce work for myself as watering is not something I enjoy doing. I have drip lines in my vegetable garden and…
