ARTICLE BY: PETER HERPST A special education teacher by day, a glass artist by night, and a choir director on Sundays; Peter Herpst somehow finds time to garden as well. He’s been expertly tending his .26-acre Eden in Tacoma, WA, for 26 years now. His personal jungle features everything from the rare to the common, all grown to perfection and planted with Peter’s one-of-a-kind style. Peter blogs at The Outlaw Gardener, where he shares his plant shopping, garden visiting, and vase-filling adventures. *** Why would a mostly sane person wake up at the crack of dawn and drive two hundred… 

ARTICLE BY: ANN AMATO Ann Amato is an ever-changing work-in-progress thanks to improving health. She’s a horticulturist who specializes in seeds with a background in arts management and publishing. She’s been a therapeutic foster parent, an ESL instructor, and she blogs at: Amateur Bot-ann-ist. Currently, she works part-time at Cistus Nursery and sells her own seeds at Milton’s Garden Menagerie on Etsy. *** “My house just happens to be in my garden.” It’s what I say to people, and for the most part, it’s true. Long ago this became a motto for me. The joke though was that there was… 

The annual HPSO Open Gardens program continues in August with almost 30 private and public gardens open on weekends and some on Monday evenings.  Several gardens are open for the first time and it is also a chance to see gardens that you missed earlier in the year. Some of the gardens open in August include: Michael Babbit & Ellen Bartholomew This small garden packs a punch with borders of roses and drought-tolerant plants along the hell-strip and driveway. The back garden is a labyrinth of garden rooms shaded by apricot and apple trees. Glass art and copper structures add… 

The annual HPSO Open Gardens program continues in July with a wide variety of gardens, both private and public, open to our members on weekends and some Monday evenings. The gardens include new ones on the tour for the first time as well as a chance to see gardens that you may have missed in the past. The month of July is a time when a wide variety of perennials and shrubs are flourishing and many gardens are at their peak. Some of the gardens open in July include: The Bud Dietrich Garden Perennials, flowering trees, ornamental grasses and tropicals… 

The annual HPSO Open Gardens program is in full swing with a plethora of gardens open for tours during the month of June.  The June gardens are open on weekends and some are open on Monday evenings (times and locations are listed for members in the HPSO Open Gardens directory). Some of this month’s gardens include – Thomas Vetter A plant lover’s paradise nestled in Hazelwood, the Vetter garden is entering its 20th season and is a favorite stop on garden tours. The garden is a palette of colors and textures with ferns, trees, perennials and shrubs framing one beautiful… 

The temperatures are rising and the sun is making more appearances as the glorious spring season begins in the Pacific Northwest. The annual HPSO Open Gardens program started in April and there are even more gardens to see during the month of May. The May gardens are open on weekend days (times and locations are listed for members in the HPSO Open Gardens directory). Approximately twenty of the gardens on this year’s HPSO Open Gardens are those that are featured on the tour for the first time. One of these is the garden of Matthew Hubbard (aka The Lents Farmer)…. 

At Hortlandia this year (April 14 & 15 at Portland EXPO Center), we’ve got a special treat for Sunday, April 15. We’ve got 3 free programs lined up to help you learn from the experts: 10:30AM 30 Great Plants for 30 Great Years Learn more from Tom Fischer about the plants that made the celebratory list, including what makes them special and how to use them in your own garden. After Tom’s talk, you’ll have plenty of time to shop for the plants that look great to you. Tom Fischer is editor-in-chief at Timber Press here in Portland. His garden… 

Hortlandia’s 30th anniversary is coming up fast, and one of the ways we’re celebrating is by focusing on pollinators. After all, where would we gardeners be without them?!  If you don’t already know about it, Hortlandia is The Hardy Plant Society of Oregon’s Annual Plant & Garden Art Sale on April 14 & 15, 2018 at the Portland EXPO Center.  The event features dozens of vendors from all over the Pacific Northwest — it’s open to both HPSO members and non-members alike, and admission is FREE. Paying Tribute to Pollinators As any gardener knows, pollinators are crucial to the overall health… 

In just a few short weeks – April 7 to be exact – the new season of the HPSO Open Gardens begins! Thanks to the generosity and enthusiasm of our members who are opening their gardens, we have a wide-ranging group of beautiful gardens you can visit each weekend, and even some weekday evenings straight through until early October. This year, approximately 120 private gardens, as well as nursery display gardens, are open for your viewing pleasure. Whether you are seeking design inspiration or you just need a relaxing stroll through a beautiful garden, the tour has something for everyone… 

The Hardy Plant Society of Oregon’s Open Gardens program offers our members the opportunity to visit and learn from the gardens of other members, from the Oregon Coast to Bend and from the south Willamette Valley to the Seattle area. We publish an Open Gardens Book for our members each March with area gardens that are open each weekend from April through October. During June, July, August and September, gardens are also opened the 2nd and 4th Mondays of each month. This wonderful program offers gardeners the opportunity to see a variety of garden sizes and styles, gaining inspiration and…