Skip to main content

Featured

Waterwise Gardening - a book review

Waterwise Gardening: Everything You Need To Know About Efficient Watering to Grow a Healthy Yard by Richard Restuccia Published by Rizzoli, 2025 I would guess that watering is the major issue that most gardeners grapple with, especially novice gardeners. I know from working at the nursery that the majority of questions and issues we get stem from either watering too much or not watering enough.  Many people in our area have sprinkler systems and I'm sure that can be a good thing if used properly but I feel that they primarily keep the lawns green but fall short for landscape plants. Especially when it comes to trees and larger plants, the timing and amounts are not satisfactory for many plants. I often hear people say that their sprinklers are set to come on every day - yikes! And there are those who did not water because it "rained" when it actually drizzled.  The best thing to do in this situation is to have a xeric garden but that would mean sacrificing favorite plant...
2 comments
Read more
Labels

Open Gardens: The Hardiman Garden

hardiman-garden-5

I was very excited to see the garden of Lucy and Fred Hardiman. Lucy Hardiman is a garden designer at Perennial Partners. This garden certainly did not disappoint. Full of vibrant rich colors (purples, blues and pinks, a favorite combination of mine) and accented with artistic architectural structures and art pieces, as well as some favorite plants like hydrangeas and lilies. Note the big crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia 'Zuni') in the above photo. They do grow here!

hardiman-garden-10

hardiman-garden-11

hardiman-garden-4

hardiman-garden-3
Just look at these lilies! I was intrigued by the blue flower and she told me that it is a perennial that she herself introduced to Joy Creek Nursery. It is Galega 'Lady Wilson'.

hardiman-garden-8
It was near sunset when I toured the garden and the diminishing light gave it a magical quality.

hardiman-garden-6
Perfectly placed art pieces

hardiman-garden-7

hardiman-garden-9
Yarn in the garden? Why not?

hardiman-garden-2

hardiman-garden-1
This is the front entryway garden that leads back to the main garden.
A big thank you to the Hardiman's for including their garden on the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon Open Gardens Tour. It was wonderful!

 Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy
Email Post
Labels:
Location: Portland, OR, USA

Comments

  1. GRACE PETERSONJuly 23, 2017 at 6:17 PM

    Nice photos. Thank you for sharing. I bet the bees and hummers love this garden too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. danger gardenJuly 23, 2017 at 9:45 PM

    You caught Lucy's garden in its prime! Not that it's ever lacking for charm, but I've never seen it so floriferous.

    ReplyDelete
  3. outlawgardenerJuly 23, 2017 at 10:32 PM

    Wow! That's an incredible garden but one would expect no less from the amazing Ms Hardiman! Love the tree with all of the glass spheres!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lisa at GreenbowJuly 24, 2017 at 5:33 AM

    Such a rich tapestry.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AlisonJuly 24, 2017 at 7:20 AM

    I've seen Lucy's garden a bit later in the year, it's looking just beautiful in your photos. It's a very colorful garden. Now I know what those large shrubs are that I saw in D.C. whose flowers reminded me a bit of lilacs. They must have been blooming crape myrtles.

    ReplyDelete
  6. DeniseJuly 24, 2017 at 9:02 AM

    Beautiful photos show her incredible color discipline which gives such a dramatic effect. This looks like an entirely different garden than the one I saw almost 10 years ago, which I remember as a shared space among neighbors (?) or maybe it's just been completely reworked.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Phillip OliverJuly 24, 2017 at 12:47 PM

      I am not sure but her neighbor's garden next door was also open. It was very small but fantastic. I plan to post photos of it next.

      Delete
  7. chavlinessJuly 25, 2017 at 7:07 AM

    An eye candy this garden is. Every picture is perfect and screams Summer.
    You say: Yarn in the garden? Why not? and I say Why Knot :-)

    ReplyDelete
  8. AaronJuly 25, 2017 at 12:19 PM

    Riffing off of Denise's comment, this garden strikes me as a fantastic mix of whimsy and color discipline. Thanks for sharing it with us virtually!

    ReplyDelete
  9. klaraau01July 25, 2017 at 1:45 PM

    Thank you for showing this beautiful garden

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hoover BooJuly 26, 2017 at 3:15 PM

    Oh my that's so lovely. My kind of garden.

    ReplyDelete
  11. UnknownJuly 30, 2017 at 2:23 PM

    You captured much of what has earned Lucy her big reputation. We (Joy Creek) had Galega 'Lady Wilson' for sale at Hortlandia but because it was not in bloom at the time, it flew under the radar. Right now, everyone is exclaiming "What's That?!" when they see it in the garden.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts