Dirt Therapy

Our friends Paul and Cindy are here for the holidays and one of the places they wanted to visit was Leavenworth, Washington. They organized a two-day stay beginning on the day after Christmas. Michael, who has anxiety issues about traveling in the mountains, stayed at home.  Although we've been here for almost five years (hard to believe), I'm sad to report that I have only ventured north in the state of Washington one time and that was a very brief visit to Seattle. I had heard of Leavenworth, a little town modeled after a Bavarian village. It is located in eastern Washington and is about a 4 1/2 hour drive from our house in Vancouver. The weather has been fair where we live and the temperature has only dropped below freezing a few times. As you venture into the mountains, however, the weather changes dramatically. We watched the temperature drop 10 degrees, into the mid 20s, in less than 10 minutes. Also, snow began to appear.   At last we arrived in the ...

The Book and Library Committee is hosting a pre-holiday event for Hardy Plant Society of Oregon members!  If you are not a member, you can purchase a membership at the sale. Saturday, December 7, 2019: BookFair at HPSO
 10am-4pm at the HPSO office at 4412 SW Barbur Blvd., Suite 260, Portland   Parking is convenient, directly under our building, and also on nearby side streets. 
 A sale of new horticultural books will be available at our cost prices for six hours only! You can save as much as 50% on some titles. This is a good time to do some holiday shopping for the gardening lover. As well as new titles, we have an excellent assortment of used horticultural books, many donated by our members, attractively priced, that will also be offered. A choice selection of small giftables for early holiday shopping, and hand-crafted art made by our members, will also be featured. Botanical cards and prints, collectible novelty boxes and gl...

Thanksgiving seems to be the time of bad things happening around our house. Last year, one day before Thanksgiving, we discovered a major leak underneath the kitchen sink. Since the plumber could not come until Friday, we ended up using the downstairs sink to do the dishes.  This year, one week before Thanksgiving, our stove went out. A few weeks prior to that, we had a problem with it taking a long time to preheat and had the igniter element replaced. It worked for another two weeks before failing completely. So, we purchased a new one. This one is much fancier (we were told by the delivery guy that the old one was a very simple standard one). This one has a convection option which I have never used before. We love it so far! I've been wanting to learn how to make biscuits for a long time so I've been experimenting with recipes. I turned to Alton Brown's books (I have all 3 of his books based on his show "Good Eats") and first tried his faux buttermilk bi...

In addition to the trees blazing with fall color, there is more beauty to behold. It is really a colorful season this year. Hydrangea 'Annabelle' and Euonymous albomarginatus Barberry 'Orange Rocket' and Spirea 'Ogon' 'Fine Line' Buckthorn ( Rhamnus frangula ) Pheasant's Tail Grass ( Anemanthele lessoniana ) Miscanthus 'Gold Bar' Jasmine 'Fiona Sunrise' Acer palmatum 'Bihou' Strawberry Tree ( Arbutus ) Cistus 'Mickey' Aster 'Monch' and Pennisetum 'Hameln' Hydrangea quercifolia 'Alice' Hydrangea quercifolia 'Snow Queen' St. John's Wort ( Hypericum inodorum 'Pumpkin') Milkweed Sedum 'Autumn Joy' Sedum thunbergii 'Ogon' Asian Jasmine ( Trachelospermum 'Ogon Nishiki') And last, this beautiful plant that I bought at Gossler Nursery a fe...

I didn't think there was much left to see in the garden but there is. The morning started out with a bit of fog and this beautiful sunrise - And there are quite a number of colorful trees still going strong and some just beginning to change colors. Some of the first trees I planted were two Japanese maples that are next to the deck. These were unnamed varieties but are nice but quite different in fall color. They both change color very late in the season compared to the other maples in the garden. The one on the right side is redder in color...  while the one on the left is more orange and gold - The "Lion's Head" Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum 'Shishigashira') was already planted here when we arrived. I ended up moving it and put it in a large pot. It looks a bit ragged last year but improved this year with more watering. And the color this year is dramatically improved - Lion's Head Japanese Maple ( Acer palmatum 'Shishiga...

Pecan Pie will always remind me of my childhood and family holidays. At every family gathering, it was inconceivable that there not be a pecan pie. Of course, my mother, aunts and grandmothers made other great desserts as well but there would always be pecan pie. In the past, I've made Pecan Tassies which I think is similar if not the same as this recipe. This is like a pecan pie in miniature, much easier to eat in bite-size pieces. It is a bit different though in that the filling is more firm and there are no ground nuts in the filling. These are easy to make and I just used a hand mixer. I would follow the directions on cutting the bars carefully to avoid disappointment. The only problem I encountered was that the filling seeped underneath the foil lining in the pan. There was probably a tear and Maida Heatter advises you to press the foil into place with a folded towel or pot holder. It did not affect the outcome of the bars but I had to use a spatula to get the corner un...