Dirt Therapy

The pink dogwood (variety unknown) is the largest tree in the garden. I found a photo of how it looked when we first moved in. It was smaller than I remembered - 2016 So it has grown quite a lot in five years. There are so many beautiful varieties on the market now and we have quite a lot of them at the nursery where I work. The owners recently planted several along the parking lot last year. I was just noticing today how beautiful 'Cherokee Chief' is and wished that I had taken a photo. Our tree brings us lots of pleasure and it is always a treat when it blooms. Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

 The project that I've been working on during the past few months is finally coming to fruition. I put out the grass seed about 3 weeks ago. It took a full two weeks for grass to appear. I had been hand-watering it but then switched to a sprinkler and I think that made a difference. Of course, if we could get some rain, I'm sure it would go to town.  The second portion is behind and the seed here was planted later. It has taken about 10 days to appear. At the last minute, I decided to create a step-down since this area was a little lower.   Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

I have been doing some gardening work in Jane and Mark's garden on Sauvie Island and took some extra time on my last visit to take some photos. Their property is incredible and every time I go I discover new wonders. When I first started pruning roses for them back in early March, Mark told me that in a few weeks the whole landscape would burst into leaf and bloom. Every week, there is something new to see and the bird and wildlife is astounding.  Jane Hartline has a native plant nursery on the premises ( Sauvie Island Natives ) and she is a walking encyclopedia of plant knowledge. I am learning a lot about native plants! The above photos show the lovely native shrub, the flowering currant ( Ribes sanguineum ) which grows in abundance here. The property is a large one with gardens all around the house and a pond further out. A trail extends around the pond and that is where most of these photos were taken. Pacific Ninebark ( Physocarpus capitatus ) Snowberry ( Syphoricarpos albus )...

Rhododendron 'Blue Baron'   Time seems to be flying and things look a lot difference from last month. We are back to Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, a blogger participation event on the 15th of each month hosted by May Dreams Gardens . And what a way to begin with the vivid violet-blue blooms of Rhododendron 'Blue Baron'. The plant itself is a bit scraggly but the blooms are a show-stopper. This is a small shrub, only about 1 foot tall. Another beautiful rhododendron that I shared in my last post but deserves another look is 'Taurus'.  Another beautiful red one - 'Hills Bright Red' - Barberry 'Orange Rocket' and Spirea 'Ogon' Clematis armandii Camellia 'Donation' Camellia 'Nuccio's Bella Rosa'   Rhododendron 'PJM' Dicentra spectabilis 'Gold Heart'     Daphne tangutica Daffodils   Flowering Quince ( Chaenomeles 'Double Take Orange Storm') and Veronica 'Georgia Blue'   A few tulips -...