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A visit to Chickadee Gardens

I was excited to finally get to see Chickadee Gardens last week. I have followed Tamara's blog  for years. She and her husband garden on 2 acres in Saint Helens, Oregon.  When you look at the map, it appears that St. Helens is directly across the Columbia River and slightly to the north of us. However, there is no convenient bridge to get over to the Oregon side. You must go north to Ridgefield, Washington (about 30 minutes north of our house) and go across there  or travel through Portland and then go north through Scappoose. Either way, it is about a 45 minute drive. I decided to try the Ridgefield route and I was glad I did. Not only did I not have to contend with Portland traffic (it was Rose Parade weekend), I got to see country on the Oregon side that was new to me.  Tamara used to work at the beautiful Joy Creek Nursery (my favorite, but alas they are now closed) and she now works part-time at Cistus Nursery.  She focuses on native plants and sustainabili...
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October Flowers



With recent rains, the garden has exploded with growth. There is not an abundance of blooms though, just a scattering here and there.  Thursday the sun came out and it was a perfect day to be out in the garden. The grass strip was overgrown and desperately needed cutting. I did that and managed to fill the debris bin with pruning and clean-up. Notice the deepening shadows as the sun treks farther south. Our front garden faces north -


Here are some flowers from perennials that blooming this week -

Persicaria 'Blackfield'


Aster 'Purple Dome'


Alstroemeria 'Aurea'



Anenome 'Cinderella'


Fuchsia 'Voodoo'


Strawberry Tree (Arbutus 'Compacta')

Dahlias

Aruncus 'Horatio'

Geranium 'Azure Rush' - this is a new variety that is similar to 'Rozanne', the queen of hardy geraniums. It is supposed to be smaller in size. We shall see.

Persicaria 'Golden Arrow'

This post doesn't include annuals in pots and roses. I'll get to those in a future post.

Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy
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Comments

  1. LoisOctober 14, 2023 at 10:29 PM

    Your garden is so gorgeous!!!!! Thanks for sharing the photos

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  2. Lee@A Guide to Northeastern GardeningOctober 15, 2023 at 10:37 AM

    Your fall garden is looking absolutely gorgeous! Thank you for sharing these beautiful views. It is starting to look very fall like here as well on the other side of the country in the northeast!

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  3. Hoover BooOctober 16, 2023 at 4:58 PM

    Your garden is very sophisticated with a lot of foliage textures and color, more than floral color alone. The shaggy blue conifer on the left, palmates on lower right, Rhododendron(?) oval/shiny mid right, and so on, then all the different colors of autumn. I think I go too overboard on flowers. Must start thinking about foliage plants though it is a trick to find shrubs that will stay small enough here--with our 12 month growing season, lots of plants grow far bigger than what the tag claims.

    Beautiful purple in that Aster, especially with the blue conifer above it.

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    Replies
    1. Phillip OliverOctober 16, 2023 at 10:23 PM

      Thanks Hoover Boo! I have to say that I'm reaching the point where I struggle to find good spots to place sun-loving flowers. Things are growing awfully fast and I think it will be a shade garden before long. Not sure how I will cope with that!

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  4. Phillip OliverOctober 16, 2023 at 10:24 PM

    Thanks Kris! Geranium 'Rozanne' is an incredible plant!

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