I grew up with cool summers in my native Holland and the sweltering hot Virginia summers had me wilting most of those sweaty days when I first arrived in my new homeland. The humid climate was one of the reasons we decided to move elsewhere and thus in 1994 my husband Mark, the three kids…
Tag: North Portland Gardens
More gardening space for city dwellers.
Running out of space? As a city dweller it's easy to run out of space in your garden for al the flowers and plants you want, need or like to grow and so sometimes gardeners tend to crowd their plants in order to save space. Although there are creative ways to integrate different varieties of…
October still has it going on with Dahlias, Zinnias, Monkshood, Toad Lilies and more..
Are you wondering how much longer local flower will be playing a role in Petal Passion's bouquets? Well the first frost will make an end to all the abundance of fall flowers, but that could still be weeks away. And the hard rains, that are just as capable of destruction, have not really materialized yet…
Late summer blooms
After abundant summer days, September is bringing some lower temperatures but no rain to speak of. Cooler evenings and shorter days. Dahlias, Sunflowers, Cosmos, Chrysanthemums, Sedum, Hydrangeas, Japanese Anemonies and of course the hardy Roses are not faced by any of this, they still keep going until at least the end of the month and…
Midsummer flowers
Midsummer flowers can easily be found at the farmer's market. Petal Passion's bouquets can be found at the Hillsdale Farmers market from April through September. Beebalm, Crocosmia, Snapdragons, Marguarite Daisies, the tall spikes of Delphinium, Lupines and many more varieties of flowers vie for attention at one of Petal Passion's urban garden plots around this…
Oh my, it’s May!
Spring cleaning
Spring cleaning has been in my bones since I was a little girl, helping my mom drag the old carpets outside to give it a good flogging with the 'mattenklopper' (carpet beater). I loved that job! I was not always particularly helpful with the way I used the devise (my family will tell) however there…
March is for seeds.
For me the best time of the year is right now. March takes me inside my tiny but wonderful little greenhouse and I plant hundreds of seeds. The system I improvised is set up with rope lights, fastened with twisty ties under a repurposed office ceiling grit, found at the Rebuilding Center at 3625 N…