Hip Chick Digs

I had a wonderful week of rest from graduate school wherein I was a recluse and spent most days inside writing. The sunshine looked nice from the window. But here are a few highlights of how I am enjoying spring.
The hardy kiwi at my house in Portland is leafing out. I spent a morning there [...]

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Last week I wrote the first part of this post on early flowering plants here in the Pacific Northwest. There were too many for one post though, so I had to break it up. There are some great ideas for trees, shrubs and ground covers that show early signs of spring life. Some are even [...]

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Another term of tromping around in the rain for my Plants class has passed, and sadly so. The Plants sequence in my landscape architecture program lasts three terms, which is a total of nine months, and it is really fantastic - my favorite class by far. Rain or shine, (mostly rain) we walk all around [...]

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Last year, Portland had a late frost which impacted a lot of fruit crops. Everything seemed to be about 3-4 weeks late all season long as a result. I think earlier crops, like cherries, were more severely damaged. Without a late frost (knock on wood), things are exploding outside.

This is one of our two cherry [...]

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One of my friends got married yesterday, which was very sweet and exciting. Although I have no experience doing wedding flowers, she enlisted my help since I know plants and have an eye for design. At first I wasn’t nervous because we were talking one casual bridal bouquet for a small, ten person ceremony. But [...]

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