The Chinese Garden in Portland

Too much has gone on in my life recently for me to devote much free time to blogging.  And as previous posts have mentioned, the drought has put a damper on things for me . . . even if it hasn't dampened anything else.

Not too long ago we had a chance to tag along with my wife on a work trip to Portland, Oregon.  When she wasn't working we had a chance to explore one of our favorite cities and this time I convinced them to tour the Chinese Garden.  They were not thrilled.  But they were good sports.

That quickly changed though.  Almost immediately after entering the gardens we saw that they were giving a demonstration on how to make Hawaiian leis.

The pond was a big hit too even though the koi had been transported to another facility while they rehabilitated the habitat for some reason.  

I found the stone work in the pathways to be remarkable and enviable.  How long would it take to do something like this?

There was a lot of variety in the patterns throughout the different parts of the garden.

I don't know what these are called, but I thought this was a cool way to border a tree with stone.

This was a look I'd definitely like to mimic in the right situation.  I believe that's Japanese forest grass and black Mondo grass which I already grow.

Intricate, beautiful, and amazing.

Who hasn't wanted a moon gate of their own?

 One of the most charming aspects of the garden is that it is literally surrounded by downtown buildings.  But you quickly forget about them.  When I left the garden I found myself envious of the people whose office windows look down upon this garden.

They had a small selection of bonsai on display.  And by that I mean they had just a few - not that the bonsai was small.  But it was small.  The bonsai was I mean.

 My wife photo bombing skills were on point.

I will be writing more often I hope.  If you've given up on checking in on me, I don't blame you at all.  I hope to give you a reason to stop by and say hello once in a while though.  

The Annual Mother's Day Garden Tour Part II

This is the second installment of the gardens we toured over Mother's Day weekend.

I don't like to be critical of other people's private gardens especially when they've been gracious enough to open them up to the public for a good cause.  So I'll just say that the next house we stopped at just wasn't my style.  As a result, I didn't take a lot of pictures but here are a few that I did snap:

There was a very small pathway between the home on the tour and the home next door.  They had decorated both sides of the dividing fence with mosaic tile work which was the theme of this garden.  There was mosaic everywhere.

I found this collection of plates and mugs a bit messy but oddly charming.

The picture below was taken from the other neighbor's side of the fence.

Just down the street from this house was another garden that was very much my style.

You enter the back garden through this awesome looking gate.

The owners' bonsai collection is on display to immediately to the left of the entryway into the garden.  It set the stage for the rest of the garden which feature quite a bit of bonsai and the garden delivered on the promise of attention to detail as you would expect from bonsai enthusiasts.

The gardeners here included several globes and maps in their decor.

I thought this was a nice way to say "Please don't climb the steps".

Another bonsai display.

The outdoor kitchen.  These are pretty common in Northern California as we have a pretty long outdoor season.  It's not uncommon to smell the evidence of a barbecue from March through early November.

This garden also had a covered fire place and one of the cleanest pond/water features I've ever seen.

I admired the straight lines and rock work that made up a good part of this garden.  It doubles as a seating area allowed the gardeners to pack their yard with plenty of plants while maintaining a clean and orderly overall appearance.  

More to follow in the coming days.  Thanks for reading.