Pacific northwest shade garden

Painting, photography, gardening, and humorous short stories with silly illustrations

We have been cultivating a wide variety of shrubby manzanitas at our nursery in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, and have been delighted to see them capture the imagination of Northwest gardeners. Once thought of as finicky in our region, it turns out that many, including those native to California, are ideally adapted to our naturally dry summers, and are surprisingly tolerant of winter cold as well.

Since winter is well on its way, this seems like a good time to give a nod to a distinctive evergreen fern that brings elegance and function to moist, west coast coniferous forests, …

Since winter is well on its way, this seems like a good time to give a nod to a distinctive evergreen fern that brings elegance and function to moist, west coast coniferous forests, …

This garden designer is a pro at plantings for shade. She did the heavy lifting so you don't have to. Find plants here for a colorful shade garden.

This gardener creates impressive scenes in his Pacific Northwest garden. Check out his Portland garden through the seasons.

Discover the secrets of creating stunning color in your landscape. Learn how to use the color wheel to achieve perfect textural contrast.

When Elsie Reford set out to create a garden at her summer home north of Montreal, she began in a wooded area. A meandering stream gave her ...

The nonprofit gardening organization’s Open Gardens program shares gardens of all styles and sizes.