Yummy dinner at Olympic Provisions!

I had the choux farci.......dear god it was good. Pity you can't have
the pastrami sandwich at dinner time.....guess I will just have to
come back!!

DEAR GOD!!!

The lovely Miss Sue baked Todd a kitty litter cake....in a litter
box.....with a litter scoop...seriously. I could NOT bring myself to eat a piece. It was a subject of amusement throughout the restaurant, however. Everyone made a yuck face. Rightfully so. ICK!!!

It's Weirdo's bday and we are all at the Delta Cafe. Yum!

What a killer dinner party!

I am soooo lucky! I had an amazing opportunity to design an event space for my client - a large international sportswear company. It was a sit down dinner for 64 with a Chinese New Year theme and it turned out beautifully! Yesterday I posted a picture from my iPhone, but these are MUCH better! I hope you like them! This was ALOT of work and now I really need a day (or two...) off as well as a nice cocktail!...oh yeah, and it would be great if I could get over this plague that has kicked my butt for the last 9 weeks! (oh please, oh please)

Here is a photo of a dinner party event we designed for a client last night. Better pictures are coming.....boy am I tired!

YIPPEE! We got mentioned in Sunset Magazine!

We are sooooo lucky to have been listed in the latest edition of Sunset Magazine as the "where to buy" the super cool new product...Woolly Pocket. The article it is featured in is called "GARDEN ANYWHERE" about new ideas in vertical gardening, rooftop gardening and the such. A really interesting article and subject......and then to be mentioned on the same page as Flora Grubb.......better yet! I love Flora....... I love Sunset.....I LOVE WOOLLY POCKET!....So read the article and come on down and pick u a pocket or two!!!!

Please click on the photos to read the article......

Here's my latest article for the Feb/March issue of Northwest Renovation Magazine.

The Latest Dirt

Winter Gardening

OK. It’s cold out. I’m sitting here, inside my cozy little brick house and there is a nice frost out on a sunny late fall morning. I finally turned on the furnace and lit the fireplace. When I go out, I will wear a beret and a scarf. I will probably make a pot of soup for dinner. I love this time of year.

Now that there is a bit of a chill in the air, I bet you think that the gardening season is over. Au contraire! There is so much you can do during the winter months, it is almost dizzying. While most people see winter as a time to put away the garden tools and tuck the garden in for the season, I find that there are plenty of things you can be doing to get ready for spring and continue the pleasures of gardening. Winter is a more important gardening season than you might think. There is composting to be done, winter vegetables to put in, bulbs to plant, and wildlife to feed.

There are also plenty of plants that you can grow during the winter. You can strategically plan a winter garden with color and scent to enjoy when there is not much else happening out there. Your winter garden doesn’t have to be a boring and bare landscape. Choosing decorative plants that will look good during the colder months is more a matter of thinking about bark, berries, and shape. Many plants, such as Japanese maple, have unusual colors of bark. Other trees, like the Japanese pagoda tree, have interesting fruits or seeds that form during the fall and winter. Deciduous vines like wisteria or deciduous shrubs like ponicirus can form strange, twisting branches that look like strange and surreal sculptures in the winter. Look for some evergreen groundcovers to place in your garden as well. Hens and Chickens work very well in the winter, as well as different kinds of hardy succulents. Try out garden sculptures and other landscaping features to make your garden attractive during the winter.

Decorative gardening aside, I find vegetable gardening in the winter to be easy and gratifying. Winter gardening is really about extending the growing season. Many people start their gardens in April and end them in September or October. But some vegetables can be grown earlier in the spring and later in the fall and some can even grow over winter. Winter gardening isn’t hard but it is easier in places with a mild climate like the Willamette Valley. There are less of the pests that bother summer crops as the weather gets cooler and because there is plentiful rainfall in the winter, watering is usually not needed for a winter garden. By growing vegetables of your own in the winter you might actually save money because produce in stores is more expensive in winter.

The best time to plant most winter garden vegetables is late summer or early fall so they are strong and ready for when the temperatures drop. Depending on what you grow, you can harvest in winter and early spring. A trip to your favorite garden center will provide you with an amazing supply of seeds and seedlings to get you started. Try planting broccoli, cabbage, kale, collards, brussel sprouts (my favorite), leeks, carrots, and cauliflower. Peas can be planted in the winter for an early spring harvest. Some herbs do fine in a mild-ish winter like sage, rosemary, and thyme. I love having fresh herbs in the winter to flavor soups and stews. Fresh from-the-garden produce simply tastes better than its supermarket counterpart and there is something incredibly satisfying about pulling a delicious carrot out of January’s mucky soil, or cutting fresh brussel sprouts when the snow is on the ground. Which reminds me, if you live where the soil regularly freezes, mulch is a necessity. Just be sure to apply the mulch to your vegetable bed before the ground freezes to provide good insulation. Straw is a good choice for winter mulch. Your mulch should be removed in the early spring to allow the soil to warm.

Now that you have planned and planted your winter garden, it’s time to get cozy in front of a fire with a hot cup of coffee or tea and your favorite garden book and daydream about that greenhouse you put on your Christmas list. Lastly, don’t forget to feed the birds; they need some winter attention too. Have a great winter season in your garden and here’s to dirt under your nails. Cheers!

Spring is indeed here. 61 degrees in pdx today and the blossoms are on their way!

This etagere by Jardins en Fleur is going is going in the same room as the new chairs with the fabric below. Yippee!

Look at this great fabric by Design Legacy. We are using it to reupholstering 2 French bergere chairs for a client. How cheerful!!!

Here are some lovelies happening in my garden today. I love this prez Roosevelt rhodie. Biggest reddest flowers ever. My front yard is lush shady woodland and my back is agave and olives.

Check this out! My Molly the Witch peony (Paeonia Mlokoswitschii) emerging with HUGE buds, ready to take on the season!

Patty's Plum poppies sticking their heads out!

Lovely and shiny Angelica

The darling Miss Kym Pokorny at the YGP show.

I LOVE her! have you read her stuff in the Oregonian - she is the Queen of the Garden!!!!

Love that Mike Darcy!!!

Thanks Mikey for letting me be on your radio show this morning! And thanks to your lovely wife, Miss Linda for a terrific lunch date! You guys are the best!!!!

Love this chief Joseph pine....

MUST HAVE! The yellow fall/winter color is amazing. 15 feet in 30 years and only 10 feet wide - perfect for the smaller garden...

I'm just getting ready to go on the radio at 10:45 with the amazing Mike Darcy of KXL Radio AM 750.....YIPPEE!!!!!! Tune in if you can.....

I am in agave and succulent lust at the yard garden and patio show!!! Get down here!!!

IT'S THE PLEASE MAKE IT GO AWAY SALE - FINAL WEEKEND!!!!

YIPPEE!!!!! It's the Yard, Garden & Patio Show!

It's that time of year again - Thank God!!!!!! Today was the start of the Yard, Garden & Patio Show at the Oregon Convention Center. I was DYING to get over there to hear Dan Hinkley - DAN HINKLEY! - speak - but I had client appointments and could not make it...not so for tomorrow - I am heading over there bright and early to take a quick run about the place and then I am lucky enough to have been invited by my darling Mike Darcy to be on his radio show at 10:45 on KXL Radio - AM 750. YIPPEE!!! I love that man......and being on his show is a total blast.....so come down and get a seat during his show or show up at 12 to see Dan Hinkley speak about Tree, Vines and Shrubs - he is indeed the master - and then hang around to see Mike Darcy and Kym Pokorny o the Oregonian talk about " a few of their favorite plants" at 3! All in all, a delightful gardening day will be had - prepare to shop, look and listen!!!!!

Oh...and before I forget....I am hosting a seminar of my own called "Decorate the Outdoors" Sunday morning at 10:30 - don't forget - all seminars at this weekends show are FREE!!!!!...Free is a VERY good price! I would love to see you there!!!!

See you at the show!

At the little donut shop at pike place market. Needless to say, I left a tip!

Beautiful eggs in Seattle!!!

My favorite vegetable stand at pike place market in Seattle. The Brussels sprout display is hilarious!!!