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Big Picture Foliage Color
We are so fortunate to live in the Northwest with an abundance of Japanese maples to ogle every year in four seasons. This week, I went to the Washington Park Arboretum to enjoy the fall colors and get...
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Frosted Fine Foliage
It’s that time of year to reach for your woolly sweaters and furry slippers; unless you live in balmy Arizona of course. Here in Seattle we had our first frost this past week as well as a significant...
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Dear Santa; our Foliage Wish List
Forget the crowded malls and head to your local garden center for that perfect gift for everyone on your list. And while you’re there consider what you’d like Santa to leave in your stocking this...
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Freeze-Thaw Survivors….or Last Grass Standing
We have finally thawed out here in Seattle after a week of Tundra-like conditions. Well OK compared to those of you who live in Boston or Alaska this is probably still balmy but my plants didn’t think...
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Frappuccino of Succulents
Sometimes when you’re cooking, you just throw things in a bowl and see what happens. This was exactly the case here! Inspiration struck me with this luscious root-beer color glaze on the container....
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Take our Jigsaw Challenge!
Old Fashioned smoke bush – what would YOU combine this with? Do you like puzzles? I love the thrill of clicking that final piece into place to complete the picture. Yet it often takes many attempts of...
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Fine Fragrant Foliage
the silvery-grey foliage of lavender cotton highlights the white markings on the fluffy Blue Shag pine. It is usually the intricate shape or fabulous color of a leaf which make us scramble over rocks...
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Shimmer & Shine – a Succulent Showcase
The Northwest Flower and Garden Show in Seattle is considered one of the best in the country and with good reason. Spectacular show gardens, dozens of free seminars (including FOUR by your favorite...
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Lemon and Lime – a Delicious Green Smoothie
There’s nothing quite like a zesty splash of citrus to wake things up and this great combo by Terra Nova Nurseries Inc. certainly does the trick. To me the most exciting plant - and the inspiration...
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Ground Cover Collision!
Whether for sun or shade, the last finishing touch most of us plant is our ground cover plants. It’s that ever so important detail that makes a lovely garden design HOLY COW! But, how do you decide...
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Sizzling Grape Jelly Carpet of Foliage
Tradescantia zebrina, the lovely purple and silver dominant foliage in this shot is the eye-catching plant carpeting the floor of the hothouse display at the Denver Botanic Garden. But, what REALLY...
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Spring Slump Solution!
The daffodils are a tangle of decaying foliage, the tulips are long since collapsed and the roses are still tight buds. What is holding your garden design together during this in-between stage? You can...
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Plant Emergencies
When disaster strikes – look for FOLIAGE! It’s that time of year when both Christina and I need to be prepared for an impromptu container photo shoot. It used to take us totally by surprise when an...
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The Finer Points of Interest
Foliage patterns and textures are ever fascinating. If you have never looked at some of the amazing web pages devoted to Fractals found in nature, I highly recommend you fall down the rabbit hole and...
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Leaves that Beat the Heat (and the Deer)
We expect succulents to cope with the heat but what else is there? (Design by Stacie Crooks ) Now those of you in Texas and Florida will laugh – but it is HOT here in Seattle. And by that I mean...
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Rhythm, Jazz and the Blues
When we are choosing what I like to call the backbone of the color palette in the garden, I frequently remind my clients that they need to remember to keep a few colors in repetition throughout the...
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“Points of Distinction”- a video from Fine Foliage
Watch for an exciting contest coming soon from FINE FOLIAGE! Enjoy this post? Then join in the foliage party – sign up to get these leafy snippets delivered right to your garden. (Follow the link in...
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A Story of Seduction
Foliage can be bold and brazen or sheer and sexy – it all depends on how you use it. We’ll often talk about framing a scene with foliage to add emphasis or highlight a focal point whether that be a...
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Container Design with an Autumn Attitude
Can I make a confession here? I’m utterly tired of whiny, bellyaching autumn gardeners. There, I said it, already I feel better! Why? Because the answer to MANY of the questions I regularly deal with...
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