A gaggle of garden writers

Although I was unable to attend the recent Garden Writers Symposium held in Portland, Oregon this past weekend, I understand it was a great event. The garden writers in attendance were offered an assortment of informative classes and tours of local private and public gardens and two wholesale nurseries.

I was disappointed that I was not available on Sunday when the group visited the display gardens at Iseli Nursery. Regretfully, I had a previously scheduled engagement that prevented me from being there to meet many fellow garden enthusiasts. I know that some of these folks hadn’t had much experience with dwarf conifers in the past and have always believed that they needed flowering plants to give color to their gardens

Picea pungens 'Pendula' featured in the new garden

I’m excited because now many more gardening friends have been introduced to the 12 months of color that conifers can provide. The variety of color, texture, shape, and size is phenomenal! I’m sure as these folks return to their gardens full of perennials and begin the end of the season clean-up chores, they may begin to consider the many benefits of low-maintenance dwarf conifers.

I think that during the winter months while I’m sipping tea next to my woodstove and overlooking my beautiful and colorful garden, others will begin dreaming of including dwarf and colorful conifers in their own gardens next year.

Ed-
Conifer Lover

New Conifer Garden

The past two months I have been incredibly busy consulting in the construction of a huge new display garden at Iseli Nursery. They have expanded their existing gardens that border the main office to include an additional 40,000 square feet of garden with meandering paths, splashes of new turf and a small “hidden” space with a water feature. With over 350 new plants not previously displayed, this new garden is a conifer lover’s dream

New display garden at Iseli Nursery

I had the honor of laying out the flow and topography of the garden and worked with others in the plant selection. A garden this size is an absolutely huge undertaking. With a crew fluctuating from 5 to 10 workers, this new garden was completed in under four months. Hard work has its rewards and the reward I have is the joy of relaxing in the garden now that it is finished. I have hundreds of new plants to consider for my own garden and the folks at Iseli have a tremendous new tool to introduce their wholesale customers to more plants than ever before.

Ed-
Conifer Lover