New in Portland OR

Hi everyone. What a great place! Can't think how I didn't find it sooner.

I garden in Portland, Oregon on a standard city lot that's arranged such that I have a MINUSCULE back yard (always looking for those small-spaces tips) and a HUMUNGOUS vacant side yard (always looking for free plant material). I've got it all--full shade, full sun, partial sun, xeriscapable death strips and a water garden.

My interest is in overall design, outdoor "rooms," and year-round visual appeal. I'm sure I'll find lots of great ideas here!

Welcome DarkEmerald! You have indeed found a friendly fountain of gardening information here. We envy you your Portland gardening weather here in Iowa. We welcome you to share your interests with us!
Iowaron

Great to meet you DarkEmerald. Welcome to the greatest garden on the web. Looking forward to seeing your 'rooms'!

I'll make it a 'hattrick' in welcomes from IA. Enjoy the garden, it's a great place to be!!

Welcome! You will get plenty of stimulation from all the ideas people her can share with you.

Welcome from the other side of Oregon, where my weather is usually completely opposite from yours. There are a few other Davesgarden people in your area. I think it might have been High Country Gardens that featured an Inferno Strip in their catalog, for those areas between house and sidewalk, sidewalk and street, etc, that need plants that won't fry.

Wow, thanks for the warm midwestern welcome from all you Iowans.

Thank you, too, MaryE, for the High Country Gardens recommendation. I've just found them online. What a great resource!

darkemerald- welcome to daves garden. you will find whatever interests you here. enjoy

Hey guys, don't forget me. Welcome DarkEmerald, from another Iowan. Hope you are enjoying your time in the garden. This place is awesome, isn't it?

DarkEmerald, welcome to Dave's! If you had posted last week, we could have hooked up and gone down to Woodburn to the tulip fest with Anastatia from Vancouver, I am in town for another couple of days then back to TR. We met up with Lenjo who lives in MT Angel.
You'll have lots of fun here at Dave's.

Hi, pebble. Gee, I'm sorry I missed that! I love the Woodburn tulip festival. Although it's probably just as well--last spring I think I spent $100 there on bulbs alone.

The tulips must have been blooming way ahead of schedule this year with all the early warmth and sunshine we've been having here in the PNW.

What a great, eclectic, international group here!

Welcome DarkEmerald from hot humid Florida! (not everybody is from Iowa!) My son lives in Portland, so if I ever make it out there maybe we can have lunch!

See, you already have friends, that's the way Davesgarden people are, just plain friendly.

Welcome, DarkEmerald!

Hey..."Welcome" DarkEmerald!

Another Oregonian Here!
A Little Farther South...
In the Willamette Valley.

You're Going to Love it Here...
We Have Quite a Group of Oregon Gardeners Here.
Looks Like a Round-Up Possibly In Our Futures!

ZZTopSoil--that's a wonderful nickname! I'll keep an eye open for Western Oregon gatherings. There's no group of people quite as wonderful and nuts as gardeners.

Welcome from Idaho. I am just across the border from Oregon and was an Oregon resident for many years. We only crossed the Snake River and bought a little acreage here.

Feel your way around all the forums you want to and if you see something you want to comment to or add a joke just go ahead and do it. I think you will find most of us friendly or just plain nuts. lol

Happy Gardening, Lani

Hello DarkEmerald! Glad to meet another Portland gardener. I have been on the list awhile, but just now subscribed so I could see all the options and reply to people.

It sounds like you have a yard teeming with all *sorts* of possibilities! It will be fascinating to hear all the things you end up doing with all those disparate "microclimates"!

Welcome to you too, lorianna!!

Welcome to you Lorianna. I get zone envy when I visit your area each year. *sigh*

Thanks for the welcome Kooger. Oh, ...and I became obsessed with that thread you had going on presidential trivia --you have now led to me knowing more trivia about presidents than I ever dreamed:-) I look forward to more enlightenment from all the interesting people here! What a fun place!

Thanks Ponditis. I love that phrase: "zone envy" --truly great!

You're welcome. I had planned to 'get around' to posting the last unanswered questions in case someone was saving them... but never did yet so I'm glad you had fun with it. :)

I have to admit that I didn't coin that phrase but I sure like it for where you live. Oh the plants you can grow!!!!

Looking forward to meeting you "face to face" sometime. We come that direction every now and then to see friends in Amity.

Ah, Amity is gentle, lovely country in the valley --a sweet, dreaming drive early mornings... in me own opinion:-) Although that's quite a drive from Payette to Amity --and through amazingly disparate landscapes! I'm trying to picture the little I've seen from Ontario to Boise --is Payette in high desert country, like our Central Oregon? I notice it's supposed to have an elevation of 2000+ ft. Or are you part of the climb right on up into the Idaho Rockies?

The climate in Portland *is* relatively kind --although I often yearn for a longer growing season for my "hotties" like 'maters and peppers (but then I whined over our blistery summer in '03) --but I can't complain when my lettuce wintered over sweetly this year!

My garden is rather humble, but welcomes you if you come this way. I love DarkEmerald's description of her Arizona Cypresses in her Plants Database comment --sounds wonderfully dramatic. I'm starting to feel inspired by all the creativity and knowledge filling the air here! Thanks to all!

Welcome DarkEmerald - great handle. Moab is a hot desert area where it is a challenge to keep things growing. Much envy here for Portland's gardens... even the cashier at the local grocery remarked as she passed my gardning mag across the scanner. "Pretty garden", [on the cover] "must be Portland." Welcome in, yu'll find it helpful here.

Payette is only a little over four miles from Ontario Oregon. We are in high desert with rolling hills and we can see the Boise foothills easily from here. Population in town is about 6000 I believe now and the Payette River runs through it on its final journey to the Snake River. I think our altitude is about 2250 feet. Our home is outside of town.

You describe Amity right. Lovely place to be.

Two years ago my DH and I drove around your area and south and west of you to try to take every ferry in Oregon on one weekend. We made it to all but one which we never figured out where it was. lol That was a fun time. We tend to come over there and buy our trees to take home as there are such better deals on them where you are.

See ya around the forums. Have fun.