Splendor in the grass at Rhone Street Gardens: Portland Garden Bloggers Fling
The 3rd and final day of touring on the recent Garden Bloggers Fling in Portland, Oregon, dawned cool and misty — exactly what Portland should be, at least according to heat-shunning me. After two days of unusual heat, I was thrilled, even when it started to thunder and rain began to spatter at our first stop, Rhone Street Gardens.
Rhone Street is the tiny, tightly packed, meadowy garden of Scott Weber, whose blog, also called Rhone Street Gardens, always delights me with his luminescent photography and light-hearted humor.
Like Loree of Danger Garden, while serving as unflappable co-host of the Portland Fling, Scott somehow managed to groom his garden to perfection and opened it to the 80 or so bloggers on the tour. And one stray hen.
Scott’s garden is on a sunny (when it’s not raining) corner lot.
Let’s start our tour at the driveway, which is a parking zone not for cars but for plants in all manner of galvanized containers, plus a shiny, metal-sided shed topped with a green roof.
Look what you can grow on a shallow, exposed roof in Portland’s mild climate: airy grasses and tall verbena. I love the light-reflecting metal siding on the shed.
Looking down, you see how Scott blended the driveway paving into the back path and patio. Shiny galvanized steel glints throughout the garden on pots, edging materials, and the shed.
Scott’s plants tend to be soft, airy, and billowy, like this Verbena bonariensis — such a contrast to his co-host’s “dangerously” spiny garden.
Looking the other way, down the path toward the back fence, white lilies and an arching, blond-flowering grass catch your eye.
Seating for two: a small, wooden table and two chairs tucked into the feathery grasses is the main focal point for the tiny back patio, which is essentially an enlargement of the path where it turns the corner.
Perfection! Even if Scott never sits here (and I suspect he’s always too busy photographing or actually gardening to sit down), this is such an inviting seating area and serene focal point framed by grasses, lilies, and other flowering plants.
A wider view
I would never have thought to plant a grass in a small, cylindrical pot, but it works wonderfully.
Those white lilies, ‘Silver Scheherazade’, are scene stealers.
The delightful Ricki of Sprig to Twig blog (also from Portland) color-coordinated with them.
‘Sarabande’ lily smiles down on pink astrantia, a plant I absolutely covet.
I like the silver-white foliage of this plant. A thistle, perhaps? It’s probably the spikiest plant in Scott’s garden.
Moving out front, Scott has gardened up every inch of the narrow strips running alongside his house, packing them densely with grasses, flowering perennials, and a few shrubs and small trees.
Both sides of the sidewalk are gardened, and as you walk down the sidewalk you want to reach out your hands and brush the soft, billowing plants on each side.
Persicaria
Purple coneflower
And looky there — it’s the always cheerful Janet of The Queen of Seaford, who blogs from my childhood hometown of Greenwood, South Carolina.
Scott’s garden is a gift to the neighborhood as well as a pleasure ground for himself (and the neighboring cats).
Scott shies away from garden art that calls attention to itself, preferring instead metal pieces that resemble flower buds or seedpods…
…unfurling fern fronds…
…and cattails.
The ballerina-skirted Echinacea pallida dances with a white verbascum.
Seedhead of Scabiosa ochroleuca
Scott boldly places a few containers right out by the street. I love this color-echoing combo of a bronze potato vine and a grass (rush?) with dark seedheads.
And this one — bronze, purple, and chartreuse, such a Pacific Northwest color scheme.
Another lovely, tawny-flowered grass
Sinuous spires of agastache and verbascum
Geranium ‘Rozanne’
Boots, Scott’s cat, surveys his domain from the front porch. Next to him, a pretty rain chain dangles from the eave.
When it rains, it fills a water-storage barrel, coming in handy during dry stretches in the summer.
Tucked against the house is Scott’s new, second sitting area. Screened by plants and partially hidden from passersby, it affords a quiet view of the street.
And here’s Scott, the man behind all this meadowy beauty.
It was a huge treat to visit Scott’s garden in person after seeing it on his blog for so long. Many thanks, Scott, for sharing it with us!
Up next: The artful Joanne Fuller Garden, one of a neighboring pair we visited. For a look back at the charming, colorful Chickadee Gardens, click here.
All material © 2006-2014 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
I loved Scott’s garden… the billowy grasses, the wonderful shed, the perennial combinations…it all spoke to me. In fact, I’ve already made plans to add more grasses and look for the beautiful persicarias! I, too, covet the pink astrantia!
Great tour Pam.
Grasses and persicaria will look wonderful in your garden, Gail. —Pam
I explored Scott’s garden last summer, and have been back for a couple of quick visits since then. It’s so amazing what those Portlanders do on such small lots. He and the other co-hosts did such a fabulous job, from the sound of it.
They really outdid themselves, Alison. I’m sorry you weren’t able to be there this year, but luckily you’re close enough to see some of these when they pop up on tour. —Pam
Lovely photos and commentary of a wonderful garden, Pam! Such a treat to have seen it in real life. You are right – Scott’s garden is a gift, not only to the neighborhood, but to those who get to visit.
Yes, indeed, and we were the lucky recipients of that gift during the Fling! —Pam
Pam, What a great capture, in your descriptions and photos, of Scott’s amazing garden! I loved all the various grasses; makes me rethink including more in my gardens.
Me too, Kit. I have quite a few ornamental grasses, but Scott squeezes them in like nobody’s business. —Pam
This was a garden I could imagine surrounding my house! It was relaxed with lovely subtle shades of greens and purples. I loved the shed roof and the rain chain. You really captured it so well with your photographs!
Scott really makes the most of his small lot, doesn’t he? Lots of good inspiration there for urban Houston lots. —Pam
I’ve been to Scott’s garden many a time and you managed to capture new to me angles. “The man behind the meadow”…hahaha, love that.
Literally, when he sits in the green Adirondacks on the front patio hidden by grasses. —Pam
I enjoyed the tour with all the friendly faces, amazing blooms and foliage and wonderful descriptions! You captured Scott’s gardens beautifully and I feel somewhat like I was there! Thanks for shairng.
My pleasure, Lee! —Pam
I so appreciated your perspective on this garden. It’s a tutorial for grass-lovers with regular city lots, and like many of your other commenters, it inspires me to add more grasses to my garden. Thanks for the unique view of Rhone Street Gardens, Pam!
There’s going to be a run on ornamental grasses this fall, I suspect. —Pam
So pleased to see more photos of Scott’s wonderful garden, and some good blogger portraits as well!
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Skyler. —Pam
Reliving this day will never get old.
And one of the best parts for me was having you as a bus-mate, Ricki! —Pam
Wow, This garden is jam packed with meadow… Beautiful.
Scott has done so much with his small space. It really is beautiful. —Pam
What a unique garden! I am always amazed at how some people manage to turn what some of us might think of as a challenging site into Magic!
I know! If only it were as easy as waving a magic wand, right? —Pam
It’s fun to see these garden’s from different perspectives, Pam. I’ve seen many of Scott’s own garden photos but you managed to cover features I’ve never seen, like the green roof.
Thanks, Kris. I’m glad you enjoyed the new vantage point. —Pam
this garden comes across as YOUR favourite, Pam. Looks enticingly encouragingly doable. As I plan our next smaller garden.
I LOVE Scott’s garden, Diana! And yes, its size and intimacy give it a feeling of attainability that some of the larger, professionally hardscaped gardens do not. It sure would be hard to pick a favorite from all the superb gardens we saw. 🙂 —Pam