Spending Lazy Days with Friends in their Gardens

One of my favorite summer pastimes is spending lazy, warm days with friends in their gardens. Today, we sketched in Cynthia's garden full of lanterns, roses and pots full of geraniums, nasturtiums and pansies.

Last week, I visited Marianne and loved the time spent in her country garden- talking, reading, being outdoors, listening to bees, birdsong, and the chickens.

My friends tend wild gardens- richly planted with a variety of flowers, colors and foliage- a little unkempt like English cottage gardens. Their wildness and abundance touches some inner place in my soul- a Northwest "tropical" garden full of life and lush growth.

Dahlia Heaven at Justy's Produce & FLowers

Dahlias come a close second to being my favorite flower- just behind roses. One of the best parts of summer is enjoying the flowers and fresh produce at Justy's. I picked this bucket of dahlias today and purchased his organic tomatoes, green beans and Italian prunes.He's open from early June to late October. When I first met him, he'd sell me dahlia tubers for my garden out of burlap bags in the barn- each marked with a photo to identify its name and color. Now he has a large store and a growing family business.

The dahlia and sunflower fields always amaze me with their beauty.

Dahlias sketched earlier this week.

Summer Garden Joys

It was my turn to contribute to the Portland Art Collective Journal. It sat on my desk for a couple of months. What to do? I decided to incorporate the same technique that I used to make our banners. Click here to see how I created it.

The summer garden offers visitors special joys in the sunshine and the shade. The journal entry says, "Come sit in my garden. Let's listen to the bees, smell the roses, see the color and feel the quiet peacefulness".

Hughes Water Garden Sketch

Today we sketched at Hughes Water Gardens- one of my favorite places to visit.

Berry Botanical Garden Discovery

It took a morning of sketching at the Berry Botanical Garden to discover the name of a plant growing in my home garden- Tellima grandifora fringe cap.

Below is a photo of my garden and the fringe cap. This year it reseeded and made a wonderful ground cover.

The wisteria also caught my eye. I experimented with painting the wisteria's hanging flower clusters, then added the branches and leaves to get the feel for the wispy, flower softness.
The columbine wanted my attention, too. I love the woodland, native plants that grow so well in Oregon gardens and forests for all of us gardeners and hikers to admire.
Here's my sketch.

Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden Sketch

Rhododendrons and other flowers bloom in Crystal Springs Garden where our sketch group visited this week. It is one of my favorite Portland gardens.

Crystal Springs started as a test garden for rhododendrons, azaleas and other plants in 1950. The garden contains more than 2700 different species of plants.

The candelabra primroses form a flowering cover under the trees.
Children love to feed the ducks.

Cornell Farms Inspiration

This week, our sketch group visited Cornell Farms. The wind blew, it was cold to the bone and my motivation to draw didn't materialize. Out came the camera. The bicycle inspired me to get my bike out, clean it, put air in the tires. Now it's ready to ride this fore casted, warm weather weekend.

A time to plant pots and sinks

Spruce up the flamingos and enjoy the bright colors blooming...

Inside, I finished another felted bag with a kumihimo cord. The wool fibers warm cold hands and make me feel good.

Chinese Garden Springtime

Spring arrives at the Chinese Garden with sunshine and blooming flowers. It's one of my favorite places that our Tuesday sketch group visits. This week, we enjoyed the camellias
peonies

flowering trees

and the bonsai

Sketching at Hughes Water Gardens

This week, we sketched at Hughes Water Gardens on Stafford Road. With the waterlilies in full bloom, the ponds and container gardens captured our hearts. We plan another visit.

The tropical Victorian waterlilies only bloom at a constant temperature of 75 degrees F. The large round container-looking pods can hold a baby or small child- magical, a rare sight.
It feels like summer with warm days, sunshine, time to slow down and enjoy the water gardens.

Japanese Garden and Luscher Farm

Today in The Oregonian two items caught my eye. The Japanese Garden will be free this coming Tuesday. We went last week to sketch and see the "Beyond the Shoji" art exhibit. The garden is beautiful and it's worth a visit.

the view of Portland with the rolling clouds incredible.

Another article highlights Luscher Farm in Lake Oswego where we sketched this week.
We could spend hours in the community gardens.
My sketches

Chinese Garden in the Spring

The Chinese Garden blooms with spring flowers. The next couple of weekends the garden celebrates the peony. It's worth a visit. The haiku reads: Clouds like thrown fire-
magnolia flowers by asuka nomiyama

Here's a photo of a surprise gift from my neighbor- a Blacky fuchsia. I'm so fortunate to have a wonderful neighbor and beautiful flowers to enjoy.

Respite from Winter Cold Sketch Date

Inside Jeffrey Allen Home and Garden, we felt the warmth of sunshine in the greenhouse and the hospitality of staff who served us tea while outside it was 25 degrees F. Surrounded by orchids, plants, Asian furniture and accessories, our eyes feasted on the serene beauty and color everywhere. Chinese music calmed the soul.

The ancient Guanyin captured my attention. Anna told us that curators from the De Young Museum come to see the Guanyin statues here. Guanyin is the Chinese goddess of compassion.

This wooden, carved Guanyin came from a cave in China. Her backside shows how she was pried loose from her resting place. Her decayed arms end above the wrist. My sketch attempts to represent her calm beauty.