Blooms for Little House on Brush Prairie

Right now the only landscaping we have (besides the giant cedars) is this antique statue we purchased at the Barn House Flea in Battle Ground, WA  last summer. It's beautiful, but lonely all by itself in the backyard. So, we went to the Portland Yard, Garden & Patio show yesterday afternoon for a little inspiration. We saw some beautiful gardens, phenomenal outdoor kitchens, and high end landscaping. But since this is our first experience in the dirt we need to start small. So, we focused on potted plants and seeds for our garden. I chose a little Succulent garden in an antique pot, and a red Begonia for the back patio. JSM brought home a fragrant flowering Rosemary bush we will put on the doorstep once our tulips have bloomed.

All of the plants are beautiful, but the most exciting purchase was the first seeds for our summer garden (complete with a seed catalog!) We still have a lot of work to do to prepare and plant, but the anticipation of a bountiful garden has me wishing away winter! Even though the temperatures are still cold (40 degrees today) there are early signs of spring already in bloom. JSM and I can hardly wait to get started!

On a side note, this photo was taken across the street from the Lloyd Center (yes, of Beverly Cleary's Ramona and Beezus fame) just as the sun was about to set. As a girl reading the Ramona series I always imagined the Lloyd Center (where Ramona purchased the bridesmaid dress for Aunt Bea's wedding) to look like the Eckerd's shopping center on the corner of Busch Blvd. & 56th St. in Temple Terrace, Florida. In fact, it is a real shopping mall in Portland, Oregon, not far from the real Klickitat Street! The Multnomah County Library offers a map of the sites featured in Beverly Cleary's books which are based on locations around NE Portland.