Saturday, November 17, 2012

Want to build your own rain garden?

Hey Portlanders! If you've ever been interested in building a rain garden on your property, now's your chance!


There will be a free Rain Gardens 101 workshop on December 1st. I took this class last year and it was excellent. They give you all the tools to plan and build your rain garden and the presenters are great.


My friends have a phenomenon we call "hippie trump." You know when you go to a barbecue and someone asks if there are veggie burgers and you're like, "Yeah, I picked up some from Whole Foods," and then someone else is like, "You know, their oats aren't locally sourced. I made some from scratch. They have bulgar wheat and organic mushrooms," and then someone else is like, "Oh, that's cute. I brought homemade ketchup that I made from tomatoes and onions I grew in my garden, using a bike-powered blender."

You've just been hippie trumped. And they probably spelled ketchup "catsup," the big jerks.


Rain gardens are the ultimate hippie trump. You do our rivers and streams a solid all winter long, the birds and butterflies love them, and when your native purist friends ask why you're growing agaves (BECAUSE THEY'RE AWESOME. GOD.) you can be like, "rain gardens, bitches."

I also think they're pretty and topography changes in the landscape only up the interest. And they are really fun to watch fill.

Super blurry because it was POURING.

Can you believe my castor bean plant was ever that small? Can you see it?

11 comments:

  1. And now I finally have a name for it: hippie trumped. It's so common I've become blind to it. As to the garden, it's just looking phenomenal Heather. Such fantastic work!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sigh...so jealous of your rain gardens. I just can't believe that front area was lawn a year ago...crazy amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Right? It's out of control in Portland.

    And thank you :) That means a lot coming from you.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I was just realizing that it was about a year ago that we had the rhododendrons pulled out. So crazy!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Totally stealing the word hippie trumped. And don't forget that you need a separate "never touched by meat" BBQ for those home grown veggie burgers. :) luv it! I am cracking up.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ha! So true! Unless you have an anaphylactic reaction to meat, that's such a silly request.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I was thinking to myself "Heather should write for Portlandia" and then I saw the referral above to a post titled Our Portlandia Episode is Airing...so...do you?
    I think all gardens in Portland are pretty much rain gardens today. Yours is looking fantastic.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Ha, I wish. And man, you are so right about Portland gardens!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Ever since I saw your rain gardens, I've been interested. But the places ours would be are in deep shade a lot of the year. Is there hope for us?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Your rain garden is looking great --- it's come a long way from those early photos of tiny plants and random rocks. And it works!

    ReplyDelete