Friday, December 05, 2008

Visiting under a rain pavilion in a Southeast Portland garden

chatting in the rain pavilion
I consider myself lucky to meet the people I do through my garden writing. Gardeners are an interesting lot, and Larry Cross is no exception. My latest column is out and on the streets, but you can read it online here. It's about my visit to Larry's garden in Southeast Portland.

Alas, no photos are online, so I put them up here in a slideshow. Check out Larry's rain pavilion: while it wasn't raining the day I was visiting, he put the sprinkler on top of the pavilion and turned that baby on high so that we could chat in the rain pavilion with water falling all around us. Love that.



See the photos here in Flickr.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Exciting to see the inside of this garden! I've walked by several times trying to peek through the fence or run into the neighbor, but never have. Maybe I'll just invite myself over soon :)

Carla said...

I really LOVE the metal sculpture/art on the fences! Where did that come from and how can I get it? :)

Anonymous said...

Hey - I just read your comment on my blog - guess you didn't get my email earlier? I'm from Hiawatha - bet you know where that is. Anyways, try ilovelawrence@gmail if you want to trade KK recipes.

bemused said...

Carla, I'm pretty sure the "metal art" came from a salvage yard somewhere in Portland. It's actually what's left of a sheet of metal after something else has been cut out of it. Used to be just scrap until someone saw its sculptural value.

Love, love, love this garden! He has a great eye for making beauty in places that most would see as mere backdrops (amazing fence!).

LeLo said...

Renee-You should definitely stop by and visit with Larry. You're right around the corner!

Carla-bemused is right about the metal scrap. I've put in a message to Larry to see if he'd share his source on those and will update here.

Heather-I didn't get an e mail and have been wondering! Emailing now...

Bemused-It is. :)

LeLo said...

Carla-Larry inherited his steel pieces from the home's previous owner, but he suggests contacting East Side Steel. They're at 9948 SE Powell, 503/760-6787.

TP said...

I just read the print article this weekend ... I could spend a lot of time there! You do a great job of making me feel like I'm there looking over your shoulder as you describe Larry and his rain pavillion.

A quote observation, though ... the sidebar in the print article mentions chestnut mulch, which sounds heavenly, except that I learned from my vet that chestnuts are toxic to dogs. I don't know if the shells have the same effect as the nuts, but probably best avoided for our four-legged friends.

LeLo said...

Hey TP:
Thanks for your comment. Was your conversation with your vet about Hazelnuts (which I wrote about and are in Larry's garden) or Chestnuts (which you commented about)? I hadn't thought about dogs eating a mulch like that, and while I have read about mulches made from cocoa shells, which are popular around chocolate factories (!), are dangerous for dogs, I hadn't heard about hazelnut or filbert shells being problematic. I'll talk to my vet!

TP said...

Okay, okay ... so I chatted again with my vet who (politely) indicated that whatever I remembered, it surely wasn't about hazelnuts OR chestnuts. Seems that there's nothing too harmful about either of those. Perhaps there's something I ate that completely impaired my memory ... I'll work on figuring that out instead!