Plant of the Month: Spiny Wood Fern

Posted on September, 2014 by Mark Turner

Wood Fern w/ Vinca minor — Wood Fern with *Vinca minor* in a garden near Bellingham

Spiny wood fern (Dryopteris expansa), is one of our woodland plants that has continued to look good through the dry days of August while some of the other perennials have gone into summer dormancy or looked tired and droopy. We have quite a lot of wood fern growing in our woods, almost always on decaying conifer logs or stumps.

This deciduous fern is easy to recognize, although with just a quick glance you could confuse it with lady fern or male fern. Spiny wood fern has fronds that are broader at the base than at the tip, with a triangular shape that tapers to a point. It gets the spiny part of its name from the chaffy brown scales along the lower part of the leaf stems. Continue reading →

Digital Photo Tip: Improvised Rain Cover

Posted on September, 2014 by Mark Turner

Garden chairs on awet flagstone patio — Garden chairs on a wet flagstone patio, Pittsburgh, PA.

Last month when I was on a bus tour of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania gardens with the Garden Writers Association I got caught out without my usual rain cover for my camera. We only had 20-30 minutes in each tour garden and I certainly wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to photograph lush and beautiful gardens just because it was raining and I didn’t have proper protection for my camera. I really like the look of a garden in the rain. Continue reading →

Portrait Garden in Mid-Summer

Posted on July 6, 2014 by Mark Turner

Turner Photographics portrait garden, as seen from our second-story bedroom window.

I spent several hours on this overcast Sunday at the end of the long Fourth of July weekend photographing our garden at its mid-summer peak.

Natalie and I have been enjoying watching the garden unfold with the seasons. It’s our first year at our Wynn Road home, and the garden was established by previous owners. We’re told that everyone who has lived here since the early 1960s has been an avid gardener. There’s evidence of long-term gardening.

We’ll certainly make changes and additions in the coming years, but for now we’re mostly just doing a little editing and enjoying what we find. Some of the perennials are assertive and are crowding other plants, so there’s going to be some shovel pruning in our future.

For now, come along and enjoy our garden with us in this video slideshow. It runs about 6 1/2 minutes. Click the Full Screen icon in the lower right corner for best viewing enjoyment.

If you’d like to visit in person, give us a call to arrange a time.

Plant of the Month: Pacific Ninebark

Posted on June, 2014 by Mark Turner

I’ve become a fan of our native ninebark, Physocarpus capitatus. It’s a big, glorious shrub. As the common name implies, the shredding bark provides year-around interest whether it really has nine layers or not. In June it is covered with ball-like clusters of small white flowers, held just above the dark green foliage. Birds eat the mature seeds in late summer and in autumn the leaves turn golden. Continue reading →

Plant of the Month: Western White Trillium

Posted on April, 2014 by Mark Turner

I’ve been a big fan of trilliums since I was a kid in West Virginia. Out there you’ll find several species blooming in the woods. Here in northwest Washington we only have one native species, although there are others a bit further south or east in the Pacific Northwest. Our species, Trillium ovatum, is common, widespread, and showy.

Western white trillium, also known as wakerobin, is blooming in our woods right now. Recognize it by three showy white petals held just above three large triangular leaves. Did you pick up on the threes, which give the genus its name? Continue reading →

2014 Northwest Flower & Garden Show

Posted on February 7, 2014 by Mark Turner

'The Art of Upcycling,' a display garden at the NW Flower & Garden Show designed by my friend Judith Jones. Seattle, WA. © 2014 Mark Turner — ‘The Art of Upcycling’ Display Garden

Every February gardeners throughout the Pacific Northwest make their way to Seattle for the Northwest Flower and Garden Show. We’re in need of inspiration, a push toward the delights of spring, and perhaps a chance to reconnect with old friends. Many of the garden designers repeat year after year so it’s fun to see what they’ve come up with that’s new and different.

The garden above, The Art of Upcycling, was designed by my friend Judith Jones from sale of lawsuit money , who I first met at the garden show more than 15 years ago. Her display garden won a gold medal this year. Judith owns Fancy Fronds, a specialty fern nursery in Goldbar, Wshington.

I’ve been photographing the display gardens, and creating a video slideshow, for the past few years. This year I took my brand-new Canon 5D MkIII camera for a test run in the low-light conditions of the garden. It’s amazing what you can get with an ISO setting of 12,800. Enjoy the garden video below, produced through the online service Animoto.

The Northwest Flower and Garden Show runs through Saturday, February 7. I’m speaking on the last day at 5:30 pm with a program called 50 Native Trees and Shrubs for Northwest Gardens in the Rainier Room. Come up and introduce yourself after the program if you’re in the audience.

Solstice Greetings

Posted on December, 2013 by Mark Turner

Turner home in winter — Our C Street home with a dusting of snow on December 20, 2013

We awoke to a dusting of snow on the day before the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. I had to wait a few hours for the sky to brighten enough to rush out and photograph our “old” garden for the last time in the snow and then to photograph our “new” garden for the first time.

Continue reading →

Plant of the Month: Deer Fern

Posted on December, 2013 by Mark Turner

0314703 Deer Ferns in moss garden w/ Salal on decaying stumps bkgnd [Blechnum spicant; Gaultheria shallon]. Bloedel Reserve, Bainbridge Is., WA. © Mark Turner — Deer Ferns in the moss garden at Bloedel Reserve

Even in the depth of winter there are dollops of green on the Northwest forest floor. Deer fern (Blechnum spicant) is one of those hardy evergreens. It’s smaller and less common than the ubiquitous sword fern (Polystichum munitum), which to my mind makes it more interesting and desirable for our garden. The photo above shows Deer Ferns in the moss garden at Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island. Continue reading →

Plant of the Month: California Fuchsia

Posted on October, 2013 by Mark Turner

There aren’t a lot of perennials or small shrubs that continue to pump out brilliant red-orange blossoms well into autumn. This month’s featured plant, California fuchsia or hummingbird trumpet, is growing in our full sun, rarely watered, shallow soil, streetside garden where we can enjoy it every time we come home and park in front of the house.

Formerly known as Zauschneria californica, it’s sometimes still available under that name in the nursery trade as well as under the currently accepted name, Epilobium canum. It’s a tough plant that’s native to California and adjacent southern Oregon. There are several varieties of the species. If you want all the details, check it out on CalFlora. Continue reading →

Plant of the Month: Goatsbeard

Posted on June, 2013 by Mark Turner

This month’s plant, goatsbeard, is now blooming along roadsides and in gardens around the Salish Sea. As summer arrives, it will be blooming higher into the foothills. I’ve noticed lots of it blooming along rural roads in the past week while I’ve been out bicycling here in Whatcom County. Continue reading →