You know it's spring when you drive down streets lined with clouds of the lovely pink blossoms of flowering plums and cherries. By March the hummingbirds are buzzing around the dangling pink clusters of the PNW native flowering currants (Ribes).  An abundance of blush pink blossoms of Clematis montana smother my gazebo, emitting a soft vanilla scent. It's hard to imagine a spring without the profusion of pink blooms on Camellias, Rhododendrons and Azaleas, Magnolias, Dogwoods and more.

            As spring turns to summer a fountain of cotton candy pink Weigela flowers is flanked by the large trusses of Pink Valerian (Centranthus).In hot summer sun, Rose Campion (Lychnis coronaria) bears shimmery magenta flowers above silvery-felted foliage. It looks fabulous with a backdrop of burgundy foliage of Purple Smokebush (Cotinus) or Helmond Pillar Barberry. Pink roses emit their powerful fragrance amid spires of pink Foxglove. In shade, the soft pink globes of Hydrangea m. Nigra contrast beautifully with the lush green foliage and polished black stems. All summer a never ending parade of Fuchsia flowers keep the hummingbirds happy.

            Fall is on the way when the pink flowers of Autumn Crocus (Colchicum) and Cyclamen pop up. Soon the pink blooms of Asters, Japanese Anemones, Sedum Autumn Joy and Turtlehead (Chelone) freshen tired borders.

            Pink is soft, sweet, soothing and undemanding. Being a pastel, pink blends well with other soft colors like blue, lavender, pale yellow and white. For contrast, try using burgundy, variegated  or silver foliage. Some pictures showing some pink possibilities follow to give you inspiration.

Have you run out of room in your garden?  Are you tired of looking at boring fences?  Do you want to spice up your yard?  Then a living wall might be a good solution for you.  Living walls are becoming increasingly popular as a way to create green vertical elements that do not take up much space.  They can be quite expensive if you want to buy premade green wall systems or can be relatively inexpensive if you use your own creativity in design and materials.

There are four elements that are required in order to create a living wall:  a growing medium, preferably potting soil;  a way of holding the growing medium and the plants in place;  plants that will survive and thrive in the conditions you create;  a means of delivering water and nutrients to the plants.

Out here at the nursery we recently created a living wall that looks similar to a fence, but with panels that are made out of an iron grid, weed barrier, potting soil and plants instead of cedar fence panels.  We tried to work with materials that we sell here at the nursery with a goal of creating an upscale, beautiful look.  It is a south facing wall so it will get quite hot in the summer.  The plants will be required to survive in full hot sun, be drought resistant and will need to survive without a large amount of soil.  I have chosen sedums, creeping thymes and mondo grass as my main plant choices.  For me this is a "learn as I go" proposition, so if you are interested in seeing the wall and learning from my successes and mistakes, I encourage you to come out to the nursery and see it.  I hope that it will end up being a beautiful conversation piece that will inspire home gardeners to use their creativity to come up with beautiful solutions for their own yard.