Since my trip to Germany, Austria and Switzerland was canceled this year I decided to visit Oregon and see my brother, his family and gardens and nurseries in the Portland area.

Seven Feathers rest area along Highway 5 south of Roseburg, Oregon.
Conifer Kingdom Nursery in Silverton, Oregon specializes in dwarf conifers and Japanese Maples.
Here are examples of plants that they sell mostly on mail-order:
Dwarf Spruce (Picea omorika ‘Peve ‘Tijen’) grows 2-5″ per year.
Dwarf Japanese Cedar (Cryptomeria japonica Little Diamond’) grows 4′ wide and 2′ tall.
Dwarf Korean Fir (Abies koreana ‘Kohout’s Hexe’) grows 1/2″ to 1″ per year.
Geisha Gone Wild Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum ‘Geisha Gone Wild’) has unusual twisted and variegated leaves.
Autumn Moon Maple (Acer shirasawanum ‘Autumn Moon’) has beautiful new growth in the sun and wonderful fall color.
Red Filigree Japanese Maple (Acer japonicum dissectum ‘Red Filigree’)
Twombly’s Red Sentinel Japanese Maple (Acer japonicum ‘ Twombly’s Red Sentinel’) has a columnar habit and red leaves.
The nursery also grows larger plants that can be used as specimens.


On my way to Portland I stopped along the highway to take pictures of hops growing on a string trellis.
This is my brother, Doug and his wife, Ruth in their beautiful garden where I have come to work this week. 
My job is to irrigate all the plants on the decks and the rest of the garden and do some pruning.
This is the result of the pruning:
On the weekend I made a trip to visit my nephew, Ben, and his wife, Rachel, and my new grandnephew, Izaak.