Wednesday, January 6, 2021

'Fearless Gardening': Advice from an Expert

I expect that many of you are familiar with Loree Bohl of danger garden fame.  Loree's blog was one of the first I started following, even before I started blogging myself.  I've gotten to know her both virtually, through her blog and her Instagram posts, and in person.  I've prodded her at intervals over the years to write a book to share her garden aesthetic and philosophy and now she's done just that!  Her book, Fearless Gardening: Be Bold, Break the Rules, and Grow What You Love, was released yesterday.  I happily signed on to support a virtual launch party.  In addition to offering input on the book, I get to conduct a drawing for a free copy of her book and one other also published by Timber Press so keep reading.

This and the other photos in this post were provided courtesy of Timber Press

You may be familiar with Loree's love of spiky plants and other growing things that "could poke an eye out."  You might assume that her reference to "fearless gardening" stems from her willingness to garden using such plants in Portland, Oregon, which has a climate that wouldn't seem to support many of her favorites.  Denying the constraints of one's climate could certainly be regarded as "fearless" - and possibly foolish.  But Loree is anything but a foolish or reckless gardener.  Yes, she loves agaves and other succulents that grow happily in dry climates like mine but she's learned how to work within the constraints imposed by her climate to grow what she loves where she lives, and her book shares her approach with you.  I'm not going to try to explain her approach in a few sentences (I couldn't - you need to read her book!) but, among other things, she addresses the importance of developing a thorough understanding of each plant's unique requirements in terms of light, moisture, and drainage as well as an appreciation of the various microclimates in your own garden.  Choosing plants solely on the basis of USDA hardiness zones places arbitrary limits on plant selections.  Two gardens with the same hardiness designation may present entirely different challenges and opportunities.  In my own zone 11a garden, cold hardiness is of far less concern than heat tolerance and water requirements while in Loree's case, both winter freezes and heavy rain are serious considerations.  All gardeners can learn a lot by reading her book and thinking through how to work around the limitations of their environment.


These look like plants that can thrive in my climate (and they do) but this is the view outside Loree's front door in Portland

Loree shares many of the creative ways she's found to grow what she likes by working around specific challenges.  For example, she uses a lot of containers that can be moved or protected when temperatures drop too low or persistent winter rain threatens to drown their contents.  The variety, placement, and even the colors of the containers she uses are all informed by her design aesthetic and together look like a curated collection.  Her summer shade pavilion turned winter greenhouse also must be seen to be believed.  (The same can be said for her basement's winter plant sanctuary, which is mentioned but not shown in her book.)


Loree's fabulous dish planters, containers that can be swapped out when the weather changes

Loree's shade pavilion converted for its winter use as a greenhouse, stylish in both incarnations

The ideas and advice in Fearless Gardening have general application to gardeners in all climates - I can apply much of it to my own circumstances despite the fact that, in coastal Southern California, I live in what's regarded as a Mediterranean climate where summer heat and persistent drought are big factors and winter cold is barely a consideration.  The only chapter I found somewhat inapplicable to my own circumstances was the one focused on hardy plant look-alikes for desert and tropical plants; however, even there, Loree's discussion of her approach to locating alternatives to create the vision she wished to achieve was helpful.  As she says in the introduction to that chapter, she knows people in Southern California that would like to grow tulips and peonies (guilty!) and, like her, I've gradually discovered ways to replace something that will grow here for the plants that stubbornly refuse to.


Pittosporum matudae has a tropical look but handles the colder winter conditions in Portland 

As a final comment before I get to the giveaway, I found Loree's book a pleasant read.  She has a straightforward yet friendly way of approaching each topic.  She weaves useful information in without ever coming off as teachery.  Her attention-grabbing plant vignettes, used to knit together areas of her garden, are inspiring in themselves.  She's done an excellent job illustrating her points with photos (mostly her own) from her garden, as well as other gardens.  She challenges all of us to think beyond the boundaries defined by common practice to find inventive solutions to create the gardens living in our mind's-eye.


A glorious combination of Leonotis leonurus and Ensete ventricosum

Okay, if you'd like to participate in the giveaway and you have a valid US mailing address, please leave a comment below by January 16th.  I'll put all names in a hat and ask my husband to pull one out at random.  I'll request the winner's address and provide this to Timber Press, which will mail that person a copy of Fearless Gardening, as well as The Art of Gardening: Design Inspiration & Innovative Planting Techniques of Chanticleer by R. William Thomas, one of the books specifically mentioned in Loree's book.  Good luck!


All photos used in this post are copyrighted © 2021 by Loree Bohl and/or other copyright holders.  All rights reserved.

All other material © 2012-2021 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

37 comments:

  1. Excellent review! I'm glad you emphasized that Loree's core message is universal and applies no matter where you garden.

    No need to enter me in the giveaway :-).

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  2. Great review, Kris! I love the points about her reading style...so true. A good book to keep on the shelves to revisit time and time again.

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    1. Thanks Tamara. Unless you tell me otherwise, I'm going to assume you don't want to be included in this giveaway either as you're running one yourself.

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  3. I'd love a copy! She is such an inspiration. :)

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    1. She is! And I know you're a fellow spiky plant fan. Your name will go into the hat.

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  4. I've been following Loree's blog for awhile. I would also LOVE to live in her basement with all of her plants. What a cool basement! I knew her book was coming out and saw her post on it yesterday, but when my tired eyes read the title of your post, I initially saw 'Tearless Gardening' Advice from an Expert.--That works for me too. Pick me, pick me, pick me! I want to read her book so I can be both fearless and tear-less. Kudos to Loree! Laura

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    1. I'd love to have a basement like Loree's too, Laura. Unfortunately, basements are relatively uncommon in my earthquake-prone section of California. Your name will go into the hat.

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    2. Luara, my husband pulled your name from the hat this morning. Please email me at kspeterson100@msn.com with your full name and mailing address. As you logged in as anonymous, I've no other way to reach you.

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  5. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the book, and I hope your husband will accept my gratitude for his required service. I remember when Les (A Tidewater Gardener) used to do giveaways he would have a "a totally disinterested teenager" do the drawing. I think the same could be said?

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  6. Nice review, Kris! I've learned a lot about West Coast gardening from you both, zones in which I have no experience growing plants. It's been great to watch her process and progress. Count me in!

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  7. I am fortunate to live in the same town as Loree and hope to visit her garden when we can do HPSO open garden tours again!
    Colleen

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    1. Once the pandemic is under control, I may become a member of HPSO myself. They run great programs, unlike anything I've founded offered her in SoCal. Your name will go into the hat, Colleen.

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  8. So excited to get a piece of this fearless exuberance in book form! Great review, Kris!

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  9. I didn’t even realize she lives in Portland Oregon until this book came out!

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    1. Ha! I'm putting your name into the hat, sweetbay.

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  10. I like the idea of fearless gardinging!

    I volunteer for the National Garden Scheme and one of our gardeners who opens her garden has created a Jamaican garden at her home here in Mid Wales, despite the totally different garden. It is so wonderful!

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    1. I bet Loree would love to see that Jamaican garden in Wales someday, Nikki. Unfortunately, unless you have a US address I don't know of, I can't add you to this drawing but thanks for commenting.

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  11. Hi Kris,
    First, thank you for your kind comment on my own blog!
    Second, Loree's book sounds wonderful! I have enjoyed her blog posts, and I can appreciate the challenges she faces. I have just begun to develop a collection of succulents and realize how addictive they can become, but in 2020 I had over 90 inches of rain in my rain gauge!

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    1. Ninety inches of rain - that's scary, Deb! Our total here this season is at the other extreme, just 1.2 inches since October 1st (our "rain years" are tabulated from October through the following September). Succulents ARE addictive, as I've learned. You name will go into the drawing.

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  12. That is such an inspirational book, and a great review, Kris. I love those dish planters, they look simply stunning. What a great idea. I can’t grow very many succulents here, but they are wonderful from a heat and drought point of view, so the idea of moveable ones is perfect. Are you able to tell me what they’re made of? They look like some kind of metal, having that shiny appearance.

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    1. I did a little sleuthing on Loree's blog for you, Jane. She's had dish planters for so long (7+ years as it turns out) and I could to longer remember what she used to construct them. She used galvanized steel tops for bird feeders as containers and galvanized fence pipe cut to size for the poles. You can find her original post on her blog here: http://www.thedangergarden.com/2013/07/percolating.html

      Because you're outside the country, I regret I can't include you in my giveaway but I hope you can find the book in Australia at some point!

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  13. I was taken by the dish garden too. I have 3) nice
    lengths of stainless 10" stove pipe. My garden is in the midst of a slow, but wide ranging, overhaul. I think I will now be able to find the perfect spot for those pipe. I can hardly wait to see what I use for bowls!
    Toss my name into the hat, please.

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    1. I will do that Sylvia! In investigating Jane's question about the dish planters (above), I located her original post on their creation. For the record, she used galvanized tops for bird feeders, found at a farm supply store, as the bowls.

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  14. That shade pavilion converted to a greenhouse in the winter is a stylish and genius idea. I also really loved your straightforward review of the book.

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    1. something like that could be useful in your climate too, Angie! I'm putting your name in the hat for the drawing on the 16th.

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  15. Nice review Kris. I'll look for this book locally. Congrats to Loree. Great combination in that last photo of Leonotis leonurus and Ensete ventricosum.

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    1. I'll put your name in the hat for the drawing, Susie. If you were to win but have found her book in the meantime, then you have a gift to pass on to someone else!

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  16. Like you, I was glad to see Loree write a book about her gardening philosophy to inspire us all. Also, as with your situation, her growing conditions are very dissimilar to mine here in Austin, but what you grow and the weather or soil you cope with matters so much less than attitude and enthusiasm for gardening and plants. Which readers will find PLENTY of in this book. (Don't enter me in the drawing, as I'm giving away a copy too.)

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    1. I saw your post pop up in my feed, Pam. I agree that the concepts in Loree's book have broad application, regardless of where someone gardens. Heaven knows, I still read garden books and watch garden shows about English gardens to glean ideas!

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  17. I still feel like the new kid on garden blogging block but it's been a great realization that there is a community of like minded souls out there. The fact that several bloggers are helping Loree w/the virtual launch is proof of a vibrant community.

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    1. That sense of community is key to my decision to keep blogging, Hans. I have an Instagram account too but I don't feel the same about that. You'll be added into the drawing. I have two commentators by the name of Hans (!) so I'll be adding your blog name when your name goes in the hat.

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  18. My word of the year this year is "Advance", to move forward with purpose. I think Loree is way ahead of me in her garden philosophy. I am looking forward to reading her book. Thank you for the great review! I am inspired!

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    1. I'll be sure to put your LLC name in the hat for the drawing!

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