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Last Saturday morning, my friend Jody and I went up to Wilsonville, Oregon to visit Boxwood Gardens, a grower and wholesaler of evergreens, primarily boxwoods and Irish Yews. The majority of boxwoods were trained and trimmed into topiary forms.

It was more boxwoods and more varieties of boxwood than I have ever seen in one place in my entire life. I have been training boxwood topiaries in my own garden for over 20 years, but this was a stunning display of mature topiaries of many classic and whimsical forms covering acres of land. There were some boxwoods simply trimmed into squares so that they were ready for an instant hedge.

Boxwoods and Irish Yews are two of my favorite varieties of evergreen hedge and boxwood is also my favorite for topiaries. Yews and boxwood are the bones and main interest in my own garden.

Even though it was a rainy, gray day, Jody and I were both smiling and planning for the next green “sculptures” for our gardens.

Because this is a wholesale operation, they are not open to the public, but they supply a retail outlet in Portland called Bentley A Classic Garden Place at 5529 SW Hood Avenue.

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Miniature boxwood wreaths dress up an old, iron candelabra for festive Christmas entertaining. For small wreaths and garlands, boxwood is the ideal broadleaf evergreen to use. Its tiny dark green leaves are adorable, shiny and stay green for a long time inside.

I love using greens from my own garden to decorate my home for the holidays. It is so satisfying to grow your own, to use live decorations and to “shop” in your back yard.

To make each wreath I used single branches about 3” long. I wired each one to the previous one until I had a garland about 7” long. I then overlapped the ends and wired them together to form the wreath.

It is important to use soft clippings – no woody stems – so the garland is flexible enough to form a small circle.

Boxwood loves to be pruned any time of year to let the light in, so don’t be shy about gathering lots of boxwood clippings for wreaths of any size, garlands and green arrangements.

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Janet Yaugo and I go back a long ways. Janet and I went to Mount St Scholastica in Atchison, KS our freshman year of college and we have been the dearest friends ever since. Janet is now my Virginia sales rep and talked me into coming to Virginia to do several signing this November. These signings were very busy and it was lovely to meet and sign for my faithful collectors; some of which had every piece I have ever made and many who had entire Christmas trees of all of my angels and ornaments. What a great opportunity for me to say “Thank you”.

In the photo Janet and I are in the back yard of the Governor’s house in Colonial Williamsburg and even though it was 14th of November it was unseasonably warm, in the high 60’s, sunny and beautiful!

I love Colonial Williamsburg and have been there two times before and each time I have been inspired by the architecture, the interiors and most of all the gardens. My first visit in 1988 was a strong influence in my own garden design. The parterres, vistas, arches and gates of Williamsburg were inspirational then and still are today! These gardens were also instrumental in confirming my passion for boxwood hedges and topiary!

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When I am in the backyard on a July evening, the fragrance of my Star Jasmine sweetens the air. It is really a lovely experience. Sometimes it takes me by surprise and makes me stop and move to where the Jasmine vine thrives on an arbor surrounding an old stone bench. A beautiful fragrance first fills my nose and then occupies my mind clearing it of all mundane cares and takes me for a little while to a heavenly place.

I believe my two favorite flower fragrances are jasmine and sweet peas because they both fill the air outside in the garden and also inside when I make bouquets for the house.

I cut a jasmine branch and combined it with a small bouquet of white sweet peas for a whimsical little arrangement on my living room mantle. The long jasmine branch loops into a green handle in this arrangement.

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Chartreuse is one of my favorite colors for the garden. I love chartreuse foliage as well chartreuse blooms like Lady’s Mantle and lime green Nicotiana. This is a great color for white gardens as well as full color gardens.

Because these plants are plentiful in my garden, I chose to paint the garden furniture at the beach chartreuse. I actually bought this furniture at K-Mart – a great Martha Stewart design. They were originally a natural wood finish and I had them painted to give them some pizzazz!