Tell me an interesting fact,” the cashier at the grocery said to me. “I’m asking everyone who comes by.” I’m more used to “how many bags do you need?” This one took me a minute. “Salem has an 18% tree canopy, which is pretty low,” I offered. “There will be a lot fewer trees if that data center goes through” she replied. Ah, the data center. Data centers are not popular, and for good reason. They consume electricity and water at the scale of a small city, drive up utility ra

Source: Clackamas County Soil and Conservation District. Ferris Jabr, a science writer and Portland gardener, has an excellent story in today's New York Times that explores the question of whether gardeners should limit themselves to native plants. The article's subtitle captures the conclusion: "The native plant movement gets a lot right, but there’s so much more to consider." But what does Jabr mean by "native plant movement?" In this case, he means Doug Tallamy. Tallamy is

Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library. Source: Snohetta. The new Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library by Snohetta is a breathtaking example of integrating architecture with landscape. Dezeen.com writes that the "95,000-square-foot building features a green roof that crests over the interior volumes, connecting with the ground and conforming to the hills and prairies of the North Dakota Badlands, with its ravines, gulches and buttes left over by ancient erosion." Check ou

'Munstead Wood' rose in my garden. Roses are coming into bloom in the Willamette Valley. They are so many rose options, it can be overwhelming. And I think when a garden has too many roses, it can look like the day after a confetti parade. In my garden, I only have seven roses: two Munstead Wood, two Charlotte, two Princess Alexandra of Kent, and one Gertrude Jekyll. They are all David Austin roses. David Austin roses, sometimes known as English Roses, are roses bred by David