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argay_gardener

@argay_gardener

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The journey of a passionate gardener curating her own magical outdoor space in the Argay Terrace neighborhood of Portland, OR (and helping others too)

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For anyone in PDX looking to add some larger houseplants to their collection on the cheap… Fred Meyer Hollywood has these big ol’ beauties for $24.99 right now! #argaygardener #houseplant #houseplants #indoorgarden #plantdecor by @argay_gardener

Now that some of us are transitioning our focus from outside gardening to inside gardening, I couldn’t resist picking up some new indoor plant babies from @symbiopgardenshop . They have a great selection and it’s good to support a local business. Now to figure out where the hell to put them (although, I always find room). #argaygardener #houseplants #houseplant #indoorgarden #iloveplants by @argay_gardener

It’s so weird to live in the PNW and be praying for rain (especially in the Fall), but this has been our longest, driest and consistently hottest summer on the books. Everything desperately needs this. 🙏 #argaygardener #pnwgardening #rain #climatechange by @argay_gardener

It’s true. People spend a lot of money “squirrel-proofing” their feeders. My strategy has been to give them their own feeding station, and to feed them something that they can’t bury and it keeps them busy for HOURS (extra chunky peanut butter *without artificial sweeteners* for a mere $5)! It’s amazing how much cuter squirrels get when they aren’t wreaking havoc on your garden! I feel like I should end this with some kind of old timey expression, but I can’t think of any besides “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” Does that work here? 🤷🏻‍♀️ #argaygardener #squirrels #wildlife #pnwgardener #tipsandtricks by @argay_gardener

At the conclusion of summer, I usually graduate some of the plants from my backyard patio pots into my garden beds (for whatever reason, I feel somewhat guilty keeping plants sequestered to a pot and separate from a community and ecosystem, so I usually have a self-imposed time limit on their pot tenure. Am I a weirdo in that???). However, this year I waited a bit longer because a good friend (whose garden I made over a few years ago) wanted to come and tour my garden spaces, and I wanted to preserve the full aesthetic. Every year, I say “the garden is the best it’s ever looked,” and every year it’s true. It doesn’t mean that it’s perfect, or that there isn’t a laundry list of projects on my garden ‘to-do’ list… I just like to enjoy a little moment of pride in the fruits of my latest efforts. Afterall, people in our society seem really forward-looking and focused on what’s next, but it’s valuable to periodically pause to reflect back on how far you’ve come. #argaygardener #pnwgardening #zone8b #containergardening #flowers by @argay_gardener

I’ve always loved making floral arrangements for others… because WHO on Earth doesn’t love flowers and little sentimental tokens?! This summer, I realized that I had given away most of my vases to friends for whom I had made arrangements from my garden. So, I popped over to a local charity shop and bought $50 worth of used vases (which, as it turns out, was A LOT of vases), and then summarily my boyfriend’s sweet mother heard I needed vases and donated another 20. Now, I have been doing what I call “pay it forward flower arrangements.” It’s simple - - > If I make you a floral arrangement, you enjoy it and when it’s done, you use the same vase to make a floral arrangement for someone else, and so on and so forth. I think there’s infinitely-many ways that we can bring joy to the people in our lives, and here’s one small way. ❤️ #argaygardener #payitforward #floralarrangement #floralarrangements #flowerbouquet by @argay_gardener

Sometimes you don’t notice that you miss something until it’s absent. I have lived in Oregon for almost 20 years, and I have never seen a monarch butterfly. I have planted so much milkweed (and successfully encouraged friends to as well) and other plants in an attempt to bring them here… to no avail. It was so lovely seeing them on my recent trip home to Maine (at a family friend’s barbecue in Buxton), as I was so accustomed to for the first half of my life. #argaygardener #monarchbutterfly #butterflies #monarchbutterflies by @argay_gardener

While in Maine, I noticed that my mom’s houseplants had been rather decimated. What a great excuse to check out Broadway Gardens Greenhouses in South Portland (fantastic little nursery BTW) and re-up on house plants for her. It felt nice to garden on vacation with my little make-shift potting station in the driveway. #argaygardener #houseplants #houseplantsmakemehappy #broadwaygardens #mainelife by @argay_gardener

I’m visiting my mom in Maine, and while here she asked if I would help prune her lilacs and mock orange… and I regretted to inform her that they were completely overtaken by bittersweet, which is something I haven’t encountered in the Pacific Northwest. I untangled a few of the vines, but it was laborious to say the least. Any suggestions on this? #argaygardener #bittersweet #noxiousweeds #invasiveplants #gardenadvice by @argay_gardener

5/24/25: Trebah Gardens (Part 2). Firstly, is anyone else miffed that IG limits our hashtags to 5?!? I’ve got 19 photos here and I get ONLY 5 hashtags. C’monnnn! Ok, end rant. So, Tim and I thought that the Gunnera Manicata garden at Heligan was bonkers, but Trebah’s Gunnera garden seemed to respond with a “hold my beer”-type sentiment. Incredible! #argaygardener #trebahgardens #gunnera #rhs #gardentour by @argay_gardener

5/24/25: Trebah Gardens #argaygardener #cornwallcoast #trebahgardens #englishgarden #ukgardens by @argay_gardener

5/23/25 (Part 2): Lost Gardens of Heligan. #argaygardener #gunnera #treefern #boggarden #heligan by @argay_gardener