Portland is in USDA 8, so there will be plenty of foliage, both autumnal (fall color) and evergreen. Visit Washington Park, where you will find Hoyt Arboretum with its collections of conifers and deciduous trees and also a Japanese garden that will have autumn foliage effects underway. For enthusiast plants near Portland your best bet generally is Cistus nursery on Sauvie Island, out in the Columbia River. However, owner S. Hogan is not much on cold climate plants, nursery slogan is "Your Home for Zonal Denial." See cistus.com. Another good place likely to have interesting things is Portland nursery, this is a garden center with a better line than usual but is not an international level, Heronswood-style destination like Cistus. It depends on what, exactly you are looking for.

Here's some farms/garden centers I know of, including links to their websites: Johnson's Roadside Farm in Swansea has a simple farmstand operation that I frequent. The prices here are unbeatable. The vast majority of produce they sell is grown on their farms, however some organic fruits, like California peaches, are imported (I'm guessing because they don't grow well in MA?). I choose not to buy fruits that they don't grow themselves, anyway... you can taste the difference. What else I like about Johnson's is that they sell products from a LARGE number of small, local businesses from the Providence/Fall River metro area (Landry's, Willow Tree and Star just to name a few). There is also a greenhouse that they share property with--I'm not sure if it's owned by the same people, but you can purchase annuals here (buyer beware). A 4-pack of tomatoes I bought from there all succumbed to bacterial spot on exactly the same day. Weird mojo from that greenhouse; I called them to ask if they were having bacterial spot issues with other customers or plants at their greenhouse, and the woman on the phone completely disregarded the issue and told me my plants were probably being under-fertilized. The tomatoes are dead as of tonight when I get home from work to pull them all up to throw them out. To sum up a long story: I'm not sure if the two shops are affiliated, but I'll keep patronizing the Johnson's Farmstand because aside from importing some of their fruits from California, they have some really economically focused business practices that I'd like to support. I will not shop again at the greenhouse next door though, for fear of the bacterial spot! http://www.farmfresh.org/food/farm.php?farm=930 4-Town farm near the Seekonk/Rehoboth/Swansea border has healthy--yet slightly pricey--plants every year (annual and perennial). This year I purchased two blueberry bushes, two hydrangea, and various other herbs and annuals, of which NONE show any sign of disease. Customer service here is great. They also operate a farmstand out of the same building as the flower shop. I consistently visit 4-Town farm because their produce selection is always fresh. You can tell this farm has been in the family for 5 generations... http://4townfarm.com J&L Landscape and Garden on 44 in Seekonk is a great supplier for bulk soil, stones, mulches, etc. They also offer a variety of plants. The staff was friendly and knew a lot about various species. I took issue with their recommendation that I apply insecticide (read: poison) to my cherry trees to kill the bugs one year**. I guess it's just me, but shouldn't farmers be advocating for the END of chemical fertilizers and xxxxx-icides? Seemed odd to me/the organic gardener. After a terrible failure with the product**, I have since stopped using that product and stopped returning to J&L. http://www.jandllandscapingcoinc.com/index.html LittleTree Nursery(ies?) in North Seekonk specializes in an immense selection of young trees, 'bonzai' style garden trees, and loads of those ugly evergreen trees (that are shaved like poodles). They do sell other garden related items and tools, but specialize more in landscape design. http://www.littletreenurserygroup.com/landscaping.html **PS: The chemical J&L recommended was a product from Bayer, I'm not too sure of the exact name, but it is supposed to enter the entire plant from the roots and protect for an entire year after just one application. My trees could have done with a second application this year, but after one I think I've polluted my yard enough. What a terrible, $40 product recommendation. The product works as long as there aren't immense rainfall totals washing it all away to the ocean, and even when the weather was dry, the results were minimal. My cherry trees were able to send out about 6 uneaten leaves per branch before the bugs continued their feast.

I live near St. Johns and I recommend the Portland Nursery. They have great customer service and a nice selection of plants. It's on the East side of Portland and is not terribly far from St. Johns. I would love a gift certificate to this place. In fact I've let it be known to my family that I would love gcs to this place for my upcoming birthday. By the way, St. Johns is a fantastic neighborhood that is only getting more and more popular as a place to live. It has a quaint retro feel to its downtown center. It also has two beautiful parks--Pier Park and Cathedral Park--that you should definitely check out when you visit. Congratulate your SIL for me! Here is a link that might be useful: Portland Nursery

My understanding is they are keeping most door styles eliminating a few and adding a few. Even though they're same style the doors won't fit the old system. A few of Ikea doors are ok but like Barker doors even less. The website is a pain and couldn't talk to a real person. They are always talked about here but probably people from the company doing most of it.