>The Portland Japanese Garden was voted #1 of public gardens in the west in 2013So somebody thinks there's more going on there than Van Dusen, UBCBG, Seattle Botanical Gardens, San Francisco Botanical Garden, UC Berkeley, UC Davis...? Not to mention the other public Chinese/Japanese gardens on the west coast. In Portland you should go to the Hoyt Arboretum, the Portland Classical Chinese Garden, and Cistus Nursery - unless conifers are all there is for you. Except for the over-planted little conifer collection and the interest of the individual specimens it contains - until they all grow into one another - the Oregon Garden mostly looks like a big mall or motel landscape - and has pretty much no labeling, unless this has been corrected (when we asked at the information desk we were told nobody was keeping track of what things were, and given some whack reason for this approach having been taken). So much for the promise of a great new botanical garden for the west coast, where a comprehensive showcase of local nursery products was to be created. This post was edited by bboy on Mon, Mar 3, 14 at 21:28

Thanks. I was wondering if it was a coral bark of some sort. However on all the photos I've seen of those the bark is a much more intense red. Whereas mine is more of a reddish brown. (although I'm sure there are tons of varieties) On top of that, the pics I'm seeing of Sango Kaku's leaves don't seem to match mine. They appear to be solid green and of a slightly different shape. Another variety perhaps? And I will definitely prune some of the low branches. Thanks for the confirmation on that. I had a feeling it wouldn't last in the container long, but it needed to be moved from where it was at. At the moment we don't really have another place for it. Our 'garden' is still a total mess. We've been in the house for about a year and we're still cutting back overgrowth, removing ivy, repairing fences, etc. But eventually we can find it a new home. JM in general seem to do ok in shade, right? Our backyard is almost completely shaded all day due to several mature Douglas Firs and 1 very large apple tree. In the meantime, are there ways to prune this to limit it's height and maybe increase it's width a bit? Can you "pinch"/prune the top to encourage side growth like you can on some perennials? Or would that just mess it up? Thanks, and sorry for all the noob questions. :)

Hi Jane, Thanks for your reply. Your method sounds interesting. I may try it later on when I have more time. Most of my cuttings were very healthy looking for a couple of weeks and some put out new leaves and opened closed leaves and looked like they would root. However, after this time was up, they dried up and shrank and died! Hope I learn something from this sad experience. I will get back to you later on if some of them survive the cold nights and now hotter days. The nights are about 12C and the days we are getting around 25C. Its mid Spring now. I am also trying out rose seeds and have succeeded in getting many young seedlings in my pots. Don't know what rose they will be as they were bees pollinated. All random crosses of all varieties. Hope to stumble on a nice unknown cross with bright or dark red or striped roses. I am quite rose bitten and have about 30 plants in pots, in the ground, normal and standards. They are all budding now, but some buds have been spoilt by the recent cold and wet conditions. I am also delving in large strawberries, cherries, plums, apples, apricots, persimmons, lettuce, snow peas, grapes, peaches and so on. Only a small 800sq.mtr plot with house and the back garden is ridden with roses and fruit trees!

I have done this trip(s) and agree with all of the above. However if I had to pick 2 or 3. Near Portland, I would visit Iseli's display garden, (make sure you have an extra memory card for the camera) . If you have time I would drive out to Mt Hood, (it is not a garden but it is impressive to see such an impressive mountain ). Portland Japanese Garden is also very impressive ( and a great view of the city) . If any one in your family like water falls - Some of the best waterfalls near Portland, Oregon, exist in the Columbia River Gorge Scenic Area east of the city. The scenic area protects at least 77 waterfalls that include horsetail, tiered and plunge formations. Five of the falls are within a 45-minute drive of Portland. The Oregon garden is very nice, but it is south of Portland and a long drive. ( save it for next time) Then in Seattle - you should visit the Market and the surrounding area, try to fit in a ride on any of the ferries. Gardens in Washington Kubota Garden, Coenosium (Nursery) , Coenosium Rock Garden at South Seattle Community College. You probably will not have time but a drive to the Olympic National Park is definitely worth it. I have the American Conifer Society to thank for introducing me to the PNW many years ago and have returned a few more times. I have seen all the many nurseries and gardens mentioned above and many I did not include. Have a great trip = Mike