A Conversation with Loree Bohl: Gardening with Foliage, Containers, and a Touch of Danger (2025 Annual Meeting Speaker)

We’re thrilled to welcome Loree Bohl, Portland gardener, author, and the creative force behind the popular danger garden blog, as the featured speaker for HPSO’s Annual Meeting on November 9th at PSU’s Hoffmann Hall. Before her upcoming talk on container gardening, we chatted with Loree about her garden influences, the plants that shaped her, and why foliage always takes center stage.

HPSO: Let’s start at the beginning—what’s your very first gardening memory?

Loree: I’ve heard many other gardeners answer this question, but I’ve never stopped to think back to mine. My first memory of being really aware of plants (or trees in this case) was when my parents cut down the massive weeping willow in the front yard of the house we lived in when I was really young. I must have been around 6 years old and I didn’t understand how they could do such a thing. That tree was the center of my world and all of a sudden it was gone. What had been a shady—and fun to play in—front yard, became an exposed open expanse. I think I’ve been working to recreate the feeling of being enveloped by my plants ever since—I also learned that in a garden nothing is forever.

My first memory of plants tended as a garden was a group of Sempervivum (or as she’s always called them, hens and chicks) my mom planted in that same garden. Three houses later and she’s still growing them. I will always associate Sempervivum with my mom.

HPSO: How would you describe your current garden?

Loree: My garden is a foliage garden—flowers come and go, but I am drawn to plants with interesting foliage. Spiky plants of course (hence my blog’s name, danger garden), but also plants with big leaves, or tiny leaves. Plants with colorful foliage, rosette shapes, ferns with their interesting fronds and sori patterns… foliage forever!

HPSO: Your passion for foliage really shines through. It's clear that texture, shape, and color play a huge role in your garden’s personality. With such a distinctive style, is there a plant you wish you could grow but can’t because of space, climate, or some other limitation?

Loree: This question got me thinking about the subject of the talk I’m giving for the Annual Meeting—containers! There are so many things I want to grow that are not hardy through our winters; plants in the bromeliad family, many cactus and agaves, some epiphytic ferns. Rather than just wishing I could grow them, I do grow them but in containers. That way I can move them to a place where they’ll live through our cool (sometimes cold and icy), wet winters and then move again to live their best lives outdoors in the warmer seasons.

HPSO: Do you have a favorite season in the garden?

Loree: Summer! Spring and autumn have their own wonderful moments, but I am a summer lover.

HPSO: What garden—or gardens—have influenced you the most, and why?

Loree: I can’t name just one! Seeing the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, AZ, forever changed my idea of what a garden could be. For a girl that grew up in the Pacific Northwest it was mind blowing. Visiting the Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek, CA, and learning the story of Ruth and her approach to gardening, was hugely inspiring. Ruth’s vision of a succulent-filled dry garden was groundbreaking, she gardened with the plants she loved, even though they weren’t fashionable at the time. Also—she didn’t let the death of a plant keep her from trying it again, she was a big believer in experimenting.

Seeing Lotusland in Montecito, CA, helped cement my belief that a cohesive garden could be built from plant collections. The garden’s founder, Ganna Walska, proved that your imagination is the only limitation to what your garden can be. Although of course it helps to be fabulously wealthy and garden in the climate of Santa Barbara, CA.

Finally, I have to give a shout-out to the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden in Federal Way, WA. Visiting the RSBG has introduced me to another way of gardening with its beautiful shady vignettes. As my back garden has matured and grown shadier, I’m discovering the joy of ferns, species Rhododendrons and their companion plants.

We can’t wait to hear more from Loree at the Annual Meeting this November. Her talk on container gardening promises inspiration, practical ideas, and plenty of plant eye candy. Don’t miss it: November 9th at Hoffmann Hall, Portland State University. Free, members-only event, RSVP here! And to learn more about Loree’s garden world, visit her danger garden blog!