Oh my goodness, where do I even start? What a joy to visit your gardens! The rock face, the praying mantis, the 12 paws, the seahorse, interesting pieces of wood placed here & there, lovely large stones, seahorse, scarecrow & other lovely, interesting or amusing artifacts here, there & over there. I love them all.
I must ask you about the euphorbia & gophers --- is it only the rudolph which works? It's an enchanting euphorbia.
I can't believe the variety of plants you have. And fruiting plants! From grapes & raspberries to guavas & pomegranates -- what diversity.
Touring your gardens made me wonder about EXACTLY where in Oregon you are. To me, Oregon has always meant cold territory. And even though I've seen thousands of your posts I guess I never really paid attention to your zone as I always associated you with the Willamette Valley, Oregon. I never really processed that you are in zone 8. I went on a search to find out about your valley. Thank you Lynn for all the things I learned tonight. I am wiser for it. And as you stated that you take things from other gardeners; I will take much from viewing yours. As I am in my own zone 8 now I am opening my eyes to a possible wider spectrum than I had imagined possible here.
I love that you plant for the critters & focus on native plants as well.
I fell in love with your gardens tonight. Thank you for sharing them with us.

Ann, thank you so much for all your kind words. I am so glad to know that you have looked up information on the Willamette Valley. I call it my paradise and find so much beauty in Oregon State, not just my area of the Willamette Valley.

I inherited my mothers love of whimsy and rocks. I have to bring a rock back from all my journeys. Each holds memories for me.

It will be wonderful to see what you find to add to your own zone 8 garden. Can't wait to see just what it will be. : )

Ann I forgot to answer your question about the Euphorbia. I think any of them will work, they all are toxic and emit the toxins even through the roots. The furry pest just won't dig or burrow where they are planted. I was overjoyed to find this really worked. And now with all the hybrid varieties available
Did you know Poinsettia is a spurge?

I'm with you, Ann!

Whoa, holi garden tour Lynn!

Your gardens are just amazing, thank you for sharing!

Thank you Polly. : )
I'm afraid they suffered much this last growing season. We weren't able to do much watering this year, plus I was somewhat handicapped all summer with a bad leg.
But things are looking up now. The rains have come and my leg is better. Getting caught up on the weeding, sure makes me happy. I do believe I will become a user of that stuff you sprinkle on the ground to keep the weed seeds from germinating. : )

I had no idea you had so many wonderful plants and have made the most of your moderate climate. That was a real treat to take your tour. You have some that I have in my zone 8, but yours are much happier! Pineapple guava blooms all summer! Do you have good soil too? If so, I am moving!

Our soil is heavy clay, where I planted the guava bush was where the previous owner/builder piled debris from his rock hound hobby. That bush just loves that spot.
I wouldn't call our soil good soil, clay is full of nutrients, so when you add amendments to the clay it will grow just about anything. Our problem is drainage. With the clay and a long/heavy rainy season it can be difficult to grow some things. That's why all of my semps are in raised beds.

What is your area like Anna?

Lynn, I knew Poinsettia is a spurge but had forgotten until you mentioned it. I'm so happy to hear the Euphorbias work for gophers! We surely have some on the property & I was getting worried that I would plant only to have everything end up gopher food. I was going to have to drill Pearl in gopher hatred. Which she will undoubtedly come to on her own anyway but perhaps not timely enough.

Pearl?
Yep, that's what we had all over our back yard. I couldn't grow tulips or any other tasty type bulb back there. I can now, just plant a Euphorbia around them. I even use the common every day variety that comes up on it's own. They all work. : )

Pearl. Border Terrier. Earthdog.

Oh boy, a real gopher killing machine once they get the hang of it. I love the Border Terriers. She is just to cute.

Oh Thanks! So many people aren't familiar with the breed. You have some terriers too. Are those fox t's?
Yes, I'm sure she will go for it as soon as we begin living there & she figures out there's a rat in the hole! She has lots of sisters & brothers who do earth dog trials very well. Hmmmm. I should tell her it's a cat!

I have Rat Terriers, somewhat related to the Smooth Coated Fox Terrier. I don't think they are as intense as the Fox Terriers.
Go Pearl, go.

Gotta love the terriers. I will remember if I ever stray from BT's to go for the RT's instead of the FT's. Pearl's intensity is just about right. I wouldn't want more.

The Borders are a lot like the RT's.

I love them all.
Here is Nikki picking wild blueberries. She love to go blueberry picking in the mountains.

They do love their fruit don't they? And they can pick blueberries faster than we can!

Nikki looks so shiny & pretty. The 2 RT's are the therapy dogs?

Yes they are. Jack the Border Collie, I think he's in one of the photos, was also a Certified Therapy Dog. They are fed Innova dog food, we've been using it for many years after almost loosing one of our imported Border Collies to toxins in the dog food.

I hear that. I was feeding Orijen which is grain free & supposedly gluten free but she began to have signs of gluten allergy. Then I saw a Youtube thing where the girl tested it for gluten & it turned up on the high end of high. She's now on GASP!!!!! ZiwiPeak air dried raw. As soon as the house is done she's going on a raw diet I make. Got the details from a border breeder who has been feeding raw for umpteen years & has been a vet tech that long too. Know what? It's really easy. Only thing about where we're renting is that the fridge is about 18 c.ft. & so makes it hard to keep us in food much less freeze meat for the dog.
LOVE border collies too. Sort of interchangeable with Aussies which was our last dog.