WINTER 2025 / 2026

WELCOME NOTE | 1.26

“You know that feeling at the end of the day, when the anxiety of that-which-I-must-do falls away… That moment when you think, Oh God, what have I done with this day? And what am I doing with my life? And how must I change to avoid catastrophic end-of-life regrets?

[…]

At the end of my life, I know I won’t be wishing I’d held more back, been less effusive, more often stood on ceremony, forgiven less, spent more days oblivious to the secret wishes and fears of the people around me.”

George Saunders, The Braindead Megaphone, 2007

Happy 2026! Hope this winter season has offered a reprieve from the grind and effusive (to quote Saunders) connection with those you love. This newsletter includes a visual essay on Campo woodworking, a topical deep dive into bulbs, and a winter travelogue to Santa Fe. Rather than a welcome letter, this newsletter will close with a reflection on winter, grief, and hope.

Thanks for the read,

Cali

Dado & Rabbet | 12.25

A Man and a Saw

A visual essay on six years of Campo woodworking

TUBER | 11.25

Topical Deep Dive: Bulbs

To my mind, nothing encapsulates the awe of dormancy as much as bulbs. In climates with long winters, they are harbingers of spring, a much-needed nod to what will come. Today, we will talk through how to use them in a garden space and some of our top recommendations.

BULBS AS PRELUDE: In temperate climates, bulbs are often the first flowers—snowdrops, crocus, grape hyacinth— to appear in spring and among the last to bloom—dahlias, gladiolus, lilies— before first frost. When your summers are brief and hard won, bulbs can allow a 5 month growing season to stretch to something more like 7. Magic, full stop. When considering where to place bulbs, matching bulb habit to field conditions is essential. German iris and foxtail lilies love sandy soil. Camas and rain lilies can take wet feet. Begonias, cyclamen and scillas thrive at a woodland edge.

BULBS AS FILLER: We also like to use bulbs to infill immature areas in the garden. While perennials and shrubs grow to size, bulbs can add height and volume to a garden in the first few seasons. Some year one stunners are dahlias, bearded iris, and japanese anemones. Native bulbs are also wildly underrated. Though often less showy than their horticultural brethren, these bulbs provide lushness, suppress weeds, and provide ecological services and forage for native pollinators.

BULBS AS DRAMA: Our designs are largely naturalistic, toggling between the ecological and horticultural end of the spectrum and with dial toggling more towards one side, depending on the context. In native-heavy projects, I have found bulbs to be helpful in signaling to neighbors and passersby that this is a cultivated and cared for landscape. Small horticultural interventions like this in a native meadow can also add drama during dormancy periods or gaps in the bloom cycle. Amanda on our team is also fond of container planting for bulbs, as shown below, for a hyper concentration of color in the spring.

BULBS AS ROMANCE: There are few things more beautiful than a river of bulbs. Below are pictures of the trout lilies and camas in bloom in the Oregon White Oak savanna my family restored at our farm in Rickreall, Oregon. It took ten years to remove the dense thicket of invasive understory and restore the savanna beneath but when we did, we found a valley floor full of bulbs. Dormant in the soil, waiting for the right conditions to burst into form. To recreate this look at home, look for zones in the garden with seasonal dormancy. Bulb lawns are a popular way to enliven a landscape that is static most of the year and add early forage for pollinators. If you have shade trees or woodland areas, consider naturalizing bulbs, like daffodils or species tulips, that can colonize over time. More bulbs are always better (think hundreds, not dozens). Look for end of the season sales to buy bulbs at a steep discount.

BULBS AS INHERITANCE: When we moved into our house, it had been a rental property for five years prior and the garden was largely neglected. Some of the trees were dying back but what I found in profusion were German iris and grape hyacinth. I have since transplanted and split the iris and let the grape hyacinth do its thing. I love this connection to the garden’s past caretaker. Within our own team and with clients, we also see plants passed down between generations. Peony tubers and amaryllis bulbs can live and re-bloom for over 50 years with proper care. Multigenerational stewardship is something a garden can also grow, a legacy of care beyond ourselves.

Campo Recommended Bulbs & Tubers:

Allium sphaerocephalon, Drumstick Allium
- A later blooming charismatic allium that adds a punctuation of burgundy to planting areas
Dahlia ‘Glowing Embers,’ Glowing Embers Dahlia
- Single bloom tubers with black foliage, dramatic but also play nicely in a naturalistic border
Tulipa bakerii ‘Lilac Wonder,’ Lilac Wonder Species Tulip
- Naturalizing species tulip with pink blooms that can add seasonal pop to ground cover or lawn
Narcissus ‘Thalia,’ Thalia Daffodil
- All white, statuesque daffodils that naturalize
Camassia leichtlinii, Great Camas
- Native Pacific Northwest bulb that can tolerate wet feet and drought, deep purple in color
Iris ‘Cinque Terra,’ Cinque Terra Bearded Iris
- Romantic bearded iris with rust and plum undertones that change with the light.
Eremurus × isabellinus 'Cleopatra,' Cleopatra Foxtail Lily
- Dramatic 5’ tall lily best planted in clusters, tolerant of sandy well draining soil and summer heat
Iris douglasii ‘Canyon Snow,’ Canyon Snow Douglas Iris
- White cultivar of native Western iris with a sunburst of yellow at the signals
Muscari aucheri ‘Ocean Magic’, Grape Hyacinth
- This is a lighter blue version that are deliciously fragrant, perfect for naturalizing a woodland edge.

PUEBLO REVIVAL | 12.25

Santa Fe Travelogue

Three discoveries from a winter visit to Santa Fe

DISCOVERY #1: OLIVE RUSH

1873-1966

First female artist to move to Santa Fe independently and dedicated her home and studio as a Quaker meeting house

DISCOVERY #2: “THE CITY DIFFERENT”

1910-1930

Visionary artist-led planning effort that codified the Santa Fe architectural style, Pueblo Revival, and set out early goals for the art-led economy it is still known for.

DISCOVERY #3: BAUMANN’S PUPPETS

1910-1930

Known for his layered woodblock prints, Gustave Baumann had a lesser known passion as a puppeteer. Someone you would definitely want to get beers with.

SEASONAL DEPRESSION | 1.26

Closing Thoughts on Winter, Grief & Hope

Cali Pfaff

I have always loved winter, snow on pines, the catatonic thrill of exercise in cold weather, novels on long nights. This winter, however, has been different, mild. Pleasant, perhaps. But neutered. (I say this with respect for those that are saddled with historic snowfall in the East Coast and South). Here in Colorado, the snowstorms have been few and far between and the natural rhythm of the seasons feels—for lack of a better word—broken. And I feel real grief around this sense of broken-ness.

A recent report by the US Forest Service anticipates the widespread die-off of ponderosa pines across the Front Range of Colorado in the coming decade due to warmer winters, drought, and mountain pine beetle infestation. We suffered a similar die-off of aspens in the previous decade. My siblings and I grew up in the foothills in a Ponderosa Pine / Aspen woodland; these trees are as real to me as childhood friends.

What will the woodlands of the future hold? And what, more importantly, will they lack? Like any parent, I worry. I am dogged by the feeling that at a planetary level we will leave our children with far more burdens than gifts. And the trees! What a profound loss. I share this because while our newsletter is about the joyous power of gardens, these joys exist within a tug of war between hope and despair. We cannot have all good days. Or bad. When I think about the ponderosas disappearing, it emboldens me to hold space for nature wherever we may have the resources to do so and to bask in both the splendor and loss —the gorgeous tenuousness of it all.

Thanks for the read! The Spring issue will cover seed mixes, a historic deep dive into outdoor entertaining, and recent installs. If you prefer to opt out, please click the link below.

THE END