Are you a climbing-rose devotee who doesn’t see the buckling trellis for the pink wave of Cecile Brunner blooms drifting onto your roof? Or maybe you want to accent the front of your Craftsman with a wisteria that doesn’t look like the botanical comb-overs you see snaking across porches in many old neighborhoods. Oregon Home asked landscape designers for tips on growing plants up in style.

This vibrant, walkable historic district centered around N. Mississippi Ave. continues to draw independent proprietresses and purveyors of everything from antiques to specialty salt from around the world. Head here if you want an artsy-yet-sophisticated shopping experience among a young, independent crowd.

For embroidery artist Emily Katz, the best kind of art is art you can do with a needle and thread—or a hook and yarn. “I’ve always been interested in tactile arts,” she says. “I went to a Waldorf school, and we learned to knit, crochet and quilt. I did things that were hands-on, and that really taught me to think outside the box when it comes to making art.”

Ceramic artist Gretchen Vaudt professed her intention to become an artist at an early age. “I was going through some of my old things and I found something I’d written when I was in first grade,”she says. “On the paper, it said I AM AN ARTIST.”

A trip to Greece inspired ceramic artist Marilyn Woods to begin sculpting the human form. “Eight years ago, my husband and I went to Greece on vacation, where I saw all these beautiful sculptures,” she says. “I’d never done figure work before, but after we came home, I started trying to make my first torso.”

Furniture designer Donny Faris got the idea for making geometrically shaped table legs when he was a student at Portland State University. “I had a job in the facilities department, and, one day, I accidentally knocked a bunch of signs off of a desk,” he says. “They fell into a twisty shape that intrigued me. After work, I went home and made my first table with a stack of picture frames that rotated off each other.”

Museum patrons and theatergoers know from the odd shop nestled in between arts institutions off the South Park blocks such as the Portland Art Museum, the Portland Center for the Performing Arts (think the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall and the Newmark Theatre) and the Oregon Historical Society. Some of these specialty shops, though, merit a standing ovation of their own.