flashback: 21 June 2010 — Fairbrook garden, Olympia

Phantom petunias

Now for another top favourite:  Cindy and David Fairbrook’s garden, Shellridge Road, Olympia. Love the name Shellridge Road. It’s near Steamboat Island Road; used to love to shop at Steamboat Island Nursery when it was open to the public. First thing we saw were these petunias, ‘Phantom’, which I deeply covet. [2012 note: These were hard to come by in 2010 but common now.]  Due to a family emergency, these had not been planted in their destined pot.

entering the garden from the car park area.

path leading round the back of the house

beside the house

entry path

at the greenhouse

looking from greenhouse to porch

We walk back to get a closer look at the porch.

coming around the side of the house

the terrace

back garden with llamas

And above:  The moment when I saw the view from patio to a pasture with llamas and this became my favourite garden of the whole weekend.

Or maybe this view is when it became my favourite.

(from brochure): “These gardeners have been inspired by a trio of greats: Rosemary Verey (the potager), Christopher Lloyd (the plant combinations and containers) and Giverny (the iconic little green bridge and pond with water lilies.”

bridge with wall

I was utterly smitten with the capped flint wall that reminded me of the north of England.  If the garden had not already attained favourite status, the wall would have pushed it to the top.

birdbath backed with stone wall

that wall!

wall and little bridge in background

The birdbath area is to the left of the big terrace.

I loved how they pruned their contorted filbert.

“Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick”

I felt inspired to go home and prune both of my big contorted filberts just like that….(but never did as I moved to a new garden four months later and could not take them with me).

a look back at the greenhouse

an overview

paths of brick and gravel

round and vertical

a swirling knot

echoed wall

Just look at the witty echoing of the line of the stone wall with a straight row of Dutch iris separating the intricate garden beds from the lawn.

Iris “wall” with llama pasture in background

rustic bench by the lawn

woodsy path

Past the lawn, this path went on and on from the edge of the highly cultivated garden; owner David said it goes through the woods and ends up below the llama field. Of course, we would have loved to have time to explore the entire path.  The property is ten luscious acres; the cultivated garden, maybe an acre?

We had two more gardens to see after this one so we abandoned the woods and headed back toward the gardens above the llama field.

a garden rich in details

path back to main terrace, lawn on right

raised beds

above the pasture

below the terrace

The garden fell in narrow terraces and paths down to the edge of the llama field.

the llama pasture

pasture and barn

terraced garden

terraced garden

terraced garden

terraces

We could not get enough the this garden and kept going round and round and round….David Fairbrook was a kind and informative host.  I was sorry Cindy had been called away and did not get to see in person the great joy her garden brought to its visitors.

on the patio

at the edge of the brick patio

so many paths to choose from

and another glimpse of llamas

curved edge of patio

a last look at the terrace from the other side

side garden

Walking through the side garden (the other side of the house from the greenhouse) we felt we had not given full attention to the entry gardens so we spent some more time on the porch side of the house.

the porch side again

delightful golden windowbox

a medley of golden foliage

and a missed path…

We knew had to leave as had two more gardens to see before 4 PM, and then Sheila had to drive all the way to a town near Albany, Oregon, but as we were getting in the car we saw this path we had not yet explored. Argh!!