As we approach the final cottage on the 2012 tour, I reflect that I would have had these daisies deadheaded.
approach to last cottage
cottage eight
front garden
This was was described in the program as having an especially nice cottage garden.
rather weedy
This is a garden that has been much loved and planted with interesting plants.
Front garden bed has choice perennials like Echinops (blue globe thistle)
side yard and garage with arboreal hydrangea
garden by front porch
The owners have made a good start here, by the front porch, at bringing back the garden to its former glory.
mown back to back yard
Perovskia (Russian sage)
Black Eyed Susans and the dreaded bindweed
A new gardener might not know what a scourge the bindweed is.
more good plants, with dwarf fireweed
Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’, daisies, and buddleia
daisies along the garage
Sedum and Roses
The beauty of this garden must have been spectacular in its heyday. Now it needs bringing back; the new owners could read The Secret Garden for inspiration in bringing back a lost garden of tangled roses.
an old climbing rose on the garage
Phormium
I think if the gardeners are new, they will be surprised how big that Phormium can get right by the path.
Having thoroughly explored and wondered about the history of the old garden, we now enter the cottage.
a very modern kitchen
but an old cottage-y window
an upstairs view of the garden
in the garden
Postlude
Heading back to the car, we find a trail similar to the Ridge Trail in Gearhart.
trail, east side Cannon Beach
Someone had built a tepee of branches.
Paths crossed at regular intervals and we take an ill advised turn leading to a very long trek around the reservoirs behind the downtown parking lots….plenty of time to reminisce about the 2013 tour and how much better it had been that the more modern dwellings of 2011‘s tour. I hope to see more tiny cottages in 2013.
Of course, we stopped at Back Alley Gardens, our favourite Oregon Coast nursery. In the parking lot we saw a truck with a hand made dog house on the back. There were three dogs but I never got them all to stick their heads out at once.
safe riding for well loved dogs
a great nursery
We stop quickly at Home Depot. I stay in the car and ponder the slogan on this display outside the building. Forever is a long time; can they really promise that much?
a promise of forever
After some of the things the co-founder of Home Depot said during the lead up to the 2012 elections, I doubt I will even stop there to check out the occasional choice plant that makes its way into their nursery. But if they could promise me forever, maybe I would.
Finally, a stop at Costco (whose politics make me much happier), where I see the best example ever of the worst of red bark. (Our business motto is “Just say no to barkscapes.”)
the reddest bark ever
All in all, it has been a very good day. We have had our own wonderful garden tour of Cannon Beach including many gardens that were not even on the official tour.
We have reached the end of garden tour season 2012, and it is time to turn our minds to fall garden projects, including a garden which we soon plan to help create with Nancy, the organizer of the Long Beach Peninsula garden tour.
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