Music in the Gardens ’13: Painted Lady Lavender Farm

July 20, 2013

from the program:  Painted Lady Lavender Farm:  Whimsey abounds as you enter this gorgeous cultivated canyon, revealed at the end of a woodsy driveway. After being inspired by a visit to France 20 years ago, the owners decided to farm lavender on this undulating acreage. The terraced hillside holds four lavender fields, vegetables, perennials, a tree house, two charming cottages, chicken and quail coops and a bocce court. The valley floor of the farm holds a cafe, many seating areas, a stage, a store selling lavender products, garden rooms and a fountain. Wrought iron furniture and gates were made by the owner’s son Wade. Daughter Sherri will be on hand to lead tours through this paradise.

I’ve written about this garden before, and for a more organized photo tour of the garden, you could read this.  For garden tour day, I’d like to just share the impression of wandering through the garden.

Sheila and Debbie and Allan and I arrived at the farm with the foreknowledge that guided tours were being insisted upon; however, by invoking the fact that we had with us professional photographer Debbie Teashon, who has had photos in Fine Gardening and other famous magazines, and who needed to wander at will, and by reminding tour guide Sherri that I knew the gardens and its paths well and promising to keep my guests safe, we were given permission  to wander at will.

First we went up the hill behind the house to the fragrant stands of lavender.

Sheila and Allan and I enjoyed the sights and smells while Debbie photographed this and that.

shade and sun

mural on back of house by “Painted Lady” Susan Wallace

Sheila taking a photo

A bit uphill from the back of the house is a gift shop with lavender items and antiques.

gift shop

inside the gift shop with furniture painted by Susan

rose behind the main house

deck of the main house

view from the deck

As we were enjoying the views from this area, a guided tour went by, crossed the field and went back down the hill.

tour

tour being guided by Sherri

Sherri was explaining all the different kinds of lavender and other herbs, but we were glad to be on our own rather than being guided because we are very stubborn independent minded.

tour group

We were able to go further up the hill to a delightful guest cottage.

 

cottage at the very top of the hill

Sheila is enchanted.

I am enchanted all over again.

dreamy inside

nearby, an outdoor tub

sink and tub

behind the tub wall

looking over wall to the cottage

I knew of the stairs down to the back of the main house.

smoke rising from the outdoor kitchen

the chimney of the big pizza oven

outdoor kitchen dining room (same room as the big oven)

in the dining area

The farm is “off the grid” with any electricity powered by a generator and water supplied by a well.

more of the “summer kitchen”

summer kitchen

I remember reading a novel about farm life where the family had an indoor kitchen for the winter and a roofed outdoor kitchen for the summer.  It is an excellent idea, especially with the partial walls that provide windbreaks and shelter from any rain.

another tour departs from the main house patio

by the outdoor kitchen

in the background: belly dancers

Belly dancing is a big part of the Lavender Farm lifestyle these days.  You can read more that here.  (They are having another Beach Bellydance Festival this year on August 10th and 11th.)

dancers

A dog inside the main house looks like Jo Fitzsimmon’s Coco.

By now we had reunited with our friend Kathleen Shaw, who had been touring from north to south while we went south to north and then back south again.

Kathleen Shaw’s photo of the main house patio

patio pond

We can just see Kathleen next to the statue in the photo below:

a glimpse of a friend

Our friend Jenay, who lives just up the road from the farm, was there as well.

Allan and Jenay

She had been stationed at the entrance but as the tour hours drew to a close, she could not resist joining the dancers.

dancers

to the right, in black, “Painted Lady” Susan Wallace

Susan, the Painted Lady

Susan’s decorative floral painting can be seen on buildings around the Peninsula; her mural of flying kites is on the outside wall of the Payson Hall clubhouse at Andersen’s RV Park.

Jenay

dancers (daughter and mother)

As the dancing continued, we explored the gardens around the house.

photo by Kathleen Shaw

shed near the outdoor kitchen

fix it supplies in the window

just uphill: the chicken coop

another little cottage

peeking in a window

photo by Kathleen Shaw

secret garden

inside the secret garden

Sheila exploring

looking back at the stage

an old well

Sheila and Sherri contemplating the well

the height of the water table inside the well

a resident of the old well

frog

photo by Kathleen Shaw

Jenay and Kathleen Shaw

Kathleen is amazing for the connections she has made as a vacationer here on the Peninsula.  We so look forward to her moving here someday.  The sooner the better!

Jenay by the main house

upstairs window, photo by Kathleen Shaw

gift booth by entrance

by the entrance

by the driveway

The five of us (Kathleen, Allan, Debbie, Sheila, and I) walked back to our cars in a happy mood, went back to our house and all sat around for awhile discussing the tour and then went out for a delicious meal at the Depot Restaurant.  Depot owner Nancy Gorshe was beaming because she had so much fun hosting tour guests at her mother’s garden.  Our three friends from out of town were pleased with Chef Michael’s sulbimel food.  (It was not a new experience for Kathleen, a frequent visitor to and future resident of the Peninsula.)

And our touring was not over, because on Sunday we all had plans to tour several more gardens on a private tour day of our own.

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Music in the Gardens ’13, Miller Garden

from the program:  Peggy Miller’s bayside garden:    Through a gate flanked by totem poles is a formal parklike landscape. Though there is no house on this bayfront property, there is still a lot to view. Peggy’s edible garden of berries, artichokes and greens is well-protected from wildlife with the sturdiest elk and bear fence you’ll ever see. A natural path winds its way to the bay through woodlands, a meadow and an old orchard.  A surprise structure will greet you at the end of the trail. Peggy was on the tour last year; you may remember her great support and patronage to local artists and the community.  She shares her passions on two fronts this year:  First a tent with local artists demonstrating how various garden art is made.  Also, the Bikes for Books is back, a wonderful program for the area’s elementary schools that rewards reading with a chance to win a new bike.

from the road, photo by Kathleen Sayce

This property has a few garden elements but is really a landscape on Willapa Bay.  Some photos were taken on a pre-tour walk through with organizer Nancy Allen.  Owner Peggy, a staunch supporter of local art,  had proposed the idea of having artists giving demonstrations of making garden art.

to the left of entrance

I think the reason there are unplanted plants might be because some plants were sale from Peninsula Landscape Supply.  Otherwise I am mystified!

on pre-tour day, June 24

Sheila and Debbie approaching the art demonstration area on tour day.

Peninsula Landscape Supply had a table set up.

Peninsula Landscape Supply

Brian O’Connor was the musician.

Brian’s spouse is Renee O’Conner, the tile artist who made the beautiful obelisks in Long Beach’s Fifth Street Park and who was also performing on tour day in the Mozart Chicks at Pink Poppy Farm.

flower bed

Tlingit art

patio

on tour day

I was pleased to find that our visit coincided with the garden art demo by Jan Bartlett Richardson, whose beautiful Windy Meadows Pottery garden was on last year’s tour.  She creates the most enchanting miniature clay houses that I have ever seen.

Jan Bartlett Richardson

her garden art piece on progress

She will be using the fern fronds and other leaves to add impressions to the piece.

By the time Jan and I were done chatting, Sheila and Debbie had gone on the path to the bay.

path to bay

I’m not sure all the tour guests realized the path existed if, like me when garden touring, they just skim the tour description while at each garden.

This would be very wet in the winter.

onward

into the light

catching up to Sheila and Debbie

glimpsing the bay

For those who don’t know our geography, the Long Beach Peninsula lies between two bodies of water, the Pacific Ocean to the west and Willapa Bay to the east.

bay view tree house

For safety, the ladder to the treehouse was removed on tour day.

the setting, photo by Kathleen Sayce

bay view aerie

on pre tour day

the bay, photo by Kathleen Sayce

walking west again

Back in the entrance area, we stopped to have another look at one of the landscape’s main features:  a deer and bear proof set of vegetable enclosures.

photo by Kathleen Shaw

No critter will get in here!  photo by Kathleen Sayce

veg fortress

Next:  The Painted Lady Lavender Farm…and here’s hoping it won’t take me two days to write it up because it’s a truly fabulous and enchanting garden.

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Music in the Gardens ’13: Marilyn and Nancy’s Healing Garden

July 20, 2013

from the program:  Instead of being “deer resistant”, this garden is wildlife friendly and proof that you can coexist with deer and still have plenty of flowers.  Nancy and Marilyn call this their healing garden because, while recovering from knee surgery and from cancer, they have been inspired and comforted by watching plentiful birds and a mother deer and fawns living in the garden.  It was designed and planted by Tangly Cottage Gardening to be viewed and enjoyed year round with structural perennials and ornamental grasses for winter interest. There will be a page at tanglycottage.wordpress/deer featuring deer resistant plants.

This garden on a small lot is one that Allan and I began from scratch in 2006.   I’ve written about it a lot since then, so will just do a walk through here from the day before tour day (when we did the final tidy up) and tour day itself.  I hope the tour guests understood that while small, the garden shows off how you can have lots of flowers even though the deer amble through daily.  If you can see a hose in the photo, it’s the day before tour day.

the view from the street

To the left of this photo (out of the picture) is the driveway, where the neighbour to the east and Marilyn and Nancy have planted shrubs for privacy…eventually.

driveway and corner of garage and neighbour’s house

between the driveway and the lawn is a deep shade garden with Hellebores and ferns amid alders and one conifer.

shade garden the day before tour day, looking west from driveway

looking north at the shade garden, day before tour day

Above, looking south: We took up our nicest table and chairs, and Nancy thought it was so great to have a sit spot on the lawn that she says she is going to get a table and chairs for it!

Nancy ready for tour guests

She served cookies made by her spouse, Chef Michael of the Depot Restaurant.  There were 200, I believe, and my first hint that the tour was quite successful is when we arrived to find all the cookies gone.  I did not mind at all because I was so happy we had had that many people come through.

The deer, for some reason, focus on the area in front of the front porch, but they have left the lady’s mantle and geranium ‘Rozanne’ alone.

Barbara Bate

Barbara Bate was the musician for this garden.  She does a great deal for the community.  She sang at my mother’s memorial service and knew the words to the song my father used to sing, “Because”.  (We made a garden for her in 2008, not the sort we go back and maintain.)  Barbara’s musical repertoire is vast and she was perfect for this venue.  Last year, she was the musician for the Hornbuckle garden, and later Tom and Judy told me people were dancing in their courtyard.

side view of front porch (looking east) with Barbara

looking west from the lawn

Allan (left), Sheila (right) and I

NW garden at edge of lawn, photo by Kathleen Sayce

The only pre-existing plant in the flower borders was the orange monbretia that had run over the neighbour’s garden to the west.  I consider it a bully, but don’t fight it in the front corner by the street because it intermingles with salal (speaking of bullies!) and adds some colour.

Sheila and Debbie take a break.

Above, where, the lawn meets the gravel path:  Phygelius, Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’. Knautia ‘Thunder and Lightning’, lady’s mantle, backed with Miscanthus.

looking southwest-ish the day before tour day

looking south the day before tour day

west of porch: Eryngium ‘Sapphire Blue’, Salvia viridis, and Lavender

Eryngium ‘Sapphire Blue’, photo by Kathleen Sayce

against west wall of house: Papaver ‘Lauren’s Grape’ and Salvia viridis

looking south on tour day

The fig tree grows larger and larger on the east side of the path against the house.  The deer do not eat the figs!

tour guests

Shasta daisies, blue glove thistle, bronze fennel, cosmos, painted sage, photo by Kathleen Sayce

photo by Kathleen Sayce

I brought my Deer Xing sign for the chair by the southwest corner of the house and a bowl to fill with water.  It had occurred to me that this bird and deer friendly garden had no water!  Nancy was so taken with this that she agreed a bird bath would be an excellent gift for her mother, Marilyn.

day before

I decided to present the garden quite honestly and did not trim the stems where deer had eaten the white mallow and Crocosmia as they nibbled their way by.  It is impressive enough that there are enough flowers to share and enough things they do not eat.  A chaise lounge is kept across the back porch or the deer will climb right up there and eat flowers (although in my experience, they usually leave dahlias alone).

back porch, photo by Kathleen Sayce

To the south side of the house is a river rock dry pond which is good for drainage in the winter.  On its south side grow native shrubs and trees along the property line, and on the house side we have a path and a planting of Siberian iris, Persicaria ‘Firetail’, and double orange daylilies.

river rock swale

Hops grow up on the east side of porch railing (not shown).  I’ve tried to grow a honeysuckle on the south side but the area does not get watered and so that has not been a success.  If I remembered to water it whenever we check on the garden, it would do much better.

On tour day, we went in to visit Marilyn and saw the garden from a different perspective: from the inside out.

From this window, the view west has been blocked by the fig tree.  Oops.

I planted that tree between two windows and did not expect it to do this well!  Next time we visit the garden we will do some pruning.

another west window…that’s better

From this window, a deer has been observed birthing a fawn right in the garden.

another west window

from the kitchen window, looking south to the native shrub and tree border

the walk to return to the front lawn (taken the day before)

As we drove away, we saw one of the garden residents just down the street.

waiting for the tour guests to get out of the garden!

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Music in the Gardens ’13: Pink Poppy Farm

I learned just in time to call it by the right name for this entry that this garden is known as Pink Poppy Farm!

from the program:   The Dickerson garden:  Allow yourself time to explore this expansive, one acre country garden where edibles and flowers grow in harmony, surrounded by mature conifers which provide privacy and some wind protection. As you enter the front gate, see swirls of lavender and rosemary filling deep perennial beds.  After circling a ring of dahlias,  head for the cutest chicken house ever, “The Imperial Chicken Palace,” which is filled with 13 gorgeous hens.  Meandering through the property you will see  2 poly tunnels which shelter tomatoes, cucumbers, basil, peppers and more.  Masters of edible landscapes, the owners have lived and worked on the grounds for 19 years.  The garden is full of clever ideas for watering, fencing, and decor.

Expansive indeed, this garden is going to make for a long entry!

Our friend Kathleen got this good shot of the entry gate:

photo by Kathleen Sayce

Inside the gate, we saw to our right a lavender garden and ahead, a circle of dahlias and other flowers.

entry garden

To our left is the front porch and behind us the bright red door of the garage.

photo by Kathleen Shaw, looking east

north side of house

After an amazing tour of this garden we will exit through that narrow passageway.

front porch

NW corner of house

So far, it seems like a normal, nice, restrained garden.  Then, coming around the west side of the house….

west lawn and garden bed…

…we get the first indication of the special delights of this garden.  Below, Sheila sees the Imperial Chicken Palace!

just wow!

Imperial Chicken Palace

side view

chicken palace window box

There, I am back in love with Petunia ‘Phantom’!

the girls; top photo by Kathleen Shaw: dust bath time

nesting boxes accessed by an exterior hatch

Although it was hard to leave “the girls”, we walk east along the south side of the house.

looking east

chairs and a photo album I wish I had taken time to look at

up a slope of lawn, looking back

Below, Allan and Debbie from Rainyside Gardeners, who sets up for a photo while garden owner Mike Dickerson walks forward to greet them.

SE corner of house

from further east

This garden had been on tour before, but on the same year that my old garden was on the tour, so we did not get to see it,  This time, Mike joked “You’ve finally paid to come see my garden!”

Garden owner Lynn demonstrates a simple clever fence to keep chickens out of the garden beds.

along the south side of the garden…In the background, you can see the compost bins

further east, hoop houses, “two and a fourth” (small one), Lynn said.

veg boxes (compost bins in background)

Sheila and I always enjoy the true working areas of the garden, like the compost bins.  Here, they are enviably large, running along the middle south side of the property and made of old pallets.

much compost

Speaking of working areas, we admire the watering system in this garden:

hose manifolds

Hoses lead to oscillating sprinklers which are mounted on posts.  Each hose connects with a quick connect to the sprinkler which is permanently set for optimum watering pattern.

sprinkler

and another view of the chicken fence

We intend to adopt this watering system for our garden as soon as we have time.  It will save lots of fiddling with the sprinklers.

a tour guest walking east

pre-tour photo showing two hoop houses (looking east)

on tour day

The first and smaller hoophouse:

 north door

inside

south door

looking east

The big hoop house and raised beds:

approaching  big hoop house

I loved the raised box of nasturtiums (photo taken while pre-touring in June)

inside the hoop house

a prolific crop

tomatoes

Allan was interested in the details of how it was constructed, and you might be, too:

how to

how the windows open

Way up at the top of garden by a house (which is also part of the property but lacks amenities) is another, smaller hoophouse where Madeline and Jacob grow their produce for the Saturday Market.  The garden also provides food for a few CSA boxes.

the littlest hoophouse

garden tour guests

Donna and M.R.

Because this was the most central garden of the tour, we ran into some of our touring friends there.  We found our friends Donna and M.R. photographing flowers on the route from the hoophouses to the north side of the garden.

bachelor buttons

Set in a fenced garden of its own, the garden shed charmed everyone with its old windows and shingled sides, and windowboxes.

taken on pre-tour day, late June

shed windowboxes

neatly cut edges in the shed garden

an old swingset used as trellising near the garden shed, in late June

My, how the flowers had grown since June 24th when I first visited the garden!

right…the smaller hoophouse…left…the garden shed

cornflowers and just a glimpse of the “stage” area

Coming around a grass path from the garden shed, we followed the beautiful music to the green stage setting for the Mozart Chicks.

The Mozart Chicks

classical quintet

music appreciator

I took an iPhone video walking from the musicians’ area around the garden which you may be able to view here.

One garden bed after another abounded with food and flowers mixed together.

photo by Kathleen Shaw

sunflowers against the “extra house”

dahlias

The Pink Poppy Bakery booth at the Ilwaco Saturday Market offers bouquets of flowers from this garden.

After going round and round the garden, we came to the patio on the east side of the house where delicious treats awaited.

handsome steps down to the patio area

You can see in the background, above, how popular the Pink Poppy Bakery treats were!

 

This garden will also be on the Peninsula Edible Garden Tour…

patio detail

The patio wraps around the corner of the house.

Around the patio, many tour guests converged and lingered and chatted, even though we all had more gardens to see.

M.R. photographing a birdhouse

We photographed it, too.

(right) garden owner Mike Dickerson

Mike and Sheila

Mike and M.R.

Finally, we did have to tear ourselves away because we had three more gardens to see…

walkway between garage and house

back to the entry garden

And with wistful looks back, we departed for the rest of our tour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Music in the Gardens ’13: Bristol Garden

July 20, 2013

from the program:  This large meadow garden on the dunes of a Butterfly Shores estate showcases the many plants that thrive in full exposure to salt, wind and winter storms.  As you wander through the meadow, notice the garden art, collected driftwood planters and sculpture, pond and fountain.  The tall fence around the back gardens protects artful bird feeders from bears, raised-bed vegetables from deer and encloses a sheltered patio.  This remarkable garden design was planted and maintained  by local gardener Diana Canto.

A few years ago, the owner of this property asked me if we would create a garden for her.  We were simply too busy, so I referred her to local gardener Diana Canto, whose own garden I had admired.  Here is the wonderful landscape that Diana has created in front (west) of the house.

Bristol garden

There is only one house and dune grass between this garden and the beach.

looking from the garden to the west on a pre-tour visit.

Everything in this garden is exposed to salt wind, storms, and I am sure to deer.

beachy

daisies and ornamental grasses

detail, taken on a rainy pre-tour day in late June

also on pre-tour day

in late June

on that rainy pre-tour day

 

in the west (front Garden), Deb sets up for a photo

It was such enormous fun touring with Debbie and Sheila.  Kathleen was touring from north to south so we did not connect with her till the end.

Perovskia (Russian Sage)

This is one of the prettiest Perovskias I have ever seen.

looking west

The house across the road is attractive indeed and is said to be built to be tsunami safe.

daisies, Allan’s photo

another daisy photo by Allan

beds around the house

garden confab by the porch. Left: Diana Canto, who designed the garden, and in the center, Phil, spouse of tour organizer Nancy and a stanch supporter of the garden tour.

a serious discussion

plants by the foundation and porch steps

lovely built in porch planters, taken late June

on tour day

garden next to porch

from the porch looking west

To the north side of the front garden, a path leads into the fenced back garden.

to the back

garden near the arch path

Inside the back yard, a raised bed grows edibles.

veg

back garden, taken in late June

on tour day

Kathleen Shaw’s photo of the north side of the back garden

Our friend Kathleen Sayce’s view of the back garden

On the porch, I greeted singer Randy Brown, the musician for this garden, who last year was the musician for our garden on the tour.  I was hoping we would be at the Bristol garden during one of his sets.

Randy Brown

We reminisced for a little while; he said, “Your garden was industrial strength colour therapy!  Vietnam vets with PTSD should go there to heal.”  He would have loved Jo’s garden!

Allan’s photo of Randy

Randy and his drummer. He excels at making up songs about the moment.

from the porch, looking west

The garden tour confab had gotten bigger.  I joined it just before we left, and then Sheila and Debbie and Allan were waiting for me, after I had tried to keep them on schedule up til then!

on the back patio, a sheltered spot from wind

The patio is on the east side of the house.

delicious refreshments

yummy

fire circle

patio

Sheila taking a photo, Deb probably thinking about taking a photo

I am sure I would have snagged some Sheila photos for this blog, but she is having computer problems and has not been able to process hers yet.  Debbie’s photos will likely appear on her own Rainyside website.  In fact, it is on the Rainyside and other gardens forums that Sheila and I originally “met” even thought at the time, we both lived on the Long Beach Peninsula.

I should add that this house and property is for sale as of July 2013.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Music in the Gardens: Deemer garden

July 20, 2013

from the program: Laura Deemer is a passionate gardener who never has trouble finding time to work in her yard. As you enter through a gated archway you will be greeted by a cottage garden in small raised beds. Circling the property to explore the many planted areas and shady retreats you will find specimen trees, original metal garden art by husband Don, a quirky mix of mounted birdhouses and a gazebo perfectly suited for music in the garden. A pond built by Don and Laura is fed by a small recirculating stream.

The Deemer garden was discovered by tour organizer Nancy Allen when she was going down a tiny local road looking for an estate sale. She knew by peeking into the garden that something good was going on there, so she introduced herself and asked Laura if she would like to be on the tour. Nancy and I visited the garden again about a week later and were both impressed with Don and Laura’s garden artistry. Happily, Laura did agree to open her garden for tour day. (Again, because I did not photograph every last thing on tour day, I have included some photos I took of details on the two occasions that I visited the gardens before the tour.)

roadside fence

From the driveway, the main garden has two entries, one, below, leading to the front porch. The Deemers extensively remodeled their home and added decks over the years.

entry, looking south, with garden tour guest

Entering through the gate above, you will see garden beds on your right.

entering

Kathleen Sayce got a good angle on the symmetrical flower beds.

looking southwest

Another gate leads you below the flower beds, and that is the one we entered through on tour day.

looking south from the other gate on a pre-tour visit

Now the flower beds are to our left, and on tour day, Laura had put out informative signage about her favourite plants.

Geranium psilostemon

This is information that I did not know!

My friends were especially smitten with the Deemers’ artisitic birdhouse posts. Laura told me she had made this one since my previous visit which had only been a couple of weeks earlier.

shell birdhouse post

mosaic post

On my previous visit, Laura told me they had also made the leaf and round pillar birdbath.

birdbath

They also built their pond and streamlet water feature.

pond on an earlier visit

pond on tour day with garden art by Don Deemer

photo by Kathleen Sayce

head of recirculating streamlet

the tiny stream on a pre-tour visit. I love this!

stream and pond

Our friend Kathleen Shaw caught a slightly different angle.

another birdhouse creation

coming around from the front porch and deck to the south side of the house

looking west back to the pond

Above, the shady southwest side of the garden used to be a vegetable patch until Laura decided to turn it into a woodland.

On the south side of the garden, where she has planted specimen trees and shrubs, she set up a table with before photos of the garden. I remember seeing this garden in its early days, over the fence, before it was surrounded with trees and shrubs…maybe 18 years ago as it is near Andersen’s RV Park, one of our longtime jobs.

before pictures

rustic birdhouses in woodsy south side garden

another birdhouse with fanciful post

People could walk all around the house via what is usually fenced off as a dog yard where two Australian Shepherds romp.

dog yard

Laura told me she likes to create sheltered places to get out of the sun. Below is an outdoor room behind the house.

outdoor room

The wall was painted by Susan Wallace of the Painted Lady Lavender Farm, which would be our last stop on tour day.

Leaving that room, we go along a shady walk, still in the dog yard. Laura told us one of the two dogs has been quite a problem with digging, but she has still managed to grow hydrangeas, ferns and hostas.

a shady walk

more good signage in the shade garden

Leaving the dog yard, we enter a large, square sunny garden room on the north side of the house….a secret garden that you might not even find it you did not look for it. Along the back fence (to the right in the photo below) is a low area that is used as a debris and compost pile. I am hoping our friend Sheila may have photographed that, as we both like to see the work areas of a garden! The main part of the garden here has another outdoor shelter, a gazebo large enough to have dinner in…or place a Music in the Gardens tour musician.

Laura herself approaches as we leave the dog yard.

Between the two raised beds of ferns, to the left, a path leads to another gate out to the driveway. This garden is enclosed with a tall fence, and the construction of the pergola is absolutely solid.

musician Jennifer Goodenberger

Jennifer Goodenberger

An elegant garden of shrubs and ferns with a dry creek bed runs along the north fence of this garden area.

Note the hydrangrea blossoms in the birdbath

dry creek

dry creek with bridge

gazebo…note fire circle just beyond it.

looking northeast through the gazebo windows

I don’t see many “outdoor rooms” that are this beautifully built with windows…a perfect shelter from the beach wind.

another of Don’s old garden tool birds

The skills of Don and Laura are evidenced in everything from the well built structures, to the paths and decks and paving, to the birdhouses and pond and Don’s playful metal sculptures.

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Music in the Gardens: Fitzsimmons garden

July 19th and 20th, 2013

from the program:  Cottage gardens wrap around this 1896 home in a succession of outdoor rooms, each filled with breath-taking color and whimsical garden art.  Flowers and feeders provide a sanctuary for birds, which you will surely hear as you meander on the brick path.  The welcoming deck is a haven for friends and family.  This exquisite garden will be a great inspiration to those who garden in small spaces.

The garden tour was on the 20th, but I have included some photos from the 19th when we did our last check up on this garden, one we have been working on, with owners Jo and Bob, for 19 years.  I knew it would be crowded with people on tour day so wanted to get some clear photos of the garden from one end to the other the day before.

This photo, taken by a friend on tour day, shows the driveway approach to the home.   You might not guess what a lavish garden lies beyond the gate.

photo by Kathleen Sayce

Looking west at the entry arch, photo by Kathleen Shaw on tour day

On Friday, Jo agrees the garden is ready.

through the arch on tour day

Just inside, along the wall of the garage (which has been turned into a garden shed on one side and a darling guest cottage on the other) are containers and windowboxes featuring plants from The Basket Case Greenhouse.

along the guest cottage wall (a north facing wall)

The annual geraniums, alternating pink and red, thrive even though one side is at the base of a north wall.

geranium (pelargonium) walk

For the windowboxes, Jo buys flats of assorted annuals from the Basket Case and then I figure out an arrangement with what she brings home.  Every year we do her ground level arrangement of pink and red geraniums with alyssum so the window boxes echo that pattern.

guest cottage windowbox, north wall

At the northwest corner of the guest cottage (formerly a garage), you get the first good look at the 1896 house.

beach house

Meanwhile, on the other (north) side of the geranium walk, raised up with a railway sleeper wall (railroad ties to non-anglophiles) is a bed of mixed colourful perennials and annuals.  Inspired by visiting my garden last summer, Jo had us tear out some shrubs and some dull perennials (big yellow daylily, for example) and plant thickly with our favourite plants, especially the ones she had pointed at as we walked through my garden.

sunny bed on north side of entry walk

Above: I see Salvia viridis (painted sage), Nicotiana langsdorfii (chartreuse flowering tobacco), snapdragons, salpiglossis, Eryngiums, Cosmos, Agastache, backed with Lavatera ‘Barnsley’.  The rugosa rose at the right is so fragrant that it was allowed to stay during the re-do.

another view of new mixed bed

Back to the northwest corner of the guest house:  If you look south, you will see a shade bed planted against the house deck.

(left) more windowboxes
(right) shade bed

a view looking north from beside the shade bed, photo by Kathleen Shaw

Above, shade bed would be to your left and the guest cottage window to your right.

Up we go to the next level.

to the right, an old bench with containers

Fat little birds like to sit on the rail above that bench.  A friend told me the birds were there even on tour day.

friendly bird

A wooden arch and metal gate lead into a narrow path in the new mixed border.

the day before tour day

Honeysuckle grows over the arch.

Inside the arch, people could walk one by one on a narrow brick path through the newly planted colour beds.  Jo calls it a “one butt path”.

narrow path, east to the white entry arch through which we entered the geranium walk.

looking west back to the honeysuckle arch

looking west back to the honeysuckle arch

just inside the honeysuckle arch where the garden comes to a triangular corner

North of the honeysuckle arch on a small patio at the north side of the deck is a water feature with a tipping bucket.

This is a favourite spot for the birds.

on the deck the day before tour day

on tour day, photo by Kathleen Sayce

tour day refreshments including Bob Fitzsimmons’ home made cookies.

Jo serving lemonade

Jo and Bob have a wonderfully arranged deck, sheltered from south and west winds and with a roofed nook by the back door.

Tom Trudell was the musician at this garden and played in a cozy corner of the deck.

northeast corner of deck, looking over the garden; hanging basket at right is on guest cottage

Just west of the tipping bucket water feature, we walk through another wooden arch into the center patio.

just past that arch….the day before tour day

Above, the guest house is marked by the hanging basket, and the tipping bucket water feature would be to your right if you walked back through the wooden gate.  You can see the metal gate to the left, and the plant bench below the rail where the chubby birds like to sit.

just west of that gate on tour day, photo by Kathleen Sayce

Here is the center courtyard, on the north side of the house, looking west.  Next year, Jo wants to remove the old rhododendrons and make a new, no doubt colourful, shade garden on the north wall.

center courtyard

When we first started working in this garden in about 1995, all that was here was a line of rhododendrons running along the fence and a straight gravel path down the middle.

center courtyard with bird feeders

looking west; to the left, stairs to the house.

looking west over the fence

Jo demands that every plant provide lots of colour; if it is not colourful enough, she says a plant “doesn’t have enough bang for the buck”.

colour

This garden view was one of my main inspirations to move from my old shady garden to a sunny one in 2010!

through the gate

just past the windmill

birdbath where the path curves to the west

turning south at the west side of the house

Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ that Allan fenced in with rebar and bamboo

looking south; the path to the right leads to a west gate, below

The west gate opens onto a big lawn that is also part of the property.  When Jo said she wanted part of her garden to look just like mine with all her favourite plants that she saw when mine was on tour last year, I never thought to say we could make a garden exactly like mine by doing great big beds out in this lawn!   We are contemplating the idea, I’m not sure how seriously on Jo’s part!

daisies and monkshood in southwest garden

looking south: the garden ends here

Let’s turn around and walk back to the center courtyard, admiring the plantings from a different angle.

looking north from the end of the brick path

the northwest corner of the old porch steps

The house had a west and north facing wrap around porch that has been enclosed into a wonderful L shaped sitting room.

looking east, swinging back around the corner

Years ago, my former partner Robert Sullivan laid this path for Jo and Bob.  Originally, the beds were straight and edged with railroad ties and the whole impression was not soft and flowing like this.

around the corner, looking east to the center courtyard

daisies and Lavatera ‘Barnsley’

from the garden, looking over Knautia macedonica to center courtyard

the day before the tour: Coco went to “doggy spa” on tour day.

looking east in the center courtyard the day before the tour

guests in tour attire

pointing at a hummingbird

It was an enormous pleasure to help Jo and Bob get this garden ready for the tour.  For more history of their garden, just put “Jo’s garden” into the search box on this blog!

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Music in the Gardens: Peggy Miles Memorial Garden

from the program: This pocket-size townhouse garden was created by the late Peggy Miles and continues to thrive in her memory with tending by her husband Gene. The front porch abounds with the charm and beauty of colorful hanging baskets and potted plants. Narrow beds surrounding the house are planted with deer-resistant plants. The jewel of this garden is the tucked-away courtyard in back, filled with a bold composition of shade plants and well-chosen ground covers placed in crevices between pavers and river rocks. At the end of the courtyard is Gene’s upcycled pallet composter and a chiminea-seating area.

The first garden we visited on tour day…after getting a bit of a late start so our friends could visit the Port of Ilwaco Saturday Market…was the Peggy Miles Memorial garden. We had been working on it since Peggy’s husband had asked for our help a couple of months before, but most of the gardening preparaton for the tour was his, on the foundation of the garden that he and Peggy made together.

the garden viewed from the street, previous day

on tour day

Gene had set up, by his garage, photo boards showing the progress of the garden along with pictures of his late wife, Peggy, who had died of ovarian cancer in the spring of 2013.

the story of the garden

Peggy Taylor Miles

Gene’s beautiful eulogy

I am sure my friend Sheila was not the only one who wept when reading the story of the garden.

Later in the day, Gene brought out delicious snacks and served wine; we were north touring other gardens by then, so I am borrowing a photo taken by Peggy’s daughter:

photo by Annalisa Taylor Smith

Gene told us later that he served to tour guests the first batch of wine and brought out more from his personal cellar! The little caprese pizzas were a hit.

Shelley Loring was the musician at the Miles garden.

storyboards, tent, music, in the garage driveway

Next to this display, the front porch overflowed with beautiful containers that Gene had planted, along with hanging baskets from The Basket Case Greenhouse.

Annalisa Taylor Smith got a good shot of how the porch relates to the garage entrance.

front porch

porch banner

I love the way that Gene has containers lined up all along the driveway line between his and the neighbouring townhouse.

Gene talking to tour guests by the streetside garden.

The main thing we did to help Gene prepare was to choose plants to go in the streetside garden which was new and had only spring bulbs in it when we started, except for a big beautiful lavender at the far corner.

streetside garden

tour guests

You can see, above, the big lavender encircling the lamp post.

As always, folks wanted to know the name of the painted sage (Salvia viridis).

Everyone loved the sweet little garden in the drainage spot by the road, planted up by Gene with absolutely no help from us and just adorable!

a miniature garden

looking from the tiny garden to the townhouse garden (across entry drive)

Our friend Kathleen Sayce took this photo from the lavender corner of the driveway, looking toward the porch.

two plants by the house, planted by Gene: a salpiglossis and a ??

These photos, taken the day before the tour, show the two narrow beds running along the house and street.

Gene plans to make the bed next to the house curvier to echo the outer bed.

at the east end of the garden, a box planted with edibles, and a potato cage (left)

Just next to that wire cage planted with spuds is the gate to the beautiful little sheltered courtyard. Our friend Kathleen Shaw took a good photo showing the entry to the courtyard:

daylily at SE corner of house by courtyard gate

through the open gate

(Above) The medley of groundcovers and shade plants was designed by Peggy with the addition of baskets and, on the left, a new area planted by Gene in the early summer.

photo by Kathleen Sayce

pavers and river rock

On the back wall of the courtyard sits a composter that Gene built from old pallets.

Gene’s compost bin

looking south from the courtyard…such a pretty green oasis.

I appreciate my friends letting me use their photos. It is hard to remember to photograph everything on tour day in a garden with which I have become so familiar. I think this garden spoke to a lot of people about loss, love, and memory and it’s important to me to show every view of it.

“In one sense, there is no death. The life of a soul on earth lasts beyond her departure. You will always feel that life touching yours, that voice speaking to you, that spirit looking out of other eyes, talking to you in the familiar things she touched, worked with, loved as a familiar friend. She lives on in your life and in the lives of all others that knew her.” Angelo Patri

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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pre-tour work week, part three

Thursday, July 18th

Our very first thing on Thursday was to go to The Planter Box garden center to take some photos for the Peninsula Cash Mob Facebook page. Some of our friends were there, so we timed it well. Unlike offseason cash mobs, we could not wait around for more folks to show up. We heard later that Tom and Judy went and bought another Japanese maple for a grand total of 31 in their small garden.

friends at the cash mob

Then we began our work day back in Long Beach checking on the planters on the Sid Snyder beach approach. I want to share how good the World Mark resort garden looks at the west end of the road. It had been languishing and looking pretty awful a few years ago, with tatty overgrown Phormiums and lots of weeds. Local landscaper and nurseryman Steve Clarke took it on a little over a year ago and now it looks wonderful.

garden by Steve Clarke

We checked on Gene’s garden and did just a little more weeding and deadheading to keep it absolutely spiffing for tour day.

Allan weeding Gene’s cute little streetside pocket garden

ready for tour day at Gene and Peggy’s garden

Peggy, who created this garden, died of ovarian cancer late this spring. She would have been so proud of all the work Gene has done here. The arrangements of pots and hanging baskets is all his (with large baskets created by Nancy Aust of the Basket Case Greenhouse). All we did was add plants to the long streetside garden and do some advising and weeding on the rest of the garden.

Gene’s porch and driveway arrangements

Next, the Depot Restaurant, where the Dierama is in its full glory.

at the Depot

Cosmos filling in at the Depot

Then…

the weekly deadheading and horsetail purge at the Long Beach welcome sign

And on to Jo’s for the last thorough check up before garden tour day.

newly planted area looking good at Jo’s

friendly little bird at Jo’s

no telephoto required for Jo’s birds!

Jo’s garden is looking wonderful and would get one more pre-tour visit.

We next weeded in Long Beach’s Coulter Park because a “Railroad Days” event would take place the next day in the old train depot building there. (I love the annual Railroad Days but this year its weekend would be all garden touring instead.) It is so difficult to weed where a neighboring house lets salmonberry and bindweed grow up thickly on the other side of the fence so that it pops through both above and underground. I despair.

Coulter Park disaster

I had found a solution to the problem of having to water the Long Beach planters again. We would do them again on Thursday, and that would hold them through the weekend. We just would not have time on Friday. The plants must have been thrilled to get delicious water two days in a row…unheard of! Allan watered the tree gardens and bucket watered the Bolstadt beach approach planters (so tiring) and I did the city ones. No resting on the cute bench by NIVA green!

NIVA bench

By seven thirty, we were back in Ilwaco giving a good watering to Larry and Robert’s garden. Tom and Judy came across the street and visited with us while we finished up.

the boat needs more plants!!

right: Larry and Robert garden, and across the street, Tom and Judy’s

Finally, in the later evening at home I had a bit more time to check my garden. Even though I was expecting three discerning garden friends to visit I had not had time to make it perfect. That will have to wait till we are on the Edible Garden tour on August 11!

a lily at home

in the back garden

Friday, July 19th

We had cleared the decks of work and only needed to check the three tour gardens one last time! At each one, I took a series of photos of the garden in perfection, as I knew that on tour day there will be people milling about (another good photo subject, but I would like some clear shots of each garden as well).

We took our best table and chairs up to Marilyn’s lawn.

and only found this many weeds and clippings to remove!

Marilyn’s mom, Nancy, is ready for tour day!

and so is the garden, all filled in on the edges!

Yes, the Round Up disaster was successfully thwarted and the garden looks lush.

“Marilyn and Nancy’s healing garden”

Just down the street, a deer demonstrated why this garden is a good example of how one can have lots of flowers even with deer browsing by the house windows.

by the road

We made a quick stop at Jo’s and found very little to do other than take lots of photos to add to the tour day album.

Jo is ready, too.

Coco would love to meet all the people on tour day.

Coco

But Coco is going “to the doggy spa” on tour day so that there is no chance she might escape the garden with all the gates open and people going into and out of the house.

Sorry, Coco!

At Gene’s, we met his daughter who had come to help on the last day. Gene was off buying food for the tour since he, as all the tour hosts, were going all out on hospitality.

Gene’s garden is ready!

And finally…after texting them several times to report about how close we were to being done with work…we got to Olde Towne Café in time to join our friends from out of town!

Kathleen, Olde Towne owner Luanne, and Sheila!

Debbie Teashon showed up shortly after this photo was taken and the party was complete.

Later that evening we gathered for a Serious Pizza dinner in our garden along with Tom and Judy, our wonderful gardening neighbours from down the block.

pizza party with Sheila, Judy, Tom, Debbie, Allan

Kathleen was staying at the north end of the Peninsula so we would not see her again till Saturday.

Just outside the fence from our party patio (where we have quiet, good neighbour gatherings only!) sits my late neighbour Nora’s house. I miss her and hope that someday when it goes up for sale that some wonderful gardener neighbours buy it….someone like my friends here.

Oh for a good neighbour

Next, the Music in the Gardens tour! But first, do let me remind you of a wonderful tour coming up on July 27th:

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pre-tour work week, part two

Wednesday July 17th

Ah, the view from my window with no time to walk out into the garden except to water the tomatoes in the greenhouse…

screened window view

I started the day in a saddish mood because my friends Sheila and Harold had been going to come stay at Andersen’s RV Park for five nights so that Sheila could attend the garden tour. A friend of theirs was ill and needed their help (because they are the best kind of caring neighbours) so she thought she would not be able to attend after all. I had a brainstorm that maybe Sheila could come on her own for two nights; she agreed it was doable and Harold could check up on their dear neighbour, and I was able to find her a room in a motel just a couple of blocks from my house. Joy! (We are all getting older and less inclined to crash on a friend’s living room floor or couch.)

Our first mission was to drive half an hour or so north to Marilyn’s garden in Surfside and mow her lawn. This is normally not our job but we wanted to make sure it got done in time and also by mowing it ourselves we could be assured the lawn mower would not spray grass all into the garden beds at the last minute before the tour. That often happens and would be a traumatic surprise to find on tour day.

Allan mowing a tiny lawn with a small electric mower

By doing the lawn ourselves, we also could make a nice arced pattern, not that it would last till the weekend. I started out mowing lawns on the Peninsula and enjoyed making attractive patterns.

one sad Dianthus

The very last of the plants affected by the Round Up fiasco got pulled out. It never did recover and I had left it as long as I could. It pulled my eye right to its sad condition. Maybe I can revive it at home. I replaced it with a fresh new Dianthus that I had with my which had been intended for Andersen’s RV Park.

We deadheaded the Cosmos to make sure they had as many beautiful blossoms as possible on tour day.

Cosmos

Then we weeded and deadheaded at the Wiegardt Gallery…

Wiegardt Gallery, looking south from the parking lot

and Klipsan Beach Cottages, where Riley wanted to be in the picture.

Riley and the driveway garden

in the fenced garden

an eccentric elephant garlic

sit spot, with the Tetrapanax papyrifer ‘Steroidal Giant’ FINALLY big enough to see behind the bench.

Next, Andersen’s RV Park. With Sheila not staying there after all, we did not spend as much time as we might have otherwise (imagining her checking out every single garden bed!), and that turned out to be a very good thing.

a different view of the picket fence garden (looking north from inside center gate)

picket fence garden, looking south from inside center gate

lilies and alliums in the picket fence garden

west side garden

Poppies in the west side garden

After six, we headed down to Long Beach where, as we drove south through town, I noticed with a feeling of doom that a painted sage looked wilted in one of the northernmost planters. The further into town we got, the more I noticed subtle signs of distress in the planters and I realized that we absolutely had to water them even though we still had a bit of essential watering to do in Ilwaco, as well. It would have worked to wait till the next morning (although they would be a bit more distressed by then) but I had scheduled a Peninsula Cash Mob event for The Planter Box garden center and we would have to be there by eleven fifteen to take photos for the Facebook page. By noon, the planters would really have their tongues hanging out…so we started watering at six thirty PM, soaking each planter thoroughly and spraying down the foliage as well.

distress at the base of the Salvia viridis!

At the top, most of the planters still looked good…

looking happy across from Home at the Beach

but by looking down into the plants, I could see that they were thirsty.

inside

My plant to water Tuesday and Thursday is the one I should have stuck to. By waiting till Wednesday, we would have to water again on Friday. This filled me with woe because I wanted to be done early on Friday to visit with Kathleen and Debbie who both were arriving from points north for Saturday’s garden tour. As I watered and brooded, a nice woman came up to me with a sweet little dog who wanted to say hi. Petting the pooch cheered me up some. When we finished watering at 8:15, I was also perked up by the sight of three cannas showing up well in the park by the Fifth Street public restrooms, an effect I had been trying to achieve.

three Canna pretoria

In Ilwaco, we had to water the garden boat by Time Enough Books…and just in time as it was also looking a little wilted. Oh dear, focusing so much on the three tour gardens had created some neglect in other gardens. I thought we would have to water the gardens by Queen La De Da’s gallery and by the port office as well, when who should I see out watering but artist Don Nisbett, whose gallery is by the port office. What a relief! He and Jenna have been regularly watering those and the Queen La De Da gardens.

Don said he would water the La De Da garden as well. I walked down to check for any sort of plant crisis because there would be an art night at the port on Thursday (the first one since 2010 that I would not have time to attend). The wind really whips this garden bed and it is looking bare at the east end. In the fall, I will do my best to remedy that. Now is not a good planting time for gardens that need tough things.

needs more!!

As dusk drew in I walked back to where Don was watering by the port and Allan was watering at Time Enough Books. Don thought it would be very funny if I took a photo like this:

I told him my blog is much more genteel than that, so I took this photo instead:

as the sun sets

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