16 July: touring Pink Poppy Farm

Sunday, 16 July 2017

I woke up very early (for me), filled with anticipation of a fun day of touring local gardens with Ann (The Amateur Bot-ann-ist), Evan (from Plant Delights, Cistus, and now Plant Lust), and more.  First I needed to water my greenhouse and patio plants.

Skooter is so happy to be allowed out during the day again (even though I have concerns that it is too soon).

Ann and Evan arrived at ten.  They toured our garden for awhile.

Sanguisorba ‘Lilac Squirrel’

These photos remind me of how for five years, to no avail, I kept asking the local tour to change the promotion wording, “You are invited to examine and inspect the gardens” to “appreciate and enjoy the gardens”, to sound less like a medical exam.  I would be listened to and humored, but the wording never changed.  Yet here we are examining and inspecting!

not an area of collectible plants but for some reason I noticed it.

Salvia patens petals on the lawn (Allan’s photo)

With the garden pretty thoroughly and kindly inspected, we were off to tour six (and a bit) Peninsula gardens.  The little bit was our stop at the Clarke garden on the way north.  I did not have a way to contact them, and I did want to show Ann and Evan the attractive containers especially.  (Karen, we did not trespass into the back garden although I have a feeling you would not have minded.)  We just “examined and inspected” the containers in the driveway.

Evan wanted to know which grass this is.

more glorious containers

Pink Poppy Farm

We began our tour with Pink Poppy Farm, a favourite of mine.  Dave and Melissa (Sea Star Gardening) arrived to join us. Pink Poppy Farmer Mike greeted us with the offer of drinks and walked with us through the garden, soon joined by his spouse Lynn, even though they must have been tired because their garden had been on the peninsula garden tour yesterday (while we were in Menlo).  The garden name may sound familiar to you because their daughter, Madeline, is the owner of Pink Poppy Bakery.

Ann, Evan, Skyler, Mike

For a more orderly beginning-to-end tour of this garden four years ago, check out this post.

Today, we wandered here and there in the garden.

Allan’s photo

Mike, Dave, and Allan by the Imperial Chicken Palace

The Imperial Chicken Palace

Look closely to see the bear on the coop.

chooks

Melissa communing with a hen (Allan’s photo)

Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ and clematis (Allan’s photo)

Maddy and her dad love old black and white films.

Allan’s photo

Evan taking photos

interior design: I love this kitchen tile.

up a slope into the garden

house and workshop

looking back at the chicken palace

Allan’s photo

The garden specializes in food and in cutting flowers.

Maddy’s old swing set repurposed into a bean trellis

one of several greenhouses and hoop houses

Ann and Lynn (Allan’s photo)

must be amaranth (Allan’s photo)

Evan, Allan, Ann, and Lynn

(left) Evan taking photos

We got our sprinklers-on-posts watering idea from this garden.

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

fire area with a “cemetery rose”

Looking back over the garden.  (Right) one of the tables left from the fabulous Wedding at Pink Poppy Farm

One of the hoophouses had a crop of young wasabi.

The leaves were hot and delicious.

another productive hoophouse

Some of the produce you will find for sale when Pink Poppy Bakery has a booth at the market (which is not every Saturday this year).

tiered beds at the end of the hoophouse

another cutting bed

Lynn pointed out this exceptionally pretty calendula.

sweet peas and bachelor buttons

pompom dahlias, my favourite kind

Allan’s photo

Tigridia (Allan’s photo)

Here we go heading off to four gardens in and near  Oysterville.