Saturday, 20 July 2019
Markham Farm
We arrived back at our guest cottage at 6:45 and had a look at the little garden there, where I saw tadpoles in the pond.
After a brief rest, I walked on down to the farm ahead of Allan. The evening sun highlighted the garden bed that I saw the first time we visited here two years ago; I remembered that moment when I knew we had arrived at a wonderful place.
While I am not well traveled, I have toured dozens of Pacific Northwest gardens and this is my favourite of all.
One of the reasons I love this garden best: It has horses.
I kept wandering, with Barry and Gus the only residents I had seen so far.
The property includes many wooded acres and a beach. The garden itself is three? or five? acres.
I entered the shrubbery.
Another reason I love this garden best: It is multi-layered and intricate with little or no space between plants, and yet the plants are also well defined.
Another reason I love this garden best: lots of hydrangeas.
Right about here, I heard rustling and met Terri and Ilsa wandering the paths from the other direction. We then wandered together, soon joined by Allan, and Terri showed us some favourite plants. She said she had recently realized she “gardens in vignettes.”
(Terri, Ilsa, Bill, and Barry are four more reasons that this is my favourite garden.)
We walked to the other side of the driveway to admire some new daylilies.
Terri had limbed up the Fuchsia magellanica by the pavilion (an old remodeled garage, site of an old forge).
I remembered how I’d limbed up fuchsias in my old garden and now felt inspired to do so again when we returned home. Another reason this garden is a favourite: it gives me ideas.
I doubt I have the story entirely right about the sculpture, below; something like…it used to be in Terri and Bill’s old Seattle neighbourhood, and then it was sitting out for free and they were able to snag it and bring it to Markham Farm.
Another reason this garden is my favourite: It abounds in garden art, much of which is found, upcycled, or gifted, nothing ostentatious, nothing that tries to be more important than the garden.
After our garden walk, we entered the house…
..for some cheesecake garnished with three kinds of berries. The dessert was deliciously photogenic but good conversation distracted me from saving its image for posterity.
We were able to return to the guest cottage without feeling the sadness of departure, because tomorrow we’d be in the Markham Farm again with friends.
My favourite garden of all we saw that week, and the week held two other gardens that were tough competition – Bayside and the Lemke garden. All were gorgeous, but this one sang to my personal sense of what I want a garden to be. A place where I could lose myself – transported, embraced, comforted, and surrounded by so much beauty and fragrance it would tug me between laughing, crying, and that long sigh of contentment.
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Exactly. I wept the first time I was there (secretly, in the shrubbery) with pure joy.
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Stunning. A great garden tour and wonderful place to stay.
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“It is multi-layered and intricate with little or no space between plants, and yet the plants are also well defined.” This is such a difficult thing to achieve, and I find it quite elusive in my garden. What a satisfying visit you had!i
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My garden is a muddle compared to Terri’s. I think the extra space helps. I’m cramming too much in. Need to expand further into the bogsy woods!
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I love seeing gardens through your eyes, Skylar (Alan, too). I learn so much from all the gardens you take us through in your blog. Thank you for introducing us to your wonderful gardener friends. Real gardeners are the ones who look at a big garden and see the beauty rather than getting overwhelmed by the perceived amount of work. I hope you will stay with us next year!
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Oh, thank you. I am ecstatic to accept that invitation in advance! Maybe we can get Peter and Kilyn to park their rig there, too. We could have some great hang out time with you and them.
You are right, I never look at a garden and think how much work it must be! I just envy all that space because garden work at home is pure pleasure.
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I like all of the paths and am a big fan of recycled garden art. If I came your way, this would be a garden I’d want to visit. I get a peaceful vibe from the photos of this garden.
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We would definitely to to arrange a trip there if you were here.
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Beautiful! My favorite garden you have toured, too. You captured it well in the evening light. The Hydrangea aspera is spectacular! I love the limbed up Fuchsia magellanica, too.
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Next year, when the tour is in Montesano and Satsop, I hope you can take a side tour to see this garden. Or you may have already connected with Terri to see it some other time.
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