Gardens by the Sea Tour ’13: Smith garden

July 27, 2013

The Gardens by the Sea tour (in Gearhart, Oregon) benefits Clatsop CASA.

Garden Six:  Karen Smith garden

from the program:  “A charming greenhouse and garden designed for year round fun, food and beauty.”

Allan’s photo

I was absolutely thrilled when we approached garden six.  I had expressed surprise when buying my ticket that there were six, rather than the advertised five, gardens.  It was, I was told,  a “bonus” garden.  I felt sure when we turned onto the block and…yes!!  It was the garden on a dead end street that I had happened upon by accident last year and wished that I could see.  (You can read about it after the description of the Hopkins-Young garden on last year’s tour.)  I had just known then from looking over the fence that this was a special place.

Oh the thrill to recognize the house and the honeysuckle!

I had grown accustomed by now to the garden owners not being present, which still (need I say?) mystifies me.  However, the owner of this garden had left a guest book that people could sign and I was able to add a note saying how excited I was to see it.

the view that had enticed me last year

the joy of stepping through the arbour into the front garden!

front (south side) of house

It was just as magical a house as I had remembered.

I love the capped bay windows!

looking back to the arbour

Lavatera ‘Barnsley’

front porch

porch rail

bird feeder

side view of porch

The front garden was very simple.

circle in front lawn

SW corner, front garden

SW corner

Allan found evidence that it is a play area.

looking east toward entrance

south side

It is when we take a path down the west side of the house that we come to the piece de resistance of this garden.

side path

I had just glimpsed a hint when looking over the fence yearningly last year that something special had been built in the back garden.

Wow! What a greenhouse! (south side)

Allan’s photo

The colour of the trim, the windows, the roof….all so beautiful.

east side of greenhouse

doors on east side

lintel

inside

Allan’s photo of the inside

a warm indoor table

lemons

 

Imagine having a greenhouse big enough to walk around in so comfortably, and have a meal on a rainy day.  All the tour guests were imagining it.

Allan’s photo of climate control thingie

birdcage

Allan’s photo of the bird

tomatoes

Allan’s tomato photo

Allan’s bug photo

 

sedum tray, photo by Allan

in the greenhouse, Allan’s photo

Earlier in the day, we had encountered our friend and client Lorna, of Andersen’s RV Park, at two of the other gardens.  Both times, she mentioned how much she wanted me to identify the pink plant in a pot outside the greenhouse in garden six.  Here it is….

the plant in question

closeup

It looked so familiar, but I could not identify it.  A sidalcea?  A group of tour guests stood around it all trying to ID it.  One tour goer said that she had acquired it by buying a pack of bulbs from Costco.  I find that unlikely, as I don’t think it comes from a bulb.  Sorry, Lorna!  I wish the gardener had been there to tell us.  I also wanted to know if the greenhouse bird got to fly around when the doors were closed.

The rest of the back garden had a picnic area and fire circle…

fire circle

picnic table (looking west)

I hope Allan is figuring out how to build a replica.

The east end of the garden had raised beds with veg and flowers.

east end of back garden

Allan’s photo, looking west

Rhomneya coulteri

Allan’s artichoke photo

back of house

back porch

It was time to go, so we walked to the west side of the house.

side view of back porch

not sure where this stash of tools and old doors was.

The tools interested Allan, as well.

Allan’s photo of garden tools

and a swirly plant in a pot…My grandmother had one of these.

As we departed the back yard, we saw just south of the greenhouse a play area that we had not noticed on the way in.  (The mesmerized-by-greenhouse effect.)

play area

And somewhere in the garden is this rustic gate:

not sure where!

 

the path down the west side, leaving

We had to admire the front of the house all over again.

south side

front porch…like a fairytale

front steps

Allan’s photo of the gables

Outside the gate, I took a look back in over the honeysuckle.

over the honeysuckle

Walking along the street to the south of the house, I remembered looking at it longingly the year before.

peering in

I’m so very glad we got to see it this year.

Next:  With the tour over, we go on the usual post-tour nursery shopping and visit a darling little structure in Seaside and admire the Seaside city gardens.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SW corner, front garden

 

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Gardens by the Sea tour ’13: Dreverscraft garden

July 27, 2013

Gardens by the Sea tour benefits Clatsop CASA.

Garden three: Cornelia and Bill Dreverscraft garden

from the program: “Seeing the light of proper placement. A delight to behold, clean and crisp and even.”

It is indeed one of the cleanest gardens I have ever seen, rivaled only by one from last year.

approaching

closer….

through the arch

To our left, the porch.

“Cornelia’s Cottage”

porch chairs

more porch seating

We encountered our friend and client Lorna of Andersen’s RV Park and Karen Clarke, another good gardener, again as they were entering and we were leaving this garden. I credit them with pointing out the interesting driftwood ball on the porch. (We also discussed how glads are getting so trendy but that they used to be strongly associated with funerals.)

driftwood ball

Allan examined it and said it was built on a wire frame.

Allan’s closeup

patio

I think it was Karen who noticed the colour coordination between plants and chairs and the throw on the bench.

bench

right across the street: the golf course

Lorna was very taken with the clipped boxwood in big pots.

pot feet

I wonder: Do snails and slugs live more happily under pots raised up with pot feet?

good signage for garden trees

beside the patio

Here we go around the side of the house….

side path

back corner of house

Allan’s photo, looking behind toward front garden

Allan’s photo

into the back garden

“Mind the steep path.”

The path was indeed a bit steep because gravel can be slippy. We turned instead to the upper level gravel patio right behind the the house.

back wall of house

looking downhill at the garden

by the upper gravel patio

good ID sign for tree

Stewartia

I so look forward to my own Stewartia getting big enough to bloom and have good bark. Just when the one at my old house first bloomed, we moved! And started again with a young tree,

to our right: view to a lower expanse of gravel

ahead: steps to deck

deck stairs

deck view to upper patio

deck railing display

for lounging….

…and reading

deck planter

looking straight down from back of deck

and below, expanse of gravel

deck view of a pool of Geranium ‘Rozanne’

and steps going down

Allan’s view of steps going down…

with me (sore knee, dizzy, swollen eyelid!) for sense of scale

back down the deck steps

Allan thinks this gate would be an excellent solution for our friends and clients Larry and Robert, who have at present a very wonky chicken wire arrangement for their dog yard!

We take the steps down to the lower gravel area.

I assume while there that the large expanse of gravel is because the garden owners have huge parties. Only later, I think when at Back Alley gardens, do I hear that the gravel is a garden in progress. So I gather now that there will be more plants added, perhaps like a scree garden. Like the other gardens we have visited so far, the owners are not there and so there is no one to interpret the garden for us. (How can they bear to not be there hearing our interest?)

below the deck

smokebush by base of stone and gravel stairs

seating on the gravel expanse

I would love to know how much of this area is going to be planted up!

looking back up at the house

from further into the lower gravel area

From the neighbours’ garden behind where I stood to take the above photo is a borrowed view of a pond. It looks like a hedge of trees has been planted that will block the view, but the sound of the fountain will still remain.

borrowed view

the pool of Rozanne

looking back

tree with tidy rock edges and circle

looking up the slope

diving visually into the pool of Rozanne

walking up the slope (there is the back of the “mind the steep path” sign)

Again at the back wall of the house, we admire the green plantings along the edge…

baby tears

and notice a baby in the baby tears!

green on green

Allan’s view

caged

Allan took the photo above at the back corner of the house. The Fuchsia looks like ‘Hawkshead’, white with pale green tips, perfect for the green theme.

a look back to the lower garden

at the side of the house

the way out

As we come through the arbour into the front garden again, we notice a planted roasting pan.

The pig is a clever touch.

Just then is when we re-encountered Lorna and Karen, who were about to go around into the back garden. Lorna pointed out to me something I had missed….

girl with marbles

So I told her to be sure to look for the baby face in the back garden. Later we encountered her again at another garden and she told me they had looked for it for fifteen minutes and it was well worth the search, but that she wished the garden owner had been there to answer questions.

In all this extraordinarily, large, well kept garden, I saw only one weed, a small dandelion sneaking impudently up between pavers in the front patio and showing one audacious yellow flower. Perfection reigned throughout.

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Gardens by The Sea Tour: prelude

July 29, 2012, Gearhart, Oregon

At the end of a shopping trip preceding our own garden tour, I had seen a flyer for the Gearhart tour.  There had been Gearhart tours that I had not known about every year since the glorious one I had been on in 2008?  If so, we had been missing out!  (But I do not recall the 2008 one being a benefit for Casa.)

FIFTH annual?? Argh.

At the starting point, a lawn next to the Trail’s End Art Center, fliers explained the mission of CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates for children), and delicious treats were offered.

starting point

bouquets and plants for sale

on the ticket table

The Ridge Trail

Could this fascinating collection of plants be the first garden?

On the corner, a collection of my favourite Eryngiums!

Acacia pravissima

We were all stopped in our tracks by this garden, which was not on the tour. The owner, Roger, was busy painting something and did not make any effort to lure us in. We were all buzzing around so he came to talk to us, of course.  As I suspected, A lot of Roger’s plants came from my favourite nursery, Cistus on Sauvie Island…including the Acacia (above) which I once had till it got broken off when snow slid off my roof in an unusually bad winter.

 

Acacia pravissima detail

Eucalyptus

Roger’s glorious Eucalyptus collection also spoke to me of Cistus nursery; it turned out he is a professional landscaper, not at all to our surprise.

Roger’s house

in Roger’s garden

 

Roger’s wonderful dog

He also had an exceptionally sweet dog.   But while his garden had been on the tour before, this year it was just a serendipitous find on the corner of the block which had, further down, an actual tour garden.   After  much dog petting and plant admiring, we finally moved on to tour garden number one, half a block away.

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