Gardens, Sea and Art Tour: Living Rooms

Saturday, 20 July 2019

Gardens, Sea and Art tour

presented by the WSU Master Gardeners of Grays Harbor and Pacific Counties

Ocean Shores

garden two: Living Rooms

In the front garden, ivy and honeysuckle had been trimmed around some sort of pre-existing structure, but neither Allan nor I found out for sure what it was.

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

Oh but wait! Here is a before photo!

Before photos are always appreciated.

On the other side of the honeysuckle sculpture, a small pond was screened against raccoons.

Down the side of the house to the back garden…

back deck

decorated shed

Allan’s photo

Sit spots abound in this garden.

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

Kilyn followed these footprints…

…but did not find a bear.

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

In the way back corner, we found a playhouse and a campfire circle with a useful grill…

…and a space for games. Kilyn looked through the back gate and said it was a place to put debris, something gardeners wonder about.

Allan’s photo

Just like Kilyn, I always look for the hidden areas that show how the garden works, where the compost is and where the debris goes and the empty flower pots are stored.

We found a greenhouse.

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo – Just take this bucket to where you’re working to always have the right tool nearby.

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

This may be a memory garden for a tuxedo cat:

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

Allan’s photo

On the shady side of the house…

And we emerge into the front garden again.

Allan’s photo

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25 August: Beech Cottage garden

Saturday, 25 August 2018

Beach Cottage Garden, Manzanita

We had been so fortunate to encounter Jane at the official Hardy Plant Society open garden, and to have her take us to see her garden. I had wanted to see it ever since I had bought some garden cards from her at the Tillamook Spade and Wade tour.

Jane’s cards

Our tour group was now down to four, because Beth and Ketzel had late afternoon plans.

Jane with her bamboo privacy screen.

As she showed us the front garden outside the fence, she said that the English don’t like to plant in fives and sevens, they plant in a hodge podge, and because she is English, her garden is that way. Of course, me being such an Anglophile, I knew exactly what she was on about.

 

We entered the garden through the gate with its wildlife habitat sign.

late blooms on wisteria (Allan’s photo)

To the left the front porch.  Beech is Jane’s favourite tree.

Between the porch and the fence is a shady courtyard.  Jane said that the English like to arrange their gardens in rooms, and that hers is a series of rooms.

Pam and Jane in the courtyard.

in the far corner of the courtyard

Inside the fence, by the gate, you can see how effective the bamboo privacy screen is.

Also inside the fence: red runner beans.

The largest of the rooms is the garden on the south side, with a rock wall made by a local stonemason.

It is backed with trees and shrubbery.  Jane and her husband used to own the wooded lot to the south of their cottage.

behind the flower garden

The garage is at the back of the lot.  Clearly, it is much more important to have the garden than a driveway going through past the house.

a garage not for a car

looking back

layered foliage in the background

Jane had grown some veg, like salad greens, at one end of the garden.  She said they did not do very well because she was not very interested, as she prefers flowers. I could not agree more.

on the back wall of the cottage

We entered the back garden room through a wonderful sliding glass door and found Jane’s husband comfortably reading on a deck.

I recently read that Manzanita is a very windy place; this must make for a calm and quiet place to sit.  They have many meals in summer at a table on the back porch overlooking the deck.

Jane and her dog (Allan’s photo)

Pam was the one who won the dog’s approval immediately.

the back corner of the garden

It was a treat to get to see the garden that had been the subject of the flower painting and photo cards.  How fortuitous for us that the visit fell into place,  I was well chuffed, and I know that Jane, who was born in Leeds, would know what I mean by that.

Jane closing the door to the garden reading room

Takeaways: I would very much like a glassed in outdoor room, because our place in Ilwaco is also very windy.  I wish I had done more of a “room” type thing in my very open garden.  There might still be a couple of places to achieve that feeling.

As we left, I reflected that it is very much a secret garden.

We now headed back to Cannon Beach and dropped Prissy off at the Waves resort, and Pam and Allan and I continued back to Seaside with a meal in mind and one more public garden to tour.

 

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Music in the Gardens 2015: Mimosa Garden

Saturday, 18 July 2015

Music in the Gardens Tour, Long Beach Peninsula

a benefit for the Water Music Festival and music programs in local schools

ticket tour map

Garden 3: Mimosa Garden (Holtermann Garden

Waving tropical fish flags greet you as you begin your tour of an art-filled patio garden with colorful pots, choice and well-grown plants, and a wall pocket of textured succulents. Stroll through the full-sun gardens wrapping around the this dune-facing home, which well meets all the challenges of the wind, fog and salt air.  Enjoy the many spots to sit, a working potting bench, and a small kitchen garden.

This aerial photo taken by local photographer Bob Duke with the aid of his drone show how close the garden is to the dunes:

photo by Bob Duke, showing the triangular shaped lot

garden tour day

on a pre-tour visit June 1st (when we just looked at the garden from here, as we were making a spontaneous drive-by)

photo by Kathleen Shaw

photo by Bob Duke

south side of house

Mimosas and lemony ice water were on offer at the welcome table.

treats (Allan’s photo)

Allan’s photo

Gardener Pat’s t shirt (Allan’s photo)

west side, photo by Kathleen Shaw

cheerful entry garden

photo by Kathleen Shaw

The garden had looked just as perfect when Nancy and I visited on July 3rd to get some “sneak peek” photo for the tour’s Facebook page as it did on tour day.  I noticed how well-grown the plants are.  Just two days before the tour, Pat’s husband sent us this photo captioned “Working through the pain to get ready for the garden tour.”  Pat had hurt her leg and was continuing the preparation on crutches.  Because the garden already looked so fine, it was not the disaster it would have been for someone like me whose garden is not perfected till about one day before a tour.

photo by John Holtermann

pre-tour visit, July 3rd

tour day

front door

pre-tour visit, July 3rd, digiplexis

Digiplexis ‘Illumination Flame’

pre-tour visit, July 3rd: This little heart bench belonged to Pat’s mother.

tour day

photo by Kathleen Shaw

stepping stones to patio on west side of house

pre-tour visit, July 3rd, Scophularia vareigata (variegated figwort)

west side patio

lower windows tip out

Our Kathleen toured the garden in the late afternoon and found Barbara Bate playing piano on the west patio.

Barbara Bate

north wall of patio

On a pre-tour visit on June 1st

succulent pocket garden on pre-tour visit, July 3rd (lower right corner: Petunia ‘Pretty Much Picasso’

July 3rd

and on tour day

hydrangea by the entry to the next area of the garden

window reflection with more plants inside

looking back on the west side patio

to our left as we step through into the next area

photo by Kathleen Shaw

The little watering can is a clever reference to the flowing shape of Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’.

Or is it ‘All Gold’?

Allan’s photo

When we were there in the morning, Barbara Bate was playing in the north side garden.  For her second set, she moved into the sun where Kathleen found her later on.

Barbara Bate

Allan’s photo “They were talking Beethoven while Barbara Bate was playing him some samples by memory.”

Barbara Bate

Barbara Bate

As in all the gardens, I wished for more time to sit and enjoy the music.  I have a soft spot for Barbara, who played at my mother’s memorial at Golden Sands and who knew her favourite song, Because (you come to me with naught save love, and hold my hand, and lift mine eyes above…).

Gunnera in the triangle corner of the garden

Every now and then, I run across a garden blogger who lists all sorts of garden descriptive phrases we are not supposed to use anymore because they’ve become passé (“architectural foliage” is one, and “garden rooms” is another).  Well, too bad, because here is a great example of architectural foliage in a garden room.  Each section of this garden is enclosed by a fence, a dense planting, or the wall of the house or a shed and it is like a series of outdoor rooms.

Allan’s photo

Barbara and the reflected garden

garden room with chairs and a carpet

photo by Kathleen Shaw

photo by Kathleen Shaw

photo by Kathleen Shaw

Here’s that aerial photo again; you can pick out the white daisies and the gunnera in the corner.

photo by Bob Duke

photo by Kathleen Shaw

Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’

garden room with chairs and tub

photo by Kathleen Shaw

on the north fence

Allan’s photo

gate to the kitchen garden

kitchen garden

pre-tour visit, July 3

garden shed

hosta detail

diascias

looking back

east wall of house

another sit spot

Another aerial photo shows the garden shed and another enclosed nook near the front driveway.

drone photo by Bob Duke

photo by Kathleen Shaw in the afternoon

The weather was so scorching hot that some plants were wilting, so garden owner John began to water.

John chats with Allan while watering in the nook off the driveway.

by the driveway

Waterlogue

The Mimosa Garden was a close contender for my favourite 2015 tour garden because of the garden rooms, the whimsical decorations, and the selection of interesting and well grown plants.  To be a contender, a garden must have art that tells me something about the owner, must have more garden than lawn, and must not be a barkscape; the plants must touch and intermingle.

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Gardens by the Sea tour ’13: Stutzman garden

July 27. 2013

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

Garden Four: Jack and Sharon Stutzman garden

from the program: “An inspirational border design surrounds the house in a treasure of garden rooms”

This garden caught my interest with its plantings outside the fence by where we parked. Because of the golf course to the west, I am oriented in my directions in this garden.

north side garden, outside fence, looking west

interesting plants, including a handsome Euphorbia

as we walk along the side garden

Allan’s photo

Looks to me like the great Cryptomeria ‘Sekkan Sugi’

Here we go around the corner to the front garden.

entrance

Acanthus in front garden

Allan’s Acanthus photo (outside fence)

(He asked why we did not have one, or if we have one, and I said we do. But ours is not as good looking as this one.)

I walk across the street to get the full view of the appealing front garden.

arbour entrance

To the left, inside the arbour:

a very crisp edge

straight ahead: front porch

The owners must be more agile than me (not hard!) as the steps have no railings!

to the right: more crisp edging (looking south)

a lawn closeup for Tom Hornbuckle

a bird on the fence

Allan’s photo

birdhouse on the fence

Another tour guest pointed out this nest!

birdhouse and birdnest

Of course, I love these tools on the fence.

Allan focused on this hydrangea flower.

The lawn and borders curve around the the side of the house.

outside curve of lawn, SW corner of garden

inside garden curve

and a look back along the front of the house…

And here we go around to the side garden:

framed by daisies

to our right, a smokebush

and ahead, a gate into a garden room

on the left, a garden along the porch

Allan’s photo

another garden detail admired

along the south fence, hydrangeas

Allan commented later that blue mophead hydrangeas do seem to be a theme in Gearhart gardens.

The south side porch was full of interesting things to look at; I see even more when I look at the photos of it.

an enticing place to be

porch

Two armillaries topped the pillars marking the entrance to the next garden room.

into the second garden room

Jack loves Sharon…sweet!

planter

Allan also took a lawn photo for our friend and lawn connoisseur Tom Hornbuckle!

a quite exceptional lawn, I thought….

right back corner

left back corner

Rugosa roses and lilies

I always wonder when seeing Rugosa roses in a garden if people struggle with their running ways like we do.

Allan’s closeup of the very tall pale yellow lilies

The back of the house provided much to look at. Let’s have a good look at everything!

sit spots

driftwood

side view of porch over the picnic table

Allan liked the neat stack of firewood.

I bet croquet (see above, right) works well on such a nice smooth lawn!

I liked this clever way to display a float.

birdhouse

bench

a wrap around porch

I got as close to the fascinating porch as I could!

getting nosy about the porch

Just look at that gleaming clean floor.

on the porch

a sheltered table

looking up at the rear wing of the house

another angle on the back garden

a balcony behind the dolphin?

details

in the nook between the two wings of the house

One of the tour guests reminisced about actually using a wringer washer like this, before they were electrified. My grandma used an electric one well into the 1970s, and I remember her swinging its arm over from the wash water to the rinsing sink.

The very back of the garden appeared to be a dog yard, with no access to walk around the rest of the house.

the end

So we turned to go back the way we came, relishing the different perspective on the garden rooms.

garden by porch

detail: the heart theme continues

Allan’s photo

back through the rooms

The beautiful pots of grass show best from the inside, looking west.

I notice now that they have a drip watering system for these plants.

We walk again by the front porch to explore the garden on the other side of the house.

front steps with planter

looking west across Cottage Street to the golf course

NW corner

Turning, we look east down the north side of the house.

fence with nasturtiums

Allan’s photo

garden on north wall of house

We look back, west along the north lawn….another gorgeous expanse of green grass.

back porch

birdhouse by porch rail

I remember now that when I arrived, I saw the owners leaving in their car, having just put their cute dog into the back. This must be the main entrance, explaining the lack of railings on the front porch. Once again, I am mystified at how owners of such an incredible garden choose to not hang around to enjoy people admiring it. We would have been lavish with praise and awe over things like the detail of making a nice box around the electricity meter.

disguise

I would have asked if the nest along the front fence was in its natural setting or had it been found and placed there. And so many other questions. (When my own garden is open, I spend a lot of time answering questions about what soil we use, what plant is that, and so on, and I enjoy every minute.)

back porch window

Leaving through the east gate, we admire the pile of ingredients behind the house.

yummy ingredients!

I admire the way that the work area has been tidied up….with attention to every detail.

This garden is tied with garden two (the Vernon garden) as my favourite of the tour.

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