Saturday, 7 March 2015
Because Seaside gardener Pam Fleming was on the Peninsula for a consultation, we were all (Pam, me, Allan) invited to lunch at Steve and John’s and a late winter tour of their garden on the bay. You may remember it from previous posts such as “A Bayside Garden” “Bayside Garden in Springtime“, “A Bayside Garden Interlude“. “September in the Bayside Garden” and “McCormick-Stephens Garden” (on the garden tour).
On the way north, I admired our pot of tulips at the Ilwaco post office…
starring Tulip sylvestris
and we stopped at the Basket Case as they had their first shipment of perennials for the year…
Basket Case, the perennial greenhouse
including some plants that I especially admire:
Viola ‘Etain’
Hebe ‘Boughton Dome’
Stachys ‘Primrose Heron’
Erysimum ‘Bowles Mauve’
and three cultivars of santolina.
And then on to lunch with people I admire.
John and Steve’s Bayside Garden
When we arrived at the entry drive, I had Allan drop me off so I could take some photos of the sweep of red twig dogwoods along the lower driveway.
Cornus alba
I walked up the long drive, cheating by getting an advance peek of the plants alongside it.
an early blooming rhododendron
an edgeworthia that aroused envy because mine died…
a freshly mulched bed
Allan’s photo of me taking the above photo (I think)
Allan’s photo
the top of the driveway
Allan’s photo
Coral Bark maples by the front door
Allan’s photo
I carried in a bouquet of hellebores and a few narcissi.
a fistful of hellebores (Allan’s photo)
Me and John, who was putting the final touches on dessert.
Allan’s photo
Pam had already arrived. We found her sitting with Steve in the living room talking plants.
After some coffee and plant talk, lunch was served. Chef Steve had prepared spicy prawns and salsa to be rolled in butter lettuce.
John takes a seat. The view is of Willapa Bay.
The second course was orange beef, as good as a fine Thai restaurant.
John had baked a scrumptious coconut buttermilk cake.
After more coffee, and interesting talk about plants, and garden shows, and the Sylvia Beach Hotel, and about Chess and Mani, the purebred border collies, we emerged into the chilly afternoon sunshine to tour the garden.
one of the coral bark maples
Allan’s photo: the stroll begins
Sweet scent wafted from this Osmanthus.
closer
and from this nearby Daphne
closer
I envied the handsome Euphorbia ‘Tasmanian Tiger’ as…mine plotzed. It’s backed with Pieris, and the Daphne is to the top right.
Pam and I admiring the Euphorbia, Allan’s photo
Steve and John had just replanted tender succulents, sent by a California friend, on their pumphouse roof.
John gives a sense of scale as we worry over cold nights.
We begin our walk through the shady garden down to the sunny field to the west.
On the way: Ribes sanguineum (flowering currant)
closer
The garden holds a large collection of young rhododendrons, along with old well established ones.
Backlighting for a cryptomeria.
I thought I heard this IDed as Cryptomeria arachnoides…like a spider…but I find it as Araucarioides…I guess. Pam says it gets big.
a baby rhodo ‘Queen Bee’, with boot for scale (accidentally)
Rhodendron ‘Ever Red’
Camellia ‘Brushfield’s Yellow’
Allan’s photo
Pam and John (Allan’s photo)
Steve and John identified Rhododendron fletcherianum, the one I had admired on the way in
Allan’s photo
We all admired its corky bark.
The irrigation pond for the old Clarke Nursery, which used to be on this and the neighbouring property.
We all strolled along the big sunny field southwest of the pond, as Pam was proposing ideas for how to best landscape it. I came up with one idea: a sweep of Stipa gigantea somewhere.
Pam, Steve, and John
A metasequoia that was supposed to have one leader, but has decided to do its own thing.
Pam says this silver Leptospermum from Xera Plants will get large. (There’s a boot for scale again!)
Allan’s photo: Every plant is admired, and some are caressed.
newish beds to the north of the pond
Pam and John discussing the field, with Genista in the foreground.
I asked yet again for the name of this tree: Cupressus ‘Blue Ice’
Closer; I do wish I had room for trees like this.
Allan’s photo
Allan’s photo
another leptospermum
I love the way Pam gets tactile with the plants. (Allan’s photo)
I’ve admired her Seaside, Oregon gardens for so long that I see her like this image captured by Allan.
As we walked back to the house, we admired a reddish Pieris in the distance, through the glade of old rhododendrons.
telephoto brought it closer
I wish I had thought to take photos of the many tree roots, humped out of the ground and coated with moss. I noticed them later, on departure, driving away when picture time was over. You can get a hint of it at the bottom of the above photo.
We went back into the house for some more visiting, and when we left at almost dusk the garden by the house glowed in the early evening light.
There’s that enviable euphorbia again.
The rhododendrons hold their leaves partly closed in winter, for protection.
I always feel like I’ve entered a marvelous other world when I visit this garden, so different from mine (which is more full of fiddly little things).
On the way home, I got that anxious after-social feeling that I had talked too much about certain border collies and Long Beach work and decided I was lucky to get asked out at all. Therefore, I was especially delighted when Pam pulled up behind us and asked to tour our garden, as well. We had a pleasant walk around before dusk.
Next: Allan and I have different ways to enjoy a day off.
Tangly Cottage Gardening 