prequel 2003: a hillside garden and Hilda’s garden

Capitol Hill North Slope

I looked for, and found, an old garden I had much admired on walks around Capitol Hill back when I lived in Seattle, and it looked even better now. You can just see the gardener puttering at the lower edge of the south hillside garden.

hillside garden

A sidewalk stairway goes down through the garden which had been a gift to passersby for many years.

the garden from the city sidewalk

A homeowner near the bottom of the stairs on the other side had also become an avid gardener.

other side

The gardens together made a paradise.

the newer part of the gardens

I am sure that when I first discovered this place in the late 80s, it was only on one side of the stairs.

little steps in the older part of the garden

detail, hillside garden

little terraces and a pool

near the gardener’s house

Hilda’s Garden

I then switched to a visit with another friend, Hilda,  known on the gardening forums as “Gardening Fool”;  she took me on a shopping trip to this wholesale nursery on the east side.

at a big wholesale nursery

Being frugal and determined to get out of debt, combined with traveling by train, I only bought a very few plants.

We then had a tasty lunch and visited Hilda’s creative and lovely garden.

In Hilda’s garden

in Hilda’s garden

Hilda’s garden

Hilda’s garden

On visits like these, I wished I still lived in Seattle so I could have more time with great gardeners in their own wonderful gardens.

Next: on to Ballard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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prequel: Cannon Beach Garden Tour 1998

Way back in 1998, my friend and then-client Sharon and I went to a Haystack Rock summer weekend in Cannon Beach for which Ann Lovejoy and Lucy Hardiman taught a garden design workshop on Saturday and took us garden touring on Sunday.  (Sharon and I had become fast friends when we had created a garden for her earlier in the year; a few years later she moved away and the garden faded back into lawn.)

Digression:  Making Sharon’s Garden

In 1998 we created this garden around Sharon’s house where once had been just three scraggly rosebushes.

..and we made a rock wall garden along the bay side of her lot.

above: back in the days before the “straighten”button!

…and turned a mound into a little pond waterfall area.

Sharon’s beautiful bird bath.

And here is Sharon’s garden in 1999:

Shaz garden with pineapple sage

Shaz’ garden with new arbour by my former partner, Robert Sullivan

Back to the tour story:

On the weekend of the Haystack Rock garden design workshop, we toured the big country garden of Cannon Beach garden designer Beth Holland first, just on the other side of Highway 101 and down a short quiet road..

Beth Holland’s garden just outside Cannon Beach.

Beth’s greenhouse was constructed with large old windows from a school.

In Beth’s garden

After the lovely tour of Beth’s estate, we drove to the Tolovana neighbourhood of Cannon Beach and saw this lovely sight by the sea.

a Cannon Beach garden overlooking the sea

garden detail

in Cannon Beach

One of the gardens had a train layout.

train garden

train layout in ocean view garden, Tolovana neighbourhood of Cannon Beach.

My favourite garden was that of local writer and quilter and gardener June Kroft.  (I was deeply saddened in 2010 to learn that the one year (2009)  when I had forgotten due to my mother’s ill health to go to the Cannon Beach Cottage tour, June’s cottage had been on it. I would love to see the inside.)

in June Kroft’s garden

In June’s garden (left, in blue, Lucy Hardiman)

June’s glorious garden shed

I have an old book from the Cannon Beach Historical Society, a bit worse for wear from years in my old damp cottage.  I got it when the society had a photo exhibit called “A Village of Flowers”  at their museum in 1999.  The booklet is created from a manuscript by June Kroft and I share here a few pages from it in hope that perhaps you may be inspired to find yourselves a copy.

From the book:  Old Timer: Throw out a bunch of nasturtium seeds around a piece of driftwood.  That’s a beach garden.”

Now that’s my idea of a garden tour.

For my next birthday after the garden design workshop, Sharon gave me this framed sketch that Ann Lovejoy had made in Sharon’s notebook to illustrate the design concept of “bubble and flow”.  I treasure it to this day.

Ann Lovejoy: bubble and flow

It helped a great deal with my garden design confidence, that while Lucy Hardiman makes design drawings that are intricate and scaled to the inch, Ann’s a more of a sketch, an idea, a chicken scratch….like mine.

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Crank’s Roost in 2012

We continued to care for the lovely green landscape at Cranks’ Roost.  Probably because of being preoccupied with our garden tour, we did not clear any further into the wooded area, which I want to do.  Here are some photos of the garden through the year.

spring

early March

22 march

22 March

22 March

summer

front gate

patio

boxwood and daisies

boxwood

gold and green

green on green

a rivulet of Geranium ‘Rozanne’

view south from patio

Cryptomeria ‘Sekkan Sugi’

The plant for 2013 is to get two more of these, which is going to require some plant juggling.

Japanese maple (looking north to patio)

stump birdhouse

back porch

tools

rose

rose

bench

daisies by the patio

Autumn

One way that we will find room for another Cyrptomeria is with the removal of this Juniper.  It is not happy with wet feet.

sad Juniper

Fortunately it was very inexpensive tree.  The same one is going great at Marilyn’s garden in dryer soil.

the first fallen leaves with dark pink Schizostylis in bloom

honeysuckle berries on front fence

autumn

lacecap hydrangea

willows after pruning (to keep the path open)

in the flower bed

leaves

autumn carpet

Japanese maple

So…for 2013, our main task is to get two more gold Cryptomerias and do some more pruning of willows to let more light into the back yard and make the other trees happier.

I wish it were easier to get the Cryptos here….I think we will have to go at least as far as Seaside, Oregon, to acquire them.

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In a Lost Garden

Just two houses east of us is an old empty house that is gently sagging into ruin.  We were invited inside by former tenants who showed us a big upstairs room they called “the trampoline room” because the floor had so much give they were afraid to walk in there.  We hope someday to see the house loved again.

the front of the house

historic marker on front porch

The house sits on a corner lot. As one walks past its east side, one can see that it was long ago planted with beautiful trees and shrubs.

The back yard used to fascinate me when I would walk around downtown, before I moved to Lake Street in October of 2010.

summer 2010, from the side street

Someone is still dispatched by the owners to mow the lawn.

summer 2011

On a foggy 1st of October in 2012, the garden beckoned me in irresistibly .

October 2012

Roses festooned the edged of a huge old Pampas grass.

Pampas grass and roses

An old rhododendron sprouted a topknot of Himalayan blackberry.

rhodo with blackberry

Looking east toward the road from the center of the garden, unkept ornamental grass with rhododendron.

grass and rhodo

It would be hard for me to bring this garden back because of the way the plants are planted sort of willy nilly.  I would feel sentimental about its past, but the arrangement would be difficult for me to work with.

a maze of grasses, roses, and rhododendrons

Further in, an old area is fenced, perhaps for a veg garden.

maybe a berry patch?

Near to the fence, a holly seedling has sprouted vigorously right from the middle of another old rhodo.

holly usurper

arched branches

There is the occasional beer can, so the paths in the lawn are worn by deer or perhaps by human feet.

deer path? or?

Like our lot two doors down, the Elfreda house lot goes through all the way to the meander line.  Until the Port of Ilwaco built up the land with dredge spoils in the middle of the last century, the south end of the lot would have been tidal riverfront.

willow

This area corresponds with our “bogsy woods”.  My neighbour to the west has lived here all her life and tells me she and her friends used to swim in a swimming hole just past the willows.

to the old swimming hole

This used to be the old swimming hole…at the river beach. Now it’s by the Port parking lots. By October 2012 it has completely dried up from an unusually droughty summer.

old swimming hole, October 2012

Here it is in late October 2011 after a more normal period of autumn rain.

22 October 2011

By late December 2012 the rain had returned and the water had again risen….much better for all the little frogs, but nothing like the swimming hole that it used to be.

December 2012

And here, once one walks around the swimming hole to the very south side of the property, is the view of the port where once the tide lapped in.

view across the meander line, Feb. 2011

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twilight in the garden

In our own garden, an evening of plant observation as dusk falls.  Some gardeners get up very early for that perfect morning lot.  I am more like Tallulah Bankhead:  “Do you mean to tell me that there are two nine o’clocks in the day?”  So evening light is what I get.

Twilight: August 20th

back garden

back garden with Achillea and Leycesteria ‘Golden Lanterns’

Acanthus spinosus

annual candytuft

sweet peas in front garden

poppies

annual poppies and Artemisia ‘Powis Castle’

river of Geranium ‘Rozanne’

sweet peas in back garden

dahlia

dahlias

dahlia

dahlias

dahlia bouquet

rudbeckia

rudbeckia

yellow and white dahlia

lilies as darkness falls

twilight

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Gardens by the Sea Tour: Ron Stefani garden

29 July, 2013: Gearhart Oregon, a benefit for Clatsop County CASA.

outside the garden

front courtyard

After a happy chance interlude in a non-tour garden just up the block, we began the official Gardens by the Sea tour in Ron Stefani’s garden, described in the programme as having “Masses of hydrangeas and sweeping tall grasses surround the front yard seating and in the back, a deck that makes your heart sing.”   A soothing garden, it consisted of boxwood, Hydrangeas, and Miscanthus.

front gate

front porch with hydrangeas

back garden: boxwood

It is a tidy, clipped garden. I could do this for a client. In fact, we had a client who wanted this sort of garden and we succeeded. ‘Twas very soothing. But I need to go wild to be a happy gardener!!  I enjoyed this garden very much but would not have the discipline to stick to the three plant scheme.

back deck, container with Euphorbia

Boxwood and Hydrangeas

The other side of the back garden continued with the clipped boxwood, banks with white hydrangeas, and then a gently sloping mound topped with Miscanthus.

white Hydrangeas, Miscanthus (Ornamental grass)

Interlude

next door

As we walked on to the next garden, a few blocks west, we passed several gardens that inspired me to get out the camera.  Just east of the Stefani garden, the neighbours had a simple, beachy landscape (left) with some bags of soil set out but not yet applied.  Up the block and just next to Roger’s fabulous garden, an exuberant cottage garden contained a white and green variegated member of the mint family that  I used to have, and no longer do, but I could not and cannot remember its name.  (below, right)

cottage garden

Sheila thinks the mystery plant is a variegated Agastache and she might be right!

Walking on….a pretty, simple driveway garden

Could this be a Gearhart house that we could afford?

Like Cannon Beach, but moreso, Gearhart is an expensive town with a reputation for exclusivity.  Even the rare derelict house probably costs a fortune.  But oh, what I could do with the one above…and look at all those windows!

beachy arbour and driftwood

wildlife habitat

Walking on, and almost to the second tour garden, we passed a house with such a beachy, weathered arbour.  Judy’s friend Liz observed that, in the photo above, the driftwood piece by the gate looks like a sea lion balancing a yellow beach ball on its nose.  On the fence, a sign (left) informed us that the garden is an official wildlife habitat.

Directly across the street from the second tour garden, a newly planted landscape (below) caught our eyes.  Later in the day of touring we learned that it had been installed by Steve Clarke, from Seaview, former owner of an excellent Willapa bayside nursery called Clarke’s that we had frequented often back in the day.  He has now gone mostly into creating gardens and while touring, we met a nice fellow who works with him.

a Steve Clarke garden

detail, Clarke garden

Now at last, after much distraction, we turn our attention across the street to tour garden number two…

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our garden on tour: the bogsy woods

Here is a mystery:  Why does this post get several hits a day?  Do comment and tell me why, if you know.  P.S.  I have figured it out; it’s traffic stemming from a fairy door pin on pinterest.

July 21, 2012

outside the south gate

We’ve walked through the front garden and the back garden on Peninsula garden tour day  Now we have worked our way to the very back of our large double city lot: the bogsy woods that back up on to the Port of Ilwaco meander line and parking lots.  Here was the site of a cathartic clean up in September of 2011.  Much grooming and decorating had followed.

The southernmost fence had a couple of would-be tour guests outside on tour day morning.

I have deliberately left groves of salmonberry in the bogsy wood but cut paths through and between and cut some halfway down to make sightlines through, and in the center cleared a view corridor that lets us see out to the port year round.  The tour guests seemed to greatly enjoy walking through the paths and over the bridge to the area outside the fence where a big seasonal water ditch separates us from the parking lots.

Even though I have never been a lawn fan, I left a large lawn space between the flower beds and the woods with the idea that comfortable gathering spaces are necessary for a garden party.

our fire circle with bogsy wood behind

signs

On the east fence along the woods I had more quotations painted on old boards, an ephemeral and last minute idea.  “A massive dose of inspiration should result in drastic action.  Be bold and never question inspiration-driven ideas.  Timidity results in inactivity and a stagnant or non-existent garden.”  (Thomas Hobbs)

and “Some people spend their time dreaming of a paradise in heaven.  I would rather create it here on earth.” (Jenny Ferguson)

Next comes one of my favourite gardening quotations, by Helen Dillon:  ” are always told that the first thing we must do on getting a garden is to make a plan…But, in fact, the last thing I ever want to do is make a plan–I feel weak just thinking about it. My idea of heaven was (and still is) to indulge in a lavish buying spree. And the consequences? Too bad. Bugger plans!”  It is something I always want to tell a potential client who asks me to drawn a plan.  Because I just can’t.  (Or, er, won’t.  Or am really simply artistically incapable of it.)

At the end of the east side grass path one turns left to a path leading by the bogsy wood swale than in winter is full of water.  Past the bridge the swale jogs over a bit to the north and curves around to the west fence….all full of water in winter.

swales

blue door (in spring)

In the center we had a big plant table of moss and ferns, inspired by George Schenk, that Allan had built for me from an old door.  We had fairy doors that Allan had found at Home and Garden Art (that shop on 85th in Seattle) and embellished with stairs (although a friend of ours pointed out the fairies don’t need stairs because they can fly.  So we say the stairs are for their pet frogs.)

When garden writer Jolly Butler came through on tour day (exciting!) she told me I simply must watch this video of the song “There are Fairies at the Bottom of My Garden.”

fairy door with stairs

paths in the bogsy wood

A plant table inspired by George Schenk sits to the right of the center path to bridge.

plant table with moss and ferns

Down the center clearing, the view corridor to the port, one comes to the bridge to the southern gate.

the bridge

And then, if one turns and looks back to the garden, one might be drawn back to the three large sunny borders.

looking north from the bogsy wood

On your way back, look to the right of the fire circle, back against the salmonberry, for another of my favourite garden quotations (and my big excuse for the rather huge amount of money I have spent on this garden).

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Astoria Garden Tour 2012: Adolphson-Drafall garden

A continuing trend on the Astoria Garden Tour is to revisit old gardens, and in 2012, three of the gardens were ones I had already seen.  I was particularly pleased to see the garden of Leroy Adolphson and David Drafall, which I had last visited in 2007.  Not only did I remember it as one of my favourite Astoria gardens but I was glad for the chance to photograph the garden to share with my new gardening neighbour, Judy, who lives four houses down from me in Ilwaco and collects Japanese maples.  She was unable to join us but I looked at the garden through her eyes as well as mine.  This garden is so powerful that looking at the photos pulled me in; I tried to write about it in the past tense but kept being brought into the present.

houses on the same block

On the way we passed houses similar to the Adolphson Drafall home; one had a bridge to get to the front door.  The pink one, right next door, had no bridge, so you can see you would have to go down and then up many stairs to get to the front door.  Oh, and look at the upper right window of the pink house:

doggie in the window

Ah, here we are at Leroy and David’s gate.  From the programme:   “Cross the wisteria and clematis entwined bridge into a hidden sanctuary.”

bridge from sidewalk to house

on the bridge

bridge detail

looking down

large maple

Above:  Looking over the bridge and down to the left into the courtyard.  The garden features “Forty seven Japanese maples, each a different variety, grace room after garden room created by …fences and gates that also serve as windbreaks.”  On this hill above the Columbia River, the wind must be fierce. Right:  Looking to the right of the bridge at a large maple that grows higher than the bridge itself, and the amazing thing is that they moved it in at almost that size.  The lower foreground of the photo is the clematis growing on the railing of the bridge.

stairs from bridge

And…looking down the stairs to the lower level and contemplating my vertigo.  Note the stairs further on leading up to a back door.

But I made it, hanging on tightly to the railing after waiting for everyone else to pass.  I stopped halfway down to clear my head, with the excuse of taking the next photo.  Sadly, some older people simply could not get down the stairs at all, and missed a lot.

by the stairs

looking back

foliage detail

the side door stairs

the side garden

by the base of the stairs from the bridge

and under the stairs

ferns, two views

The programme tells us that “”Native and hybrid fuchsias, irises, conifers, lilies, hostas, trillium, Jack in the pulpits and 20 + varieties of ferns abound.”

We enter the courtyard through a moon gate; here, the stairs from the bridge are to our right.

Moon gate

east side of courtyard

The courtyard is on both sides and under the bridge, between the much higher sidewalk and the house.  The wood wall is that of the old two story (front opens onto the street above) garage. One of the owners told Allan his mom had been called a communist, and this wood is from her old building downtown where someone had carved the word “RED”. (above right)

mossy patio, and under the stairs

under the bridge

We emerge from the shady grotto created by the wooden bridge into the sunny patio to the west side of the back garden.

west patio

Next we explore the plantings on and around the wooden deck.  Below, you can see the steep south side of the garden and the fence up along the sidewalk.

on the deck

looking north from the deck

detail

a gong against the garage wall, with bridge above

maple

maple

threadleaf maple

looking back to the wooden deck

in the courtyard

in the courtyard; look up to see the bridge

All around us are Japanese maples of texture bold or feathery and colours of pink, red, gold, cream, green and white.  A large peeling paperbark maple reminds me of how I had to leave mine behind in my old garden.

I also had a huge handsome massed set of contorted filberts which I had been inspired by another garden tour to prune up into tree form, but I had moved before doing so.  Here was another good example of such pruning.

paperbark maple and pruned contorted filbert

looking toward the street

toward mossy west side path

garden detail

Mossy path on west side of house would not hold up to tour foot traffic.

back we went under the bridge

..and through the moon gate.

The moon gate path goes back to the shady side garden and the two flights of stairs.

Again we examined all the details of the lovely shade border.

ferns silver, gold, and green

ferns and moss

shade border

into the light

little river rock beach water feature

 

Just past a river rock “beach”, we step out onto a sunny, flat lawn.  The Japanese maple theme extendsinto this river view, much more exposed area of the garden.  You can see how tall the house is, like many in the neighbourhood that reach for that Columbia River view.

back yard with maple

back garden details

On the west side of the back garden, we get another view of the so lovely moss walkway.

mossy path

back garden

view from the deck

The deck seems to float in the air over the Columbia and a lightweight netting keeps one from accidentally reaching one’s hand through the clear panels.  As we gaze at the river, we also realize that yet another lawn and shrub border lies below us.  We found that it was accessed from a steep side path which was tactfully blocked for our safety.

path to the lowest garden

cookies and bottled water

Allan and I are interested to see what treat has been provided for the tour goers because we and our nearby neighbours Tom and Judy have been discussing, with some small anxiety, what we will serve for our guests when our tour happens on July 21st  Even though we know that bottled water is not environmentally correct, we took away this idea (and it worked out well on our very hot and sunny tour day when we were too busy to refill water jugs).

 

back toward the stairs

Having now thoroughly explored the garden from front to back, we had difficulty leaving.  We attempt to return to the stairs to the bridge but find ourselves back through the moon gate for one more look at the courtyards.

I would like to see this garden in the mist with droplets clinging to every leaf or in the winter with all the colours and forms of trunks and twigs revealed.

back through the moon gate

the bridge

I marvel again at the large maple that they brought in with a crane.

under the bridge

Finally we remove ourselves from the lower courtyrds, climb the stairs (much easier going up than down) and have one last look from above.  Several more gardens await us and we want to get to our favourite little nursery in Gearhart before closing time.

one last look from above

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25 June 2011: Hardy Plant Weekend tours: Jeffrey Bale

I’d been to Jeffrey Bale’s garden four years earlier and was thrilled to get to return.  He has two brightly painted houses, is famed for his pebble mosaics, and has the most lovely grotto in his back yard.

intriguing detail by sidewalk

the house from the street

entry stairs from sidewalk

in the shady front garden

the two bright houses

walking between

mosaic path

exterior details

the other house

wall and water

detail

in the back garden

Because of the clear warm day, the back yard oasis had carpets and pillows out, unlike four years ago when rain had prevented the layering of pillows and carpets.  (But the rain had made the pebble mosaics glisten wonderfully).

the grotto wall

I’ve noticed how many more vibrantly bright houses I see on tours in Portland or Seattle.  Perhaps the city has more creative house painters, or perhaps in a small town some are more worried about offending the eye of staider neighbours.  I appreciate anyone in a small town who indulges in bold colours.  Jeffrey Bale so kindly opened his house to the Hardy Plant members and the inside was just as luscious as the outside.

the back door

the kitchen

in the kitchen

kitchen cupboards

beautiful blue counter

The cabinets speak to me of India.

the living room

the bathroom…a floating world

a sumptuous bedroom

even the computer is decorated

Looking down into the garden; kitchen is to left.

I appreciate getting the chance to see into the heart of an artist’s life.  I haven’t followed through yet on the inspiration to paint our own kitchen, but I miss the intense colours I had in previous homes and intend to follow through eventually.

Also, I want to get this book!

Kitty by Jeffrey Bale

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Flashback: 6 June 2010 — pre-tour of a Seaview garden

Christina’s garden, Seaview

In early June, I helped tour organizer Patti Jacobsen check out all the 2010 tour gardens.  I really wanted to get back to this one on tour day, as I suspect it had all kinds of extra special touches, but in trying to attend Doggie Olympic Games and revisit my favourite gardens of the pretour, we ran out of time.  All my other favourites were up at the north end, so I missed out on seeing this one again (and Allan missed it altogether).

You would not guess from the naturalist landscape outside the fence that such a floriferous garden hides behind a house in historic Seaview.  This is a true secret garden.

view from the back porch looking west

The lawn beds had not popped into colour yet, but by tour day three weeks later, I bet they had.

The beds against the warm south wall of the house had plenty of flowers on show.

on the porch

all decked out in roses

poppy in house garden

roses in house garden

another porch view; note side garden with blue basket

looking southwest from porch

side garden with blue basket; tour prep in progress

Lady’s Mantle and Astrantia

At the foot of the lawn, a gate leads through to a second lot to the west of the house.

peeking into the next garden area

There a fence keeps the deer out of a flower bed.

a protected raised bed

more rustic deer fencing

Oriental poppies in the western garden

birdhouse with beach decor

poppies and rambling rose

At the end of the western lawn, an interesting old building.

We departed from the gate whence we entered.  If Christina’s garden looked this good three weeks before the tour, I can only imagine how much tour goers must have enjoyed it.  Why must the D.O.G. fall on garden tour day, I ask you.  Gardens or dogs…what a dilemma.

Inside the garden gate

(Note:  In 2012, the tour will be in late July, so the dog vs. garden conflict will not be a problem.  D.O.G. will take place on June 15th and 16th, the Music in the Gardens tour on July 21st.  Oh, and our new garden will be on the 2012 tour.)

On the way north we stopped at Patti’s garden nearby and I just must share with you how fine it is:

Patti’s veg garden

view from Patti’s living room

Patti’s pond patio

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