Private Gardens of Seattle

Last week, I was lucky enough to attend the Garden Bloggers Fling in Seattle, WA. Although many garden bloggers have been meeting in various cities for the past four years, this was my first time attending. It was wonderful to put faces to the blogs I read and to meet garden bloggers from all over the country - some blog for fun, some for professional reasons, some are garden book writers, some are photographers and some have jobs completely unrelated to gardening. But the common thread was the love of gardening, horticulture and landscape design.

Each of the four days was carefully planned by the Fling organizers so that we were able to see both private and public gardens in the Seattle area. I am excited to share with you my photos of the trip, but for the sake of space, I will divide the blog posts into sections. So be sure to come back to read it all!

Here are some of my personal favorites from the private gardens we visited:

Garden #1: Tucker Garden
Shelagh Tucker spent years working to turn her front yard into a xeriscape (a style of landscape design requiring little or no irrigation or other maintenance designed specifically to cope with dry conditions and for water conservation). The sun was shining down on her front yard, decorated with steps, stones and drought tolerant plants. 

In contrast, her backyard was lush with plants, grass and trees. My two favorites were a Dahlia and Clematis combination in a small courtyard:

And the pond:

Garden #2: Birrell Garden
Shelagh's next door neighbors, Suzette & Jim Birrell, had an equally impressive garden. A contrast to the xeriscape, Suzette's front yard was lush and overflowing with flowers, shrubs and trees. Every nook and cranny was planted with something beautiful. 

The backyard was curved, which gave the small space a comfortable feel. She had an impressive vegetable garden with peas, chard, cabbage, beets and artichokes - just to name a few! 

Although we were treated to blue skies on the day of our visit, the owners say the shed was painted bright blue after "the bluest skies you've ever seen" in Seattle. It must be lovely to look at that color on the gray and rainy days, I'm sure!
 

Garden #3: Epping Garden
The garden of Michelle and Christopher Epping is a past winner of the Pacific Northwest Gardens Competition (3rd place in 2007). Their home is located in Newcastle, just outside of Seattle, and sits on top of a hill. We were again treated with clear, sunny skies and from the house, we could see the Seattle skyline, Olympic Mountains and Lake Washington.

Their garden had many layers and paths winding all around the garden. Here are some of my favorite things from this garden:

Garden #4: Lane Garden
Nearly every inch of Denise Lane's one acre garden in Medina, WA was landscaped with plants, paths and unique garden accents. 
We enjoyed lunch on the the stone patio that was recently transformed from a pickle-ball court. The patio now features an outdoor kitchen, gas fire tables and multiple seating areas.

Her gardens had both sunny perennial beds and shady woodlands. I especially loved the beautiful displays of Calla Lilies and Astillbe:

The beautiful glass fiddleheads were created by glassblower Barbara Sanderson.

But my favorite was the "Ruins." Flowers dripped from the pillars above, and below, the water cascaded into the pond over a large stone leaf:

Have a look at this photo below. Can you spot me?

She had 3 long mirrors placed at the back of one flower bed. They provided an interesting perspective!

Garden #5: Edwards Forkner Garden
Lorene Edwards Forkner's garden was filled with eclectic garden accents, many of which she is highlighting in her upcoming book "Handmade Garden Projects: Step-by-Step Instructions for Creative Garden Features, Containers, Lighting and More".

Some of my favorite creations in her garden were these:

Rusted mailbox nestled among the Sisyrinchium striatum

Topiaries living in an old wagon

A terrarium inside an industrial sized light feature

Vintage travel trailer as a place to relax or entertain

Inside the travel trailer

Garden #6: Farley Garden
The last private garden we toured was the home of Kate Farley, a landscape designer, who specializes in garden structure. 
I was impressed with the tunnel she created in the front yard from her shrubs.

The potting shed in the backyard was furnished with vintage tools and found objects:

Walking around to the back of the house I was amazed at the show of color from the sunny bed filled with purple Delphinium, pale Phlox, magenta Poppies and orange Astromeria, set off by two purple trellis:

Nestled in the shade, an old tree house surrounds a tree trunk and is now covered in climbing rose branches:

Stay tuned for more from my Garden Blogger's Fling to Seattle - next I'll highlight some of the public gardens we visited!