garden bloggers fling

Meandering through the magical forest of the Bloedel Reserve

After three beautiful, sunny days in Seattle touring gardens at the Seattle Garden Bloggers Fling, we got a real taste of PNW weather with a grey, rainy day on Monday. No mind — it was just as interesting to see gardens the way they appear for much of the year in this climate.

We boarded the ferry early in the morning and crossed over to Bainbridge Island. Our first stop was at the Bloedel Reserve. This property consists of 150 acres that their literature describes as “a unique blend of natural woodlands and beautifully landscaped gardens, including a Japanese Garden, a Moss Garden, and Reflection Pool, and the Bloedel’s former estate home.”

That description simply doesn’t do it justice. The entire reserve is majestic, filled with towering trees — Hemlocks, Western Red Cedars and Douglas Firs — lined our paths through the lush moss-covered forests.

While most of the private gardens we visited on our trip were awash with colors and blooms, the Bloedel was much more understated forest and meadows and moss. This little gem was tucked into the dappled forest floor.
Little surprises popped up along every path, like this pretty little bridge.
Often hidden by the gentle giant trees, interesting views waited for those who looked for them.
This beautiful tree seemed as though it were watching me walk through the forest with its knotty eye.
I couldn’t stop photographing all the moss. I’m quite sure if I’d stood still for very long it would have reached out to me as well.
Ferns, ferns everywhere!

One of the highlights of our visit was a workshop and Q&A session with renown professional photographer David Perry, author of A Photographer’s Garden Blog. He generously have us tips and tricks and, a photo assignment to take shots as though we were shooting for a magazine cover. We were to shoot a cover, double page spread, overview and author’s page. This is my cover shot. Sadly, my computer expertise doesn’t extend to adding text over an image, so this is a good as it gets for now. That will be on my next to-do list.

While the rain made it a little challenging to juggle jackets, umbrellas, cameras and lens caps, we were all game and bravely faced the elements, not wanting to miss a moment.

These ferns look like they are growing out of a carpet — a carpet of moss that ate up everything in its path.

One of the most interesting sights I saw was the emergence of nurse trees – seeds that germinated and began to grow inside the cavity of dead trees, providing a safe growing medium for the new seedling. Mother Nature really is amazing.

Garden delights in sunny Seattle…

The private gardens we’ve seen at the Garden Bloggers Seattle fling are among some of the prettiest I’ve seen.

The garden of Suzette and Jim Birrell was filled with whimsy and color. It was delightful and filled with plenty of places to sit and enjoy the garden.

Garden-inspired art and decor surprised us around every turn.


Looking for lights for their garden and project shed, Jim decided to convert simple, galvanized buckets into whimsical lighting.

The brightly-colored shed provides contrast with other vibrant colors throughout the garden.

A small section of lawn provides a play area and a soothing companion to the bright and busy garden areas.

Years of work to create this lush and peaceful garden made for a wonderful morning tour for the garden bloggers.

A garden with a view…

It was a picture perfect morning in a hillside garden overlooking Lake Washington just outside of Seattle. Our first stop of the day on the Seattle Fling, we began at the award-winning home of Michelle and Christopher Epping.

It was hard to know at where to look — at the beautiful garden, the glistening blue lake or the skyline of Seattle on the horizon.
The garden was a filled to the brim with vibrant colors and textures.

Several different pathways led through secret garden areas with statues and other interesting objects tucked into the landscape for discovery by garden visitors.
The garden was sprinkled with giant mounds of Hakonechloa, Japanese Forest Grass, seen here against a stunning sky-blue Hydrangea and a burgundy Japanese Maple in the background.
One little path led to a wooden bench that offered us a rest and a different perspective from which to admire the garden. Pam of Digging and Kylee of Our Little Acre took a little break with me in the shade.
The garden was also filled with whimsical cedar sculptures carved by the owner’s father.
What an inspiring way to start the day!

Seattle’s Best … Gardens, that is…


Day 1 of the Garden Bloggers Fling, held in Seattle this year, was even more than I could have hoped for.

Our tours today took us to two private gardens, one private/public garden and the Washington University Center for Urban Horticulture.

Come take a stroll with me through the first garden, lovingly created by Shelagh Tucker. This garden was full of little vignettes and pockets of secret gardens around every turn.

The recent rains and cool temperatures in Seattle made all of the plants lush and ready for our visit.

There was a lot of old stonework in this garden, steps and benches and intricate inlaid details that added charm and an old-world feel to the garden.

All the borders and beds were filled to the brim with layers upon layers of plants – complimentary and contrasting colors, shapes, sizes and textures – creating a rich and beautiful palette.

And within each vignette are wonderful little pairings like this one. Her eye for plant combinations made this garden a delightful journey of discovery.


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