cottage garden

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.


Botanical Garden displays…


Seriously, I thought I was in Texas when we toured the Botanical Gardens in Madrid (except for the rain that is). This beautiful Yucca recurvifolia one of many US plants.
Mediterranean style abounds in the flora and fauna of Madrid, but many of the plants we saw were Xeric varieties well know to Central Texas.
This Nolina was even labeled as the Texana variety and attributed to the USA.


This beautiful bottle brush tree reminded me again of how I lost two of these at home in the last two winters!
An entire section of the display gardens was dedicated to grasses.

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This Coreopsis gradiflora loves this climate as well as ours.

The timing of their gardens is also similar to ours — the irises were almost all done blooming, and other bulbs were also going dormant as the grasses and summer perennials were coming into their own.

Next post, some of their beautiful palms.

Cottage gardens enchant and enthrall…

What’s my favorite style of garden?

I don’t have to think about it — beyond any shadow of a doubt, it’s the quintessential cottage garden.

There’s just something endearing about the layers and the textures and the colors and the magic marriage of a quaint cottage garden.

And the cottage gardens we toured last Friday morning in Buffalo didn’t disappoint.

While each garden shared the cottage style — they were all unique in their presentation and plants.

My favorite was one filled with bright, tropical plants and colors, mixed with more traditional cottage-style offerings.

I loved this Clematis meandering along the quaint white picket fence framing the front yard of this house.
These little individual succulent planters made from tree fungus lined a short fence leading into the back yard.
This beautiful seating area was surrounded by plants with rich, tropical colors and lots of vertical interest.
The front picket fence was chock-full of cottage goodness and offered a plant paradise for any birds who stopped by looking for a cool drink of water.
Because these cottage gardens were so intimate (read: small!), they were perfect backdrops for garden art on their walls and fences.
We enjoyed these gardens with a steady dose of rain, however, which stuck with us all day. Not to be deterred, we shielded our cameras and kept walking. The rain couldn’t stop Gail, of Clay and Limestone, from smiling as she strolled along.
There was always the next garden, drawing us along, mesmerizing us with its wonderful setting and amazing (albeit, wet) plants.
The sun peeked out occasionally, and let me capture this moment between fellow bloggers Kathy of Cold Climate Gardening, and Dee, of Red Dirt Ramblings.
The days rain left tell-tale signs and a little garden art of its own on the plants.
Though my favorite was the tropical cottage garden, I was also totally charmed by this shabby-chic garden, with its ecclectic mix of flowers and art.
And even more vertical fun in small spaces.
As with most of the houses, no fence or post or eave is left unadorned.
If I had included more individual plant shots my post would have taken a week to do! But these just begged to be shared with you!
And then there were the cottages themselves…so quaint and historic and adorable.
It was just all too cute. My only regret was that I couldn’t bring one of those lovely cottages back on the plane with me!

Buffalo gardens amaze & impress

As I traveled home from a delightful time in Buffalo for the garden bloggers’ Buffa10 gathering, I tried to think of the best way to describe the gardens I’d seen.

It wasn’t easy.

We had a whirlwind 4 days — seeing sights, touring gardens, meeting and making friends and smelling the roses.

Our hosts, Elizabeth Licata of Gardening While Intoxicated and Jim Charlier of Art of Gardening took us on a fairytale tour of their beautiful city and its gardens. They were perfect ambassadors who opened our eyes to not only the gardens of the city, but the art and the architecture and the city’s rich history.

A wide variety of gardens and gardeners welcomed us with open arms as we descended upon the city.

And while they ranged from jam-packed cottage gardens to simple, zen-like Asian gardens, they all had one thing in common.

They were lush.

Really lush.

There — that was it, that was the word that captured all the gardens we had the good fortune to see. According to Thesaurus.com, there are many ways to describe something lush.

Main Entry: lush
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: profuse and delightful
Synonyms: abundant, ambrosial, delectable, delicious, deluxe, dense, elaborate, extensive, extravagant, exuberant, flourishing, fresh, grand, green, heavenly, juicy, lavish, luscious, luxuriant, luxurious, opulent, ornate, overgrown, palatial, plush, prodigal, prolific, rank, rich, riotous, ripe, ritzy, scrumptious, sensuous, succulent, sumptuous, teeming, tender, verdant,

Oddly enough, the weather when my travel companion Pam, of Digging, and I arrived, was actually hotter than in Austin, Texas! Back home – 86, Buffalo – 91!
On our first afternoon, we enjoyed a walking tour of the Allentown Gardens, including a stop for happy hour at Elizabeth’s garden.
Then we were treated to a fabulous dinner and a tour of the 20th Century Club and its gardens. See that sun?!
Garden bloggers Leslie of Growing a Garden in Davis, Robin of Bumblebee Blog and Kathy of Cold Climate Gardening are probably discussing the uncharacteristically hot weather in Buffalo as we wait for dinner.
And now, more lushness.
The beauty was blurred, one stunning garden after another, as we stumbled along – not knowing which street we were on or whose garden it was, just struck by the amazing displays of annuals, perennials, trees, shrubs and garden art.
And then there was the amazing architecture, including some borrowed views of historic buildings like this one.
Each garden delivered a new perspective, a different plant list and a unique feel to our troupe of 70 visitors.

And I, for one, will carry these amazing memories with me for a long time. Buffalo is a beautiful, historic city, and one I would gladly visit again and again.

There is so much more to see — stay tuned for more posts about our amazing adventure. This just covered the first 6 hours!

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