Seattle

Garden decor and displays at Dragonfly Farms close the 2011 Seattle Fling

The last stop on the Seattle Fling was as fabulous as each of the previous outings. The entire trip just kept getting better and better. We got to tour the beautiful display gardens of Dragonfly Farms and nursery and look through their amazing plants. Heidi Kaster of Dragonfly Farms & Nursery was our garden hostess with the mostest.

Some bloggers were able to take plants home with them because they’d driven. And some bloggers who’d flown to Seattle packed their suitcases full of dirt and botanical booty and crossed their fingers that the plants would survive. I was lucky; Jenny of Rock Rose and her husband were camping and my plants were treated to a scenic drive across the countryside in their airstream camper before making their way here with Jenny yesterday!

The display gardens meandered all around the large nursery and house, delighting us with secret pathways and unique garden art at every turn.

Panning the nursery tables, so many colorful plants invited us in to browse.

There were many beauties I would have loved to take home with me like these Dahlias.



The intricate pattern on this pottery caught my eye. Isn’t it cool?

Plants and pots and trees… oh my!

There were many fabulous specimens through out the display gardens, like this poppy.



Intent on finding the next brilliant photo, bloggers Jenny of Rock Rose and Pam of Digging troll the eye candy.



So many majestic plants provided vertical interest in the garden.

I wish I knew the name of this luscious little blossom and its berry neighbor.

The Clematis in the PNW were all blooming their little heads of while we were there, thanks to a cool, wet spring. I was glad to see them before I had to return home to my brown, crispy ones.

What a selection of succulents! Now THIS table was really hard to pass up.

This quaint shed with its assortment of garden decor was inspiring. Now, garden “stuff” I could put in my suitcase!

The earlier rains of the day left the gardens dewy with droplets of rain.

This huge vase, tucked into a nook in the garden, makes for a fabulous focal point for visitors coming down the path.

Even exotic animals graced the display gardens.

The house hidden behind the display gardens is as whimsical and entertaining as the rest of the nursery.

After shopping and touring, we were all treated to the wonderful Punch Drunk in Love with the PNW happy hour. Our hosts, Proven Winners, put out a spread of food, blackberry punch cocktails and gave away their new Blackberry Punch Calibrachoa, which has been voted one of Sunset Magazine’s “25 Hot Plants to Grow Now.”

It was great to see the sun come out after our rainy morning at the Bloedel Reserve, and to relax with our hosts and blogging friends one last time before venturing back on the ferry and back to reality on Tuesday.

A garden surprise around every corner…

One of my favorite Seattle private garden tours was that of Denise Lane’s garden. We all enjoyed a break and a nice lunch in her wonderful outdoor entertaining area.
We spent quite some time in this amazing garden and were able to stop and visit and admire in many cozy seating areas throughout the garden. Here, Layanee of Ledge and Gardens and Cindy of My Corner of Katy spend a quite moment talking plants.

Denise Lane shared her garden’s history with us with a photo album chronicling each step of the process.
The flowing garden curves were all filled with beautiful border plants.
The garden’s secret series of paths led us to many different sculptures and works of art. I know you see the metal heron, but did you notice the lime and brown cat tails in the background? I almost missed them myself.
My favorite scene in the garden was this water feature flanked by Doric columns and covered with vines and plants from every angle. It was so packed with texture and color and sounds and scent…it was very hard to capture it all in a photo.
Austin blogger and my travel mate Jenny, of Rock Rose, was as taken with this garden display as I was. I managed to pull her away from her photography for just a moment.
Another lovely place for bloggers to rest and contemplate the garden.
I love this little birdhouse with the green roof. Makes sense – birds are far greener than we are!
This Greek column just popped up out of nowhere in the garden.
Several beautiful pieces of pottery adorn the garden, or maybe the garden adorns several pieces of pottery.
It was hard to choose among all my photos because so many of their subjects are so interesting like the pairing of these succulents.

This was a delightful garden, full of surprises and creativity and beauty. I could have spent an entire day there.

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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