A walk in the Enchanted Forest
The perimeter trail into the enchanted forest starts with the drive. I love the variety of color along the utilitarian driveway. We don't pave private driveways here in order to allow rain water to sink in, preserving runoff.
The cul-de-sac leading into the enchanted forest. Actually, the forest surrounds us. Hubby likes the movement of the windmill. It's useful for letting me know if something needs to be staked up before the wind knocks it down or if the wind is drying out the beds and I need to water.
Outside looking in through the deer fence. When you live in an enchanted forest high sturdy fences are necessary if you want to grow anything or even venture outside your door at night.
Into the woods. Beware. It all looks innocent enough. But...
Pacific Madrone bark makes having the messy trees in the woods worthwhile. We are fortunate to have these lovely trees that produce beautiful scented flowers in late May. They also get disease that they spread to my garden, but we ignore that.
The woodland trail is always dappled with sunlight. The native salal and huckleberry bloom in the spring and attract birds with their berries. I have no idea what else they attract.
This is the center of our forest. Some call it a healing grove. I call it the center of the vortex. Weird things happen here. Well, Vashon is weird. The energy of the trees may pull you into another world. It's also a great place to practice yoga.
Looking back toward the cul-de-sac and cutting garden. The Monkey Puzzle tree fits in with the feel of the forest.
I think this would be a great place to have weddings. I need to figure out how to supply the necessary sanitation to allow my woods to be used as a wedding venue.
Looking toward the house from the woods. Behind me there is about 120 acres of dense woodland. It's home to too many deer and raccoons. Great blue herons nest here as do bald eagles and hundreds of small birds. I found a cougar footprint near where I'm standing, and we occasionally find bear scat.
The view from the woods is always changing with the light and season. I was delighted to see the sun on these daisies that are growing inside the fence.
This is the inside of the fence in a tamer part of the garden. My rose trellis was covered in pink roses a few weeks ago. The trees on the right are in the woods. They occasionally attack the garden with their branches. One fir once threw 30 feet of it's top on the trellis destroying the original structure.
This is the shaded side of my raised bed garden. In this garden the beds are arranged in a circle. I grow kale, cabbage, broccoli, foxglove, feverfew and whatever volunteers in these beds. I garden in raised beds because the soil is toxic from a copper smelter that operated in Tacoma on the other side of the Puget Sound from here.
Every garden needs poultry. The goose is camera shy. The ducks behind him were running for cover when they saw me with the camera. They ignore me when I'm working in the garden but the minute I come out with the camera they run.
The perimeter trail continues along the north side of the property. Here non-native blackberries pull the fence over every year. We constantly have to pull it back up. The raised bed here is still a shade bed. I do grow rhubarb at one end, but mostly it has daffodils.
The orchard is far enough away from the forest to actually get sun. A falling tree from the forest took out half of an apple tree this year.
Looking toward the sunken garden from the trail behind the circle beds. The redwood tree is 20 years old. It's finally starting to put on some growth.
The sunken garden is the warmest part of the garden despite getting morning and late afternoon shade.
Every garden in an enchanted forest needs an Asian tea house hiding in the the woods. This engaging feature is on the trail above the sunken garden.
Every garden needs a pet or two or more. Henry, our cat, is waiting for me beside the trail leading up from the sunken garden. The cat is one reason the perimeter fence is kept secure. As long as he stays inside it, he's safe from coyotes.
Every gardener needs more than one picture of their pet. Black cats are hard to photograph. The lighting and background were about as good as it gets for catching Henry.
And here we emerge from the trail back onto the driveway. I hope you enjoyed this photo tour of the wilder parts of my yard.
Wedding Album
At Kiana Lodge Paulsbo WA. The wedding arch defined the sacred space where the vows were exchanged. The wedding took place on Palm Sunday so I used palm branches for the background. The roses were from the wholesaler and were not organic. I ordered 125 roses. The arrangement was constructed at home and transported to the site.
This wedding took place on one of the hottest days of the year. The bride and groom chose this shady grove as the place to exchange vows. I used shepherds crooks to hang baskets of flowers. Under the baskets we used blue vases with flowers to created an intimate feeling for the the exchange of vows.
This beach held special meaning for both the bride and groom. The challenge was to define a private place on a public beach. I used masses of flowers. I originally wanted to use blues and greens to reflect the natural colors of the scene, but the bride loves bright colors.
RECEPTION: For the reception area we are faced with lots of challenges. We're asked to to wall hangings, table bouquets and bouquets for the buffet table. Table bouquets must be short enough that diners can see the person sitting across from them. If you must use mason jars for the table, use pint jars with a narrow mouth. Mason jars are a challenge because they don't have pleasing dimensions.
This is a wall arrangement in a barn. For me this arrangement felt too high on the wall but we were not allowed to add hooks or nails. On the other hand taller people thought this was just fine. We wrapped the post this was on in wisteria vine.
These arrangements served double duty. Massed together they formed the sacred space. Once the vows were exchanged they were moved to tables for the reception.
This small arrangement gave the buffet table a completed look. This was an outdoor reception in April. Weather and flowers cooperated nicely.
These arrangements were for the beach wedding. While I massed big flowers on the beach, I chose just a couple zinnias in clam shells with water holding beads for the dining tables. The table also had plastic confetti strewn down the center. The groom's brothers and friends amused themselves by stuffing confetti into the water holding beads and pretending it was dinosaurs preserved in amber. Yes, these were grown men.
This basket with a table sized arrangement in one end and an a live potted succulent in the other tied the table with the guest book to the rest of the wedding, which was down a long flight of stairs from this table.
BODY FLOWERS: Order a couple extra. One of my most horrifying stories is of the rose that popped off the groom's boutonniere when someone bumped into him. I'd made a spare so all proceeded nicely. Herbs and succulents are popular right now, but about anything goes for body flowers. I used hop flowers for a group of groomsmen who were into brewing beer. They loved it. In case of disaster, table arrangements can be grabbed up to substitute for the bride's maids. While brides love a sunny day for their wedding, their flowers prefer misty and misbehave in the hot sun.
For the bride who loved peonies and got married before they were in full bloom. We provide organic, locally grown, seasonal flowers. I did have two large red peonies that bloomed in time for this wedding. Greens were Sweet Cecily, and I used allium and snowball to round out this woodland style bouquet.
Single peonies with larkspur for the bridesmaids in the woodland wedding. Generally, single peonies bloom before doubles except for tree peonies.
Flower crowns take way more material than you would think. This crown was for a twelve year old with red hair. Yes, she looked glorious.
This is a mid-summer bouquet. The foxgloves are small side shoots off a big plant. They are just the right size for a bride's maid.
For the woodland wedding I was happy to have these callas. They're indestructible.
This is the bride's bouquet for a wedding in Portland. I found the succulents to be fragile and heavy. After working with them, I advise brides to be prepared to pay extra for succulents in a bouquet. We seldom deliver to out-of-town weddings, but do have the equipment to do so. (No, that isn't the bride. Well I was once and Hubby took this picture of me with the flowers. It's unfair because I was exhausted.)
Garden Project
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This spring after Hubby fell off of the garage roof. I hired a young man, Seth to do the chores Hubby wouldn't have done if he hadn't fallen. After all they had not been done in the past two years. The keyhole garden was one such chore.
 Seth cleared weeds and made a solid foundation for the concrete block walls of the bed.
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Zinnias, glads and dahlias are growing rapidly in the deep bed.
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Pink is a popular color this year. Every color seems to take it's turn at being everybody's favorites. Here are some of my favorites.
I don't have the tag for this lovely lily with its pink blush
Mother of Pearl is an old Rhody but its color is pleasingly delicate.
2014 baby ducks in big pond.
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We have ducks to control insects and slugs. Last year Mama Duck hatched three daughters. I'm afraid that this year the eggs were not fertile. Poor Mama duck.
 2015 adult duck in the fountain. Aside from the duck being in the fountain the view from my kitchen window has been pleasing this summer.
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Abby's Wedding Colors were Eggplant and Cream
I love doing weddings. All of the flowers fro Abby's wedding came from my garden. I didn't know what to think when her mom said Eggplant and Cream with Pink were the colors. I have a rose Midnight Blue that is the right color and the dahlia Diva came through for the deep purple.
All the flowers for Abby's wedding masses together
Bride's Bouquet for Abby McKinney. Midnight blue roses, mix of white roses and mixed pink roses.
Here is my Easter arrangement in the sunlight on our patio. It is 40" tall not counting the dangly bits.
Hellebores in the sunlight
This is my arrangement for Easter Sunday. I called it abundant exuberance. I used a palm branch from my garden as background, and added masses of red and white flowering currant. I like the way the clematis armandi dangles and its white flowers have a pleasant citrus scent. You can find some euphorbia in there and of course the daffs. Many of the daffodils are doubles. The arrangement was 40" high by about 30" wide. It is a challenge to construct an arrangement big enough to suit the front of the sanctuary. In the past, I've brought in 15-20' trees.
Goldfish in the big pond. These are supposed to eat mosquito larve in the ponds. They do a good job until the blue heron decides to eat them. The willow tree and dead fern fronds provide some cover. These are the parent fish. They had a hundred or so babies in the pond
This is my pink bed in March. I just added the primroses this year. Usually the bed has tulips. The deciduous variegated weigela adds a long season of interest to this corner of the garden.
Euphorbias against the house.
I was wandering around the garden looking for things to photo. The side of our garage is not usually a dramatic object.
descanso Gardens
I wish I had a water feature like this at my house.
A well designed garden is interesting even in winter. I love the gnarly old tree in the foreground.
The combination of these cherry blossoms, new green leaves and the sky blew me away.
Gardens don't have to have flowers to be colorful and interesting.
The sun hitting the top of this cherry tree made it glow.
This striped camelia stood out stood out among the solid colored flowers.
I got down on the ground to photograph this red camelia against the sky. If I got down on the ground and back up again, you are going to look at this flower.
I thought the shading on this camelia was exquisite.
I have no idea if these camelia blossoms fell upright into the calla leaves or if someone had fun placing them there. I hope someone had fun.
I love how the morning light highlights the leaves of this bird of paradise.
the Northwest Flower and Garden Show.
I loved this informal combination of grass and flowers with the contrasting colors.
This sassy cat is made of stone. I loved the blue ey
I loved this gate. James Curtis from Edge of Glass Gallery was the glass artist for this piece.
This is the Hobbit House exhibit sponsored by the Washington Arboretum Foundation. |
This is to promote the Foundation's new Pacific Connections garden. The display features all plants from NZ>
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These pictures are from my own yard. Mama duck is the white one with her head hidden. She just turned ten or eleven years old. She is queen of the flock. On the right are my chickens. The Little Red Hen is, of course, the dark red one. Chicken Little is the whitest one in front, and Henny Penny is off to the right with a copper colored head. Poultry is so soothing in the garden.