Friday, November 4, 2011

Local garden stalking visit, Chapter 2

Back in mid-September I stumbled upon a most beautiful garden and posted a few pictures of its “public face” (click here for that tour). As luck would have it I knew someone who knew someone (thanks Kate!) and in early October I found myself meeting the homeowner and getting a tour of the back yard garden! This is the gate that separates the public from the private. Oh and there is a great little bit of back-story…in September of 2009 I was lamenting the end of summer (it’s never an easy transition for me) and visited the Portland Waterfront. The Willamette River runs right through our downtown, and there is a lovely park between the river and downtown proper. I posted several pictures of the plants in that park here. Well as it turns out owner of this garden is a horticulturalist with the City of Portland and is responsible for those riverside plantings (along with many others), “it’s a small world” right? Anyway if you click back to the that post you’ll definitely see a lot of correlation between those photos and these. If these photos seem a little disjointed blame the photographer not the gardener. There is a logical path through the garden with a huge center island and a covered pavilion in the corner as well as a generous deck off the back of the house, these all create order in the jungle. I however became overwhelmed with the fantastic foliage combinations and couldn't remember what I had photographed and just sort of bounced around the garden in a beauty induced stupor. I should also note that I visited this garden during a time of year when things are winding down and naturally starting to look a little tattered, plus the owner had just had surgery. He was gracious in letting me visit and take pictures of his wonderful private garden. Magnificent!

15 comments:

  1. What a wonderful looking garden, so many gorgeous foliage plants that are well combined together. And great 'exotic' structures too that enhance the atmosphere!

    You seem to be blessed with so many beautiful private gardens near you that you are fortunate enough to be able to visit. The photos also makes me want to incorporate more bananas and purple leafed cannas next year! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Amazing!!! that is one incredible garden - a true feast for the eyes! it looks like they have gone for the more jungle look! it's amazing when you get a great plant enthusiast working for the city! you are for sure lucky with that combination!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Very beautiful. Thanks for the lovely tour!

    ReplyDelete
  4. If that is "winding down and tattered" I want some! What a magical tropical garden. I know the little park planting you posted about earlier and I definitely see the connection. Aren't we lucky in Portland, to have not only generous gardeners but those same people with so much talent planting our public spaces?

    ReplyDelete
  5. "beauty-induced stupor": another way of saying "sheer bliss".

    ReplyDelete
  6. I like that garden, I like it a lot!

    If it wasn't so damn windy and cold in the winter then that is the sort of garden I would grow.

    However, I must say that the icing on the cake is missing, i.e. I would like to see some Yuccas in there and also some spikies in pots ;->

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh, I've wanted to see this garden for years now! Thank you for sharing your pics!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Nice forms and lushness, and so bold. "Stalking" is quite the visual for someone named "Danger Garden"...dark sunglasses (even in gloomy Cascadia), walking softly, camera in-hand, and who knows what else?

    ReplyDelete
  9. I've experienced that beauty-induced stupor myself a few times. How lucky you are to have been able to visit. Is that a variegated Trachycarpus?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Mark and Gaz, this garden is indeed very exotic in feel, you could very well forget that you're standing in inner SE Portland!

    Louis, we really are lucky in that regard.

    College Gardener, thank you for stopping by!

    MulchMaid, gosh...I hope that isn't how the owner read that comment! I meant that I wasn't seeing it in the height of the garden season.

    Hoover Boo, yes! Definitely!

    Adam D, did you click back to my earlier post on this garden? There were many fabulous spikes in that post!

    Lauren, magical place indeed.

    DD, oh so true...kind of scary huh? Where will she appear next?

    Alison, I was surprised someone hadn't asked about that palm earlier! I was quite surprised when I saw it, I guess it's a non-reproducible virus (I hope I'm remembering right). Bummer, because it was beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thanks for telling me to click on the link to part 1 of the garden tour.

    Yes, the front garden does have some lovely plants in it and I am pleased to see some spikies.

    I would love to be able to grow some of those big blue Agaves in the ground here, but it is too wet and the soil too heavy. Oh well, I will have to content myself by growing them in pots.

    ReplyDelete
  12. This makes me want to visit portland!! I have a portland starbucks mug and I always think about all the great garden tours I see on here from around the city when I sip my coffee :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. What an incredible garden. Bold and striking. Crazy contrasts. Great colors. I love it.

    You consistently take such incredible pictures and post so many. As soon as I saw Blogspot's new picture viewer, I knew it was made for you! Not to suck up to Bspot!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Boy, some people get to go to all the cool places and hang out with all the cool kids.

    ReplyDelete
  15. LOVE!

    Especially this:

    http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-O03kc_MzCyc/Tq3Mla3HkoI/AAAAAAAAWWA/k-OOiB8Z4zw/s1600/lwg%2B7.JPG

    The colors! The textures! That amazing japanese forest grass! Sighs.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to comment. Comment moderation is on (because you know: spam), I will approve and post your comment as soon as possible!