Wednesday, August 14, 2013

The Miller Garden, part 2

Yesterday we started our tour of the Miller Garden, located just north of Seattle. Today we continue the adventure starting out in the small parking area and then wandering down towards the Puget Sound.

Any notion I had that this wouldn't be a garden for me was instantly dispelled when I saw this yucca, isn't it hot?

And these sexy Arctostaphylos remains. I believe this was once an A. 'Howard McMinn'...while I certainly don't want any of my Arctostaphylos to pass on it's not so bad to be left with this right?

This stone patio and seating area overlooks the lower garden. We'll start off down the stairs in a minute (just out of frame to the left) but first let's look around the parking area.

Do you spy the Echium (E. pininana I believe) on the left? Front and center is a huge Corokia Cotoneaster...

I wandered away from the group to snap this photo, and then I forgot to inquire what this amazing specimen might be.

Aesculus hippocastanum 'Wisselink'

I thought I'd got the name of this one (on the right) but sadly I didn't. Anybody know?

Quercus pontica with a fabulous trough.

Quercus pontica close-up.

Trough close-up.

Richie Steffen, our guide for the day, had a story about the origin of this magnificent stone container. All I can remember is it came from China.

Adenanthos sericeus (Woolly Bush)! It was blooming with it's teeny tiny little red flowers but I couldn't capture them. Thankfully my plant has since bloomed and I'll be sharing them tomorrow for Garden Bloggers Bloomday.

I think that must be another Adenanthos...

Oh my...instant plant lust! Quercus dentata 'Pinnatifida'...I will find a space for this plant.

I'm thinking maybe where the Privet is now. I need one of these...

The garden even had a small collection of carnivorous plants...

And a Schefflera!

Schefflera delavayi

I believe this is Fokienia hodginsii. Richie didn't touch on it during the tour but I swooned and Fokienia hodginsii is on the handout of memorable plants.

Gotta be Wollemia nobilis

We've made our way down to the overlook. A nice large wooden deck that overlooks the Puget Sound and is filled with a potted plant collection.

What a view...

The blue foliage plant is one I really wish I would have remembered the name of.

Wow...that' a field of rodgersia!

And how I would love a greenhouse like this...wouldn't you?

And what about a propagation area? Nice huh?

Here we caught a glimpse of the neighbors house. Not quite the understated abode which the Miller's called home.

I believe the plant on the right is a heather, but I don't know which one.

So that's that and we're back at the bottom of the steps which lead up to the parking area.

I'm not wanting to leave.

Another Wollemia nobilis?

I could easily get lost here but I don't think we've come back around that far to this must be a second one.

So ends a lovely adventure. I want to again mention my visiting the Miller Garden would have never been possible if not for the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon. If you're anywhere near Portland, Oregon, you really should consider membership. After this July tour just a couple of weeks later (in August) I was able to attend a lecture by Bleddyn and Sue Wynn-Jones of Crug Farm Plants and I've visited multiple open member gardens. Next month I'll be attending a lecture by Fred Weisensee of Dancing Oaks Nursery called "Tropicalismo Lives"...(hardy plants that give a garden that tropical look). Heck I even know of people in California and Washington that are members of the HPSO...it's that good!

All material © 2009-2013 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. If this post appears anywhere but danger garden it has been reposted without permission.

30 comments:

  1. OMG, I would love to go to that lecture on Tropicalismo! Does Dancing Oaks sell that kind of stuff?

    What a cool garden with so many unique plants. It may be a good thing I haven't gone yet, I'm not plant-knowldgeable enough to know what I'm seeing. I WOULD love to have that greenhouse! I've only recently started lusting after them, I'm going to need one if I do a tropical thing in my front garden.

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    1. Dancing Oaks sells a wide variety of things, and yes some of them definitely fit into the tropical style.

      Ah but maybe it's good to go now, when you're not "jaded"...hahha, just kidding. I don't think even the most knowledgeable plants-person could feel jaded visiting the Miller Garden.

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  2. So many wonderful plants...and that metal container with the horsetail is one I've been trying to track down, unsuccessfully so far. Those Wave Hill chairs really get around. I've got the blueprint plans around here somewhere...Is that blue-leaved shrub a daphne maybe? I also spy a mathiasella -- remember we saw it at Shirley's garden? I need a summer house in Oregon!

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    1. I've seen that container around here and there, always very very expensive! Next time I see it I'll let you know.

      I think you might be right about the blue leaf shrub being a daphne, that rings a bell, and yes on the mathiasella! I thought that was the same plant from Shirley's.

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  3. Wow. This is so fantastic. All those great philanthropic things I said I'd do when I win the lottery, maybe this instead. I've got a serious case of budget envy...

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    1. I think it would be very good of you to employ gardeners and nursery people with your lottery winnings.

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  4. I'm swooning at the sight oo many beautiful foliage plants, great hardscape and planters. Thanks for the tour, and for all of your wonderful posts.

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  5. I like that garden a lot, about the same as the one yesterday!

    Did you say that this one was supposed to be the sunnier of the two you visited?

    I have looked at the photos a few times now and I don't see too many flowers, which isn't a bad thing as I garden similarly.

    That greenhouse is to die for! Mind you, it's probably as big as my back garden (just kidding!)

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    1. You're right...not many flowers and that's fine with me too. Perhaps in the late spring with the rhody's are blooming it would be a bit more florific. It definitely was the more open and sunny section, although there wasn't much sun that day at all (nice for pictures!).

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  6. Zowie...that garden is packed with memorable plants. I can see why you would have liked to linger. The Arctostaphylos skeletons are fab, and the Aesculus foliage, and the...well, just too much to mention. Thanks for taking us along. Nice pitch for HPSO, too.

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    1. I'm always amazed when I discover a fellow Portland gardener who isn't a member of the HPSO...why not!?

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  7. OMG I don't think I've ever seen a private garden with this many incredible and outstanding plants. How fabulous! that trough and stone planter are to die for and the hardscape is wonderful.... Love every bit of this

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    1. So glad you enjoyed it Deanne, it really is a special place.

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  8. oh part two has the plant lust going on overload! Those wollemia nobilis are soo healthy. Makes me think I should finally plant mine! And that awesome yucca rigida ... amazing. I also like the exotic touches like the way the dicksonia antarctica and schefflera to the left of it add that extra WOW!

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    1. You really should plant yours. Have you seen the one (Wollemia nobilis) at the UBC garden? That was the first one I ever saw...

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  9. Gorgeous! Thanks again for sharing your visit! We'd all love a greenhouse like that! If my garage would simply burn down (heaven forbid!) I'd have space for a good sized greenhouse and get a nice sunken patio with concrete half walls on two sides to boot!

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    1. Be careful what you wish for Mister! There have been to many fires near people I care about lately, I don't want to hear about one in your garden too.

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  10. That really looks like a plantsman's dream garden. I wouldnt want to leave either. I particularly like the Quercus - must do research!

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  11. That Arctostaphylos remains certainly does look very architectural left like that!

    And what a stunning garden! So many gorgeous plants, I wouldn't even know where to start (well I could start by making a list of plants to look out for!). Loved every bit of it!

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    1. Oh yes, it's very list inspiring isn't it? Especially when (sadly) you've got some empty space to fill.

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  12. Amazing... I have no words... I´m so happy I can see this kind of places thanks to blogs like yours!

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    1. Thanks Lisa, I feel the same way about the places you take us to on your blog!

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  13. I've visited the Miller garden over 10 years ago now, when the Hortisexuals did their Seattle trip, and it was quite wonderful then. It would appear that they've added quite a few exotic plantings since then, and you must have been in heaven with all those foliage plants. That Seattle trip was memorable for me, we saw so many great gardens and specialty nurseries up there, incuding Heronswood. Thanks for the tour!
    David in Berkeley

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    1. I am so embarrassed to admit I've never been to Heronswood, and I lived right there in Seattle during it's heyday! I blame the fact I lived in an apartment with only window boxes to plant, my plant obsession was greatly tempered. Glad I could take you back!

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  14. Loree, i have been reading your blog almost daily for over a year and this will be the first time i have commented. I too, visited the Miller Garden, back in 2004. It was fantastic then and certainly remains fantastic now! As you mentioned earlier, trying to get tickets is like winning the lottery, you just feel so privileged to be able to walk through that amazing space. Your photos and comments brought all that back and i thank you for that. On one of your photos, you asked for an identification, it was posted just below the Aesculus hippocastanum, you asked for the name of the plant on the right, could it be a Sophora? Maybe its time to join the NHS as it might bring me better luck on getting a ticket again! Thank you for the incredible tour! Erik in Tacoma

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    1. Thanks for commenting Erik, and yes I think you're right, that is a Sophora! Joining the NHS does sound like a good idea, and really why not? I should have mentioned there's a lecture coming up in September the "19th Annual Elisabeth C. Miller Memorial Lecture" with Tony Avent as the featured speaker. Wish I could go, it's free!

      http://www.millergarden.org/lecture.php

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  15. I don't know if other people from my neck o' the wood (southwestern-ish) feel this way, but I am so enamored and in Platonic Lust or whatever with the way you photograph gloomy / gray-ish / damp-ish northwestern settings. This is not an insult! It's just so refreshing, given that I'm used to cheerful aridity. I love the way you frame specific textures--rock, moss, and spiny things--in an overcast, low-lit context. Lovely tour!

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    1. Ha! No insult taken, but sometimes I do get frustrated with our white (overcast) sky. If I had the time and the skills I'd go back and Photoshop in a blue sky everywhere, it's such a moos lifter! However the overcast does allow for a different quality of photography, which I appreciate since I don't have expensive equipment to overcome harsh sunlight. Glad you enjoyed the tour.

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