Friday, October 3, 2014

Visiting Nancyland…

Last July I had the opportunity to visit the garden of Nancy Goldman, which goes by the name Nancyland. The name is sort of an homage, I believe, to her full on embrace of all that makes her happy. If you live in Portland and are part of the gardening/plant loving community your life has no doubt been made richer by the volunteer work of this lady.

This was actually the second time I’ve been to her garden, the first was in the dead of winter and I only spied things from the sidewalk. A photo from that post, of the garden's hellstrip pebble mosaic (of which this is just a tiny sample), has become one of the most frequently "pinned" (on Pinterest) photos from my 1500+ blog posts, I believe it is the work of Jeffrey Bale.

Forget the pebbles I was more enchanted by the echium...

And this is the first garden where I've seen Dianthus 'green ball' growing. A darling of the cut-flower industry it hasn't really taken hold in the gardening world.

The tiny strip between house and driveway has been well planted. Some might say over-planted (and that's why I love it)...

Heading into the back garden...

And this catches my eye and takes me back to 2011 and my visit to Lorene Edwards Forkner's garden in West Seattle. Her book Handmade Garden Projects has detailed instructions on creating these imaginative works of art.

Stepping into the garden I am immediately at home, all those containers!

But that "contained" space opens up on a much larger landscape...

Before we explore just look at all those layers! How many different plants do you count? (8? Maybe?)

"My garden kicks ass" (or so I was told)...

More Bale artwork? One would think...

All the cool gardeners have a schefflera.

In the "deep forest"...

Yep, more of the metal work from Lorene.

Rebar and branches, hard to tell apart.

Those pebble mosaics are everywhere!

A shoe rack and planted shoes on the raised deck, Nancy is known for those shoes...

Glancing around the deck before...

Descending into the front garden...

Metapanax delavayi I believe.

Our front doors are an extremely similar green, maybe even exactly the same shade...

Compare this growth to when I first discovered this garden in late December.

The curved metal backdrop was so much more visable then.

Twisty Baby Locust (I think - it seems a bit large but has the right leaves) is a huge feature in the front garden.

And at the sidewalk level the poetry box stops passers-by.

As, of course, does the hellstrip mosaic...

House? What house?

All material © 2009-2014 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

33 comments:

  1. What a fabulous garden, thanks for sharing it. Were you there for one of the HPSO's Open Days? I'm hoping maybe next year I might get to see it, if I re-up my HPSO membership. Good to see how big that Metapanax is, I just bought a little one this past weekend at Dragonfly.

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    1. Yes Alison I think she opens for HPSO every year, although usually on Monday evening. That's when I visited.

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  2. Surrounded by things she loves - just love that bit and such a wonderful dictum. And surrounded she is indeed with so many beautiful plants. Another wonderful garden that is so inspirational!

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    1. I was certainly inspired by how many plants she's crammed into a small garden...

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  3. Incredible garden! I remember reading about it before and am a huge fan of Bale's work. The intensive planting is great!

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    1. Maybe you and Alison will have to make a trip down to see it in person next summer?

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  4. I love the lushness of all of it. And I love that she can probably be standing in her front yard and passerby would never be able to see her :)

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  5. Neat garden--has a real lived-in-much-loved feel. She must be a very sweet lady.

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    1. " lived-in-much-loved feel" - I bet she'd like that!

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  6. Really nice -- what fun is it if your plants aren't hiding something (like the house)?

    I'm trying to think of where I could create a mosaic like that in my garden...

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    1. It seems like project you'd enjoy Alan. Can't wait to see what you do.

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  7. Fantastic! What a creative gardener ! the planting is so exciting and I just luuurrrvvv the mosaics !

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    1. You are in good company there. Have you ever tackled a project like that?

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  8. What a delightful and creative garden! I love the pebble mosaics!!!

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    1. Perhaps someday they'll find their way into a client project?

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    2. any way to contact her? there were a few plants in your photos I would like an ID on.

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    3. Not that I'm going to share here for all to see! If you have questions just ask and I'm sure we can get you ID.

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  9. So inspirational in that I just realized how much more space I have for plants and stuff than I thought. That wire chair is so cool.

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    1. Ha! I like your open garden look too Shirley.

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  10. If it's too big to be Twisty Baby, the contorted locust could be 'Tortuosa'. I love the sword fern cut-out. What is the tall plant in the first photo with the drippy yellow flowers? I have a florist friend who had a customer ask to remove the expensive Dianthus 'Green Ball' from an arrangement because she thought they were ugly and replace them with something more mundane. She ripped herself off because she had already paid for it. I guess they haven't caught on everywhere in the floral world either.

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    1. Thanks for the locust ID Evan. The tall plant I believe is Datisca cannabina http://plantlust.com/plants/datisca-cannabina/ (false hemp). I saw Dianthus 'Green Ball' at Fred Meyer (of all places) earlier in the year. I wanted to buy it but it was just not a good looking plant! Nancy made it work.

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  11. That is seriously one cool garden! I love the layers and it must have been fun to weave around the pathways and discover plant treasures.

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    1. It was! Are you a HPSO member Jenni? (I can't remember) If so you you should visit if she opens next year.

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  12. Who but Nancy could get away with using a washstand as a planter? A paean to her wit, which is always apparent. I will have to make a note to revisit this garden in the fullness of summer.

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    1. Do you know the story behind the washstand Ricki? It's a sink with a horticultural pedigree, having come from Sean Hogan's house.

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  13. fantastic garden !
    realy enjoy the stones mosaics...

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  14. I enjoyed this tour and especially seeing her pebble mosaics and metal art. What a beautiful and interesting garden.

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  15. In the photo of the path what are the plants on either side..the tall cut leaf anf the yellow leaf on the left? Also in the photo with the smoke bush what is the cut leaf in the lower left and the purple leaf in the back..purple leaf daphne?

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    1. Is the path image you're referring to #129? (hover the curser over the photo) if so I believe the cut leaf on the right belongs to a tree peony. The yellow leaf I am not sure about but will try to track down. The next one yes, the dark leaf is Daphne houtteana, the cut leaf is a Ligularia, perhaps L. stenocephala

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  16. And I thought I had a lot of plants! I really should study these photos for a few hours. The way Nancy layers her plants is really well done. Thanks for sharing.

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