Friday, August 19, 2016

Following a hunch...the Morgan & Laufenberg Garden

Last August, when my garden was open for the Green on Green tour, I got to chatting with a nice fellow who knew all the cool plants. Turns out he was the friend of a friend and planned to open his garden through the HPSO this summer...I made a mental note to attend.

Can you imagine having a front garden so tiny? It's basically a hellstrip!

Thank goodness there's a nice side-garden

I was sure to take a photo of the label on this lily. Only all I manged to capture were the words "Lilium orientalis"...that doesn't help! ***UPDATE: Lilium orientalis ‘Fleurise’***

I like how it manages to work in the slightest hint of orange.

I do love the cramscaping. When you've only got what, 6 feet (?), to work with you really have to make it all count — and they have.

Headed down the steep side yard towards the back garden. This is not an easy site on which to garden, things drop off quickly at the back of the house.

I thought this guy was the official greeter but he remained rather quiet.

It wasn't until the end of my visit that I went up on the deck to have a look, but in order to give you a better idea of the overall space I thought I'd start our tour there.

Looking down to the left. See the fellow standing below the bananas pointing up? He's on a second planting level beneath the one you see here, on the other side of him the land drops off again. Oh and he's also the man responsible for this amazing garden.

Looking a little to the right, now you can better see the level he was standing on — as well as the drop off on the other side of the palms and red bananas.

A little more to the right...

And the last shot from above. Gorgeous!

Time to explore!

While I was there another visitor commented she was worried about the eventual size of the three Senecio greyi along the edge of this border. Ya I suppose theoretically they could become a problem but I appreciate the "plant now, worry later," style (that's the way I garden!). Besides in chatting with the Laufenberg half of the duo I learned she frequently cuts from the garden for arrangements and this foliage works so well in a vase.

Mr. Morgan has a love for variegation and combines plants that could be jarring — to instead bring out the best qualities in both.

Continuing straight along the back of the house...

Alstroemeria psittacina 'Variegata'

One of several Ensete ventricosum 'Maurelii'.

Daphne × burkwoodii 'Briggs Moonlight' (I think ?).

Now I'm standing under the covered deck you saw from above.

And admiring the wonderful scissor collection! (yes, okay, and the Agave too)

This is the lower pathway I pointed out earlier.

Isn't the repeated color and texture fabulous?

I can't remember which bamboo this is but it's kind of soft and fuzzy.

One of the bananas had flowered and fruit was forming, my photo of it didn't turn out.

See, they've got all the cool plants! Cunninghamia lanceolata 'Glauca'...

I hope my photos managed to convey the amazing beauty of this garden. Not only were the plants all happy and healthy (and so perfectly combined) but the entire place was immaculate! I'm so glad I was able to visit, thank you for opening your garden!

All material © 2009-2016 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

34 comments:

  1. Maybe one of the incredibly talented plant duo will comment and give the name of that stunning lily. What a thrilling garden, with every niche and aspect exploited to the max, yet still letting the eye read some wonderful broad strokes of color, like the chartreuse bamboo and canna/banana -- with an opposing border of....lavender? Wow, I love their hungry eye!

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    1. Message has been sent, I am hoping for ID! "Hungry eye"...I love that.

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    2. Denise, it is Lilium orientalis ‘Fleurise’

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  2. That's some garden, Loree! Wow. Thanks for the share. That bamboo - is that the gold foliage you see it triplicate from above? Nice contrast with the dark foliage.

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    1. Yes indeed it is the one in triplicate, isn't it fabulous?

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  3. Amazing garden if it was on a flat patch but to create that on a steep slope! I can't get over how different the views are in different diections, especially parallel to the house. I wonder if there is a lot of traffic noise being right on the street.

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    1. It's a dead end street so I'm sure that helps!

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  4. I love almost everything about this garden, even the challenging slope! The only negative for me are the bananas -- they have that tattered, worn look that kept me from growing my own bananas for so long. I wonder why they're so beat up there?

    (The bamboo is Pleioblastus viridistriatus, and you must have visited earlier in the year because the leaves are still so vibrant -- they mellow over the summer)

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    1. Wind. I'm sure it comes up through the "canyon" from the river and can be quite nasty. Thanks for the bamboo ID, my visit was on July 9th.

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  5. I'd love to spend time in this garden. It's like a magazine story come to live. Stunning vignettes wherever you look.

    "Plant now, worry later:" I'm coming around to that way of gardening. It's taken me a long time since I like to plan ahead, but I'm about to jump in the deep end!

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    1. Oh...I like the sounds of this Gerhard. Tell us more!

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  6. I know slopes are a challenge, but I always love to see gardens where some intrepid plant person sees the opportunity in the challenge and creates something beautiful like this.

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    1. Everything is so beautifully done you almost (almost) don't notice the difficult conditions.

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  7. Me too (so glad you visited). I've been unable to visit gardens this summer but your posts keep me from feeling too deprived. This is a perfect illustration of how a difficult site can lead to brilliant solutions.

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    1. Happy to keep you feeling like you're out there enjoying them for yourself.

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  8. Funny, this garden was on the Grren on Green tour THIS year! I just visited on Saturday. (I originally thought perhaps your post was about Saturday's open garden, until I noticed the light on your day was clearly more "soft" than the blistering day I was there.) Lovely garden, and I look forward to seeing it on a better day. The owner is a generous soul. The heart shows through.

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    1. I had somehow missed that fact until I got an email from Garden Fever the morning of the tour. I saw the lead photo and thought "wait a minute..." -- I am so glad you (and others) got to see this fabulous garden. I visited on July 9th...a much kinder day!

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  9. Definitely a brilliant, beautifully planted and maintained garden. Just amazing. What's not to love? I am fixated on that oriental lily. I'm glad you pointed out the orange in the magenta: perfect. The unopened bud is as beautiful as the flowers.

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    1. Hopefully I'll be able to report back with a name, soon...

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    2. Lilium orientalis ‘Fleurise’

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  10. Impressive what they have done with a challenging property. Beautiful color combinations and so many different plants looking so healthy and loved.

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  11. Stunning garden! I also subscribe to the "plant now worry later" school of thought. So many cool plants combined into such a beautiful whole. So their names are HILLary and Cliff?

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    1. Of course you do, that's why I like you! And re: their names...how do you come up with these things???

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  12. And here I complain about the steepness of my back slope...They made great use of every inch of that property (with the possible exception of that small slice of lawn). The garden makes a great case for focusing on foliage over flowers.

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    1. I wonder if there isn't a dog that enjoys that small slice of lawn? The small yellow patches kind of speak to that use.

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  13. Now that is one seriously great garden.I had so hoped to make it up to PDX this year to visit some of the HPSO open gardens but it was not to be.

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  14. fabulous garden! I love the cramscaping and the "plant now, think later" approach too!

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    1. Eventual size, who plants with that in mind! (well okay...good to do some of the time, but not all the time!)

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  15. Glad you remembered to go to the HPSO tour : ) what a fabulous garden and amazing collection of plants. The vignettes and color combinations are beautiful.I can't imagine the work to maintain it and on so many levels. Thank you for sharing it with us!!!

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    1. Oh this wasn't a tour per se, there are open HPSO gardens every weekend! Oh the riches!!!

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  16. What a LOT of wow factor! Thanks for sharing this with us :) The use of foliage color/texture is gorgeous and so inspiring... And I can't help admiring the hardscaping too, all the effort and thought that must have gone into paths and steps.

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