Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Mary DeNoyer's garden, a Study Weekend visit

The first garden I set out to see during the HPSO Study Weekend event in late June was that of Mary DeNoyer. She and I cross paths during local garden events and she doesn't live all that far away from me. It was odd that I hadn't visited her garden prior...

From our brochure..."Mary's garden is a 20-year experience of learning and passion. In this 75 x 100 ft organic city garden the adding of every bit of compost, tilling of the beds, digging of every hole, and placement of almost every rock and tree was done by this garden owner. And the garden is still changing! Mary expertly collects lovely shade plants including varieties of arisaema, podophyllum, saxifrage and dactylorhiza for her lush and private back area beds. She loves playing with textures of plantings. In the sunnier south-facing front garden is a collection of more drought-tolerant trees, evergreens, and perennials. Last year her rock garden was added along the drive. On the cozy, private deck off the back of the house and on the shady covered patio is a collection of garden art..."

I was thrilled to see a blooming Morina longifolia...

...or two. My plant (a gift from Bonney Lassie) is still producing that great serrated foliage, but it hasn't bloomed this year.

This Dierama, aka angels fishing rod, captured the attention of every visitor who passed by.

Faux bois planters, a little Martha Stewart touch.

The dried allium blossoms tucked into this conifer had me feeling a few Christmas vibes.

I could have stepped up to the deck here, but instead traveled around the end of the "L" shape to take in all the plants.

This gorgeous ground cover is an arabis, it was swoon worthy. Mary has promised to share a bit with me and I'm thrilled.

She does shade plants very well...

I used to have so much of this Saxifraga x geum 'Dentata', I'm not sure what happened to it. Maybe I could talk her into a piece of it too...

Wow, wouldn't you like to hang out here for a bit? There are clear plastic panels acting as a roof, should moisture fall from the sky.

x Mangave 'Bloodspot' perhaps?

It's bloomed and is now forming babies...

That's a nice paring. Cordyline 'Electric Flash' and a dark-leaved dahlia (thanks Green Zebra Market Garden).

Mary had kindly set out refreshments for the touring hordes, I was more interested in that great pot with the aeonium...

Oh! The driveway rock garden, I like it.

This short little planter, maybe a former birdbath, also caught my eye.

And this! Goodyera oblongifolia...

I definitely need to know more about this "giant rattlesnake plantain"...

This was a wonderful garden to kick off a plant focused weekend. I can't believe almost two months have passed since this visit. Summer goes so fast...

Weather Diary, Aug 19: Hi 81, Low 60/ Precip 0

All material © 2009-2019 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

24 comments:

  1. Love your garden tours! Thanks so much for taking us along.

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    1. Glad you enjoy them, it makes it worthwhile.

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  2. The dark foliage with Cordyline Electric Flash is from a dark-leaved dahlia.

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  3. What a fantastic garden with some really choice plants! I like the terra cotta pots set amongst the rock garden. I had that serrated Saxifrage for a couple of years too, mine never spread like that and eventually faded away.

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    1. I wonder what we did wrong? (with the saxifrage?)

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  4. As a shade gardener I am drooling over this garden. You did not even mention those highly sought after lilies she's growing in photo no. 2. And when have I ever seen actual art on a deck. What a delight on every level.

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    1. I can be flower blind, glad you spotted them. And ya, that huge painting is pretty spectacular. She's also got a couple of Andrew's pieces in her collection!

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  5. I especially appreciated the shady areas of the garden and would happily spend hours hanging out on that patio. You introduced me to a couple of plants I've never heard of too, like Goodyera oblongifolia, which I discovered is a California native, albeit one that doesn't care for SoCal.

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    1. I am hoping to grab a goodyear (that's how I will forever think of it) sometime soon...

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  6. From the first picture one can see it's going to be a wonderful garden. I am enamored with the bird-bath-turned-planter: a very sweet grouping. Particularly useful now, as I'm absorbing ideas for a small fern table type thing.

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    1. I would be proud to have that in my garden too...

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  7. Summer does go by too fast, now with only a month left - wah!
    I love the textures in the shade gardens, esp. with so many unusual plants. The pendulous red lilies in the second photo caught my eye - any idea what they were?

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    1. I love that you wrote "a month left"...I get so tire of the people who behave as though August is the end of summer. I don't know what the red lilies were, but Linda (above) saw them too. I guess they're special...

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    2. I was drooling over them too... a Google search suggest they may be Canada lily (Lilium canadense).

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    3. I think you may be right - could be Lilium canadense var. coccineum, a variety I've never seen before. It is beautiful!

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  8. This is one of the gardens I didn't make it to, so I'm glad you shared. It seems really liveable and pleasant, and I love that patio!

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  9. Another garden I look forward to someday visiting. Thank you for the tour!

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  10. Admiring an orchid, sounds like a slippery slope!

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  11. Descendants of that saxifrage live on here...happy to share back to you
    rickii

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  12. Summer did indeed fly by... When you said the tour was at the end of June, I thought "impossible" but dang - you're right! Mary has such a gorgeously composed garden that hits all the right notes for me. I just love that covered area with the fireplace surround. That superb Clivia is incredible, and such a poetic touch!

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  13. So nice to see this after 'knowing' Mary on FB for a while now! Lovely garden.

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