Monday, February 10, 2020

Denver Garden Bloggers Fling: the Johnson Miles garden

Today we're back in Denver at the Johnson/Miles garden, one of the private gardens we visited last June during the Garden Bloggers Fling.

We had 35 minutes to see this garden and all that it had to offer. Even though the space was small it was jam-packed and that time flew by.

This shapely pot and it's spiky contents sit to the left of the entrance (also visible in the photos above).

The entire garden was layered with plants, containers, and "upcycled artifacts" of interest...

I've seen these clay orchid pots here in Portland, I like them softened with the tillandsia.

A nice welcoming porch off the front of the home...

The railing next to the steps up to the porch was a hoot. It almost made me wish we hadn't gotten rid of the railing next to our front door but just ran over it a few times with our car and then reattached it.

There was also an impressive collection of hanging cactus. While I personally couldn't stand looking at the plastic pots, at least they all (almost) match.

A small slice of the plants on the inside of the wall, as seen with my back to the porch.

Just to the right of the above plantings was this fern on a pedestal.

This just blows my mind. I've had smaller (much smaller) versions of this plant—Sedum morganianum—and if you so much as walk past it, or even think about walking past it, it looses some of those little succulent leaves. Heck they even drop off if you look at the plant out of the corner of your eye. I have no idea how this plant looks this good. You realize they have to move it into the house in the winter time, right?

Another look at the porch.

I wonder if an agave bloomed and left behind all those pups? (there was no large agave nearby)

Looks like maybe this Yucca rostrata recently bloomed (hense the oddly shaped top).

Time to pass into the back garden, oh and remember that bit of cushion and bench you can see on the left, you'll see more of it in a minute.

Have I mentioned how inspired I was by the Colorado gardener's use of sempervivum? Yes, many times I am sure.

These gardeners also cramscape, expertly.

Every square inch, filled.

To quote from the materials we were given by the event organizers "Garden Goals: (My) main goal is usually "where can I put this?" Just trying new things or indulging in a new obsession."

There's the bench again...

About the gardener: "I have spent my life gardening, from New York to Colorado and Arizona, and have worked in horticulture most of my life, including the nursery industry, vineyards, and public gardens. This includes 22 years with the Denver Botanic Gardens Horticulture Department, currently as Curator of Native Plant Collections and Associate Director of Horticulture."

I usually like to try and photograph the gardens I visit without making the people in the garden a big part of the show, that simply was not possible here.

Even though it looks like part of the main house this was actually a wonderful out-building at the back of the property.

And the working space. I wish I had something like this out of sight.

A dramatically painted wall near the out-building...

The carved column and exfoliating tree bark make a nice pairing.

Curvy metal appeared in several places throughout the garden.

Agaves too...

The crowd...

This series of three photos will give you a sense of just how packed this garden was. We Flingers were split into two buses but that still meant around 40 people were in this small garden. The time-stamp here was 1:55...

There was movement, it's now 1:56.

And a little more movement, 1:57.

By now we were being herded back on the bus but I managed two more photos first, these cones (*swoon*).

And one of the hellstrip...

Weather Diary, Feb 9: Hi 47, Low 37/ Precip 0

All material © 2009-2020 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

27 comments:

  1. Love that wall with the pot on it. Wonderful to have a spot like that for display. I thought all the hanging/drooping plants in the garden were terrific accents but I could not manage with that many pots on the ground. To my eye they always distract from the garden.

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    1. I think these garden owners have given themselves over to the idea of the more distraction the better. I agree thought when it's just a few pots on the ground scattered around a garden it can be distracting. There's power in numbers, or grouping of objects.

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  2. This was one of my favorite gardens, because of the imagination that went into it. What I would have given to be alone in it for a little while. Your photos reminding me of the crowded conditions are actually making me feel physically ill all over again. Thanks for taking me back to its beauty and creativity, though. I don't recall seeing that bent railing, I love it.

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    1. I agree, a few moments alone would have been amazing.

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  3. Only 35 minutes... yet you managed presenting this jewel of a garden so well. Cramscaping in this garden is very successful and there's harmonious flow throughout. I enjoyed the wide shots with the flingers: simply rotating in place seems effective in case. The curved metal mimicking the grass is genius. I laughed at your experience with Sedum morganianum, its exactly what happens with this pretty thing. I got rid of mine eventually.

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    1. Mine are gone now too (Sedum morganianum) too many empty spots and it became ugly.

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  4. What an absolutely awesome private garden. This is what I strive toward.

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  5. Love the gardener's goals. Easy to relate. Do love those squid pots. Can't imagine having that many people come through my garden. It's amazing you hardly ever have any people in your shots.

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    1. I do that mainly for the people, they're not professional models. They're there enjoying the garden, they shouldn't have to be plastered across my blog.

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  6. MUCH too much to see in 35 minutes. I enjoyed this garden and could have spent hours there, even if I didn't have to dodge 39 other people. I'm not a plastic pot fan either but as birds keep tearing apart my coconut fiber lined pots, I've been seriously considering a plastic alternative.

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    1. Good to know (about the birds) I've got a plan for some plants tucked in trees in my garden this summer and was considering using parts of those coir liners you can find at the garden centers. Maybe I'll go a different route.

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  7. I am so impressed. My last trip to Denver left me with a memory of brown and boring. Really wonderful.

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    1. Oh there was so much more than brown and boring!

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  8. Oh, that was a fun garden. All the pots and potted arrangements and the metal sculptures were impressive.

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    1. I love a gardener that just goes for it and doesn't hold back.

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  9. This garden was one of my Denver Fling favorites for the creativity of display, color, spiky plants, and garden art. I loved it all. But yes, 35 minutes was much too short for seeing it all. Also, I'm always amazed by the Flingers who can calmly sit down on a bench and just take it all in from that one vantage point. I'm always running around like a madwoman with my camera, trying to get a photo of everything.

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  10. That is a real gem of a garden! Personal, quirky, obsessive, crammed full, yet the plants look healthy. A hands-on gardener's hands-on garden.

    All the people shots give a good idea of scale and level, and we're all focused on the plants in the photos anyway, aren't we?

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  11. Missed this post yesterday. There was so much to take in with this garden. I loved it. Everywhere you looked there was something unusual.

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    1. And I tried to look everywhere, but I'm sure I missed a few things.

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  12. That was a wonderful garden and you captured it well. All those pots were amazing and I love the colors chosen for the walls, but of course my eye kept getting drawn to the brightly-colored flowers.

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    1. I know I'm not in the majority with my non-flower focus....

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  13. Dan's garden was on the Denver Garden Conservancy tour years ago when I lived in Denver. It looked different then, but was equally extraordinary. The colors of the house and walls, the joy in the plantings and the unexpected art in the garden back then changed my view of what would make me happy in my own gardens. Now that we are in Tucson I contacted him for an interview, but unfortunately we were not able to go to his AZ gardens because of an unexpected health issue. He did send us photos. Maybe we can go together if you make it to Tucson down the road? His gardens bring all of my senses together and make me smile!

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    1. Yes please! That would be wonderful, to get to meet you and see another of this creative gardener's gardens...sounds perfect!

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  14. Works for me! The 2 hour drive to Tucson from Phoenix is long but the area is filled with Saguaro's!

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