Monday, April 20, 2020

The Proctor Garden, from the 2019 Garden Bloggers Fling

As luck would have it, I've still got a few garden tours to share from the Denver Fling, last June! This year's Fling, in Madison, Wisconsin, has been postponed until summer 2021, so there will be no 2020 Fling. It's sad news, especially for the planners that have put so much work into the event, but that's how it goes in this strange era we're living though.

Today's tour is of the Proctor Garden, we entered the garden by walking through the house. I wanted to stop and take a million photos, but it just didn't seem like the proper thing to do. Plus we were a large group, every second I stood still meant someone behind me was itching to get out into the garden.

Out there...

From our Fling materials..."Our garden sits on about a third of an acre that previously had all been lawn. We removed eight Siberian elm trash trees and most of the lawn to get started. The front garden is a fairly low-maintenance xeriscape, while the back garden is a series of perennial borders. From the back patio a "folly" structure serves as a focal point. The main patio and other seating areas display over 600 containers, filled with plants ranging from from cacti and succulents to towering tropicals. A long gravel driveway is not longer used for cars but now a sunny border comprised entirely of potted plants." Wow...

There were several different seating areas throughout the garden, they must have great parties.

And containers! Oh so many containers, easily over the 600 they claim.

Onopordum acanthium

The folly.

Under the folly.

I saw a couple other Flingers go up those "folly" stairs and enjoy the view from above. I was heading up, but was stopped cold by one of the owners. Evidently the pots were placed to say "stay out"...maybe centering them on the steps would have conveyed that message better?

Moving on...

More info from our Fling hand-out: "the herb parterre combines old world sensibilities with ancient technology by the Naive Peoples. The "waffle" beds are sunk below grade to collect water the way the indentations in waffles collect syrup. This technique is also used in the vegetable garden in the alley."

Pretty cool, I thought.

Looking back towards the house, visible over the fence.

Love this contraption.

Okay, wandering back up to the entry now. It turns out there is a side yard, but the gracious hosts let us enter through their house anyway.

Time to get back on the bus!

Weather Diary, Apr 19: Hi 63, Low 48/ Precip 0

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

17 comments:

  1. Beautiful herb garden, with what appears to be blooming carpets of thyme. I'm impressed with the large number of inviting sitting areas; I'd be hard pressed to pick a favorite.
    I re-potted a few pots early this spring, and it was a JOB. I wonder how often they re-pot their vast collection...

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    1. That's a good question, and I also wondered where they went during the winter, because after all, Colorado gets cold!

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  2. I love this garden and your take on it is so much different than any other I've seen. It rounds out the picture very much. There are so many ideas from here that I want to try.

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    1. Glad you were able to get a rounder picture...this garden has a lot going on!

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  3. Have been a huge fan of Rob Proctor's for many years and have a couple of his books. The garden is gorgeous especially with the collection of pots and seating areas. With a garden this size I wonder how often they get used? Thanks for a great tour.

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    1. Surely they must entertain quite a bit? I can easily imagine the garden full of people and all those seating areas being used.

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  4. Amazing garden but I admit I got exhausted thinking about taking care of it all. Whew!

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  5. Thanks for the tour, Loree. Six hundred plus pots! The idea exhausts me. I was intrigued by the unfolding Onopordum acanthium.

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    1. The Onopordum acanthium was the star of the garden for me.

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  6. It looks like an interesting mix of informalised formal gardening! If you get what I mean :)

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  7. After living in Denver for 12 years, it is a given that Rob is considered the King of Gardening for the area. His knowledge of growing certain plants is undeniable. Our styles are polar opposite, but he has brought the interest of vegie, flower and container gardening to the area for decades... especially to new gardeners in the Mountain West. He is a local celebrity.

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    1. And he was very gracious in allowing the bloggers to traipse all over his garden and home.

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  8. Love that gate, and under the folly looks nice and cool, as well as private. But 600 pots? Sounds like a watering nightmare! Do they have time to eat or sleep??

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    1. Well luckily a lot of them are succulents, so very little water needed.

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  9. Great garden! I can see the need to ban visitors from the top of the "folly"--probably not structurally safe for many visitors at once.

    600--that is a lot of pots to move--somewhere--for the winter!

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