We begin the tour in the front garden next to their driveway. This part of their garden is known for it's Jurassic proportions. Tetrapanax papyrifer is underplanted with petasites.
Laura recently painted a koi hopscotch pattern on the front sidewalk. She's talented like that.
Arching over the sidewalk is Datisca cannabina, false help.
I've walked to the other end now and turned around.
One more look at the petasites and Datisca cannabina, before we walk up the driveway...
Next to the garage is a Cornus sanguinea 'Compressa', a plant I love and have given up trying to grow.
Before we cut to the back garden (to right of the above photo), let's go check out the rest of the front garden and the view from the house side (as opposed to the street side), where there is more petasites.
And a sweet water garden! Who would have guessed?
Laura and Charlie love a good stock tank as much as I do, they however have not given up on the idea of filling them with water.
To my back (in the shade and impossible to photograph) are a pair of comfy chairs where Laura and Charlie can relax and enjoy their garden out of sight of passersby.
Variegated brugmansia and Acanthus mollis.
Near the front door is this sweet shady vignette...
Autumn fern? (Dryopteris erythrosora)
H for Heldreth? Home? Happy?
In addition to multiple stock tanks you'll also see a lot of repurposed metal in this garden. The Heldreth's are regular visitors to the BBC Steel remnant yard in Canby.
Mahonia eurybracteata 'Soft Caress' and metal next to the back gate...
And once you pass through, stock tanks!
It occurs to me now that I should have counted. How many tanks are there? More than my 12? No, I guess not, a quick mental tally says four, but I might have missed one. We've jumped to the far end of the back garden now, the shade shack in the distance (I think that's what they're calling it)...
Looking to the left.
And walking around the tank/pond/water feature...
I think that's Anemone 'Honorine Jobert' providing a green screen, or maybe not? It seems a bit tall to be that.
Don't you just want to hang out here?
What's in the Hover Dish?
I like the rusty metal container within the container.
More metal providing a screen to the side of the seating area.
Looking out across the back garden...
Have you noticed the repeated shape of the large funnel-like planters? They're actually freeway light fixture shades that Laura and Charlie have repurposed. They've also shared a few with others. You'll see one in my garden as a table and in another garden blogger's garden (or two) as a planter.
Let's explore more...
I love a good patch of Adiantum venustum...
And green on green is always a good combination.
Seriously, is this garden not an absolute foliage paradise?
The bent light-fixture planter reminds me to share an unfortunate incident that occurred a couple of years back, one that's hard for us visitors to the garden to see, but is still raw in Laura's memory. Multiple branches from the towering Douglas Firs that border the back of the property came crashing down in a late winter (early spring) storm. They were chest high, layered on the plants and containers.
They rebuilt, digging and relocating plants from a friend's garden who was moving, and rescuing what they could from their own garden.
If I hadn't known I never would have guessed.
Pyrrosia!
Pyrrosia sheareri, P. hastata and P. lingua.
I loved the light and shadow patterns through this piece of metal.
I wonder how often they relax in the hammock? Hopefully often.
Just a couple more photos. A wide shot of the garden off the covered patio at the back of the house.
And cropped a bit to showcase the Magnolia macrophylla to the left of the palms. What a beautiful garden you guys have built, thanks for sharing it!
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Foliage heaven Loree!
ReplyDeleteLots of very interesting plants.
The big trees seem to cast a lot of shade. I wonder what it is like in the dark half of the year? (Autumn and Winter)
I imagine all the green helps to keep things bright even when the skies are heavy and dark.
DeleteNine. We have nine troughs…I’ve never stopped to count them before! Your blog has been such a wonderful source of inspiration over the years. It was great to see you. Thanks for the beautiful blog post. It’s really fun to see the garden through your perspective.
ReplyDeleteNine! Well see, you are getting very close to my twelve. I love it! Thank you for the invite and letting me share your paradise with my readers.
DeleteThank you for sharing their garden. I have wanted to see it. It's fantastic.
ReplyDeleteIt is fantastic! Wish you could have been there in person with us.
DeleteIt looks like the garden has a lot of wonderful twists and turns, with surprises around every corner. And so many foliage plants with HUGE leaves! Acanthus is about the limit of the large-leafed plants I can grow and even those struggle in my climate if there isn't a lot of winter-early spring rain - and then they melt like the Wicked Witch of the West as soon as summer's heat gets going. I love the stock tanks, with and without water. However, how do they keep raccoons from trashing those containing water?
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts exactly. They've had racoon visits, but not enough (or bad enough?) to throw in the towel. It was so nice to see how they've incorporated water into the garden. I am jealous.
DeleteLots of glorious foliage. Wish I could have attended (and that I liked road trips the way you do!) I sure wish we had a metal salvage yard here. Now that I no longer work for Long Beach (WA), I really miss scavenging in their dump yard! With the way the town is changing, it’s now the only thing I miss about the job!
ReplyDeleteWhy did you give up on having water in stock tanks?
Note that I have decided to make the effort to jump through the hoops in order to comment on blogspot because I appreciate you making the same effort on wordpress.
I gave up because of the racoon asshats destroying anything I have in water in my garden. I just got tired of putting it back together nearly every morning and seeing pieces of my plants strewn across the garden. Thank you for commenting!!!
Delete"Have you noticed the repeated shape of the large funnel-like planters? They're actually freeway light fixture shades that Laura and Charlie have repurposed. They've also shared a few with others." Yes, me! And I thank them again. So many great plant associations here, like the tetrapanx and petasites. And the patterns of the die cut metal salvage work so well with the leaf shapes -- fabulous garden!
ReplyDeleteI almost outed you, thanks for doing it yourself. I am so glad you came to that swap and ended up with them!
DeleteThanks so much for highlighting Laura and Charlie's garden. It is wonderful. A foliage paradise.
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome, thanks for reading.
DeleteSo fun ! Great post
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed!
Deletegreat garden love it!
ReplyDeleteHi Doug, yes... it's wonderful. If you ever get the chance to visit in person, do it! (they open for the HPSO)
DeleteMany thanks for this post, Loree. I had planned to come but then - you know - Covid. It’s wonderful to see their revamped and lush paradise through your eyes!
ReplyDeleteI was thrilled I got to attend this time and I am happy to share the beauty. I hope you're feeling better!
DeleteStunning, I love how private it feels. I'm so happy they let you share with all of us. I admit to stopping midway through the post and googling "steel remnant yard near me" darn, nope. I love the tanks, I have a couple but am not doing it right. This is inspiring, I tend to use mine as the tank of second chances. There is huge room for improvement. Green on green on green, absolutely love it!
ReplyDeleteI have a tank that is sometimes just that, or things in holding. It's good to have a place for those plants too. But yes, they can be so much more! Do you ever drive up to see your family? Maybe you can haul some metal back with you?
DeleteSo green, lush and textural. Thanks for touring it with your camera. Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteGlad you stopped by Janet!
DeleteSo good to see your photos of the Heldreth's foliage paradise. So many plants to drool over, especially those with giant leaves.
ReplyDeleteOne thing missing, though: Where was Maya?
Ah... yes. Maya was with Charlie and the rest of the group. I realized as I was editing my photos that I never did point my camera that direction. I wanted to as before photographing the people. Darn it!
DeleteWaiiit a minute! I know exactly where this is. I always look for the petasites when I drive down this street (on occasion, it's an alternate route for me, mostly). It's one of the few interesting gardens in that area. Delighted to see it! I've wondered about it for a while. I guess I missed it on the hpso list, or missed where exactly it was. And I'm going to have to check out that place in Canby- how do you find places like that?
ReplyDelete"It's one of the few interesting gardens in that area"... Laura's neighbors sometimes let her know just how different her garden is (and they don't mean it the same way you do, unfortunately). This was a private event, but they had planned to open for the HPSO last weekend, unfortunately illness kept that from happening. As for BBC Steel I only know of it because of Laura and Charlie telling our group about it.
DeleteWhat a truly beautiful garden! I love foliage gardens and am working on my new property. But one thing I think might bother me as a neighbor, is how much plant material hangs over the sidewalk. It might be difficult to ride a bike Or push a stroller through it without getting hit in the face with spiders or foliage. Other than that, it’s a splendid garden.
ReplyDeleteI’m a lifelong passionate gardener who lives by the belief that one can never have too many plants. I’ve said more than once that I need acreage. You have created a magical space to enjoy, and that’s what we all want.
I believe Laura works to keep the sidewalk passable, but yes I agree, it is important to allow for people to walk by safely. You can never have too many plants!
DeleteThanks for posting photos Laura and Charlie's garden! I get Laura's posts and always drool over the lush, gigantic leaves in every shade of green that are only a dream for someone that lives in the low desert of Tucson. My skin actually feels moist as I scroll through your photos!
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed Sheila, it is a lush paradise for sure.
DeleteI was hoping you would do a post from Laura and Charlie's so I could see what I had missed! I wished I could have been there, but just wasn't in good shape that day. The comparison of the three Pyrrosias is useful for seeing the difference. P. sheareri is gigantic compared to P. lingua, though I like the lobes on P. hastata the best. And, another Fatsia in a pot (I saw a lot on the Fling) - The universe keeps giving me hints on things to try in my own garden. I can't imagine how their neighbors would complain about this. I would be thrilled to have Laura and Charlie as neighbors!
ReplyDeleteGlad you got to see the garden through the post, it is such a super space!
DeleteMy favorite pic is the magnolia-palm vignette. They are such great foils.
ReplyDelete