Look at that hanging log planter! (and other wonderful things from Camille's garden)

In case you missed it, the 2024 Garden Fling took place in the Puget Sound area on July 18-22. In addition to her many other Fling activities and responsibilities, co-organizer Camille Paulsen opened her garden to the group. That's no small feat. Especially considering the region had been gripped by extreme heat leading up to the event. You wouldn't have known any of those things were in play though, to look at Camille's garden, it was fresh and lush...

I've visited Camille's garden in the past, so many of it's beautiful elements were already familiar to me, not this one however...wow!

This hanging log "planter" was an entirely new feature that I was instantly head over heels in love with. It reminded me of the logs I saw in the Harvesting Beauty display garden from HomeGrown Organics and NW Green Panels at the 2024 NWFG Fest in Seattle. In fact I thought Camille had managed to score one of the logs from the display (garden creators tend to sell off display items rather than have to pack them up when the show is over). But that's not the case, nope, Camille made this planter from a tree (Jacquemontii birch) that used to grow nearby, its death caused by the bronze birch borer.

I asked Camille if she or her husband Dirk hollowed out a planting pocket in the log but they did not, instead she used epiphytic plants secured in place with wire between nails, and moss to cover their roots—genius! I think that's a pyrrosia at the end...

Orchids picked up at Trader joes and a staghorn fern...

...as well as a phlebodium fern and pieces of Tillandsia usneoides.

The log is (naturally) very heavy, it hangs from chains underneath an arbor that runs the length of the side of the garage.

It's a thing of beauty...

I could call this post done with just the log, but of course I took many more photos and want to share them. These next three images are of the plants underneath the length of the arbor from which the log hangs, there are lots of shady treasures...

Impatiens omeiana

I think this might be Hosta 'Moonstruck'.

Another—much larger—log/stump is tucked into a planting area at the end of the arbor, adjacent to the driveway. Camille happened upon this amazing piece and worked to have it relocated to her garden. This is definitely where it belongs.

Starting back at the natural beginning to the garden now, I had to share this happy container full of Pyrrosia sheareri.

And across from the pyrrosia a shady planting near the home's front door.

Back out in the sunny area along the side of the driveway we see conifers and Japanese maples (favorites of Camille's) along with... an agave! 

Lush plantings everywhere you look.

And another agave! Wow. Multiple agaves and pyrrosia, my hallmark plants of a great garden.

Looking towards the shady planting near the front door that I shared above. There's actual water flowing just out of sight behind the waterfall of hakonechloa (Japanese forest grass).

I knew what a stunning view was waiting just around the corner, after walking between those gabion pillars...

Framed by the torii gate... (hi Jerry [walking towards me], hi Camille [smiling in the distance]), but it was super fun to watch others discover it.

Mt Rainer (aka Mt Tahoma) in all it's epic gorgeousness...

Just beyond the gate, and the view, a simple vignette showing just how pristine this garden is.

But with room for moss, of course.

Around the back of the house the pool comes into view, slightly obscured by a group of sleek black planters.

Fire in a bowl! Dipping our feet in a pool is a long standing Fling tradition, I think the only reason there weren't dozens of Flingers taking part here is that they couldn't stop exploring the garden.

These blood-red dahlias were gorgeous!

And another of what I think may be Hosta 'Moonstruck'. I asked Camille for a name and that's what her records show, although she says she moves plants around a lot so there's a chance that name belongs to a previous resident.

The greenhouse and a few container plants.

Towards the house, deck, and a sweet Robinia pseudoacacia.

Another angle on the pool.

Thanks to a twisted knee I was feeling a little less than 100% for most of this Fling, so I chose not to venture down those rock stairs. It helped that I'd been down there before so I knew what I was missing.

We began with a log, and we end with a log. What a garden! Thank you Camille for inviting your 100 Flinging guests to visit.

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