As I wrote
last Friday, I recently made a quick trip up to Vancouver, BC. I was there for the
Vancouver Hardy Plant Group Fall Study Day, but thanks to
Dana Cromie I was also treated to several garden visits. We started at
Claude LeDoux's garden in New Westminster. Check out that Sciadopitys verticillata (Japanese umbrella pine) on the left. Wowsa!
I did not get a great "from the street" shot of the house and front garden because Claude came out to great us and we were immediately talking and touring. I'd just met this man but felt like we were old friends (#gardenersarethebestpeople). If I remember correctly, this structure made of metal designed to look like bamboo is used to grow tomatoes.
This clever streetside installation is also used for vegetables. Claude is the retired Parks Horticulture Manager for the City of New Westminster, but he's also the founder of the local Plant a Row – Grow a Row program and growing and sharing vegetables is a passion.
I'm sure that if I'd visited in August, rather then November, I would have seen a very different garden.
That said, I loved the garden I saw and appreciate that Claude was willing to let us visit. Many gardeners would have turned away a visitor with a camera on a wet, grey, November day.
I imagine (back in the day) that building at the rear was a garage and the long pathway we just walked was the driveway. However now that's a greenhouse. I know! It doesn't look like it but you just wait.
I pointed at the roscoea (the flat plant with the red stems) and before I could say anything Claude was telling me about how he didn't like this plant. OMG. I liked him before, but that sealed the deal. I just don't get the frenzy over roscoea. When it's good it's good, but it's so rarely good.
Here we'd walked up on to the home's front porch, and I'm looking down at the steps you saw in photo #5 from the top.
Have you ever seen a hairier trachycarpus? It's fabulous.
This! Theoretically Vancouver is cooler than Portland but Claude (and Dana, whose garden we will be visiting) has bomarea blooms! Bomarea hirtella, clearly I'm doing something wrong.
The garage/greenhouse I shared earlier is on one side of the home, this is the other side. That's a nice covered BBQ area...
And beyond is a dining table and this bit of colorful magic.
Of course there are plants in those pots over the summertime, but even now this vignette is pure fabulous color drama!
Every garden should have a big bowl of carnivorous plants.
Now I'm looking up to the next bit of the garden we'll walk through, and the tall green wall at the back.
But first we peek under the dining table.
How fun to dine with plants below the glass!
Yep, that's another greenhouse, this one off the back of the house. Some of you might recall that I last visited Vancouver as part of the
2023 Study Weekend event hosted by the Vancouver Hardy Plant Group. One of the first posts I did was an overview of all the greenhouses I saw there (
here).
I visited four private gardens this weekend and everyone of them had at least one greenhouse. This is a serious revelation. Vancouver gardeners know greenhouses are the way to a happy garden!
The pathway along the back of the
house, or rather the greenhouse.
Looking back along the side of the house.
Up at that crazy cool TALL green wall and trachycarpus.
This trachycarpus is a young'n, planted to replace one that died.
Kind of a wide angle of the pair.
Up on this upper level there was even more wizardry with plants under glass happening.
I asked if he had to be careful to not let the sun burn the plants through the glass and Claude said he hadn't had any problems.
Another example. As a bonus this set-up keeps the plants dry in these wet times.
Those look to be chair frames stacked for the off-season and maybe a cool garden light fixture? Nope. I wasn't smart enough/quick enough to get a photo but Claude turned the metal bowl over to show me it's a planter. A damn cool one too.
Looking towards the back of the house.
And towards the garage greenhouse with more vegetable growing area in front.
An espalier apple (I think?). With that cool greenhouse design again.
Looking down at the garden and the other side of the house.
And inside the greenhouse now, where I was very quickly obsessed with this huge Pitcairnia alata.
So spiky!
Long ropey spiky stems, with leaves at the end. Cool!
Smart to use a mirror to reflect the light off the solid wall of the greenhouse.
You know I'm not a big fan of the fuchsia but I really liked this one blooming in the greenhouse. It might be Fuchsia 'Chang' (thanks
Theo for the possible ID), but whatever it is this bloom graced the shelf in my bathroom for the length of my Vancouver stay.
Back outside and this Euphorbia hypericifolia 'Diamond Frost' helped me to finally understand what people like about this plant. I'd never seen one that looked this good before now.
More flowers! (in November, in Canada)
Everyone should have stairs to nowhere, although I'll admit mine would probably be covered with containers.
One last look at the garden...
And we enter the greenhouse off the back of the house.
Can you imagine what the garden must look like with all of these nepenthes, bromeliads, etc. out there enjoying themselves all summer?
Thank you so much Claude for allowing a visit to your fantastic garden in the off season, I hope to get back in the summer sometime!
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The greenhouses! OMG, gardening all year round in a climate like Vancouver's!
ReplyDeleteStrangely enough, my favorite photo is looking down the steps towards the sidewalk and the street. What a cool view. (I've only ever lived in flat places, so anything like that makes me excited.)
It is a great view, I agree. And ya, those greenhouses spaces would keep me sane, when it's cold and wet outside.
Delete"Every garden should have a big bowl of carnivorous plants." Or two...or three...
ReplyDeleteOr four!
DeleteI have complete greenhouse envy! I've always loved the look of lush succulents under glass but, even in partial shade, I suspect the plants would be incinerated during the summer here. That garden as a whole looks fabulous, especially for November.
ReplyDeleteI agree, the garden wears autumn well. Can you imagine how lush it must be in the summertime?
DeleteThis is a great garden. The Castor bean plant and Coleus both correspond so well with the house's trim. I love the elevated planted areas, where it bring the plants closer to eye level. I don't know if I ever saw a better Japanese umbrella pine: what a spectacular specimen.
ReplyDeleteI'm not familiar with roscoea. Is it the floppiness that's disagreeable?
Chavli
I agree, never a better specimen of that Japanese umbrella pine! I don't think most people experience flopping roscoea, I just don't understand the overall appeal. They've never done particularly well in my garden, so I'm sure that's part of it, but they're just so "meh"
DeleteThis garden really appeals to me. I could see myself there. What a great solution that under-glass idea is-much more attractive than my pop-up greenhouse !
ReplyDeleteOh the glass isn't just for winter, it's an all season thing. Tables with benefits.
DeleteA wonderful garden and greenhouse! I love the stacked stone walls. What is he feeding his trachycarpus, pure Biotin?! I adore the under the glass groupings, especially the one where the pot has curved edges. Agree with anon, the color of the house looks expertly planned with the foliage.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I was able to share this garden in a way that appeals to even a warm weather California gardener. It's so good!
DeleteOverflowing with abundance. What a beautiful garden. Coincidentally, I was recently caught off guard when a friend from the Corvallis area asked me where they can buy a hardy palm. Their parents just moved here and they would like to buy one as a house warming gift. Do you know which palm is the most common one seen in western Oregon - Trachycarpus fortunei or T. wagnerianus? Any ideas where to find one?
ReplyDeleteClaude mentioned the particularly hairy trachycarpus came from Cistus, and I've got a couple from there too (my third was an impulse purchase at Portland Nursery). I know folks who have bought from Oregon Palm Nursery. Both Trachycarpus fortunei and T. wagnerianus are seen pretty regularly, wagnerianus has more compact fronds that are less likely to be torn in the wind. I have both.
DeleteI bet they will want the more compact leaf form. Thanks for the insights!
DeleteI graduated from high school - a Catholic girls' convent - in New Westminster about 100 years ago. They tore it down to build condominiums - we were the last graduating class. Clearly I need to go back to 'New West'. As for flowers in November... in Canada... Vancouver and Vancouver Island are our very own Lotusland. Heathers should be in bloom soon!
ReplyDelete