A visit to Flicker Farm

I'd planned to tour Linda Wisner's Flicker Farm on Sauvie Island (just a few miles west of downtown Portland) in mid-July, part of a group tour. Unfortunately a comedy of errors involving an electronic key fob that locked itself inside my car prevented that from happening. So I was thrilled when Linda decided to open her garden for the HPSO last week. 

This was not my first visit to the garden, I was there in 2016 and again in 2019.  

The garden is 1.3-acres and much longer than it is wide. I started my exploration in the shady front garden.

I went to brush that leaf litter off the Astilboides tabularis (for a better shot of the Paris polyphylla) and got a bit of a surprise.

I disturbed this little fellow.

What an interesting bench.

There is a lot of food being grown at Flicker Farm. These gorgeous plums were just the beginning...

Blechnum chilense, aka Parablechnum cordatum

It also goes by "costilla de vaca" or cow's rib, I bet you can see why.

Moss!

Moss and Asplenium scolopendrium.

Diphylleia cymosa

I've now moved on to the "Mediterranean-meets-Pacific-Northwest courtyard" where this Hemiboea subacaulis var. jiangxiensis (hardy gesneriad, on the right), and an Astelia, look great together.

There's a fabulous grape arbor over part of the courtyard, I'll share a pulled back shot at the end of this post.

Greenhouse!

Sarracenia, carnivorous pitcher plants.

This is such a lush, romantic garden.

The map Linda created of the farm refers to this area as the "old vegetable garden."

There's still a lot going on here, put it definitely has a feeling of age—delightfully so.

Here's one of many signs Linda places throughout the garden on open days, they tell the stories she would tell if she could walk through the garden with all of her visitors.

I love this gate!

Its patina is wonderful.

Looking back at where I've been...

And where I'm headed...

There's a stylized sort of crevice garden straight ahead in the above photo, it's got a little piggy watching over it.

I think this was the area referred to as the rock garden on the map.

Summer's abundant growth was hiding most of the rocks.

The berry round, with boysenberries, loganberries and raspberries.

Which ones are these?

The corkscrew willow hideaway.

And another of many sit spots throughout the garden.

The white pine (Pinus strobus?) grove and folly.

And the vineyard...

On the left is one of several vegetable/floral crop rounds, on the right the flower covered dead tree I wrote about on Monday.

I could have done an entire post on the fruit and vegetables growing (beautifully) in the garden.

The Dahlia bed, with cabbages...

I walked away from here seriously wishing I had room to grow a few dozen dahlia...

I'm back near the front of the garden again. I could have wandered for hours (I'd already been there an hour and a half) but I needed to be heading for home.

Agaves!

And that grape arbor covered courtyard. See what I mean about romantic?

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