A horticultural “welcome home”

August 7th, 2010

The view from our rental house in West Seattle at sunset. It reveals the purplish silhouette of the Olympic Mountains and a peek of Puget Sound.

I drove into Seattle on Monday, July 19th after spending three days on the road from Ventura County. My husband and two sons were already settling into our new rental home in West Seattle while I hung out with the (not fun) packers and movers in Southern California.

FINALLY – the house was emptied, cleaned and ready to wow potential buyers. And it was time for my return to Seattle. With the Volvo station wagon crammed to the brim with breakable garden sculpture and pottery, the many plants I couldn’t say good-bye to, a few pieces of clothing and my faithful Lab, Zanny, I left for my Pacific Northwest destination. I hit the road Friday evening with four books on tape and a tank full of gas. One night bunking at the borrowed home of Palo Alto friends who left me a key, followed by one night in an artist’s rental apartment that Amy Stewart found for me in Eureka, Calif., and a third overnight at a dog-friendly hotel in Portland . . . and we got here by noon on Monday.

I was happy to unload the car, although with 20-plus steps from sidewalk to house, I burned quite a few calories doing so. It took nearly 2 hours to unload properly and check that my mostly succulent menagerie was unbruised and that nothing was damaged due to my occasional need to slam on the brakes!

But there really wasn’t time to dawdle because I had to get cleaned up and dressed for my friend Stacie’s garden gal’s soiree, the second annual event. While vacationing in Seattle last summer, I was able to attend Stacie’s delightful summer garden party in her highly-published North Seattle landscape. Earlier this year, way back in February, Stacie asked me to let her know when I might be back in Seattle so she could work around my travel schedule for her 2010 soiree plans.

The garden gals, from left: Me, Kathy Fries, Deborah Cheadle, Stacie Crooks, Marty Wingate, Wendy Welch, Lorene Edwards Forkner, Nita-Jo Rountree, Gillian Mathews, Janet Endsley and Tina Dixon (kneeling)

I was greeted by a charming stone duck - peeking from a hedge at the Bloedel Reserve.

As it turns out, I anticipated being at a family wedding in mid-July so I assured her that something around July 19th would be ideal. Little did I know that (a) the bride and groom would skip the formal wedding for a simple civil ceremony (and three-week honeymoon in Mexico) and (b) that I would not be vacationing here in July but MOVING HERE!! Life occasionally throws us some very wonderful surprises and this one came courtesy of the company my husband works for deciding quite recently to relocate its corporate headquarters from Pittsburgh to Seattle.

Back to Stacie’s party. This one was scheduled for late afternoon-early evening when the light is quite delicious and the day’s temperatures begin to cool. A gifted landscape designer and sustainable gardening educator, Stacie recently joined the board of trustees for the Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island.

For some magical reason, she obtained permission to host a private gathering on a day when the garden isn’t normally open.

Let me tell you, the prospect of joining Stacie and some of my very favorite Seattle women friends kept my eyes on the road and my foot on the pedal while I drove from LA to Seattle over that long weekend.

Here’s some background on Bloedel Reserve, excerpted from the 9th edition of the Northwest Gardener’s Resource Directory(Sasquatch Books, 2002), my very first book project that I inherited from the wonderful, late Stephanie Feeney:

The most massive Katsura tree I've ever seen.

From the time Prentice and Virginia Bloedel acquired this 150-acre property in 1951, they began a sensitive courtship aimed at marrying the designing hand of man with the natural attributes of the woodland setting. Over a period of 30 years, and with the commissioned partnerships of wisely selected professionals (Fujitaro Kubota, for help with the Japanese Garden, and landscape architects Thomas Church, Richard Haag, and the firm Environmental Planning and Design), Prentice Bloedel orchestrated the development of many garden rooms set in the varied landscape of second-growth hardwood and conifers, meadow and wetlands, glens and gullies.

While incorporating influences from the Japanese and the European gardening traditions, a respect for the natural attributes of the land prevailed and pervaded. There are now 84 acres of second-growth forest and 66 acres of altered landscapes. The result: a native woodland crisscrossed with shady paths, meadows, and a broad selection of formal and informal gardens.

So here is a selection of photos taken that lovely day, including a group shot that we staged by placing self-timing cameras on the bench perfectly aligned with the reflection pool (above). At the bottom of this post, I have included details on visiting Bloedel. The garden is more accessible to the public than ever and offers some delightful summer concerts, guided tours, classes and other events. It is worth a visit and you’ll want to set aside a full day to do so.

This is the quintessential photograph often captured by amateurs and professionals alike. The perspective is elegant and inviting, with the Bird Refuge and pond in the foreground; the original estate framed by native northwest conifers, in the distance.

On the east side of the estate, there are brilliant views of Puget Sound facing Seattle. The massive planting of Hakonechloa macra in the foreground emulates soft ripples of the water.

A view through the towering trees and sun-dappled understory, taken from the deck outside the Japanese-inspired tea house where we gathered

The Reflecting Pool mirrors the sky and treetops.

The Reflecting Pool is contained by a wall of green hedging, making it separate from the semiwild woodland.

Fujitaro Kubota's Japanese garden, a quiet, contemplative space.

One of my favorite design details at Bloedel is this alternating turf-and-stone pattern next to the Japanese gravel garden.

Observe and appreciate the hand-raked lines in the gravel.

Dapple light plays on stone, gravel and moss of the Japanese garden.

The cobbled walkway leads toward the Japanese teahouse. Note the attractive low fencing on either side, made from lashed bamboo poles.

I think this is a golden form of black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia), glowing against the darker evergreens.

Bloedel Reserve, 7571 NE Dolphin Drive., Bainbridge Island, WA 98110-1097

phone: 206-842-7631

Open: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday (summer hours – open 10 a.m.-7 p.m., Wednesday-Friday); Sunday 10 a.m-4 p.m. (open Memorial Day, July 4th and Labor Day).

Admission: $12 (discounts for seniors, military and children 5-12; children under 5 are free).

Membership info: At $55, the basic annual membership is a great bargain because a single membership entitles you to bring a total of 4 people each visit.

Posted in Entertainment, General, Landscape Design, Plants, Writing | 3 Comments »

Chocolate flowers for your garden

August 3rd, 2010

BH&G's August issue features my "Debra's Garden" column about "hot chocolate" plants

Chocolate flower and plant update:

Dark chocolate brushes the tips of this multi-petaled dahlia called 'Karma Choc'

The flowers that Marie Lincoln and Bill Schlicht cultivate at their Whidbey Island nursery specialty nursery are good enough to eat. That’s because Chocolate Flower Farm’s mocha, bittersweet chocolate, cinnamon, cocoa and espresso-hued blooms and foliage plants are as satisfying to the senses as a Fran’s caramel-filled chocolate sprinkled with grey sea salt (well, almost).

My friend Stacie Crooks, of Seattle-based Crooks Garden Design, was my escort to Whidbey last Tuesday. We’d only slightly recovered from our late night festivities in her superb, often-photographed drought-tolerant  garden, where a gaggle of garden gals gathered (isn’t that alliterative?) for a lovely sunset soiree.  I spent the night at Stacie’s and we set off the next morning for the ferry from Mukilteo to Clinton on Whidbey Island.

The ferry crossing was short – 20 minutes – but beautiful in its grey-blueness with sunlight pushing through the morning haze. I breathed Seattle’s maritime air and that made me happy.

I had a lovely visit to Marie Lincoln of Chocolate Flower Farm on Whidbey Island outside Seattle

After visiting one of Stacie’s inspiring and impressive design projects, the subject of which I hope will soon appear in one or two of my articles, we drove to Chocolate Flower Farm to meet Marie. I first met this dark-plant purveyor by telephone when I called her last December to request an interview. I wanted to include her “sweet” plant passion in my February “In the Garden” column for 805 Living.

Like most of my writing efforts, there’s a back story on the piece, entitled “Brown is Beautiful: Sweet Tips for Growing a Chocolate Garden.”  Last fall, my editor Lynne Andujar made an off-the-cuff comment to me: “Oh, our February issue is going to be the CHOCOLATE issue, but I’m not really sure if there’s a fit for the gardening column,” she said.

“You bet there’s an angle,” I replied. “We’re going to feature chocolate-scented and chocolate colored plants!”

A little shed houses the nursery sales area

Marie Lincoln shows off her plants to garden designer Stacie Crooks

Marie and Bill started the Chocolate Flower Farm in 2005 to grow and promote dark-colored plants. 

The display beds and nursery area have expanded around their 1923 farmhouse and outbuildings (sheds!) to the former horse pasture.

As the “hot chocolate” trend grew, the couple searched for even more plants on the dark end of the spectrum, selecting unusual sports to propagate and sell as exclusive named cultivars. Marie jokes that her nursery reflects “a collision of two passions,” as it introduces new and veteran gardeners to the beauty of chocolatey colors in the landscape (not to mention a few very special chocolate-scented plants that invoke memories of grandmother’s Nestle Toll House cookies coming out of the oven).

READ MORE…

Posted in Creativity, Gardening, General, Landscape Design, Plants, Playfulness, Shed Glossary, Writing | 5 Comments »

A summer bouquet

July 31st, 2010

A breathtaking display of sustainably-grown flowers - at Seattle's Ravenna Gardens. The bouquets were grown by our friends at Jello Mold Farms

 I’m back in Seattle as of about 10 days ago.

 Can’t quite believe it but being here feels pretty awesome. We’ve been sitting out on our front porch each evening, admiring the sunset, which is silhouetted behind the Olympic Mountains and Puget Sound to the west.

 I am so torn between missing my beloved friends and garden in Los Angeles and the excitement I feel at being back in Seattle. I’ve been asking this question for four years: Is it possible to be in love with two places at the same time?

 As I ponder that “big thought,” I have had to squeeze in time to unpack (ugh), move furniture around to make room for everything in our smallish rental house, and bug my friend Jennifer to find the best dry-cleaner, dog kennel, ethnic restaurants, local grocery stores and more. Thank goodness our dear friends Jennifer and David (and their son Max, our son Alex’s BFF) live only 5 blocks from here. They are a godsend!  

Also, I’m working on two lectures for the upcoming Independent Garden Center Show in Chicago – scheduled to take place in a few weeks’ time. Ironically, earlier this week I spent 3 days in Chicago – as a would-be college freshman “mom,” for my son Ben’s orientation at DePaul University. What a cool city!

I’m looking forward to returning to Chi-town in a couple weeks where I will present a lecture on “Ideas from the country’s most inspiring garden centers” and “The female gardener” (with colleague Robin Avni). 

In preparation, I’ve been sorting slides and digital images to illustrate my talks. Robin and I met for several hours yesterday to work on our joint presentation, which taps into her trademarked “Mommy to Maven” consumer research. 

A close look at the many delicious ingredients in Diane and Dennis's bouquets

Hey, for $26 - it's a great deal! This vase is packed with pretty!

Yesterday, I also stopped by one of my favorite emporiums, Ravenna Gardens.

Owner Gillian Mathews told me that each Friday her shop receives deliveries of local and sustainably-grown bouquets from Mount Vernon flower farmers Diane Szukovathy and Dennis Westphall of Jello-Mold Farms (they grow gorgeous blooms in a farming community about 90 minutes north of Seattle). 

Ravenna Gardens places each one-of-a-kind bunch of blooms in a glass Mason jar, presenting customers with some of the most charming arrangements around. I couldn’t resist bringing one home with me yesterday. It’s sitting on my desk to cheer me up each time I look at it.

I sent a note to Diane to ask about the hard-to-ignore jumbo poppy pod – the largest I’ve ever seen! Here’s her explanation: 

A couple of years ago Melissa from Terra Bella handed me a few stems of the chubby poppy (definitely a variety of Papaver somniferum) which she had purchased at the local wholesale house. They had gotten a little old so she couldn’t use them for floral work. I was able to dry them and get viable seed and those are their grandchildren. 

That plump pod is a focal point of the bouquet, which also includes Phlox paniculata ‘Natural Feelings ; Scabiosa caucasica ‘Dark Knight’; and Sedum ‘Green Expectations’, ‘Frosty Morn’ and ‘Autumn Joy’. Blue-green Baptisia australis foliage complements the design. What a mid-summer dream! 

I’m going to enjoy these flowers for days – and it makes me happy to have that vase on my desk just knowing they were grown locally using earth-friendly practices.

Posted in Creativity, floral design, General | 2 Comments »

Good-bye my sweet garden

July 7th, 2010

The move from Southern California to Seattle is underway.

We are up to our ears in boxes, cleaning supplies, disassembled X-box game systems, piles of things to take to the Goodwill, and four years of memories.

Today, for a moment, I decided to hit the pause button and enjoy my backyard. I discovered that watching pollinators move from nectar source to nectar source is the very best therapy for an overly-tired body and soul.

Here is a little show, from me to you:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DR7vytPzWBU

Posted in Gardening, General, Landscape Design, Plants, Spiritual Practices, Writing | 11 Comments »

In Bloom Today

July 5th, 2010

This is a sign that brings joy to my heart!

Here’s the sign that welcomed me as I arrived at the regional meeting for the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers in Eugene last Monday. Fields and fields of beautiful blooms grow here at Charles Little & Co., a 35-acre flower farm.

Grower Charles Little led about 60 of us through the flower fields, sharing his wisdom and knowledge about specialty crops.

I flew to Eugene last week to spend a day attending the ASCFG regional meeting, where I met up with photographer David Perry. We were excited to participate for the first time as members. An association of 450-plus flower producers across the country, ASCFG brings together specialty growers who raise all sorts of floral ingredients, including annuals, perennials, flowering ornamental shrubs, vines, edibles and grasses.

Cap on head; cameras over his shoulder, Dave Perry had lots to photograph.

This was a chance for us to hear from a diverse cross-section of growers. Each small business is carving out its own niche in the marketplace, from the grower with just one acre who sells most of her blooms at a local farmer’s market to a couple whose cutting garden has become a popular place for weddings (complete with fresh-cut blooms for the bridal bouquet).

Then there is a young, hardworking farmer who delivers his Oregon calla lilies and hydrangeas by the truckload, direct to the Los Angeles Flower Market and a floral designer who has decided to diversify by growing her own floral ingredients in her parents’ small acreage. We listened and learned and soaked it all up.

It was a treat to meet so many awesome, passionate individuals who work on the land and who want to connect with each customer who buys and enjoys the flowers they grow. We got caught up in the passion and the stories – stories we will continue to document with photography, video and the written word.

We are well along on this journey, but there is so much more to document for you as we create A Fresh Bouquet: Seasonal, Local and Sustainable Flowers. As David has written, please ” . . . follow along on this unfolding ‘cut-flower’ book project . . . as we continue to build it.” 

Here are some photos of the day’s highlights:

Posted in Creativity, floral design, Gardening, Plants, Writing | 2 Comments »