The Queen of Seaford: July 2024

Wednesday, July 31, 2024

Last Two Gardens of Day #1 Puget Sound Fling

After lunch we boarded the buses and came back across the ferry. Our first stop was Point Defiance Park. It is a big park not too far from the crossing. There are some trial gardens within the park. Most of the trial gardens are enclosed by a large deer fence. See below.

The gardens included Dahlia, Rose and Fuchsia trial gardens. Seems I didn't get any rose photos and just a few Dahlias.

Dahlia trial garden

Because one of our fellow Fling attendees is the "Go-to" guy for Fuchsias, we all followed him around listening to tidbits on the various Fuchsias. If you want to read more about Fuchsias, click on this link to his page. The Fuchsietum To me Fuchsia look like little ballerinas twirling their skirts flaring around them.

If I had my Fuchsia friend at my elbow now I could tell you all the varieties, but I don't, so just enjoy the beauties, some of which are nameless.

Fuchsia 'Think Pink'

Close-up of 'Think Pink'

Few of my favorite colors!

No name but pretty

Outside the fence were some hardier plants that laugh at deer.

Agave

After Point Defiance Park we headed to our final garden of the day. The hosts had a Happy Hour set up for us; a beautiful garden to tour and a glass of wine to boot! There were water features in the front yard (slope), the patio area and the backyard. There is a train track down the hillside, so the water features muffle the sounds of both street traffic and train traffic.

Quite the incline

A view of Mt. Rainier from the front steps

Many of the accents in this garden were black. Below you see three mice, as you look at the photos below, check out all the black items in the garden.

What goes well with black accents? Yellow!

See the use of yellow plants and black granite? This color scheme is echoed throughout the garden. Enjoy the water feature below.

Sunlight through the sculpture

Wide view of the patio area under the willow

Serene pond at the bottom of the hillside in the backyard.

Views uphill, Stone sculpture at the top

Black fencing with a few pops of color in glass

The white foliage really shines with all the green

The forest grass, Hakonechola sp., and ferns continue to echo the yellows and black (mulch)

At the top of the hillside in the back there is gravel to help slow the water run-off. Adorned with a twig ball of white.

And a parting view of the water, Commencement Bay from the patio.

Thanks for joining me on the first day of the Fling. Stay tuned for more!

Monday, July 29, 2024

Puget Sound Fling post #2

Our first day's lunch was in the Froggsong Garden. As we walked through the gate, we were struck by the amazing blue hydrangea along the pathway. This was just the beginning of the garden of hydrangeas!

This beauty was so deep blue, just amazing!

As we walked along the path, more hydrangeas greeted us. This one had florets similar to lilacs, some blue and some lavender, all on the same shrub.

Same hydrangea as the photo above

This garden is also an event space where there have been weddings. The allèe below is an archway of Hornbeam trees for the bride to walk through. Doesn't that look like a great entrance for a bride?

Beyond the allèe was a sunken pollinator garden, full of so many blooms!

Such a colorful setting!

More of the hydrangeas we drooled over- most cultivars are not known, those that I got a name for are labeled accordingly.

Unknown beauty

Hydrangea macrophylla 'Seaside Serenade Fire Island'- thanks to Kathleen Hennessy for the ID

Hydrangea macrophylla 'Star Gazer'

This photo above made me laugh, not sure who is under the canopy but there was serious conversation going on.

One more post on day #1 of the Fling coming soon.

Sunday, July 28, 2024

We Flung again and It was Marvelous!

Most of my Fling social media posts over the last few years have been on Instagram, which is quick and fun to see immediately but I realized that some of my friends aren't on Instagram or Facebook and they look to the blog to hear about these adventures.

Where to begin? This year we had our Fling in the Puget Sound area. So much of it seemed otherworldly- lots of large ferns, mosses, lichen on all the trees and giant trees. It was wonderful. One day there was a ferry ride on our motor coach buses to Vashon Island. The bonus day of Monday was focused in Seattle area. No visit to the NW would be complete without a trip to Kitsap Peninsula to Heronswood and Windcliff, Dan Hinkley's home.

Each day we were lucky to have views of Mt. Rainier from various gardens and travels.

Our hotel view

Morning light on Mt. Rainier

Mt. Rainier from the ferry

I guess these posts will go chronologically starting with our welcome event at Point Ruston waterfront. The whole area has so many water views; bays, inlets, the Sound- makes for some wonderful garden views.

Old and new friends gathering

Fling Day One- We ventured to Vashon Island on the ferry and started the day with two gardens. One bus went to one and the 2nd bus to the other. My bus went to the smaller garden, it was half acre in size and charming. The second one we went to was 3 acres inside a fifteen acre Stewardship Forest.

The bus left us off at the top of the hill and we walked down to the garden enjoying the cove views as we walked.

The cove as we walked to the garden

This garden had a lawn chess board and a labyrinth

Foliage colors pop in the garden

Isn't this view wonderful from the deck?

A parting view of the garden

Garden two of the morning was the large one, also overlooking the water, in the Stewardship Forest. It was quite the hillside down to the house, beautifully planted with all sorts of gorgeous plants. We entered through a metal gate adorned with branches and birds. The three acres were enclosed within a 6-8 foot fence to keep the deer at bay.