Monday, August 15, 2011

Epping and Lane Gardens, Seattle

On day two of the Garden Bloggers Fling we blessed/cursed with sunny skies. I know I should be glad it wasn't pouring rain but it did make it more difficult to photograph gardens. So please bear with the harsh light in the images for this post.

The first garden we stopped at was the Epping Garden. Topping a hill and with stunning views this garden was an interesting combination of showy open party spaces and quiet introspective corners.

garden with a view

the view

blues and yellows

face planter

I loved the combination of Holodiscus discolor or "Ocean Spray" with the blue foliage of the Blue Atlas Cedar. And check out the beautiful hand-wrought iron railings that looked like trunks and roots.

ocean spray and blue atlas cedarwrought iron railing

wrought iron roots

They had some nice benches and fountains.

blue seating area

shady bench

fountain and fence

lovely ligularia

I love how our driver brought his camera the second day and joined in the fun.

driver photographer

There were lots of lovely vignettes.

container loveliesapricot rose trellispink combocontainers

budha lady

And some bootylicious ones.

container and pedestalplanting vignettenice foliagebootylicious

There were a couple of plants I didn't know. Let me know if you know what these two are:

variegated saxifragawhat is this

We got to enjoy lunch at the Lane Garden, a lovely garden with lots of open space as well as paths to wander with surprises around every corner.

We had lunch on the patio, made of the most colorfully-stained concrete I've ever seen.

seriously stained concrete patio

garden studio

They had a charming ruin.

the ruin

lewis and little columns

love the reseeding

Lots of neat treats throughout the garden:

rodgersia etcrustic swingfrogcolumns

nice fountainbird house

branch archshady path

shady path plantings

shady plantings

hakonechloa path edgingrosa glauca rubrifolia hip and astrantiaastilbe chinensis taquettiiyellow poppy

golden-leaved oak-leaf hydrangeavariegated thing

Thank you to our wonderful hosts! We appreciate getting to view your gardens!

13 comments:

  1. The variegated plant is a variegtaed Saxifrage, possibly Saxifraga x urbium 'Aureopunctata'. I know I've seen the one with the heavily serrated leaves too, but i can't remember it right now.

    Excellent post, you got some wonderful pictures. I think that is the first photo I've seen of the ruin that showed it in its entirety. There is always something in the Fling posts that I didn't see or notice. I loved the Ocean Spray too, it's one of my favorite natives.

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  2. I love the angles from which you shot these plantings and the hardscape. I'm curious as to how you managed the first shot -- did you climb up a hilltop, or did you have a tripod 50 feet high? Great photos!

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  3. Great photos Kelly, having just gone through my photos of these two gardens I am shamed when I see how much better yours are! The plants you ask about are indeed Saxifraga the first one is S. x urbium 'Aureopunctata,' or London Pride and the second is Saxifraga x Geum 'Dentata'...if you make it to Portland for a visit I'll be happy to share some. Better yet I'll try to arrange a visit to Xera (wholesale nursery where mine came from) so you can see all their fabulous plants!

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  4. Alison - I've enjoyed seeing things I completely missed on other's blogs too. Just goes to show how different peoples' perceptions are - which is nice!
    Caroline - if you went behind their garden shed at the back of the property there was a path that would take you up the slope that looked down on the house. I was glad to have a vantage point showing the interesting way the arbor was built.
    Loree - They are both Saxifrages! Interesting! I'd love to get a snippet of your plant. It was all I could do to keep my hands off the plants on the tour! :)

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  5. Those iron railings could cause me to re-think my personal believe that stealing is wrong. Despite the harsh sun, your pictures are lovely. I was at Chanticleer in Pennsylvania at the end of July and had to photograph under similar conditions, but it didn't stop me.

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  6. Wauuuw...Sikke en masse dejlige billeder.Det er første gang jeg besøger din blog, men kommer snart igen. Kh Lone - Denmark

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  7. Bootylicious -- ha! And leafalicious, especially the Lane garden. I admired the railing at the Epping garden, but somehow I missed the "roots" -- I love that!

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  8. Great shots, Kelly. I'd love to know your secrets for nixing harsh shadows and haze in your photographs.

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  9. Stunning photos Kelly. So impressive. As Helen observed, you managed to get some great shots even with so much sun.
    Sure wish I was back there again!

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  10. I second Loree, London pride is really popular up here.
    Great shots, you should come across the sound and check out Victoria sometime.

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  11. I truly love those flower gardens who have showed on those photos.

    Very refreshing to look at.

    Cassy from Acoustic Guitar Lessons

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  12. What great details this garden has. That silvery, ferny plant under the urn next to the booty shot looks intriguing, but I suppose it could be just a happy artemisia. And a geum crossed with a saxifrage -- who knew? Thanks, Kelly.

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  13. So unfortunate that pinning is not allowed - you have such beautiful images to share!

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