Friday, December 30, 2011

Far Out Flora Fling

Way back in the foggy days of summer I joined a gathering of plant geeks and freaks, hosted by Far Out Flora's Megan and Matti. It was excited to see their garden in person - a mostly succulent garden in San Francisco, about a block from Ocean Beach. Beautifully composed and well-tended, I love the bendy branches edging the beds, the pots nestled around and the combination of textures and colors.

bed edging

succulent beds

Some of the plant people; the hand-made palette table and some of Far Out Flora's excellent container specimens:

plant peepspallete tablekangaroo starebbq grill and succulents

Some of the succulent goodness:

texturesmore texturesfasciculated aeoniumoriginal wooly pocket

I love Megan and Matti's excellent eye for found object reuse:

radio flyer and succulentscollectionsskeletons and succulentsmystery object

groovy pots

planted tire rim

I really enjoyed my visit to Far Out Flora's wonderfully intricate garden. Thanks for hosting you two!

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Meadow Creek House, Seattle

The first evening I was in Seattle for the Garden Blogger's Fling, I went to a local APLD meeting. The meeting was held at beautiful home with a fabulous garden. To reach the front door, one crosses over a reflecting pond with blown glass floating balls.

house entry

walkway detail with ballfront door

I love the huge corten steel section with a large window looking out onto the garden.

front windowpicture window

The corten continues into the house to beautiful effect.

inside

On the back porch, the house has great concrete detailing, plantings and a view of the water.

stairs to back gardenback plantercrazy maples with passion vinethe view

The concrete stairs have a wonderful rhythm, as do the rusty sculptures sprinkled through the plantings.

stairsstairs and sculptures

At the bottom of the stairs a colorful meadow spreads out.

meadow flowersmeadowmeadow and sculpture

At the edge of the meadow a wide creek was running. I assumed it was a recirculating water feature but was told that it is spring-fed. Quite a bit of water!

spring fed creek

The plantings were lovely.

maple and rockpathway plantingbench and iris

woodland sculpturessilver planting

A cool bench.

handmade bench

I like the cute warning and the silly rabbit.

do not drink the water

smokey the rabbit

A lower seating area.

seating areacute table and chairsreflecting bowlreflecting bowl area

A very cool idea for edging a bed.

steel cylinders with plantings

The secret garden, which I didn't find until the second time around the garden.

steps with succulentssecret garden doorssecret garden runnelblue pots

According to what I was told, the architect of the house was enlisted to design the chicken coop. It certainly looked to be architect designed. The chickens seemed to enjoy the freedom of the garden though, popping into photos on occasion.

super mod chicken coop

chicken streak

Steel pergola and outdoor seating.

steel arbor

outdoor seating

Looking back up at the house from the garden.

looking back up at the house

I love the metal mesh curtain and stair perfection.

mesh curtainsteps back to house