First stop, Claude's garden

As I wrote last Friday, I recently made a quick trip up to Vancouver, BC. I was there for the Vancouver Hardy Plant Group Fall Study Day, but thanks to Dana Cromie I was also treated to several garden visits. We started at Claude LeDoux's garden in New Westminster. Check out that Sciadopitys verticillata (Japanese umbrella pine) on the left. Wowsa!

I did not get a great "from the street" shot of the house and front garden because Claude came out to great us and we were immediately talking and touring. I'd just met this man but felt like we were old friends (#gardenersarethebestpeople). If I remember correctly, this structure made of metal designed to look like bamboo is used to grow tomatoes.

This clever streetside installation is also used for vegetables. Claude is the retired Parks Horticulture Manager for the City of New Westminster, but he's also the founder of the local Plant a Row – Grow a Row program and growing and sharing vegetables is a passion.

I'm sure that if I'd visited in August, rather then November, I would have seen a very different garden.

That said, I loved the garden I saw and appreciate that Claude was willing to let us visit. Many gardeners would have turned away a visitor with a camera on a wet, grey, November day.

I imagine (back in the day) that building at the rear was a garage and the long pathway we just walked was the driveway. However now that's a greenhouse. I know! It doesn't look like it but you just wait.

I pointed at the roscoea (the flat plant with the red stems) and before I could say anything Claude was telling me about how he didn't like this plant. OMG. I liked him before, but that sealed the deal. I just don't get the frenzy over roscoea. When it's good it's good, but it's so rarely good.

Here we'd walked up on to the home's front porch, and I'm looking down at the steps you saw in photo #5 from the top.

Have you ever seen a hairier trachycarpus? It's fabulous.

This! Theoretically Vancouver is cooler than Portland but Claude (and Dana, whose garden we will be visiting) has bomarea blooms! Bomarea hirtella, clearly I'm doing something wrong.

The garage/greenhouse I shared earlier is on one side of the home, this is the other side. That's a nice covered BBQ area...

And beyond is a dining table and this bit of colorful magic.

Of course there are plants in those pots over the summertime, but even now this vignette is pure fabulous color drama!

Every garden should have a big bowl of carnivorous plants.

Now I'm looking up to the next bit of the garden we'll walk through, and the tall green wall at the back.

But first we peek under the dining table.

How fun to dine with plants below the glass!

Yep, that's another greenhouse, this one off the back of the house. Some of you might recall that I last visited Vancouver as part of the 2023 Study Weekend event hosted by the Vancouver Hardy Plant Group. One of the first posts I did was an overview of all the greenhouses I saw there (here). 

I visited four private gardens this weekend and everyone of them had at least one greenhouse. This is a serious revelation. Vancouver gardeners know greenhouses are the way to a happy garden!

The pathway along the back of the house, or rather the greenhouse.

Looking back along the side of the house.

Up at that crazy cool TALL green wall and trachycarpus.

This trachycarpus is a young'n, planted to replace one that died.

Kind of a wide angle of the pair.

Up on this upper level there was even more wizardry with plants under glass happening. 

I asked if he had to be careful to not let the sun burn the plants through the glass and Claude said he hadn't had any problems.

Another example. As a bonus this set-up keeps the plants dry in these wet times.

Those look to be chair frames stacked for the off-season and maybe a cool garden light fixture? Nope. I wasn't smart enough/quick enough to get a photo but Claude turned the metal bowl over to show me it's a planter. A damn cool one too.

Looking towards the back of the house.

And towards the garage greenhouse with more vegetable growing area in front.

An espalier apple (I think?). With that cool greenhouse design again.

Looking down at the garden and the other side of the house.

And inside the greenhouse now, where I was very quickly obsessed with this huge Pitcairnia alata.

So spiky!

Long ropey spiky stems, with leaves at the end. Cool!

Smart to use a mirror to reflect the light off the solid wall of the greenhouse.

You know I'm not a big fan of the fuchsia but I really liked this one blooming in the greenhouse. It might be Fuchsia 'Chang' (thanks Theo for the possible ID), but whatever it is this bloom graced the shelf in my bathroom for the length of my Vancouver stay.

Back outside and this Euphorbia hypericifolia 'Diamond Frost' helped me to finally understand what people like about this plant. I'd never seen one that looked this good before now.

More flowers! (in November, in Canada)

Everyone should have stairs to nowhere, although I'll admit mine would probably be covered with containers.

One last look at the garden...

And we enter the greenhouse off the back of the house.

Can you imagine what the garden must look like with all of these nepenthes, bromeliads, etc. out there enjoying themselves all summer?

Thank you so much Claude for allowing a visit to your fantastic garden in the off season, I hope to get back in the summer sometime!

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Lan Su, a beautiful distraction when I needed it most

I wish it weren't the case, but my mood is heavily influenced by the weather. A grey cloudy day has me feeling down and lethargic. When the sun shines and the sky is blue, I am upbeat and full of positive energy. Last Wednesday was a beautiful sunny day here in Portland and I set out for Lan Su (our Chinese Garden) and the Chrysanthemum Festival.

Begonia grandis

I used to be a regular visitor to Lan Su and the festival, I think it was probably COVID that broke the pattern. I also used to be a member at the garden, but let it expire when I felt like the plants were no longer the focus. 

This sign board was one of the first things I saw at the garden during my visit. Since I was feeling extra sensitive that morning the first sentence hit me hard. The key to staying sane will be to do exactly this, in whatever form you are able.

The garden was a beautiful place to be that day...

The Floral Design Showcase is a big part of the festival and I found it shocking how different the entries were from the last time I visited, less theatre, more natural floral arranging. This is Perennial Heritage, by Lauren Say.

Sonnet 73 by, Kefira LaValley.

So many of my old favorite plants were missing. Winter deaths? Maintenance issues in the garden? This podocarpus was looking good however.

As was the Poncirus trifoliata.

Golden Longevity: a Chrysanthemum and Dried Flower Celebration, by Jen Rich.

Long Live the Queen of Fall Flowers, by Peggy Donovan.

This arrangement was not signed, maybe created by the garden staff? I suppose I should also note that I didn't photograph all the arrangements in the garden that day. I only focused on the ones that I liked.

Mums in Moonlight, by Rachel Galloway.

Forest Bathing, by Ellen Hansen.

It had been so long since I'd visited that I'd completely forgotten about this luxurious patch of Pyrrosia sheareri in the garden.

It's happy and healthy!

I'd not forgotten about the Anemone 'Honorine Jobert' however...

Those small green balls, after the petals fall, they're fantastic.

As I walked into the far SW corner of the garden I was thinking there was a plant there that I used to love to visit. Was it the edgeworthia? No, I mean it was always nice to see, but there was something else, something more "special"... ah! That leaf! Yes. Look up dummy...

Quercus dentata 'Pinnatifida’, the cutleaf Emperor Oak. It's so tall now.

There was no signage to say if these bonsai were part of the garden's collection or perhaps on loan?

The one in the middle appealed to me, with it's green layers.

Pinus bungeana (lacebark pine)

A rhododendron (left) that I can't ID, and the sexy legs of a what I assume is a crepe myrtle.

I spent about an hour wandering this city-block sized garden. I chatted with a few other visitors and managed to forget my worries for a while. Gardens (especially ones where we aren't responsible for the upkeep) are good for that.

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All material © 2009-2024 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.