This last
trip up to Seattle was so much fun, I got to visit with a few different friends and see their gardens, one of which was
Paul's garden. Paul and I first met via
Instagram and we've chatted back and forth for years now. I met him IRL when he came to my first talk at the Northwest Flower & Garden Fest back in, hmm, 2022. Summer of 2023 he and his wife Ange visited my garden, so it was high time that I see what he's been up to in his plot of land in SW Seattle...
And I should explain that "kinda cool" comment. Paul's garden is more than just kinda cool, but I was trying to play off his Instagram name,
kiiinnndddaaa. Also, if you were one of the millions of people who attended the Rancho Cistus Summer Extravaganza last July, Paul was the guy DJ'ing the event.
Front garden, along the driveway...
Heptapleurum (syn.Schefflera) sp. NV 021
from Far Reaches.
I didn't ask to confirm, but I suspect that perfectly stout Yucca rostrata probably came home with Paul and Ange from the Cistus party weekend. The fabulous branches belong to an inherited maple.
At first glance the front garden seems pretty shady, but once we started walking it I saw just how many sun-lovers were thriving on bermed up islands with good drainage.
Alstroemeria isabellana, with a yucca for support.
Towards the bottom center of this photo, Agave 'Mateo'... a great one for our PNW gardens.
Nolina some somebody...
There were even Anemone, A. 'Honorine Jobert'
In the center there, a Sabal minor, from
Raintree Tropical down in Silverton, Oregon.
The great green wall streetside, a Holboellia coriacea and Tetrapanax.
Looking back into the front garden from the street...
And the palmy view up against the house.
To see the back garden we went through the house. This curated vignette was to the side of the front door...
And then, the sunny back garden! Scanning from left to right...
Palms at the far end of the sunny deck.
This great bit of foliage was growing up one of the uprights of the covered sun deck, Hydrangea integrifolia, it's a
Great Plant Picks.
Looking back to the house (that's the door we came out of above the stairs...
And to the left, lots of containers!
To start the back garden tour we headed to the north side.
I stopped to photograph one of the several glass mosaic pieces in the garden, Ange shared these were made Paul's mom.
Sun lovers fronted by a small pond.
Eryngium deppeanum, a
Windcliff plant (and now another Eryngium on my lust list).
One of the tallest Yucca rostrata in Seattle? Paul scored this one by watching the Facebook marketplace offerings for years. As soon as this beauty appeared he went and dug it (painfully) same day. I love that it's growing at a jaunty angle.
Another good looking speciman!
Paul bought this one as Arbutus 'Marina' but reports that
Preston (at
Cistus) told him it's now believed to be Arbutus canariensis. He adds: "Unless sited perfectly it's bound to suffer damage in a bad PNW winter. I saw one planted on the street in a Capitol Hill neighborhood before I really got into gardening and I always say it was my spark plant because it was first time I brought a photo into nursery asking for help to ID"...
You'll see another photo of the Arbutus because before I left Paul invited me up on the second floor deck off the back of the house to see the garden from above.
Notholithocarpus densiflorus var. echinoides (I swoon!)...
Another Arbutus, A. andrachne, the Greek strawberry tree...
Dangling seeds of Dierama pulcherrimum.
We're back over where we started the back garden tour, so Paul can dig a couple of agave pups for me...
Isn't that the most adorable Agave bracteosa? I wish mine looked that good. I think it must be because it gets a lot of sun?
Agave lophantha that Paul purchased from Bryon Jones (he of
Pt. Defiance Zoo fame) and the mom of the pups I got.
Two of those spiky cuties came home with me!
Yucca aloifolia (?) and a flawless Agave ovatifolia.
Looking across to the sun deck, what a great lounging space, as Ange is demonstrating...
Later (post agave digging) Paul with Nilla (on the left, the most adorable and chill chihuahua I've ever met) and Jujube on the right.
In addition to the agave pups, Paul sent me home with a start from his Iris confusa (in the tall pot). I love how he disguised the pot with a burlap wrap. I'll be stealing this idea.
Okay final couple shots, from the second floor deck...
To the right of the banana is the Arbutus canariensis.
As I was leaving Paul pointed out his plant holding area—you know, those plants we haven't yet gotten around to planting? Thanks Paul and Ange, for clearing space on your Friday afternoon calendar for me to visit your spectacular garden!
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