The 2009 Gardens
The Farmhouse
Beginning with the “Welcome Home” sign, this property echoes the owners' farming heritage and exhibits their creativity with whimsical reuse of items, such as farm implements, kitchen gadget, and furniture. These formerly utilitarian pieces, placed artfully within the gardens, create a colorful sense of fun.
The owners started this garden in 1993, incorporating meaningful plants from their previous home, including a strapping Mount Fuji flowering cherry and the corkscrew willow that was a tiny start from Mom's tree. From the family farm, a large seeder, outfitted with planter boxes and backed by a maple, sets the tone for what you will discover inside. Eighteen arbors and trellises, festooned with colorful flowering vines, showcase effective use of vertical space and lead you from front to back, where you encounter several lush garden rooms. Then meet the donkeys, sheep, and resident bunnies whose backdrop is a beautiful view of the Puget Sound. Installations commemorate family history: a wedding arch, an anniversary arch, and a dance terrace. Color predominates: pinks and purples, a turquoise fence (note the section made from a baby's crib), a multi-colored flock of birdhouses perched along the tops of hollyhocks, brightly colored flower “beds,” and ladders, for fun not for climbing.
However delightful and playful, this garden also supplies the owners with a plentiful harvest. The orchards include 22 producing hazelnut trees, Asian pear, plum, apple, and fig trees. A 40' double row of raspberries, a 30' asparagus bed, 75' of rhubarb, newly established blueberries and gooseberries, and the pumpkin patch are all arranged around a spectacular iron garden gazebo. The last viewpoint is the cedar gazebo that the owner purchased as a kit and constructed himself. This garden fosters and reflects the happy, productive life of a family and provides a delightful venue for many more happy occasions.