Garden Photo of the Day

Walla Walla Backyard Two Years Later

After two years of growth, this garden in the Pacific Northwest is filling in fast

By GPOD Contributor
garden bed with lots of pink and purple flowers

Hi GPODers!

So far, the theme of this week’s submissions is garden progress and evolution, which is really inspiring me to keep on top of my chores as we trudge though the heat and humidity of August here in Connecticut! Yesterday we saw incredible garden rooms created in four short years in Rhode Island (if you missed it, check it out here), and today we’re heading to the opposite coast to get an update on a garden we first saw a couple years ago (Lizzi’s Walla Walla Garden). Lizzi has been hard at work, and the progress in her garden is incredible:

Hi, You featured my Walla Walla, Washington back yard 2 years ago in GPOD. The photos were from early June and the plantings were rather new. This group of photos was taken this week, late July and show how my beds have filled in. Some of my plants have filled in enough to divide and stitch the scene together better- specifically lamb’s ear ‘Helen Von Stein’ (Stachys byzantina ‘Helen Von Stein’, Zones 4–9) and variegated sweet iris (Iris pallida ‘Variegata’, Zones 4–9). I’ve also added more geranium ‘Rozanne’ (Geranium ‘Rozanne’, Zones 5–8). My favorite plant this summer is an annual I grew from seed: purple Gomphrena globosa. The bright purple pompoms make me and the bees happy. But by far my favorite addition to the garden isn’t a plant—it’s my rusty gear sculptures. There was a GPOD a while back that featured a garden with rusty gears and I saved it for inspiration (check out that post here: Repurposed Garden Decor). Last year I scored a number of boxes of old gears from a guy cleaning out his garage. I used rebar to stack them securely and elevated some of them off the ground with old terracotta sewer pipe sections. I have seven of these stacks scattered throughout the yard now.

garden bed with dwarf blue spruce and purple flowers
A garden bed with bright pops of color and lots of funky, spiky foliage texture that includes: Liatris, dwarf globe blue spruce (Picea pungens ‘Globosa’, Zones 2–8), fountain grass ‘Burgundy Bunny’ (Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Burgundy Bunny’, Zones 5–9), veronica ‘Purpleicious’ (Veronica ‘Purpleicious’, Zones 4–8), echinacea ‘Magnus’ (Echinacea purpurea ‘Magnus’, Zones 3–8)

hebe quicksilverMore fabulous foliage and some sensational seed heads, including: Hebe ‘Quicksilver’ (Hebe pimeleoides ‘Quicksilver’, Zones 7–10), false cypress ‘Sungold’ (Chamaecyparis pisifera filifera ‘Sungold’, Zones 4–8), allium ‘Millenium’ (Allium ‘Millenium’, Zones 4–8), and geranium ‘Roxanne’

Japanese forest grass growing around rusty gear garden art
One of the incredible pieces of rusty garden art that Lizzi created goes beautifully with the glowing foliage of Japanese forest grass ‘All Gold’ (Hakonechloa macra ‘All Gold’, Zones 4–9) and creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia, Zones 4–8)

coneflowers and other flowers next to container plantings
Plenty of fabulous foliage, but there is clearly no shortage of flowers on display, too. Along with the coneflowers and geranium we saw before, Lizzi has Gomphrena globosa (annual), Tropicanna® canna (Canna indica ‘Phasion’, Zones 7–11), and hydrangea Strawberry Sundae® (Hydrangea paniculata ‘Strawberry Sundae’, Zones 4–8)

Gomphrena globosa in front og hydrangea and lavender
The above bed from another view shows off another funky garden sculpture and a beautiful bunch of lavender ‘Martha Roderick’ (Lavandula angustifolia ‘Martha Roderick’, Zones 5–10).

shade garden with various foliage plants
A rock garden in the shade that features many colorful foliage plants, including: Japanese forest grass, Northern Exposure™ Purple heuchera (Heuchera x ‘TNHEUNEP’, Zones 3–9), ghost fern (Athyrium ‘Ghost’, Zones 4–9), Edgeworthia chrysantha (Zones 7–10), hostas, and geranium.

garden bed with lots of pink and purple flowers
Lizzi’s garden planning is really evident in this bed. Lots of different textures and colors on display here, but the way they are paired and placed creates a cohesive look rather than chaotic. Some stand outs include: Lamb’s ear, sweet variegated iris, sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ (Sedum spectabile ‘Autumn Joy’, Zones 4–11) and in the way back castor bean ‘Carmencita’ (Ricinus communis ‘Carmencita’, Zones 8–12 or as an annual).

Allium sphaerocephalon with purple coneflower
And a fabulous plant pairing to round us out of purple coneflower and drumstick allium (Allium sphaerocephalon, Zones 4–8).

Thank you for sharing this fantastic update, Lizzi! Incredible to see how much has changed and grown in the past two years, and hope you continue to update us on your garden’s evolution!

 

Have a garden you’d like to share?

Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!

To submit, send 5-10 photos to gpod@taunton.com along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.

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Comments

  1. nwphilagardener 08/06/2024

    Great vignettes of well-composed plants. It appears from the size of the shrubs that this a still a relatively young garden or Lizzi is actively pruning to keep the volumes in check. Kudos

    1. user-6840613 08/07/2024

      Thanks! Yes, the garden is only 4 year old- it was a blank slate when we moved here

  2. User avater
    simplesue 08/06/2024

    I love that you were inspired by another GPOD poster (me too), your rusty gear sculptures are a nice addition to your flower beds!
    Your garden is FABULOUS! You really know how to combine interesting plants together, I especially love the big white hydrangea blooms with the purples around them- but love it all- perfection!

    1. user-6840613 08/07/2024

      Thanks!!!

  3. User avater
    cynthia2020 08/06/2024

    I enjoyed reading about the garden and looking at all the photos - my favorite photo is of the gear sculpture with the forest grass and Lysimachia. Thanks for sharing! I appreciate you mentioning that you grew purple Gomphrena globosa from seed - I may try that next year. I bought a single Truffula Pink globe amaranth on sale at a big box store this year and it is doing great in a large pot - flowers are persistent.

    1. user-6840613 08/07/2024

      Thanks! I saw a hedge of Gomphrena combined with Echinacea last year and couldn't wait to replicate that in my yard. The plants in the pots are doing better than the ones I put in the ground

  4. btucker9675 08/06/2024

    What a gorgeous garden, Lizzi! The combination of plants, rocks and your cool sculptures is perfection. Brava!!

    1. user-6840613 08/07/2024

      Thanks so much!

  5. barbmrgich 08/06/2024

    Hello, Lizzi, I absolutely love your garden. Your photography is also amazing. I especially love the gomphrena with the white hydrangea. So crisp and bright!
    I also love the fullness of your gardens. That's my goal - Ground covering plants instead of a study in mulch!

    1. user-6840613 08/07/2024

      Thanks!!!

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