Happy Friday GPODers!

I hope you’re all enjoying a week of holiday fun. To wrap of this week of festivities and treats, I’m sharing another installment from Cherry’s tour of Nancy Heckler’s incredible fall garden in Indianola, Washington. For more information on Nancy, check out Part 1 of these series. But, as always, Cherry has included plenty of information and lots of stunning photos, so I’ll get right to the good stuff:

Our walkabout began with a warm welcome on the side entrance. My attention was divided by many interesting vintage garden ornaments and containers and the beautiful perennials planted everywhere. We entered the garden through a gate adjacent to the garage which was warmly lit by many one of a kind vintage lamps. A glimpse into Nancy’s other passion. Her business is called Luminola where she hand restores unique lamps and lampshades from the past. Some of her small and large gorgeous begonias and a cool Windcliff plant (idk the name) are also overwintered in the same garage.

Upon entering the garden, I had stop and examine all the containers, ornaments and decor so thoughtfully curated through the garden. There is a small path through the shrubbery which leads to the deck and lawn, 2 entirely new and different rooms.

As we will soon discover in the next posts, there are many many rooms in Nancy’s sanctuary. All will delight the senses.

Cherry Ong

Bright orange Japanese maple foliage glows above a collection of oblong stones lined up on Nancy’s porch. I absolutely adore when beautiful plants encroach on porches and patios. It turns an ordinary outdoor spaces into magical garden hideaways.

A different view of the colorful maple reveals that it’s planted in a pretty pot. And the fallen leaves are absolutely covering the ground in color.

Even Cherry’s adorable Frenchie, Brocc, appears to be admiring Nancy’s incredible plants! 😄

Avian delights welcome you at each garden gate.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, more people need to be planting conifers in containers! This tiny Japanese holly—potentially ‘Dwarf Pagoda’ Japanese holly (Ilex crenata ‘Dwarf Pagoda’, Zones 5–9)—and striking umbrella pine (Sciadopitys verticillata, Zones 5–9) would like incredible in a bed, but get the attention they deserve in dedicated (and equally beautiful) pots.

Another show-stopping conifer in a pot that matches the one potted with an umbrella pine, above. This is potentially a ‘Elegans’ Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica, Zones 6–9).

Nancy has so many gorgeous pots, she doesn’t even need to put a plant in some to make a statement. Here, some blue glass orbs get an appropriate home in an ornate pot.

A larger orb gets the added protection of some more bright green moss.

Nancy is a woman of many talents. As Cherry mentions above, when Nancy isn’t creating beautiful plantings in her garden, she is is restoring vintage lamps and lampshades for her business. Cherry got this amazing shot of Nancy’s studio, with a table of her amazing work that’s just as interesting on the colorful plantings outside.

Another great shot of Nancy and Cherry’s dogs having the most amazing play date in Nancy’s beautiful space. This editor highly approves of a garden suited for both human and canine guests!

One last grouping of gorgeous containers on Nancy’s patio. While containers often get saved for the most colorful annual or tender flowering plants, the power of some fantastic foliage clustered together should never be underestimated.

Thanks again for sharing this inspiring garden with us, Cherry! There is really endless interest to observe in Nancy’s landscape, and it’s a joy to open each new batch of photos and see what new wonders are in store.

Have a great weekend everyone, and keep your eye on GPOD in the coming weeks for the final two installments from Nancy’s garden.

 

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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