What a treat to visit Glenda Curdy's gardens in Seattle Washington! Her use of reclaimed art and unique pieces makes her garden such an interesting experience!
"The Pacific Northwest is a true paradise for gardeners and I am fortunate to enjoy gardening here.We have added a few new pieces of reclaimed garden art and a secret path of cobble stones,a new deck, fire pit area and many seating areas late last year and this Spring. Our gardens are not very large but we have packed a lot of purposeful areas in the space we have. We now enjoy the lower area of our gardens which we had never used in the past twenty five years."
Keep sending in photos, everyone! Whether you've never shared before or you've been featured multiple times, we want to see your garden! Email a few photos and a little info about your garden to [email protected].
Fine Gardening Recommended Products
A.M. Leonard Deluxe Soil Knife & Leather Sheath Combo
Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs.
Comments
It all looks GREAT with the PNW lushness your plants are vibrant , your art objects are fun, beautiful and perfectly placed but that Tom Torrens bell is what i covet most
Thanks Jeff,we love our TT bell also,it was an anniversary gift we purchased for ourselves.But I also love the metal grate (not sure what it was in its former life)my brother gave me. This has been a fun spring,lots of planting and moving things around. I do believe we are done buying plants for awhile unless it's a rare plant or the perfect pot or .......another Japanese maple or,well yes I have a plant buying problem.
please let me know how that "done with buying plants" goes,,,,,,,,i've said that same thing so many times but have never kept my word
I say the same thing but something always follows me home... I am trying (really hard) to only buy something if I have a dedicated spot for it. I have a little nursery area that I have been trying to eliminate... Hahah but my husband doesn't help when he comes home with things too!
Becky,I plant as soon as I purchase so when I see the next plant I want I don't feel any guilt for having things waiting to be planted,for some reason I have always done that. As far as a dedicated spot that could never happen,I will wonder all over the gardens trying to find a spot if I have to. I will even buy a pot to lift it up in the gardens to find room. I think that's cool your husband comes home with plants!!!
My best intentions are to plant right away! Haha but I still have a few from last season... The joke at our house is my husband is supposed to my laborer but he has too many opinions! He likes trees & shrubs. Azaleas & Rhodos in particular so we divide the plantings that way! I am the perennial/veggie gardener. Works well so far... I am going to send him the link to your pictures here... He will love it as I do!
Don does the building(sometimes we do it together) and I choose most of the plants he tends to like lots of color and I like mostly foliage,I do love deciduous azaleas and some rhodys ,I am also looking forward to the hydrangeas blooming. We are also Japanese maple lovers and I collect ferns and Polygonatums.
Ferns are my weakness... Since I was a child... I would dig them from the woods and make terrariums out of my mothers canning jars. :)
That is a pretty amazing hosta (name of the variety, please, if you get a chance) that is sharing the stage with your wonderful piece of reclaimed metal. What really strikes me is how the simplicity of the square shape surrounded by the lush plant material gives off an almost zen vibe. You have so many interesting things to take in...I'd love to see an additional round of pictures including your new garden shed from a couple different angles...ha, I'm not nosy or anything!
You are in luck,I actually know the name of this one(remember I am the gardener who can't remember the names of plants) Abiqua Drinking Guard Plantain Lily. Hosta (H.'Tokudama'x H. Siebokdiana)Abiqua Drinking Guard. I divided it this year and it's still huge,if you lived close I would happily have shared it with you. Sometimes when it rains the hummers will bathe in the leaves,I love to view nature right in my own gardens. I garden for the hummingbirds. The shed was designed and built by Don it has a sliding barn door with a copper inset panel,and a transome window set on its side and etched so it resembles a shoji screen. We planted bamboo in a red pot for a shot of color. I have tried to add a photo but something is wrong with our internet in our area. I hope I can post this
Thanks for the name ID on the sumptuously leaved hosta, Glenda. I actually had that one for a while but I had not planted it a place that I provided sufficient water to and it did not thrive. That was many years ago and I still scold myself for not being a better caretaker. I adore your story about the hummers using it as their own personal bathtub...what a delightful sight that must be! Maybe, at your convenience, we should just be treated to another day of pictures that include some additional shots of the shed...the details sound wonderful.
Welcome back Nurserynotnordstrom. We missed you!
There are so many interesting things going in your garden. They inspire one to take one's garden to the next level. I have a lot of favorites in yours - the bell, the screen, the antique Japanese floats - depends on the vignette where it is placed.
One other observation with your garden is that there seems to be so many little rooms to seek refuge and solace - I really love that!
Thanks Cherry,wouln't it be fun if we could see each other's gardens in person and really get a feel for how they are arranged ,that is so hard to tell from photos. I have heard gardening bloggers say that when they actually visited a blogger friends garden it was so different from what they actually thought. Hope your day is a happy one.
Sheer gorgeousness, Glenda!! I would love to wander around and enjoy it all up close. Do the black Calla lilies survive and re-bloom for you?
I hope so I just put them in this Spring,I had been looking for them forever. I was so happy when I found them. I hope they survive does anyone know if I should lift the bulbs and store them? I need to do some reading about them now that you say that May. Thank you have a great day
I'll be looking for good advice here. I've been treating all coloured Callas as short-term beauties, much like cut flowers.
Oh I hope they won't be short lived,so far what I'm reading I can either dig them and bring them in or in our zone they should do ok left out. We will see
Glenda, I do hope they will grow for you. If you are already growing the white calla, you probably have the right conditions for the coloured ones as well, though they are a bit more tender. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!
What a delight!! Love all the garden art and beautiful plants. I too would love to wander around the garden, I looks like you have many secret paths. How large is your property? I bought some peach coloured Calla lilies in a pot last year and I meant to put them in the greenhouse and forgot and they didn't survive. My sister-in-law in Victoria has a huge white calla lily that grows in a sheltered spot next to her house. It has been there for years,
I too have white ones and those thrive they have even started themselves in new areas ,seems to be perfect areas ,precariously perched on a portion of the rockery. We have about a quarter acre but half of it is steep ravine,we even keep a cyclone fence (painted black ) up so the Grandchildren don't take a tumble. Peach callas would be very pretty I have not seen those,I may have to search some out,that would be lovely in my gardens too. I wish I had a green house it's my only garden wish yet to be fulfilled ,we were just talking this morning about it. The discussion was where could we squeeze on in?
Love my greenhouse. Getting a bit run down. I use it for storing plants over the winter and for starting plants for the Spring, Not this year though because of the hip surgery.It is made of recycled wood and glass.
Ok so I am lusting over your greenhouse. I want I want I want. Did someone build it for you? That's a great one Catherine!!!
Yes my husband did in 1996 when we built our house.
Well he did an amazing job,it has real personality!!
awesome garden
Thanks Steve,I appreciate your comment!!
I hope you do this for work as well - cause "you got talent" - Incorporating art the way you have - perfect!
No Steve, I design jewelry and bridal accessories. I am also a hairdresser. I usually stay pretty busy. My favorite of all of them is gardening though. I have a photo of when I was about four years old and I was planting nasturtiums. I have a look of joy and my sister not so much. I choose to work indoor or outside as my chores I always choose outside. Thank you so much Steve for your kind words it really means a lot to me for someone to take time and write something heartfelt!
you make me laugh - I too was in the garden with my Grandma when I was 4 - gardening has been in my blood ever since - I am now a professional gardener - hence why I find your gardening type so perfect - our use of flora mixed with art allows the eye to 'see' all that is there which in turn opens your garden fully - a very, very difficult thing to do - yours is a garden that I would love to actually walk around with a glass of wine exploring!!
Have we seen your gardens? If we have will you refresh my memory?and add a photo or two in the comment section.
I am running out the door for work - and my pictures have to be taken into photoshop to be reduced - if you look up on FB Homescape Garden and Lawn Ltd (photo albums) you will be able to not only see my garden but many of my 'other' gardens + all of the trials and tribulations that I have as a gardener - I am real about the fact that pictures of gardens are normally taken when everything is perfect - but I know perfection only ever happens a few times in a year and I'm not afraid to show the problems as well - Steve
After going to FB I do remember your gardens. Lots of hard work you do pruning and that weed in the grass seems like a bad one. We don't have that here in the PNW thank goodness. But we do have poa annua
Glenda!!! Wow. I need to be working but your photos stopped me in my tracks. Another day without an email heads-up and I completely forgot until this late in the day to check for a post. No regrets for checking; this is just gorgeous. Love everything. Rust and I have have a thing going on. Super super in love with that huge, pocked pot in picture four to the left. Japanese maple in it? I also recognize the glossy leaves to the left of the metal grate in the first photo but have lost the name. Beesia, maybe? I'll be back to take a closer look. Thanks for taking the time to send in photos! cheers.
I sent an email to Susan I too am not getting my GPOD blog updates in my inbox. No the plant in the pot is a rhody
Rhododendron Spinuliferum It's in a pot so it can get moved when we have really cold weather. The Spinuliferum has really cool blooms,I would send a photo but I got a new iPad so my old photos aren't here on this iPad they are in the cloud not sure how to access them. And yes the other is a Beesia you are good Tim.
i just looked up the Rhodie. That is super cool! Do you rent a forklift to move that huge container!?!
I just containerized my Rhododendron cinnabarinum. I am crazy about Keeping It Green's images of its pendant, peach-colored bells. The little plant has made it through our two worst winters I can remember, but most of it freezes, so into a pot it went a month ago. It's leafing out from the bare stems. I hope it likes container culture.
I've only seen photos of the Beesia. Which one is it and do you recommend it? Looks beautiful where you have it.
Yes Tim I love Beesia I have about six of them mine are Deltophylla we are in Dan Hinkley country and that's the one he brought back to the U.S. and UK. I would highly recommend them it's a nice way to add some sparkle in the garden with plant material. I just looked up your Rhody and I think I need it. It's such a beautiful bloom,does it bloom early?i most likely can put it in the ground here but I will do some reading about it. I will add it to my plant want list on Pinterest so when I'm out I have my list and can look for plants I really want. At the top of my list is a Polygonatum Betberg so if anyone out there has access to it me please let me know. I've been told I need to make a trip to the UK.
Dan Hinkley country? I'm dying of jealousy. Thanks for the info on the Beesia. It should grow fine here in Ohio.
You now know everything I know about R. cinnabarinum. I don't think I'll be seeing blossoms on mine for a few years, if it likes its container. No idea when the bloom time is, but it definitely will do well for you in the ground, seeing that it scraped by outside here through quite a bit of -10°.
So you collect Polygonatum? Betberg looks like a winner. How does it differ from 'Night Heron'? Smaller? I only have one pass-along variegated one that is starting to take off, but I did purchase Maianthemum oleraceum pink form from Far Reaches this spring and I am dying for it to grow into a gigantic, blooming spectacle!
Dan is a really nice man too,very down to earth and easy to chat with. Oh I just looked up Maianthemu Oleraceum the pink form and I love it Far Reaches is out of stock (so sad) that really looks like a great plant. I do have Night Heron too,I love disporums Disporopsis and Maianthemum also. It's fun to wander my gardens and get a little peak at all of them next year should be good because many will have been in the ground for three years. I would love to see your gardens in person are you going to be sending in more photos soon so we have a Spring or Summer up date of your gardens?
I will. As soon as I can get my act together!
Oops. Now I see that Night heron is 'Disporum'. Polygonatum, Disporum, Disporopsis, Maianthemum? They all look the same to me! :)
Glenda! Looky what I just found:
http://www.farreachesfarm.com/Polygonatum-x-hybridum-Purple-Blush-p/p2047.htm
In stock, too! Might be worth a try and cheaper than flying to the UK!
Tim ,I purchased that Polygonatum and I wish I could say it was Betberg ,but it looks nothing like it. May be when it comes in next year it will be much easier to ID but I put this in the ground very very early Spring and its up and had thus far no resemblance to my coveted"Bet". Oh how I wish it was that easy. I did get some names on Sunday from Richie (who wrote a book on ferns)people that I maybe can get it from. You were so kind to send that to me. Did you place an order from Far Reaches?what did you buy?they are the best you can't go wrong with anything from them,if something is wrong they fix it without any problems. If you love Ferns buy this book. Richie is a very knowledgeable person and curator at the Elizabeth C Miller Gardens. Happy gardening Tim and thanks again.
I'm so disappointed! I should have known it couldn't be that easy. I love Far Reaches, even though I can only grow about a third of the things they sell. I order once or twice a year from them. This spring, besides the maiantehemum, I ordered Trillium kurabayashi, Polystichum setiferum divisilobum, Mertensia maritima, Agapanthus inapertus nigresecens and pendulum for containers, Corydalis craighton blue, Lilium duchartrei and Podophyllum delayvii. I caught Podophyllum fever last year and want to collect them all. I am especially interested in finding some bright red/rust/orange P. delayvii, but most folks seem to be selling naturally variable specimens and they are expensive. I might turn to Great Britain and Europe for an order....My Far Reaches specimen had lost it's spring color by the time I received it, so I look forward to seeing it next spring. Always something to look forward to! The fern book looks great. cheers.
Good morning Tim I too want Podophyllum Delayaii,I have three other phodos. but am also still looking for it,I love these plants mine are in bloom and i love to group these guys together in the garden. Happy gardening
I've got the wine and will be right over.
Sounds good to me Tia. We went to the Edmonds open gardens and enjoyed all of them,
did you go?
I made it to five. That was a great line-up of gardens.
I enjoyed the photos of your garden! Very cool lantern from China! I was wondering about your cobblestone path... are the stones "dry-laid" or are they set in concrete?
Log in or create an account to post a comment.
Sign up Log in