Heronswood open house.

I had to ring the bell. I think it is Tibetan, but am probably wrong. Either way it was intresting because you just round the path and there it is.

Any clue what this little plant is? Not heuchera or podophillum , but I want it if you can ID it for me. There's alot of those pics!

Not sure, but I think this acuba.

Sorry! Wrong pic, but still a cool plant.I didn't take a pic of it! Shoot! But here is a great smoke tree, coming the other way it fooled me with the lily blooms. I thought it was a blooming red leafed tree, which it is, but not giant white flowers!

Here is the flower. Too cool! But I have a few of these blooming right now too. I think they are Casablanca, but not 100% sure.

A diffrent view of the collumn pots.Looks like something I would come up with! Going to have to find me some columns!!

Great pictures!

Gordon. . .all of them GREAT pictures! Sure wish I could have seen it in person but you've made it the next best thing. Thanks! The urn in the bog is so cool as are the columns and the pathways and the bell and the. . .

Hey Gordon! Great Pixs!
My Dh had to ring the bell too, lol!

I think the purple ground cover you're asking about is Saxifraga 'Silver Violet'-I got one at (where else????) Heidi's this spring.
http://www.terranovanurseries.com/wholesale/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=252

Thanks NWG for the pictures. It sure is different than it was years ago when I went up there.

Well . . . I'm finally online. Great pictures, Gordon. I think I took about 75, but will have to look through and see whether I got anything significantly different from the ones you posted. Sorry we missed you. There was a long line at the ferry, which put us about an hour behind what we had scheduled. I tried to pick up the umbrella for Pix, but Heidi said you had been there.

I was so nice to see a garden that had only one or two rhododendrons or azaleas. But there were 10 gunneras if there was one, and so many hydrangeas and persicaria - they did seem like the backbone of the garden.

So, Gordon and Susy, what did you "score" at Heidi's?

What cool stuff did EVERYONE "score?" I need pictures!

Okay. I finally got the pictures uploaded. Not patient enought to upload them one by one, so put them all here: http://picasaweb.google.com/saharabug59/Heronswood

You can see that I got there later in the day than Gordon did - the sun is different. Boy do I want a 100 x 100' bog, though. There's nothing like it. Enjoy!!

I scored the yellow candelabra primula you see here (it smells like cloves!), a couple kinds of persicaria, the white rugosa climber they use up the trees, and a podophyllum (my first!!). And I'm feeling a very strong pull to find some of the delicate serrata hydrangeas they use.

Awesome pix, Kathy. I have to go to workwork now, but I want to make a list of picture #'s and hopefully you can ID the plant in the pic for me! Wow...those are GREAT!

I can only do some. MANY are unknowns for me, but hopefully we'll get some experts on here and can go through them. I'll look on PacasaWeb and see if there's a way to attach notes with the plant names to the pictures . . .

This message was edited Aug 2, 2008 12:08 AM

Great pictures Kathy!

I didn't get too many things at Heidi's but succumbed to a couple. I got a nice looking euphorbia that's supposed to stay smallish and is kind of variegated, I think it's Euphorbia 'Lacey', a salvia that I realized too late is really only hardy to z9 (oops...) but had cool flowers, a cute little variegated sedum that looks like sedum makinoi Ogon, but variegated, and a lavender thyme because it smelled really good and you can never have too many nice smelling things.

Did you see that Daphne (nos 19 and 20)? Oh how I wish mine would get that big and healthy looking. "Philip" one of the lanscape mantenance guys said they fertilize in the spring (via automatic watering system) with an Osmocote-like slow release fertilizer and that's it. I think he was saving some of the secrets . . .

Yes, I saw that Daphne and thought to myself "oh, that looks like a Daphne...but it can't be, because it's so huge and still blooming in July...must be something else..." ;) I killed mine off a long time ago, but maybe I'll try again one of these years now that I've been doing this longer.

Yes. . .saw the Daphne. . .wondered what it was. . .question answered, thanks! Gorgeous and HUGE!

Gordon, your pic at 4:23 pm: Paris polyphyllum. Yes, interesting plant. Mine bloomed this year and it looked just like that. I was pleased!

Wow, thanks NWGordon, for posting those pics. I still can't believe I have not visited this garden yet. I see sculptures that remind me of Little & Lewis. I need to visit their website to find out when they host their 'open' days.

Sue - I think those sculptures are Little and Lewis (some of what made them so well-known). This summer is their last in the PNW; I hear they're moving their studios down to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

Hi Katie, I was watching "Gardening with Cisco" last weekend, and wouldn't you know it, they were broadcasting from Little & Lewis. Not a garden tour, per se, but introducing their segments, etc from there. Cisco mentioned at the end of the broadcast that Little & Lewis were moving "next door".

I sure hope they are staying in Bainbridge. They have been so generous in sharing their garden with the public. Besides I would love to commission them to create something for my garden one day!!!!

So, perhaps I was watching an old episode of Cisco? I hate to think they are leaving the USA! Maybe we will get lucky and they will have two homes, one here and one there. :)

This is what they say on their site at http://littleandlewis.wordpress.com/. It sounds like a little of both:

"The Little and Lewis 2008 season will be their last at the present internationally known location. The garden/gallery is over 16 years old and George and David feel it is time to create “something new”. They are designing a smaller garden/gallery at a new Bainbridge Island location. They will continue to take commissions for sculptures, mirrors and paintings for clients and galleries as well as to consult on garden design. They also plan to expand the sales of their work from their home and gallery in San Miguel de Allende, a vibrant colonial hillside town in Mexico."

How cool they have a weblog. I subscribed. :)

So how great is it that they will still take commissions? Thanks Katie for sharing that!

P.S. - I'm sure their new place in Mexico will inspire them to no end. I look forward to seeing the new artwork they design and will stay tuned!

Glad you all came up here and also went to heronswood. Where is the daphne. I got the garden into shape along with my great helpers. I think it looked great. I go down there all the time and haven't noticed the daphne yet. Or maybe I have been zoned in on the weeds and have missed the pretties. Pixy glad gordon got your umbrella. Hope to keep having cool plants. Hey Gordon some fairy mentioned to me about a nursery? uhmmmmm. Cool

If you are talking about me starting a nuresery, you are correct. I doubt I will compete with you in any way. Might be a source to get rid of stock you can't move though. Still a little less than two years away. May 1, 2010. I need to make thew place look cool and grow a bunch of stuff. This year is green house and plant beds. Don't worry Heidi! I'll be buying from you for a long time!! I'll make sure not to sell some things that I got from you and tell them where to get it.
Don't think I won't pick your brains for ideas! lol I already got Tony Avent's book " So you want to start a nursery!". I already bought 1,000 iris to plant this fall. Going to sell alot of that I hope.Take a day off and come over. People do that you know!! Take days off! What year was it you last had a day off Heidi? Was Carter President then?

Cool gordon! You certainly have the property for it.
Heidi, thanks for saving my umbrella for so long. I've really missed it! Wish I'd had more time to get up there this summer.

By the way Gordon, Heidi does not take days off! It is not in her vocabulary!LOL!

I know, thats what makes it funny!

Sue - I just read past the commissions part. Didn't think I'd ever have enough for a payment, but I guess I should never say never. LOL. I think that maybe we also need to do a road trip down to Mexico (in the Magic Bus) after we visit Laurie in Sussex.

Heidi - The Daphne is pictured in photos 19 and 20 here: http://picasaweb.google.com/saharabug59/Heronswood. It's right next to the steps up onto the back deck.

Gordon - Sorry for spilling the beans. Thought you might already have talked to Heidi about the nursery thing. She really perked up when I mentioned it and had a bunch of ideas right off the bat. I still think you should target men who garden - there just isn't enough of that out there. Big plants, grasses, wetland stuff, the unusual. Did you see the little stand of amorphophallus konjac in my pictures? I was delighted to see it. The one you gave me is doing great and I'm looking to have a little stand myself one day. LOL

Gordon I am thrilled for you there can't be enough cool garden centers out there. Please feel free to ask me any questions I might save sou some money and heart ache. I would love to sell you some cool plants. I haven't taken a day off since 1998. The nursery is 7 days a week but it is at my house and I do control things If we had more water we might be able to take a little more time off. We do go fishing in the summer so it is not all work plus I can buy what I want and it is a tax write off. I'm happy for you. Cool. Heidi

Hi Katie just went to your pitures wow they were great. Good job. Heidi

Thank you Heidi - I just pointed and shot. It's pretty hard not to get good pictures from there. Wish I had more of the bog. I think it's safe to say that it's haunting me. I've dreamt about it for 3 nights in a row now. It was just magical.

Sheri- the lysichton there was 5 ft tall. We might need updated pictures of YOUR bog.

I think I have a good workable plan. Do it slow and the right way. A green house and more display beds is on my mind right now.Seeing Heronswoods just makes me believe I am doing the right thinb. That place was custom made for me!! Giant leafed, super tall plants everywhere.And the vine walk and reflecting pools, and the bog! Just too cool! I am going to be over there again Heidi this Sat. Going to Jim's first and talk a little hosta. Then I'll drop in. Still haven't found anything for the trellis.

Kathy. . .I haven't been down to the bog for a bit. We've been spending so much time doing stuff here. Maybe tonight when I get home I'll head down there with the camera. Haven't a clue what it looks like there right now.

Gordon. . .great that you're starting a nursery ~ I agree with Kathy. Focus on male gardeners. Lots of manly plants and garden objet d'art (like your auger obelisk, etc.) We women could always dedicate a bed to a "man garden." Ooooooh. . .I'm getting an idea here ~ = O

Gordon, I would be interested to chat more with you on opening a nursery. I have been toying with the idea of doing something very small here on Whidbey. Out of my home, which I assume is what you are doing also. Need to do something. I have some other ideas as well (non plant related) so am not sure which one to pursue yet.

Gwen

I can see it now: Gordon's Garden for Manly Men - Where testosterone makes the plants large and strong, and they don't necessarily smell good!

You might be onto a whole new marketing scheme! Got to be careful with that manly art, though. That could get to be dangerous! LOL!

I think the aroids should do well.

Hearing all your possitive feedback is great!! I have been to many a nursery around here and have never seen a man's nursery. Great idea. As long as I can find a wholesaler to get them from I will be in like Flynn!
Gwen you should do it! Dmail me anytime.Always more fun to do something new with someone else. It may sound like too much, starting your own nursery, but if you right down a long term plan, with goals that are achievable, it isn't as scary!

I Did it you can do it. I also do landscaping. we started with nothing. I'm lucky Dave could build things but I had to come up with everything else. By doing-it just weekends and seasonal. I would check to see if you can do it in your neighborhood. If you are zoned agricultural or rural. I know my folks sold plants on the weekend on Bainbridge and ran into one monster no with the city. Good thing he is German and stubborn.