SUNDAY AT THE SEATTLE FLING

Sunday is farmer's market shopping day in Seattle. By that I mean the neighborhood market selling fruits, vegetables, and cheeses. Our bus dropped us off and gave us time to wander around and check out all the produce.

The word was out that there was a bakery close by that we must visit.

Pam, Caroline, Diana and I joined the long line of locals eager to get inside the store and make our selections.

Diana tweeted with the sweets.

LORENE EDWARD FORKNER GARDEN

It was then time to move on to the next treat of the day.

The garden of one of our wonderful hostesses, Lorene Edwards Forkner.

Here she is on the balcony of her house giving us a few pointers before we are let loose on her garden.

and here are the adoring crowds.

Lorene gardens in a much smaller space than any of the other gardeners we had met. She makes use of ever square inch of her property and like the other gardens her garden is bursting with fun ideas for garden decor; like this two tiered pot which adds height without breaking the bank account.

I'm not sure if this is a workspace but it certainly would be a nice little hidy-hole to tuck oneself away.





I'm with this. Just wish I could make them grow in Texas.

Gabions are an innovative and inexpensive way to create retaining walls and seating, as well as a neat little coffee table.







Lorene's book, Handmade Garden Projects, will be coming out in the fall where you will see these and many of her other garden projects.

KATE FARLEY GARDEN

I am starting to think that my eye is drawn more to garden structure than to the garden planting itself. Certainly this has been the case in many of the gardens we have visited, although I will admit that many of the plants have been stunning.

There was lots to see in Kate's garden.



Pathways are my favorite especially when they are mixed media.



I love all the odds and ends incorporated into this wall. I did wonder what was behind this crumpled tin plate.

There was plenty of color to behold too.

A palate of pink, purples and oranges set against a purple trellis.

Would you ever imagine that folk from Texas, where temperatures have been in the 100s for weeks, would be wilting by mid afternoon. Well we were. Our next visit was to South Seattle Community College Arboretum.

SSCC ARBORETUM

Here are some photos from our visit to the garden, noted for it Coenosium Rock Garden.

Another flinging fun day. Thanks ladies.

SEATTLE FLING DAY 2

It is easy to get seriously behind in postings about the Seattle fling (not to mention my Great British Garden Trip). We have reached the end of the Fling and here I am on day 2 of the 4.

We awoke on day 2 to glorious clear, sunny skies and cool air. No sooner off the bus than those cameras were out and clicking and we weren't even in the garden.

THE EPPING GARDEN (Newcastle, Washington)

Everyone was looking at the spectacular view from the driveway of Christopher and Michelle Epping's house.

From the patio you can just see the Seattle skyline in the distance and Lake Washington below.

It seems that everyone in Seattle gardens on a slope. The Eppings met the challenge by creating a paradise of pathways which lead you through the multiple levels of their garden.

Not surprisingly, the plantings are magnificent.

The gardeners have a wonderful eye for combining art with plants. Around every corner we were greeted by little vignettes which invited you to linger and take in the scene.

You just couldn't see it all in one pass. I went back several times, first in one direction and then in the other.

They had created some of the most beautiful pots I had ever seen. Succulents seem to be at home in this climate as much as they would in the Mediterranean climate. We were to learn a couple of days later that the climate is far from that.

Maybe the pots spend the rainy winters in this delightful little shed.

We were invited to linger a while, have a welcome cool drink and read about the making of their garden which had been featured in the local newspaper magazine.

My thoughts were full of ideas as we re-boarded the bus to travel to our next garden.

THE LANE GARDEN (Medina, Washington)

Denise Lane gardens under towering Western Red cedars and Douglas Firs, but has created open paved areas for entertaining and grassy areas edged with colorful perennial borders. For me the favorite place was the 'ruin'

Where was my notebook when someone identified this delightful little vine draping itself over the ruin.

We ate our lunch in this delightful garden setting. Refreshed we moved on to the..

BELLEVUE BOTANIC GARDEN

Just look how big those bee balm are. As tall as Diana Kirby of Sharing Nature's Garden.

Pink palette of achillea and sage.



We were all starting to flag a little under the hot bright sun and simply had to find a shaded place to sit. We still had one more visit, that to the Olympic Sculpture Park. Some of our group had not had the chance to visit the Pike's Place Market and so chose to visit the market instead. We ended up having dinner on the water front at the Pink Door Restaurant. A wonderful dinner to end a day that couldn't have been more perfect.