When this garden was on the 2014 tour, a huge heartnut tree and a 30+ year-old Dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) dominated and shaded much of the front yard. They became troublesome to the cement driveway and sidewalks and have been removed. What a gamechanger for the front garden! Now there’s an extensive spring bulb display and sun loving perennials fill the beds. Barbara, a lover of color, is responsible for the bright flowers you see throughout the garden; so now the front yard features blooming annuals and an array of Echinacea hybrids. Mark favors the Sombrero series in deeply saturated red and orange.
A long-time collector of hardy fuchsias, Mark enjoys perennials which bloom in later summer and has paired them with hosta, hydrangea, rogersia and clematis in the front yard. In the sunniest borders Gaura lindheimeri ‘Whirling Butterflies’, among other gaura, dance around brightly colored wave petunias and calibrachoa which fill in as the tulip border fades.
Just after purchasing the property in the early 1980’s a large load of rock was brought in from the Skagit quarry to create three separate rockeries. They are still a dominant feature that gives this place a distinct and unique character. A dense greenbelt planted in the very back 16 years ago, adds another defining feature to the garden.
Mark, an avid gardener since his youth, has an exceptional plant collection that he continues to refine and shape. Look for maples including Acer griseum (paper bark maple), seedlings from the dawn redwood and Pinus thunbergia ‘Thunderhead’ (Japanese pine). Rogersia, hosta, Japanese painted ferns and Hakonechloa macra (Japanese forest grass), and Cardiocrinum giganteum (giant Himalayan lilies) are in the back. Eryngium ‘Big Blue’ and Salvia greggii ‘Nuevo Leon’ are planted on the south side of the house. There’s gunnera, a species rhododendron, and cannas on the north side.
Finally, the parking strip, a dry and exposed site, features Achillea Coronation gold paired with Eryngium Big Blue and Echinacea purpurea.
Take your time to look carefully at all plants in this collection, you may find something that you just have to have!
