japanese maple Archives | Diana's Designs Austin

Puget Sound Gardeners Fling – People, Plants, and More

Last month 100 garden social media influencers met in Puget Sound WA to tour gardens, share meals, and make new friends. This was the 15th such annual gathering, called the Gardeners Fling. We meet in a different city each year (except for 2 Covid-fraught summers) and the host city gardeners plan a 4-5 day outstanding garden experience.

Our time in Puget Sound was magical. Each garden, private and public, wowed in so many different ways.

I’ll start my virtual tour with the garden of one of our hosts, Camille Paulsen, @tahomaflora .

She has crafted her space to frame and enhance the many gorgeous views of Mount Tahoma, also known as Mount Rainier. The mountain enjoys almost mystical status around Seattle and Tacoma. The days start with an assessment about the visibility of the mountain and end on the same note. How fortunate her family is to have this National Geographic-worthy sight from their deck, their paths, their hills, and so many other vantage points.

We were there on a clear day, and the mountain was glorious.

This little secret seating area on the edge of the hillside had a special view, too.

I can imagine sneaking away to to escape here.

Several paths wind through the property, all of them welcoming and interesting. And many of them with an eye to the view.

On the back deck, a bit of whimsy highlights the distance of treks to similar mountain hot spots.

The light was striking as it poured in between the leaves of a collection of Japanese maples and other wispy trees.

Camille’s artistic flair extends beyond the curating of plants to include an interesting assortment of art in the garden. Various carefully crafted vignettes were tucked throughout.

Sharing the adventure with so many long-time and new gardeners was as fun as discovering the garden itself.

So many unique details caught my eye.

Sweet spaces scattered everywhere.

The pool area was a lovely gathering spot filled with interesting pots and plants.

Tucked down the hill in the forest, koi languished in a beautiful pond, suprised by all their guests.

Enjoying some pats, Camille’s cat seemed unfazed by all the garden gawkers.

Thanks, Camille, for a great tour of your lovingly created garden.

Another post to come soon highlighting other beautiful sights from the 2024 Puget Sound Gardeners Fling.

By Diana C. Kirby|2024-08-18T09:27:49-05:00August 18th, 2024|2024 Garden Bloggers Fling, 2024 Gardeners Fling, 2024 Puget Sound Fling, Blog, bloggers, blogging, cedar tree, Crocosmia, cypress trees, decor, Fairy, ferns, Fling, focal point, foliage, Garden, garden bloggers, garden bloggers fling, garden decor, garden photography, garden statues, garden tour 2024, garden travel, garden visit, garden whimsy, hanging pots, Japanese garden, japanese maple, landscape design, leaves, Mount Ranier, Mount Tahoma, path, paths, pathway, patio, people, photography, plant, pond, pool, rock wall, Sharing Nature's Garden, statuary, statue, succulents, Tacoma, tour, travel, Uncategorized, water feature, water features|9 Comments

Winter is planning season in the garden

We’ve had such a mild winter here in Central Texas – we haven’t even had an official freeze yet at our house. A few plants have been affected by close-to-freezing temps. (Though some other gardnerers in cooler spots around the city have had one or two brief dips to or just below 32.)

It even hit 88 degrees last weekend, and I welcomed it complete with shorts, sunscreen, big hat and a few much-needed breaks inside to avoid what truly felt like heat stroke. It was January, for goodness sake!

I’d been sketching out a few ideas for changing beds — vowing to treat my own garden with the same care that I give to design clients. Than means I need to tame some overgrown plants, move some others to better locations and add in some more evergreen color to create a cohesive design.

The bed in front of the garage did well last year, but I’d neglected to prune back the pale pavonia right in front of the window. Last fall I moved the purple-blooming salvia ‘Amistad’ in front of the pavonia – they were small and leggy in their previous spot. Well, they REALLY liked this bed – so much that they grew even bigger than the pavonias behind them. Gorgeous, but unruly and completely out of scale. Pavonias: chop. Salvia ‘Amistad:’ move. Dianella: add.

They looked beautiful against the Senorita Rosalita cleome I planted in front of them, but they soon grew OVER the cleomes and the yarrow and tried to accost guest walking down the sidewalk! They will now look beautiful in the bed at the corner of the house now — I hope!

After a trip to the candy store — well, really, Vivero Growers — I found some beautiful new plants to complete my design. I added in a third variegated dianella and put in several Loropetalum ‘cabernet’ to provide more evergreen color in the bed. I left one ‘Amistad’ in between the pavonias and I promise I will keep it pruned down just a bit.

A stunning Japanese maple, Acer palatum var. dissectum ‘Tamukeyama,’ went in toward the house, where an ‘Edward Goucher’ abelia came out. To echo the burgundy colors, I added a few more Ajuga ‘black scallop’ around the dianella. The maple has deep red bark and delicate weeping branches. The leaves are very fine. I can’t wait to see it bud out. It will only get early morning sun in this spot and will be protected by the house.

The deciduous tree in front of the new maple came out – it’s a Caesalpinia gillesii, or often called by one of its common names, Yellow Bird of Paradise. It needed a drier bed – so I relocated it across the driveway to a sunnier spot with tougher conditions.

And here you see my favorite shovel — I bought it at Red Barn and it has a nice foothold for pushing down on and the handle makes it easier to get some oomph into your motion!

I haven’t re-mulched after adding in some Geo Growers thunder dirt to the bed — I’m still debating whether or not I want to plant some seeds in here in a few carefully selected spots.

Because I’m a plant collector, I don’t always follow my own design rules (or even loose guidelines) if I’ve found some wonderful new plant that HAS to get squeezed in somewhere. I also suffer from the guilt of getting rid of plants that aren’t working. Thank goodness I know so many other gardeners and garden bloggers who might have the perfect spot for things. BTW – Austin garden bloggers, I still have that nice 5 gallon-sized rock rose that came out of this been and needs a home – it’s about 2-1/2 – feet tall, but the deer keep eating it outside of the fence and I don’t have a place for it inside of the fence…first comment, first come and get it!

What are you sketching for your spring garden?

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:26:57-06:00February 5th, 2016|amistad salvia, Blog, Cabernet loropetalum, Cleome, Dianella, flax lily, japanese maple, loropetalum, planning, salvia, Senorita Rosalita cleome, Sharing Nature's Garden, Tamukeyama|0 Comments

Beautiful spring blooms and bulbs brighten the garden…

Isn’t she lovely? Isn’t she wonderful?

My bletilla striata, also known as ground orchids, burst into bloom suddenly this weekend and I almost missed them. I love their exotic form and stunning color.

These little blooms are jonquilla “baby moon” and are less than an inch in diameter. About 8 inches tall, they are miniatures in every way. Their stems are like long, thin, round blades of grass. They bloom last of all my daffodils, but they are my favorites because of their delicate form.

Although I’m saddened to mark the loss of some of my cilantro, thanks to the early and unseasonably warm temperatures, I do think the blooms are sweet.

This is an oops bulb. It must have come in a bag of daffodil bulbs that I ordered, because that’s what’s blooming all around her. But I love the swirling red, white and pink color combination.

These tulips were intentionally planted. My neighbor brought me bulbs back from her trip to the Netherlands in February and I promptly put them in the ground. They were up in no time, much to my surprise. Because I’m not willing to dig up tulip bulbs and replant them every year (which we have to do in our hot climate because we don’t have enough chilling hours), I don’t have tulips in my garden. But I might have to dig these up for sentimental reasons. They have special meaning for me — they were a gift from a dear friend, and I lived in the Netherlands for four years when I was a young girl.

The bright lime green of these daylily leaves make a pretty contrast against this purple salvia — sadly it didn’t come with a good tag when I planted it, so I have no idea which of the 200+ salvias it is. I just know it’s colorful and hardy.

This is hellebore ‘winter wren‘. It and ‘Phoebe‘ are both blooming. They were sad when the weather first warmed up and I thought the summer heat had zapped them. Then all of a sudden they had a growth spurt and put on a show.

The bluebonnets are bringing great color to my cutting garden (although I never cut them!). They also spread their seeds all over Kallie’s play scape. Those plants are a few weeks slower growing than these, so I hope to have fun pictures of them soon. They clearly love that pea gravel.

My Japanese Maple was miserable last summer, but is happy with this wet, temperate spring.

Are any of these beautiful blooms putting on a show in your garden yet this spring?

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:17-06:00March 20th, 2012|Bletilla Striata, Blog, bluebonnet, cilantro, daffodils, Hellebore, japanese maple, purple salvia, purples. salvia, salvia, Sharing Nature's Garden, tulips, winter's wren hellebore|0 Comments

japanese maple

Puget Sound Gardeners Fling – People, Plants, and More

Winter is planning season in the garden

Beautiful spring blooms and bulbs brighten the garden…

Escape in the garden