A landscape designer suggested this house color as a
backdrop to a garden. The hot red/orange trim is my signature. I used it
throughout with flowers, glass art, and a big pot not shown in these pics.
Photos are
from Tia Scarce, who says, "These photos are from my Kirkland, Washington,
garden. It was eight years in the making. My goal was to create a garden
that can withstand our annual dry period without any supplemental water.
Pesticide-free, only the lawn got an occasional hit with organic fertilizer. I
mulched every three years or so with a rich compost. We recently sold it,
opting instead for a smaller, sunnier, easier to maintain property."
--BEFORE-- The side yard looked like this before I got
started. We were still cleaning up after the big windstorm of 2006.
--AFTER-- The taller plants in the bed above are Agastache ‘Golden
Jubilee’, Acer ‘Shishigashira’, Panicum ‘Shenandoah’, and Mahonia ‘Soft
Caress’.
My husband and I installed the gravel path and stepping
stones as a replacement for a narrow, heaved up concrete sidewalk. I quickly
gave up trying to keep it debris-free. The tall conifers won that battle.
A peek into the backyard. None of what you see here was
there when we moved in in 2006 except, of course, the borrowed view from across
the fence.
I included this shot of our backyard path to the shed
because it shows a very satisfying DIY project (albeit in need of maintenance
here). After taking out a small basketball court we used the concrete chunks to
make this connection to shed from the back of the house. After some time I
removed that ground cover (leptinella?) between the pieces because it was
running rampant in the lawn.
Too many thing to name!
The garden was a certified wildlife habitat via the National
Wildlife Federation.
This bed was one of my favorites, combining Berberis ‘Concorde’,
our native kinnikinnick, a long-forgotten amsonia, Crocosmia ‘Coleton
Fishaacre’ (a luscious gold), a cute larix, brunnera (possibly my fave
perennial), and ceratostigma.
Welcome in Tia Scarce's garden! "These photos are from
my Kirkland, Washington, garden. It was eight years in the making. My goal was
to create a garden that can withstand our annual dry period without any
supplemental water. Pesticide-free, only the lawn got an occasional hit with
organic fertilizer. I mulched every three years or so with a rich compost. We
recently sold it, opting instead for a smaller, sunnier, easier to maintain
property."
Blue fescue, a very decorative begonia, and a very forgiving
fern under a 'Limelight' hydrangea, with a dwarf ginkgo in the corner.
More of the reds and oranges that I rely on for continuity
in my gardens
A hardy fuchsia with a hakonechloa
This is a fall peek through the seed heads of the Agastache ‘Golden
Jubilee’ against the color of the 'Shishigashira' Japanese maple with the Panicum
‘Shenandoah’ showing its fall habit.
This enkianthus was a stunner in the spring and fall, here
overhanging a coleus and hardy cyclamen.
An atmospheric fall day showing off the Arbutus unedo
‘Compacta’ with Physocarpus ‘Coppertina’ behind