A Tacoma Treasure Shares his Garden

A few years ago  I was helping out at  Jungle Fever Exotics Nursery and a man hobbled in using a cane, started grabbing lots of plants, setting them aside, and asking for more.  When it was time to check out, he told me  to write an invoice for MultiCare,  a not-for-profit health care organization based in Tacoma that operates 93 locations in several counties. Wow! this unassuming man was Sheldon Arkin, whose work as head horticulturist for the MultiCare system I've admired for a long time!  Sheldon has been beautifying MultiCare's grounds for 24 years and still has a twinkle in his eye when talking about plants. In our discussion about his gorgeous work, some of which is only a couple of blocks from my house, he revealed that he had actually seen my garden and asked about a few things.  I helped carry his plants to the white van filled with green treasure.  "Look what I found today!" he said as he pointed out various great plants from all over the place.  Before he left, he invited me to visit specific MultiCare sites that he thought would be of particular interest and extended an invitation to visit his personal garden.  "Come on over anytime."  I decided to take him up on his offer.

Much has been written about this generous and kind  man who won't let disease or chronic debilitating pain slow him down!  For more about this incredible person look  here and here and especially here.

At the garden gate, we are greeted by this sign.

Sheldon's garden, which surrounds the home that he and his delightful wife, Patsi, have shared for 20 years, is a plant fiend's paradise, indeed.  When I visited, Patsi, who was about to mow the neighbor's lawn (they tend her garden as well) said, "I don't know anything about plants, I just mow the lawn."  However, as she showed me around it became clear that she indeed knows about and loves plants, perhaps just not as much as her horticultrualist husband.

Magnolia macrophylla  offers welcome shade on this warm afternoon!

Great grouping of colors and textures!

 Sheldon calls himself a shoe horn gardener because he thrills at finding new plants for his already-crowded garden and upon bringing them home, needs a shoe horn to fit them in!  (Sound familiar?) 

 The foliage of this ligularia always thrills me!

 This fabulous dense planting makes me forget I'm in the city just yards from the street. 

 More plant faves!

 A group of plants that replaced a corner of lawn in front of the house.

 Patsi says that the beautiful white birches in the front parking strip were her idea.

Years ago, when Mary Bridge Children's Hospital was looking for a groundsman who could grow roses, they found Sheldon.  He has created for them an award-winning rose garden.  His own roses are grown with  perennials and reseeding annuals at their feet - a treatment that I love!

 The large bush/tree in the background is Cytisus battandieri  or Pineapple Broom another of my favorites!

His exhuberant plantings and selfless nature make Sheldon the kind of gardener; the kind of person I'd like to be!

I'd not seen Senecio petasitis in person before.

 There were several of these large Echiums around the garden.

 We in the PNW sure love our tetrapanax!

 More tetrapanax beneath three metasequoias.  The trees were tiny when Sheldon planted them and now he's trying to decide which two will come out.

 Quite a few statues of St. Francis are tucked away in this urban sanctuary.

As I walk down the driveway to my car, I feel fortunate to have seen this special treasure-filled garden and to know one of Tacoma's own treasures, Sheldon Arkin.