I have often walked down this street before. Vacation in Florida? Hawaii? No. This is the main entrance to Tacoma General Hospital just up the street from me.
I get to admire this garden, created by Sheldon Arkin who you may remember from
this post.
Musa basjoo, Melianthus major, brugmansia, and colocasia tower above annuals and perennials playing colorfully at their feet.
Just outside the cafeteria, there is an oudoor eating area, surrounded on all sides by buildings, and looking down on this tiny sliver of ground.
This garden, viewed from above, makes you wonder if there are dinosaurs beneath this canopy of foliage!
Mary Bridge childrens' hospital is in proximity to TG and their gardens are as playful as their clientele.
This garden, which is kept looking beautiful all year long, has lots of seating options. Folks often have lunch here or just sit and enjoy their surroundings.
At the main entrance to the Mary Bridge clinic is this lovely circle of trachycarpus fortunei and topiary animals.
Here is part of the award-winning rose garden. Sorry about the bad picture.
These beautiful blooms
belong to this huge gunera
This is just one of the several MultiCare campuses for which Sheldon has created and maintains gardens. They are sure lucky to have found someone as creative and special as Mr. Arkin and I'm lucky to be able to enjoy this garden daily!
WOWSA! That's not only fun but gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteThat tropical garden in front of Tacoma General is fantastic! And that Gunnera is gorgeous. I am awaiting the day when mine is that big and luscious. I love the topiary animals, what a fun garden to have at a children's hospital.
ReplyDeleteIt's extra special because there's so much concrete in that area. Patients seem to appreciate the oasis and it's certainly a comforting place for relatives visiting a loved one.
DeleteBananas and palms oh my!!! I love it! I just wish more places would catch the tropical fever!
ReplyDeleteThis is just so cheerful and playful, clearly designed to brighten the day of patients and those who care for them. Great garden, thanks for showing this.
ReplyDeleteAppropriate design is so important. Imagine this hospital with an austere modern garden of dark gravel and minimalist plants. We have one of those here in San Antonio and I wonder what they were thinking whenever I see it.
Sheldon is a great guy; cheerful and playful as his gardens. It's a pleasure to share this as it makes me smile just about every day.
DeleteWow! Awesome! There has been used a lot of imagination, when that hospital garden has been made...
ReplyDeleteYou are correct my friend.
DeleteHow fabulous! I surely wish we had gardens like this around here. Sadly there just aren't a lot of folks who want to take the time and effort to do it... love those bananas and topiaries
ReplyDeleteAlthough we don't have as much summer heat as you do, we have a longer frost-free season so those bananas and brugmansias will look pretty good through November and can be put out again by April. Although it still requires some work to garden like this in soggy zone 8, it's not nearly as difficult as it is for you! Still drooling over your tropical garden!
DeleteAwww... thanks! I so wish I had another couple of frost free months here but have learned to deal. I think we all try to push zones regardless of where we live. If I lived in Florida I'd probably want to grow lilacs... LOL
DeleteOK, normally I don't like topiary but those animals are cool and very appropriate given teh childrens' hospital. Even the blobs that look they're sitting on the rocks are nice. By the way, I was in Tacoma many years ago when my brother was in the Army and was stationed at Ft. Lewis. This was before I knew much about gardens, but I still remember Tacoma as a beautiful place.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on the topiary issue but these are so much fun that I love them. It's nice that you remember Tacoma as a beautiful place! (Did you do drugs of some sort back then?) You'll have to return and visit all the cool gardens in this area.
Deleteamazing! hard to pick my favorite but I do love the topiaries!
ReplyDeleteThey are cute!
DeleteBeautiful gardens and such good photo's too, the rose garden is very nice. Foliage with so many bright flowers always looks spectacular.
ReplyDeleteWhat fun plantings. So much better than the normal stuff. Here everyone uses knockout roses, Mexican feather grass, crepe myrtles, and lantana. It's always fun when someone steps out of the box.
ReplyDeleteI'm a bit late with this, but Wahey! What creations! Especially the first one. A great set piece. It looks out of kilter with the space (banana leaves crammed in) and with itself (pansies and melianthus). Thanks for the inspiration.
ReplyDeletethe chthonian life (David) btw. Blogger and Wordpress don't seem to be compatible somehow whem it comes to leaving comments.