The Garden of Tom and Linda Reeder

 

 

While blogging builds virtual communities that sometimes become actual face to face communities, the activity of blogging itself is a solitary pursuit, much like gardening.    We read the blogs of others leaving comments and replying to comments left on our blogs.  Conversations in solitude.    What does this have to do with the garden we're about to tour?  Read on and find out.

Sadly, my pictures of this garden do not do it justice.  Approaching the front entrance to the house, the first thing I noticed was the gorgeous and huge Pelargonum 'Indian Princess' on the left.  Yes you could see it better if I edited some of the sun out of this image but I did it three times and  lost where it was saved on my computer.  (Yes I'm still mad at Google Plus for removing the Creative Kit editing tools which I loved!)

Walking to the right side of the house we are enveloped in a beautiful grove of mature fir and cedar trees creating wonderful high shade and making us feel safe beneath their protection.  The shade garden is home to a restful seating area and a few of the many bonsai trees in the Reeder collection.  

 

A wisteria supporting pergola rounds out the deck very nicely!

 

 

You never know who'll you'll run into in the forest!

See what I mean?  Ever the optimist, Alison searches for fish in the dry creek bed. She'd still be out there looking now  if we hadn't told her that it was time to go.

There were some unexpected critters lurking around like several of these fused glass bugs.

 

 

Coming around the back of the house we emerge from the woods into the sunny gardens.  The Reeders are collectors of many interesting things and masters at displaying their collections.  Can you imagine the gallons of water that have passed through these sprinklers and nozzles?   It's a sweet  thing to think of the gardeners' hands that touched these devices, the dreams they dreamed, the gardens they grew. 

Gorgeous color and texture combination with no flowers necessary, although there are some.

Great Ant Phyllis made it out to greet us.

Lovebirds Tom and Linda Reeder have lived in this property for 35 years.  Both retired teachers and both avid gardeners.

These cool everlasting alliums caught my eye.  Linda told me that they are available at Gardeners' Supply Company.  I was thrilled as G.S. was a sponsor of the Garden Bloggers Fling that many of us were able to attend earlier this year.

So many fun touches in this garden.  The Reeders' grandchildren must love to play in this magical place.

Simply beautiful!

 

Drool worthy colors on this hydrangea made me happy to be there to experience it!

Glass flowers in the garden are quite a trend in our area and I have been making them for a while now using a diamond drill bit to cut holes in the glass pieces and using threaded metal  cylinders and nuts to hold the things together, a tedious process. 

Linda came up with this much easier, much more enjoyable method.  Simply use silicone to glue the parts together and use a long bud vase or bottle on the back side.  Bend rebar and slide the bud vase over it.  That takes away a lot of the tedium and mess of drilling!  Thanks for teaching me something new!

That was a delightful  surprise but not the big one.

O.K. since I have the mentality of an eight year old Because  I possess an endearing child-like exuberance I found it hilarious that Mrs. Reeder had been a reading specialist.  You're not laughing.  I assure that this would have been quite a hit with younger audiences.

Tom made this potting bench from free wood from pallets.

This Pregnant Onion (Albuca bracteata) was in full and glorious bloom.  Did the bad blogger get any pictures of this interesting plant's fabulous flowers?  Of course not. 

 

I can hear you asking yourself what the big surprise was.  Here goes.  Alison and I asked if it was o.k. to take pictures  and Linda responded affirmatively saying that she took pictures of gardens all the time and posted them on her blog!  WOW! An encounter with another Washington garden blogger and a chance to be introduced to a wonderful blog!  At  http://lindaletters.blogspot.com/ Linda writes not only about gardening but about her travels and adventures with her family.   Reading her blog each day fills me with warm feelings about my own family and makes me wish that we lived closer together.  I'm also in awe of all the interesting and fun things Linda and Tom do!   

During the open garden, the Reeders' daughter and grand daughter were there and the latter was running a little nursery business with plants from grandma's garden. Adorable! There you have it, a delightful garden, new learning, and a great new blog to read.  Who could ask for more from a garden visit?  You can check out Linda's blog post about her open garden here and Alison's post about our visit here.

Most often, bloggers meet after having read each others' blogs for a time.  In this case, an actual face to face meeting came first.   How fun is that? 

May your days be filled with delightful surprises!