The Heronswood Early Spring Sale

The famous Heronswood garden is once again looking grand thanks to the excellent stewardship of the Port Gamble S'klallam Tribe, the property's new owners.  Dan Hinkley, the garden's creator, is working with the tribe to lead a team of garden caretakers.  In a later post, we'll roam the garden but today, lets have a peek at the sale!

Unfortunately, I didn't stay for the lectures. Mr Hinkley is always entertaining and has an encyclopedic knowledge of all things plant.  Riz's talk, “The Influence of Heronswood: How I Learned to Travel the World in One Garden,"   sounded like it echoed the sentiments of so many gardeners in this region, myself included, who were educated and inspired by walking the magical Douglas Fir cathedral of Heronswood.

 The morning started out a bit rainy but by the time the sale started, the rain had stopped and later, walking in the garden, the sun, a welcome guest star in the drama of our spring, actually made an appearance.

So many podophyllum, so little space.  The thrill of seeing these leaves emerge each spring is still a thrill.

Podophyllum delavayi transports me to Heronswood where I first saw this, then nearly unobtainable, otherworldly foliage.

In case you were wondering, one called P. 'Galaxy,' not pictured, jumped into my hand and wouldn't leave.

Pleione formosana always make a splash in the spring.

Helleborus multifidus subsp. hercegovinus small leaf form would certainly have come home with me, had I not already noticed my own emerging beautifully from the soil.

Schefflera hoi

Fabulous fern fronds.  

Enjoyable to see so many plant-crazed patrons fondling foliage.  

Cardiocrinum giganteum var. yunnanense.  Kelly's (Far Reaches Farm) description on the tag is worth the purchase price of the plant. "Cardiocrinum is exciting enough but variety yunnanense with its burnished copper new growth causes pulses to elevate along with dilated pupils and flaring nostrils. When this is blooming it is almost as good as sex. It takes a few years but purple flushed white flowers on 12' stalks - oh yes!"

Heloniopsis acutifolia

Such a beautiful trillium.  The sight of this sent me out to my own garden to find my large clump is in bloom.  My poor garden really has been neglected this soggy spring. 

Snake-like Arisaema arising from winter slumber, as if charmed by spring's pungi.

Corydalis quantmeyerana 'Chocolate Stars' 

Sebright Gardens' irresistible mixed and tightly-packed display dripping with abutilon and fuchsia blooms.

A couple more Epimedium will be planted in my garden, due to the encouragement of an enabler.  Who can resist such a tough plant or such an avid gardener?

Leaving with treasures.  Not sure if this is Rhododendron 'Wine and Roses' or R. 'Everred' but aren't the wine-red undersides of the leaves fantastic?

Searching for Spring at Watson's

It's spring and, because of our cold temperatures, the garden is waking up a bit more slowly than usual.  Fortunately, nurseries are brimming with color to make up for spring's recalcitrance this year. A visit to Watsons at the beginning of March was just the thing to soothe a  winter-weary soul!

Primula vulgaris is ubiquitous this time of year and for good reason.  this bright flower gives months of vibrant color, is very cheap and will come back year after year or you can toss them out with little guilt if you don't want to plant them.

It was not quite spring yet and the explosion of early color gave me hope.

Cute.

So, this hellebore in a six inch pot was incredibly floriferous for such a small plant so it had to come home with me.

You'd think that I don't already have too many hellebores because this one jumped into the cart as well.

Must include iris reticulata in my bulb order this fall!  I so admire them in other gardens and enjoy seeing them on friends' blogs.

Oh, that glorious fragrance!

Looks like summer already.

 Did Mr. McGregor finally find an effective trap for Peter Rabbit?

Would these be considered woody succulents? 

Hope you have an opportunity to hop on in to a nursery near you soon!

Happy Weekend.  Speaking of weekends, the Heronswood early spring sale and garden open will be taking place on Saturday, April 1.  Will I see you there?

Heronswood: A Happy Spring Visit.

Heronswood, the garden created by Dan Hinkley and Robert Jones, played an important role in my (and many other PNW gardeners') ongoing development as a gardener.  It was here that I first learned to love foliage.

It was here that I first encountered Helleborus hercegovina small leaf form.

Here that I first encountered any members of the podophyllum clan and in later years this strange and wonderful member of that family P. delavayi - so new then that it wasn't available for sale anywhere.

It seemed like with every visit to the garden, there were were new plants for me to discover. The garden then was still being expanded and planted.  Who wouldn't have a soft spot in his/her heart for such a magical place?

My personal first sighting of a large group of Cardiocrinum giganteum was at Heronswood.  My introduction to blue poppies also happened here.

When the garden and nursery were closed, gardeners were saddened.  Fortunately, just a few years later the property and name were purchased by the Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe.  Unfortunately, the years of little care and the removal of many plants by the interim owner left many parts of the seven acre garden looking a bit neglected. Fortunately, the tribe has hired Hinkley as a consultant in bringing his creation back to it's former glory and the three years of work really show!

The garden is waking up for the coming growth season.  I didn't notice any blue poppy plants coming up.

One of the charms of a large part of the garden is that it feels like walking in some magical woodland where around every corner are special plants!

I was saddened when I first saw the garden again shortly after the last purchase and, although I seldom missed shopping at the sales held on the grounds, the garden was to be left alone, just a beautiful memory from a more innocent time.  I've been following posts on Heronswood's facebook page and decided this spring to stroll through the garden again and was thrilled at seeing what's being done.

The more formal garden areas closest to the house received most of the care during the time the garden was closed but still have had some freshening up done.

I remember the year when this feature was added and also the year when the Heronswood strain of double hellebores, filling the bed below, were the hot new plant introduction at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show. Back then, the show was much more plantcentric than it is now and Dan himself was standing behind the sales table getting fifty dollars a gallon for these beauties.

The garden, a living thing, will continue to evolve and charm those of us in love with playing in the dirt.

I think that these Mahonias are seedlings of M. 'Indianola Silver' from Mr. Hinkley's new garden, Windcliff.

It was here in the, then new, potager that I first saw concrete spheres made by Little and Lewis which inspired me to learn how to make them for my own garden.  In  case you're wondering, they're not here anymore.

I look forward to coming back later in the season to see the soil covered with these emerging fern fronds.

Variegated Daphniphyllum.

Quite a nice-sized specimen!

The large perennial borders will soon be in all their glory!

Pulmonaria delicious in it's blue abundance!

After a 20 year wait, the Rhododendron sinogrande bloomed this spring.  With foliage this grand, no one grows this one for the flowers!

In the midst of towering Doug firs, a  group of Trachycarpus fortunei  are a fun surprise.

As are the tree ferns. 

The ruin is also by Little and Lewis. 

I remember when these Little and Lewis pieces were still in crates in the driveway.

My specimen of this variegated hemerocallis was the last thing I bought at Heronswood before it was closed.  Until this visit, that plant in my garden served as a bittersweet reminder of a treasure lost.  Now seeing it fills my heart with joy at the knowledge that this exceptional garden will be preserved to be a place of inspiration for future generations of gardeners.