Revisiting The Garden of Camille and Dirk Paulsen

One of my favorite things about blogging is the many special people who've come into my life because of this activity.  Camille is one of those special gardeners and  I got to tour her garden with another, my blogging pal Alison (Bonney Lassie.)  Camille's garden reflects her ebullient spirit, eye for design, attention to detail, and above all, her love of plants.  (Did I mention a lot of hard work?)  I first had the pleasure of meeting Camille and seeing her garden and gorgeous home in October of last year. Come see what's happening this spring!

Look, fresh mulch.  (Does throwing the contents of my Monday vases out the back door at one of the beds count as mulch?)

Everything looks so happy and healthy. 

So far this is just the view from the road out front. 

Camille places her plants thoughtfully and the contrasts she creates with foliage both deciduous and evergreen are fabulous; her collection of unusual conifers inspiring. This area was previously a front lawn.  How can you not love someone who rips out grass in favor of such an interesting array of plants?

The former front lawn facing away from the house. 

It's difficult to show this but the waterfall cascades down the back of of the hill as well.  Very clever.

I have a bit of a crush on Camellia Vestito Rosso 'MonBella' not only for the formal red late winter flowers but also for the stunning new burgundy foliage which contrasts so nicely with the older green growth.  Here it was, in all it's glory, in Camille's garden.  She sent me an update photo a couple of days ago and the foliage hasn't started fading to green yet.

This area has been totally reworked since fall. 

The addition of this large Buddha head really ties the Asian garden together nicely. Notice the tree fern behind and the Cardiocrinum giganteum on the left getting ready to bloom. 

 Perfect placement of the hosta!

Which way to turn?  

Singing the blues.

I can't explain my fascination with  Victorian gazebos but they thrill me as much as the sight of the gorgeous Acer palmatum "Ukigumo"  (Floating Clouds) on the right.

From another angle. 

The larger pond in the back garden.

What a clever hummingbird feeder!  

This is the "Island of Misfit Plants." Oh that my pot ghetto looked so handsome.

Another new addition. Every inch of this garden is so well coiffed and tidy. 

The wisteria-filled stained glass windows in the kitchen (not visible here) overlook the real thing in bloom.

The view of the Orting Valley and Mt. Rainier is breathtaking.

From the deck overlooking what the Beverly Hillbillies call "The Cement Pond."

 Another delightful foliage contrast. 

Our garden host just wishes you'd pat her or go away!

"I'm serious, put the camera down and play with me and nobody gets hurt."

Sorry, no further pictures are available at this time.  The camera will be returned "When I'm good and ready."   Thanks, Camille and Dirk, for once again opening your garden for our enjoyment!  Kitty, the catnip is in the mail per your instructions.

In A Vase On Monday - A Weekend of Garden Friends

The weekend was a whirlwind of garden activities with friends.  On Friday I took a personal day off of work, drove to Portland and visited five nurseries.  At Joy Creek, I ran into my pal Anna of Flutter and Hum   She showed me the treasures  that she was going to take home that day.  A gardener working at a nursery is a dangerous thing!

On Saturday I hit a nursery and then met up with friend Loree of Danger Garden to go to the Rare Plant Research, a wholesale grower of all plants unusual, annual day of opening to the public. While wandering through the hoop houses, we ran into blogging friend Amy of The World's Best Gardening Blog.  Afterward, we hit a couple more nurseries together.  The plantmobile was quite full on the return trip and required many trips to unload the plants and cool pots made by Burl, the owner of Rare Plant Research.

On Sunday, after work, Tom and I met Alison of Bonney Lassie to tour the garden of  friend Camille Paulsen and that of the late Lavonne Stewart-Campbell and her co-gardener and husband Mick Campbell.  Mick decided to keep the garden open in Lavonne's honor.  By the end of the day, I felt both tired and very lucky to have so many special garden friends, all of these were fruits of  blogging.
The lucky part reminded me of a lucky coin teapot that Tom brought back from a trip to China several years ago which became the vessel for today's arrangement.

Looking for something special, cutting this first blue poppy of the season was briefly considered.

It would be hard to find mates for this.  There were a few roses that might have worked, maybe rhododendrons?  Instead, I went with some simple flowers which I have in abundance, and many will be pulled up soon.

Native bleeding hearts, some winter pansies, forget me nots, bishop weed foliage and flowers

This cutie from Far Reaches Farm whose name I've forgotten.

The last of the Spanish Bluebells.

Casually thrown into the lucky coin teapot.  What?  No props?  

I'd been waiting to use this mini circle-pot gift from Loree but it seemed fitting to use it today in the celebration of garden friends arrangement.  Truth be told, the Bishop's weed is included as I remember her chiropractor visit inducing struggle to rid her garden of this.  A tillandsia and a monkey puzzle cone seemed to be enough.

On Saturday, Loree remembered that I'd posted a picture of a three-legged pot.  She'd purchased one but never did anything with it.  Her husband was not at all fond of it and so she gave it to me.  I was pretty sure I had just the thing for this one.

A semi-spherical tillandsia clump. (Okay, I tried a lot of different things but this was my favorite.)

In this space, the teapot is obscured but I know it's there, just like my virtual friends who I don't see all the time.  Thanks friends for the delightful weekend and thank you to all of my friends from the blogosphere!

In a vase on Monday is hosted by the talented and dedicated Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.  Click here to join in the fun!