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Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.

Friday, April 19, 2013

Alison Conliffe's Garden

If you are a regular reader a garden blog called Bonnie Lassie, and you have the good fortune to be invited to it's writer's garden, you'll know you're in the right place as soon as you see these gabions and culverts beside the driveway.  The rain had been pouring down sideways on the wind a short time earlier but when I arrived, the rain and wind let up a little so we could enjoy a quick walk through the garden without getting soaked.

This part of the garden was just as I'd pictured it in my mind but I'd not realized that it was visible from the street.  The gabions are topped by cool shallow bowls of succulents in the summer.  I got to visit them in their winter digs inside.

 There were lots of great plants in the front gravel garden like this Eryngium.  Is that great foliage or what?

I'm envious of Alison's spotless Yucca gloriosa 'Walbristar.'  Her secret?  "I cut off the leaves with spots."  What a concept!
 In proximity was this one that has the gorgeous pink tinge to the leaves.  None of mine have taken on this lovely color  but that's o.k. as long as they keep growing and looking beautiful.

The color of this orange sedge is glorious.  Carex testacea I'm guessing. 

Alison made these gabion spheres and the smaller concrete sphere.  A creative and groovy use of rocks found in her beds.

Red sempervivum looking quite dapper surrounded by the wet gravel.
 I was struck by how tidy the garden looked already as mine looks like a bomb went off at a plant shop, leaves fell all over everything and the gardener died.  Alison's garden is in top shape already!  

The part about Alison's garden that surprised me most was what's behind this gate.  Rock, wood, open metal work and stained glass - ooh la la!  What a winning combination.  Someday when my garden grows up I'd like to have something similar!

The big surprise behind the gate was this water feature.  I've seen it before in many of Alison's posts but  never realized quite how large it is.  In looking at my own picture, the size seems to be lost somehow.  Perhaps the angle of the stream doesn't  read well in pictures but this is an impressive and beautiful corner of the garden. 
 The size of the entire garden behind that gate  was larger than I thought it would be.  To the left of the stream is Alison's shabby chic/vintage area.  It's quite effective when put together like this. 

Here is some of Barbara Sanderson's work (Glass Gardens Northwest.)
 At the head of the stream is this lovely waterfall.
From the walk close to the house looking back.

 A  gravel pathway wends up behind the waterfall. Notice how beautifully cleaned those beds look! 

This is a bed that Alison ripped out and re arranged a few weeks ago.  Someone who lives in my garden was looking over my shoulder at these pictures and remarked about how nice and tidy everything looks.  Fortunately we saved those crutches...  Seriously though, Alison's garden is incredible and while fairly new, it reflects the fun personality, plant knowledge/interest, and hard work of the gardener.

 Great re-use of plastic berry containers as nicely vented cloches.

Love the garden sphere! 
Dry streambed doubles as an access path - brilliant!

 I'd not seen this filipendula with purple in the leaves - very pretty!

Dicentra 'Gold Heart'  looking especially nice as it glows even in the rain.
 Again with the surprising scale.  While I've seen pictures of these before, they seemed much bigger in person and large enough to grow a lot of edibles.  (Maybe not a lot of pumpkins.)

And from the other side.

The bottle tree must be at least eight feet tall and quite at home among the firs.
 Looking back across the lawn.  Watch for next week's post about our trip to Ferney's nursery where you'll see Alison standing inside a wonderful metal gazebo that would look fantastic in her garden.  I'm thinking maybe on the part of the lawn in the lower right hand  corner of this image.  What do you think Alison?


 It's nice to know that I'm not the only one with groups of plants in pots from various nursery/plant sale excursions.  I recognized this group since Alison bought them on our previous weekend together at  Bainbridge Island and Dragonfly Farms.

Truly wonderful potting space.  There is a hose directly to the right of this making it very convenient to wash pots, hands, etc.

Clearly, Alsion also enjoys propagating plants.


Just past the bottle tree, we come to another fence whose gate we pass through to see the side garden (we are now opposite the gravel/gabion garden but this side is much larger than the other.  These are the huge trees that Alison had put in last fall after digging that whole area out.
 I love the river rock/pebble edging.  Most of these rocks were dug from the bed which they edge. 
This new garden is exciting and a joy to walk through.  I remember so many other wonderful parts of this place that I didn't show here.  To watch this garden grow, be sure to check in with Bonnie Lassie  to see what she's doing next.  Thanks, Alison, for sharing your garden with me and for another fun Saturday of plant shopping!  It's always fun to make new garden friends and to shop with the obsessed!

29 comments:

  1. Wonderful garden and a fantastic tour Peter. It's amazing how different a garden looks when shown through a visitor's lens.

    Those rock-filled basket spheres are awesome and I want to copy them for my own garden.

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    1. I plan on stealing the rock-filled basket sphere idea myself! It's always fun to see other people's gardens but especailly nice to see a garden you've admired from afar (blog stalking?) for a while.

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  2. Wow I didn't realize Alison's garden was so huge! I too love the rock edging in the last photo, I remember her mentioning doing it but can't remember seeing a photo of the finished product.

    All those seedlings...Alison are you thinking of opening a nursery?

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    1. I'm amazed that she is able to do that whole garden herself although she says that her former garden was larger. It's a great garden and still has an enormous lawn (as we know, this is code for room for lots more beds.) Although there's still some space in the existing beds so the lovely lawn probably gets to stay for quite a while.

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  3. A wonderful looking garden with bags of charm and character! Love the ornaments and individual touches, especially the unique gabions. Thanks for sharing Alison's lovely garden!

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    1. I couldn't agree with you more! It was my pleasure!

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  4. Oh Goodness, I'm blushing. Thanks for taking so many photos that make my garden look good. When you asked if it as ok to write a post about it, I thought for sure you hadn't taken enough photos, I truly don't remember you taking that many.

    Hehe, those bins full of plants are only about one-third, actually. The rest are under the hoophouse plastic. You can see how much bare soil I have. Yes, I know it's early in the season and things will get bigger, but I've always subscribed to the idea that wherever there's room for a weed, there's room for a plant, and if you plant closely enough, it will crowd the weeds out. Please don't tell me that's not true.

    Thanks again for making my garden look good.

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    1. Your garden didn't need any help from my camera; it looks even better in person. Quite photogenic, indeed! Thanks for sharing your garden with me and letting me post about it!

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  5. I've been following Allison's blog for some time now, but never got a feel for the overall look of her garden until now. I almost feel like I've seen it in person. Thanks, Peter.

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    1. It was great to see the whole thing and see how the pieces fit together. You're more than welcome!

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  6. That's a fantastic water feature, and I love that Carex!

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  7. Loved the garden tour. I can see she is a hardworking creative gardener. I was impressed by all those propagated plants. Thanks!

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    1. She's also a great deal of fun to go garden shopping with!

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  8. Lots of beautiful stones! The garden looks great. Happy weekend, Peter, and thank you for showing us this garden.

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    1. Lots of stones in that area but it's nice that they got put to use so beautifully! It was my pleasure, I assure you! Happy weekend Satu.

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  9. What a nice garden. I, too, am impressed with how neat and tidy everything look. Love the water feature, and the pebble edging is the perfect touch. From her blog, I didn't realize how large her garden was, either.

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    1. It's always fun to see things that you've only appreciated in picutes. It was a fun garden tour and a fun day of nursery hopping that followed.

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  10. What a wonderful post on Alison's garden! I had no idea it was so huge! I remember when she first started writing and was putting in her stream. I am in awe of her raised beds. They are beautiful. And I love how she re-purposes the rocks she has dug up and used them for decorative edging. Well done Alison and well done Peter! Cheers, Jenni

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    1. Thanks Jenni! Alison's garden is full of great ideas!

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  11. hi tog, thanks for the tour. Alison's garden shows her passion for gardening. Her garden is very creative, fun and quirky. How lovely to get out of the computer and share nursery and garden visits with other bloggers IN REAL LIFE.

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    1. What' this REAL LIFE thing about which you speak? :) It's funny the images of bloggers and their gardens that we develop in our minds and how those differ from or are the same as reality.

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  12. Wow, there is so much creativity and passion (not to mention hard work) going on this garden. I'm completely inspired, thanks for this tour!

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    1. You are more than welcome Rosemary! Always fun to share the garden of a friend!

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  13. What a wonderful garden with so much interest! I especially love the water feature. Thanks for the tour of this great garden.

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    1. Glad you liked it, Paula! Thanks for coming along on the tour.

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  14. WOW!!! Alison is too legit to quit! that is a full scale garden operation if I'd ever seen one! BEAUTIFUL!

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  15. Some really great ideas for creating really impressive features from old waste material.



    Garden designer Norwich & Timber Decking Norwich

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Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I love to hear your thoughts.