Walking in the Hood

Walking up the street and seeing this parking strip, it's evident that a gardener lives here!  The tree closest is an Embothrium coccineum!

All the plants are labeled!  No one was home but a neighbor came by and told me a bit about the garden.  There's more that can't be seen from the sidewalk so I'll be sure to go back sometime and see the back garden which surely will be equally wonderful.

Love this idea!  Berberis with allium seed heads!  Berberis alliumiflora?

Azara microphylla veriegata looks even more festive draped in fuchsia blooms.  Cool pairing!

Rose hips 

Must make space for asters!  They're such a nice contrast to the warm colors of fall foliage and other autumn blooms.

Colchicum 'Waterlily' is such a sweet thing!

 Asters and Rudbeckias.  Notice the color echo in the yellow center of the asters. 

Nerine aka Nekkid Ladies because, like colchicum, thy send up foliage in the spring which ripens off and the flowers appear in the fall sans leaves.

Also love the house and the bold use of color!

 Is that a fab entry or what? 

Blue pots echo the blue of the house.

 The path leads to a hidden seating area.  

Another allium-blooming berberis.  I may have to copy this idea!

For such a small front garden, it is sure packed with great plants!  Cyclamen hederifolium.

Perovskia or Russian Sage.  The fragrance of the brushed foliage alone is worth having this in one's garden; lovely blooms are another benefit.

Autumn is a beautiful season, isn't it? In this garden it certainly is!  Hopefully someday there will be a follow-up post about the garden and its gardener!

A block or two up was this newly-planted parking strip containing an inverted tree.

It will be exciting to go back and see how this parking strip progresses!

Further along the street.  The nights are getting cooler but who knew it was cold enough to turn flamingos blue?  

It Was a Dark and Stormy Day: A Tale of Two Urban Gardeners

Recently, I visited Bark and Garden Nursery in Olympia, was chatting with a delightful lady named Linda who told me about The Urban Gardener in Tacoma owned by her friend Sue and said I should check it out.  Armed with my smart phone's GPS, I allowed the lady inside to guide me back to my hometown and to this place.   Turns out there are two Urban Gardeners in Tacoma, both wonderful and both home to garden designers and cool shops.  For those of you wondering if that is snow falling, no, it's not, just big raindrops.

Black sign with chartreuse printing - I'm in love already. 

This Urban Gardener, located on A street across from the post office is also home to a blogger whose posts I've read.  Her blog is here.

This is not a place to find plants but there are fabulous pieces for the garden and home all around.  Love the caged garden gnomes!

 Interesting collectibles like these antique flower frogs and sprinklers. 

I fell for these vintage (1940's) hand hammered Moroccan incense burners and thought  they would look great in my greenhouse but then remembered all that Spanish moss.  I need to decide if I want to go for exotic or moss-draped swamp in there.  Maybe an eclectic mix would work.  

Haitian metal work.

 All kinds of fun stuff!

 
This Urban Gardener will be at the Tacoma Home and Garden Show Vintage Marketplace (Jan 22 - 25) so if you see anything you can't live without, make sure you attend the show.  Better yet, if you're in Tacoma, check out her delightful shop!

The Urban Garden Company, the one about which Linda from Bark and Garden was speaking isn't far from the other other one and the smart phone said that it was open.  

Looks great from the outside! (More raindrops)

Unfortunately, the outside is all we'll get to see on this visit.  Turns out the smart phone wasn't so smart after all.

A little window shopping...

  And a promise to myself to go back and check it out!  In the meantime, there's their website.

P.S. there also used to be an Urban (was it spelled herban?) gardens in yet another location in town.

I would love to see even more garden businesses in Tacoma!  Our town is famous for the "Tacoma Aroma," the smell of pulp mills which used to nearly burn our eyes on still mornings. Although this has been nearly eliminated for many years now, the moniker lingers.  I dream of a day when Tacoma becomes better known as a garden city.   Come and smell our OTHER aroma! Or maybe - Not everything in Tacoma Stinks!  How about;  Tacoma, it's best to visit at high tide - don't ask.

Just Can't Let Go Yet!

Although yesterday was the twelfth day of Christmas and it should be over, I still have one more small group of photos of holiday stuff to post so I'll make up an excuse to keep the season going.  In the orthodox church still using the old calendar, Christmas is celebrated on January 7 so we'll just say that this is for them.

Here are a couple of homes not far from my own that are a joy to see, especially in this season.

And here is the home of their neighbors.

 Although these trees look small, they are actually quite large specimens.

Can you imagine having the patience to create something like this?  

 Merry Orthodox Christmas!

If I lived next door to one of these homes, I would decorate in a manner similar to the folks who live in the house on the right side of this picture.  (Image is from an email I received and is not my own.)

When I decorate for the holidays, I hate taking everything down.  It's not so much the work of it that bothers me as it is the emotion of putting away the warm feelings, the smiles, candlelight, glitter, coffee with eggnog sipped in a room illuminated only by the lights on the tree,  Throwing Christmas in tubs for another eleven months is sad for me so I'm putting it off for a week or two. 

It's Summer Somewhere; The Seymour Botanical Conservatory

A ten-minute walk from my front door, The Seymour Conservatory can transport one to the warmth of summer in the jungle any time.  A recent visit during our cold snap was a welcome breath of warm air!

Although several large trees in the park blew over during the storm,  none fell on the conservatory.

I feel very lucky to have had no big trees blow down in my garden!

The conservatory is a lovely Victorian glass house.  Read about its history here and about events and displays here.

 Musa basjoo leaves were shredded in the wind before being frozen.

It's chrysanthemum time again.  I wonder if it might be interesting one year for them to group the plants by color or type?  I like this riot of color with them all put together, just wondering is all.

A quick detour to the desert to visit the nice big Agave (taller than me)  Is this A. amricana?  It's not doing the twisty thing that they usually do.  It was labeled "Century Plant."

Alison's not the only one who likes to put plants in jail!

This guy is decked out in tillandsias right now. 

Speaking of tillandsias, isn't that Spanish moss glorious?  

 Ginger?   Where's Mary Ann?

That's one giant Platycerium.   They're interesting in other greenhouses but don't speak to me.  (You know, like most plants do, "Peter, take me home!")

Bowiea volubilis

Mixed display.

Glorious Agapetes!  It would be interesting to see the size of its caudex!

A tropical and scented rhododendron.

Tillandsias growing on a cactus skeleton.  The fruit is that of a nearby passion vine. 

If you're ever in Tacoma, do drop by the Seymour Conservatory, it's a lovely place that I don't visit frequently enough.

Huge lemons and sometimes their fragrant flowers grace the entry.  There used to be an acacia in the entry as well but that was removed some time ago.  Wonder what happened to it?

Hope this visit helped to warm you up a bit!