Dragonfly Farms Nursery - Ave atque vale

On a sad note, another wonderful independent nursery is calling it quits.  Heidi at Dragonfly Farms Nursery is closing her fab nursery after years of delighting us with great plants, garden art, and fun events. If you attended the Seattle Garden Bloggers' Fling, you will remember having the closing cocktail party (thanks Alison!) here. You can see my previous posts here.

August 8 will be the last day of her plant sale (40% off all plants) and when I visited, there were still a lot of rare and unusual gems like variegated ginkgos, unusual maples, and more so if you're in the area, stop by and get some great deals!

Let's take one last look around this art-filled garden, shall we?

Heidi has and operates heavy equipment so when she decides to re - envision a garden space, she does it in a big way!

this whole area has been re done including the rustic log pergola.  I can't tell you how huge that thing is.

Hot pot combination.

The blue eucalyptus/gold bamboo combination is one I've copied in my parking strip but my eucalyptus isn't as large as this yet.

There was a recent art festival and some of the artists left pieces.  Is this cool or what?

No fire pit is complete without firesticks, right?  

Oh that I had space and the resources...

Heidi will continue to live and garden here, the online shopping site will continue, and the garden will be available as an event space (thus a lot of the re-envisioning of space) but the retail on site nursery will be no more.

What a great space to be married or celebrate a significant event in one's life!

The upper garden by the house has undergone fewer drastic changes over the years, probably because the backhoe would have to take out some outstanding trees to get here.

This guy likes to watch people and is the guardian of the schefflera on the left. 

Sorry about the light.  Strolling through the shade gardens.

Everyone needs a life-sized bovine in his/her garden right?  Heidi has named him Ferdinand after the children's book. ("Ferdinand is the world's most peaceful - and - beloved little bull. While all of the other bulls snort, leap, and butt their heads, Ferdinand is content to just sit and smell the flowers under his favorite cork tree.")

Great pot and plant combinations!

Meanwhile back to the lower space...

Going to the greenhouse (which actually always happens first) to visit the resident Schefflera macrophylla seen here in it's former glory.

I found this - No S. macrophylla.  It had looked worse and worse over the last few visits.  Heidi said that that the trunk just came away from the roots. There was lots of new growth around the top and Heidi tried to root cuttings in a variety of ways but, like everyone else who's tried, she failed. Schefflera macrophylla - DYK(Dead You Know)  (Difficulty in propagation is the main reason this great plant isn't more widely available here. There's still hope as the Rhododendron Species Foundation Garden Conservatory has several although they've mentioned difficulty in propagation as well.  Oh well, where would I put it anyway?

 On to happier things.

On to the future of Dragonfly as an event space.  I wish Heidi much success in her new adventure.  

So sad to see another independent nursery close, especially one that specialized in unusual stock for plant nerds.  With the Costcoization, Disneyfication, Walmartinizing of retail, it's difficult for small independent specialty nurseries to survive. As we bid farewell to Dragonfly Farms, let's try to support our local specialty growers!  One way to do that is to attend the Fronderosa Frolic this Saturday!

Hail and Farewell Dragonfly Farms Nursery and may your future trails be bright Heidi!

Visiting PowellsWood Garden

Speaking of garden visiting, I was lucky enough to enjoy the company of California garden blogger and photographer  Gerhard Bock a few weeks ago.  He recently published a very nice post about my garden here.  If you missed it on his blog and would like to see my garden through someone else's lens, click on over and check it out!  Thank you Gerhard for making my garden look so good and for the more than kind words!

A couple of weeks ago, Alison and I went on the Federal Way Symphony garden tour and Alison suggested that we visit Powellswood while we were in the area.  She'd visited before (see her post here.)  She always has the best ideas!

"A Northwest pleasure garden tucked away in a Federal Way neighborhood, the three acres of PowellsWood are nestled against another thirty-five acres of native successional forest."

Can you believe that this gorgeous lawn is the parking lot?

Descending into the garden.

"A series of exquisite hedges help define several distinct garden rooms graced with more than a thousand varieties of trees, shrubs and perennials. The woodland and shade gardens in particular demonstrate how private landowners can use natural land features to develop stunning landscapes. The garden’s perennial borders thrive, the fruit of an extensive soil conservation project."

Entry Garden.

"When Monte and Diane Powell bought this property in 1993, it had been used for years as a dumping ground.  The land was filled with piles of asphalt, concrete, old cars, used tires and other rubbish. Consequently, the soil was so sterile there were areas in which even weeds would not grow.
The first two years following the purchase of the land were spent rebuilding the soil so it would once more support healthy plant life."

Moving into the House Gardens.

Alison and I had arrived about an hour or so before a wedding and reception were to take place so this part of the garden looked a bit different than it would normally.

What a great party venue!

I think this is the "Spring Garden" but it's looking fabulous in the summer!

 Mr. Powell purchased this property in 1993 and mulch testing and soil improvement began. A land developer for years, Mr. Powell wanted to give back to the community and started this garden in his fifties.  He's still active and interested in the garden.

A curving staircase leads us by the rhododendron garden as we descent to the perennial border area.

The gorgeous perennial border area is on a much lower level and is breathtaking as it reveals itself after walking down through the rhododendron garden.

Notice that meticulously clipped hedge. 

at the end of the expansive lawn the beds nearly come together leaving a grass path to explore more shade garden beyond.

Huge and happy patch of rodgersia in the shade garden!

Water loving fuchsia and hydrangea near the pond area.  

 The shade garden, as the path meanders along, becomes more and more wild naturalistic.

I think these are the Cold Creek Shade garden beds, the last to be planted in 2007 - 2008.

The shade garden ends in a huge circle of sword fern and (not shown) a large raised platform beneath the cathedral of old trees where the wedding was to take place.

The path becomes a walking trail through the woods but we didn't take advantage of that but instead walked up on the other side of the woodland garden.

You can see the roof of the house where the reception was set up.

Now we're back up to the entry area on our way back to the parking lot.  

What a beautiful garden which, because of the multiple levels and inclusion of so many rooms, seems much larger than three acres!

"Walking paths, a meandering stream and pond blend gently into the forest and ravines of Redondo’s historic upper Cold Creek watershed. A conservatory-style Garden Room offers shelter when the elements threaten. Restore your soul in this peaceful, verdant retreat."