Puget Sound Garden Fling – Carhart Garden

The Garden Fling is where 100 or so garden communicators (blogs, Instagram, etc.) meet in a different region annually to explore both public and private gardens. It’s a hoot meeting up with old friends and making new ones, being carted around on buses and talking plants for four days. As Puget Sound is only a few hours drive north of course I signed up. 

From the words of Whit and Mary Carhart: Our three-acre garden property was carved by the receding Vashon Glacier making our upper garden on a woodland slope with unusual shade loving plants. Garden paths lead downward to a hillside waterfall and pond as well as a sunny lower garden around our home, overlooking Quartermaster Harbor. The garden is surrounded by fifteen acres of Stewardship Forest. 

Multiple sculptures and creative artworks accents the garden with diverse woodland plants, Japanese maples, rhododendrons and unusual conifers. Paths offer sitting places to reflect on naturalistic plantings while enjoying the peaceful nature and beauty of this garden.

Soil is primarily loamy sand with some clay moisture in few areas, irrigation is drip with added micro-sprinklers where plantings are denser.

The ferry from Port Defiance to Vashon Island in the distance.

Walking downhill through the woodland garden towards the water far below. This is Austroblechnum penna-marina (syn. Blechnum penna-marina), alpine water fern.

Schizophragma hydrangeoides, false climbing hydrangea. These, along with hundreds of hydrangeas, are predominant features of nearly every garden visited.

Sweet light-green growth on Pittosporum tenuifolium ‘Atropurpureum’ or some other close cultivar.

Spigelia marilandica

Sequoia sempervirens ‘Cantab’ or ‘Prostrata’ (that’s what the tag read), an unusual and quite beautiful small conifer.

Bird evidence.

In the center of this lovely garden between the woodland garden up top and the sunny garden down by the edge of the water is a waterfall and a pool with transparent blue water – which is natural, uncolored. It reminded me of alpine rivers and camping. Apparently, it’s also a pool.

Perched upon a steep slope is a rather cozy tea house where one can gaze upon the cool pool and listen to the sounds of moving water.

Quite remarkable.

And clear.

Tritelia laxa (likely), a West Coast native bulb. Mine has long since finished blooming.

Backlighting next to the pond.

Strategically placed planter for a bit of color in a sea of green foliage.

Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Star Gazer’

Grass and shrub textures near the house.

Many places to sit, most were brightly colored accents throughout the gardens. I like how the chairs pick up the scarlet of crocosmia behind.

Perhaps it’s the rockwork, but something about this planting reminds me of the coast and coastal gardens.

Above the water on a bluff was a sweet wildflower meadow with a sculpture by Julie Speidel called “Treventon”.

Baby birds were nesting somewhere among all that color. I never saw any but a sign indicated as such.

Logs, boulders

The view as seen near the wildflower meadow and the cottage below:

I hadn’t noticed the sign until I sorted through my photos. I might need one of those someday. The bright colors speak to the child in me and feel very playful. In fact, I believe it is a playhouse.

More brightly colored accents.

A steep path though the woodland garden full of shady treasures. This leads us back up to the top of the garden and our bus, ready to take us on to our next adventure.

That’s a wrap for this week at Chickadee Gardens. As always thank you so much for reading and commenting, we love hearing from you! Thank you for coming along with me on this Garden Fling/Great Plant Picks ride, can’t wait to share more!