December Photo Project 2012 -- Day Nine

I never did put a post together of all the photos I took from my trip to Heronswood last July.  Heronswood was established back in the 90s by plant guru Daniel J. Hinkley and his partner Robert Jones, and sold to W. Atlee Burpee in 2000. In 2006 Burpee closed Heronswood to the public, and soon after moved many of the plants and nursery operations to its headquarters in Pennsylvania. Earlier this year Burpee put the garden up for auction, and the Port Gamble S'Klallam tribe bought it for quite a bit less than the once asking price of $11 million. Since then, Dan and the tribe have been renovating the garden.

They recently invited 20 same-sex couples to hold their weddings today on the improved, but not yet finished, grounds of Heronswood for free, in celebration of the recent passage of Refereendum-74, which allows same-sex marriage in the state of Washington.

I never saw Heronswood before Burpee bought and cannibalized it. It wasn't easy to see its beauty and its originality when I visited back in July. I took a lot of close-ups of flowers and foliage. But every once in a while I saw glimmers. I'm really looking forward to seeing what it looks like and how it changes from now on. It's good to know the Port Gamble S'Klallam tribe are trying to do right by it.

I thought for today for my Photo Project picture that I would share one of the photos I took last July. It's an amazing place and I have no doubt that it will be even more amazing from now on.