Don't be fooled. Inside this thin coating of sweetness is a fiery core of total insanity.

Monday, July 28, 2014

Petal Pushers Summer Picnic

I'm still playing catch-up on my blog, sharing some of the gardens I've seen in the past few weeks. I recently joined a Northwest Perennial Alliance neighborhood group called The Petal Pushers, which  is based in the South Sound area -- Tacoma/Olympia. On the Tuesday after Nigel and I returned from Massachusetts, I went to the Petal Pusher's July picnic, which took place at the lovely garden of Linda Finkas in Lakewood.


I was surprised to see this large swath of rust-free Hollyhocks.


A shady corner


Pretty blue Hydrangeas in the sunny foundation bed


Clematis-covered arbor

A small patch of lawn with perennial beds, and a maypole with colorful streamers

Love the neon sign in the shed window

It's high season for lilies here, in more ways than one


A colorful potting bench

Glass and china flower

Gotta love a gardener who has a spot for pink flamingos!

Another patch of lawn to the right of the shed, with more beds

I was amused by that toy sailboat

Another shady corner with a bench

Matilja poppy

Colorful Hosta leaf casting, lying in a bed of blue annual Lobelia

Far in the back were bright sunny beds full of hot colors - Mmmmm, my favorite!

I love when a gardener matches the color of a flower with berries like this.

This limbed-up Clerodendron trichotomum towred over us as we had our picnic and conversed.

Thanks, Linda, for opening up your garden to the Petal Pushers!