If I Could Turn Back Time -- Cher
The Garden of Bonnie Berk and Larry Kessler
This was another garden that was open last summer to members of the Northwest Perennial Alliance. It's been interesting going back through my photos from all the gardens I visited last year, seeing how each garden differed so greatly in tone and character. Some were full of bright summer flowers, others packed with foliage.
This urban garden was one of the latter.
According to the description in the NPA booklet:
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| The front garden is steeply sloped and terraced, with stairs that cut through the center |
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| On the left-hand side of the first terrace |
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| And to the right |
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| Brick pattern inset in the landing |
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| To the left on the second terrace -- a nice echo of the rusty sculpture in that Canna foliage |
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| To the right on the second terrace |
Instead of side garden passageways and a back garden, the house is built sideways on the lot and the rest of the garden is to the left of the house.
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| At the top to the left of the house is an expanse of lawn surrounded by narrow beds, stylish pots, garden art and a very high hedge |
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| Further to the right, moving into the corner of the rectangular side garden |
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| This bed was jam-packed with foliage plants |
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| And a very large shell-shaped container |
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| How many different plants can you name? |
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| A never-ending tapestry of plant textures |
Facing the garden is a porch entrance dressed up with chairs and pots.
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| And in the nursery tray at the bottom of the stairs -- is that the teeniest-tiniest pot ghetto ever? |
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| The sunny side of the garden, a little further to the right of the porch (the woman in the skirt chatting to garden visitors is the gardener Bonnie Berk) |
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| A big black metal urn containing an enormous pair of Senecio candicans 'Angel Wings' with a purple potato vine |
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| There were lots of black accents and black furniture to complement the black house |
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| The front of the house with its concrete patio that faces the terraces and the street |
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| Another wonderful tapestry made of Semps and Sedums |
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| A striking container planting |
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| A set of black containers on the patio |
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| A Woodwardia on the wall surrounding the patio |
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| The view from the patio out across Lake Washington -- my car waited down there on the street |
Hope you enjoyed the trip! Getting bored yet with our Friday time travel excursions? I have several more of these up my sleeve to share.