Heronswood

 

What a thrill to finally get to see this garden! After a ferry ride (another first for me), we arrived in the beautiful town of Kingston. Heronswood was the home and nursery of Dan Hinkley and Robert Jones. They started the garden in 1987 and lived there for thirteen years. The nursery was eventually sold to Burpee who filed bankrupcy shortly after that. The abandoned garden was purchased again in 2012 by the Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe who have been working since to restore the gardens.

The garden is filled with many rare plants that were collected by Hinkley from all over the world. 

Our tour was conduced by Assistant Director Ross Bayton who was wonderful. Here he is telling us about the fern table in the woodland garden -

 

 

The woodland garden (a newer section) was the first garden we toured -

Leaving the woodland garden, we walked back past this totem pole with the iconic Heronswood logo -

Entering the original part of the garden. This area is also a wooded area with many shade-loving plants and a renowned collection of hydrangea, like this one -

And the largest hebe I've ever seen -

 

The towering trees were covered with climbing hydrangea-

Moving into a sunnier area, there were many Dierama ("Angel's Fishing Rod"). I loved this combination and unfortunately do not remember the name of the plant in the background. A purple oak?

 

A series of gardens lead around the original house -

 

 

Moving back away from the house and back toward the parking lot, we made our way through another series of shade gardens -

Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy