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Galega x hartlandii 'Lady Wilson'  On Monday, our garden was included in the HPSO Study Weekend. This is a four-day event that includes speakers, plant/art sales and garden tours. The event rotates every two years between the cities of Portland, Seattle, Victoria B.C. and Vancouver B.C.  It will be 2033 before Portland hosts again. I toured the Portland gardens on Friday and Saturday and will share some photos in my next post. The weather was perfect on those days. Not so much on Monday, the day for the Vancouver, Washington gardens tour, and by late afternoon, the temperature had reached 94. However, it wasn't too bad in the first part of the day, and that's when we received the most visitors. We didn't have an exact count, but making an estimate based on our guestbook, I would say around 200 people. It was a hectic but fun day! We had a lot of visitors from Seattle and areas north of us as attendees were making their way home. Every time we open our garden, there ...

The Gates Garden


I've wanted to see Barry & Karen Gates garden in Camas for years now and it seems that I never have time to go to Open Gardens anymore. Thanks to a mutual friend, I got the opportunity to visit and in the nick of time too because they have just sold their house.

The Gates have lived here for over 30 years and they are now downsizing and to be closer to their grandchildren. 

The garden covers five acres and is situated on an idyllic hillside in a beautiful quiet neighborhood. 

Here is a look at the front of the house that sits in the middle of the garden. Terraced slopes descend down the front -


Behind the house is a long patio area and walkway with the garden extending up the hill behind. Barry says that they had about 20 trees removed right above this spot to give them more sun. Still, even with all those trees removed, there is still a lot of trees here, giving it a forest-like feel. -


And father over to the side of the house is a covered seating area -



One of the first things I noticed when walking around the garden were the beautiful mature trees. Magnificient specimens of Japanse maples and two huge Paperbark Maples -


And a beautiful Stewartia -








There are many lovely rhododendrons in the garden, most just beginning to bloom -



This one is 'Taurus' which we also have in our garden. Ours isn't this big! -





Fothergilla 

Looking down from the deck








In addition to the beautiful plants on the property, I loved the garden art sprinkled throughout the
garden -



So much beauty here - I hope the new owners appreciate this paradise and take good care of it. I'm grateful that I got to see it!



Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

Comments

  1. It's beautiful. With all those mature trees and shrubs, it'd function well as a botanic garden. I'm glad you got to see it - and share your tour.

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  2. What a beautiful place. I can't imagine that large of a garden on a mountain side. It is something to behold.

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