Happy Friday, GPODers!
Amazingly, we started this week in Sammamish, Washington, with Kirk and Martha Painter’s incredible garden transformation (if you missed it, check that post out here: Kirk’s Washington Garden in Panoramas), and we’re ending the week in the very same town but an entirely different garden. We were first introduced to Jeanne’s garden earlier this summer with some fabulous photos of her landscape in spring (Jeanne’s Spring Garden in Washington). Today she is back with a glorious midsummer update.
Here are nine more pictures from my Sammamish, Washington, garden. People think of Washington and they think of rain if they are not from here. What they don’t realize is that we frequently have three months of drought in late summer. At the beginning of August now, we have not had rain for almost two months, which means we are watering with irrigation, sprinklers, and watering cans all over our property. Some plants, like the pulmonaria, which was beautiful this spring, have just dried up. They will come back next spring, however!
Thanks for visiting our garden again! Jeanne Erdahl
First, the arbor that leads to our backyard, which was covered in star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides, Zones 8–10) this spring: It’s right below our bedroom window, so there were many fragrant nights.
The evening sun lit up our 20-foot-tall Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica, Zones 5–9), with just a glimpse of Lake Sammamish in the distance.
We made a climbing tower for several clematis out of two 10-foot pieces of rebar and rusty hoops from old whiskey barrels.
The fourth picture is our paperbark maple (Acer griseum, Zones 4–8) with morning light and All Gold Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa macra ‘All Gold’, Zones 5–9) at the base.
We have several ligularia on our drain-field mounds. This one has leaves about a foot in diameter, and the plant itself is about 6 feet wide.
Even though the deer graze on it frequently, this hardy fuchsia (Fuchsia magellanica, Zones 5–10) is covered with blooms.
We have several of these ‘Gilt Edge’ elaeagnus (Elaeagnus × ebbingei ‘Gilt Edge’, Zones 7–11) around our property. They are wonderful evergreen shrubs that brighten up our rainy winters.
We love garden phlox (Phlox paniculata, Zones 4–8), which grow well here without getting mildew as they have a habit of doing in some areas. Not only do I love their fragrance, but I’m charmed by the way they wander around the garden. I never know where they will pop up next. This bunch is seen through the seed heads of giant feather grass (Celtica gigantea, Zones 5–8).
They are not only volunteers in this location, but they also appear to be a natural cross between two of our other colors.
Thank you for this incredible update on your garden, Jeanne! Despite the dry conditions you battle in the summer, your garden is still looking lush and lively.
What does summer look like in your area? This week we enjoyed two different gardens that still look sublime surviving through summer’s worst in Washington state, but summer conditions range as widely as our taste in plants. Be sure to share your summer highlights with Garden Photo of the Day! Follow the directions below to submit photos via email, or send me a DM on Instagram: @agirlherdogandtheroad.
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To submit, send 5–10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.
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