Lost in Outlaw Country

After our whirlwind tour of the Kitsap Peninsula, Vickie and I had the great pleasure of seeing Peter's garden. Reading his blog had not prepared me for the glorious chaos of so many fabulous plants packed together. Without further ado, let's dive into the jungle!

The first plant that caught my attention was actually Billardiera longiflora, growing up a metal arbor just inside the gate. I had just purchased one of these at Celestial that day. I might have taken a picture, but my attention was immediately wrenched from the Billardiera by this Trevesia palmata. Having only seen pictures, I drank in the sight of these amazing leaves, which give this plant the common name snowflake aralia. 

I love the blue glass pathway under the bamboo, as well as the happy leaf face laughing at the tickle of falling bamboo leaves. Peter has many such whimsical art pieces throughout his garden, providing surprise at every turn.

This bamboo has great gams, and the lush underplanting gives this area a real jungle-like quality.

Upon sighting this mermaid blatantly lounging at her ease, I expressed my concern that Peter's girlfriend Monrovia would be jealous. He grinned lasciviously. What a womanizer!

Luckily this newly hatched dino was turned away from the nearby peep show. He'll get to keep his innocence a while longer, if he hasn't been corrupted already.

Gorgeous foliage combinations abound in this garden bursting with color.

Glass flowers mingle with the real thing next to a pathway almost lost among the foliage. What mystery lies at the end?

Vickie and I had expressed some concern earlier on our way to Windcliff about being lured into the woods by a serial killer. Upon seeing Peter's garden, my fears were assuaged. Joking aside, I enjoyed the slightly macabre touches, my favorite being the baby crying baby's tears. Everyone has a bit of a dark side, some of us more than others.

Loads of great color echoes here, from the persicaria(?) in the foreground to the maple in the upper right corner and the purple tree in the background. 

More color echoes here in the purple heart, purple-leaved pelargonium, and the calyx of the abutilon. The brilliant petals of the abutilon provide a blazing contrast to the dark colors, revealing a keen color genius.

As we were leaving, Peter ducked into the undergrowth to snap off an errant bamboo shoot. Quick as a ninja, he channels the energy of the jungle cats which surely must lurk somewhere hidden by the foliage.

I wish I had spent a little more time exploring the hell strip, which quite possibly had more different kinds of plants than my entire garden, but it was getting late and I still had a two hour drive back home.

Sorting out our respective plant hauls, we parted ways until the next time. Thanks for a fantastic day, Peter and Vickie!

Comments

  1. So nice to see Peter's garden through the perspective of somebody else, and it looks just as fab and fun as how he features it on his blog. Love the quirky touches too especially the doll's head. And those bamboo culms are huge!!

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    1. Peter's garden is fantastic! The quirky touches really show off his sense of humor.

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  2. Oh gosh, wouldn't it be nice if this gardener showed some restraint and had a more orderly garden instead of such a jumble of plants? Oh well, if it makes him happy... Luckily Monrovia doesn't have a computer so she won't read about this blatant indiscretion! I just hope her friends don't go blabbing to her about Marian (the mermaid!) Besides, what happens in the jungle stays in the jungle, right?

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    1. Hey, if the gardener is happy why change? And the garden looks fabulous! Thanks for the tour!

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  3. What a great post about Peter's wonderful, lush garden. It's been a while since I've seen it, in fact, my only view of it was a very quick one just before an early morning trip somewhere. I love the baby head crying baby's tears. His sense of humor is the best!

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    1. I loved that baby head. The closest to a real baby I want to get. If I lived closer to Peter, he'd probably be setting traps to keep me out of his garden!

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  4. Peter certainly has lots of lush foliage - I was really taken with the snowflake aralia. The photo of your purchases in the trunk of the car makes me feel positively virtuous about the last nursery trip my friend and I made - how long did it take to sort out what belonged to whom?

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    1. Oh, it took a few minutes. That trunk full of plants is what happens when you get three plant nuts together on a day-long tour of fabulous nurseries.

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  5. You and Peter make quite a team. He is perhaps too modest to showcase his own garden, pointing out the humorous touches like the baby tears and the color echoes you complimented. Of course you're not exactly the straight man in this duo: your comment about the bamboo's "great gams" had me laughing out loud.

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    1. Being around fellow plant enthusiasts puts me in a wily mood. We were laughing and giggling all day.

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  6. Peter's garden rocks! And you're right, the hell strips alone are mini botanical gardens. So that shot of the plants in the trunk...that was everyone's haul not just yours, right?

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    1. Hahaha! Yes, that was everyone's haul. But I definitely took top prize for most expensive haul (thanks in large part to the variegated dove tree) and probably the most plants, too.

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  7. It's nice to see Peter's garden through someone else's eyes. It's an amazing oasis with tons of quirky art in every nook and cranny. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. It's a great garden. He's far too self-deprecating about how crowded it is. It's just lush!

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