Plant Collector’s Shade Garden

This oasis garden overflows with northwest native and shade plants. As the owner of a local plant nursery, the gardener admits she has collected “a lot of plants in a small space.”

Japanese maples and a flowering plum are surrounded by varieties of ferns, grasses, and euonymus, filling the parking strip. Beyond the short wall, find Jack-in-the-pulpit, Schefflera, ferns, hostas, rhododendrons and an Edgeworthia, whose flowers are prized for their intense fragrance in late winter.  Evergreen southern maidenhair fern is a bright ground cover by the walk. The gate to the back garden is graced by a Hinoki cypress and a ‘Black Dragon’ Japanese cedar.

A sitting area inside the gate displays potted Japanese maples and a Clerodendrum, commonly known as glorybower. The walkway is lush with azaleas, rhododendrons, ferns and a Schefflera.

Surrounding the stone patio, look for a fringe tree (Chionanthus), mixed perennials and a Lion’s Head Japanese maple, named for dense foliage resembling a lion’s mane. Beyond the trellis draped with kiwi vine, is a deep koi pond. The distinctive, sub-tropical Tetrapanax, shoots from which are shared with nursery employees, grows to the side of the pond. Behind the pond are a Persian ironwood tree (Parrotia) and a mountain ash with the a native Garrya flourishing at their feet. The dark burgundy blooms of a Himalayan honeysuckle stand left of the garage windows.

A show-stopping Styrax, also known as Japanese snowbell, towers over the steps and lower patio. The handcrafted mosaic on the lower patio wall was created by the gardener.