Picturesque places prepped for 2023 Petals Pathways

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, June 21, 2023

The Petals & Pathways Home Garden Tour is in Sequim this year with six outstanding gardens.

The Master Gardener Foundation of Clallam County has been hosting these tours for many years, in which homeowners with fabulous gardens have offered to show their creations for the Foundation’s fundraiser. These tours, along with the annual plant sale at Woodcock Demonstration Garden, help support the foundation’s many projects such as the Youth Enrichment Program, Woodcock Demonstration Gardens, 5th street plots in Port Angeles and numerous free classes and demonstrations in the community.

The home gardens featured this year show greenhouse growing ideas, horizontal planting, sacred spaces for reflection and relaxation and the diversity in design, accessibility and creativity that the Master Gardeners’ selection committee looks for every year.

The Master Gardener Foundation of Clallam County will be hosting the 28th-annual Petals & Pathways Tour from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturday, June 24. The six gardens highlighted are conveniently located throughout the Sequim area and up into the rolling hills of Happy Valley. Each garden has a name that reflects its uniqueness.

Early bird tickets are $15. On the day of the tour, $20.

Tickets can be purchased in Sequim at Over the Fence, Sunnyfarms, and Co-op Farm & Garden, and in Port Angeles at Port Book & News, Swains General Store and Airport Garden Center.

Here are brief descriptions of what is being offered for viewing on this tour:

Sanger Sterling Garden

A whimsical woodland playground “down the road less traveled,” this garden has been a treasured place for its owners to visit on vacation and spend time dreaming about future plans.

For 10 years the owners lovingly tended the property, making regular visits to host picnics and barbecues for family and friends. Then, in 2010, they made the permanent move and began building a home with their own hands and adding a greenhouse and gardens galore.

This inviting property has hosted wedding parties, travelers and plein air artists who wish to enjoy the breathtaking views from this Happy Valley paradise.

With the recent addition of several new themed gardens, there are about 25 unique places to explore.

Walk the Tranquility Trail and immerse yourself in the serenity of the lush landscape. You’ll find a surprise around every bend. The homeowners do all their own planning, landscaping and maintenance in the gardens and as much as possible have made use of repurposed, reclaimed, recycled and refurbished items to create a colorful yet relaxed environment. Enjoy the myriad native plants and trees immersed among a profusion of annuals and perennials. Experience this garden with all your senses.

Life Spring Farm

The Haley family came to McFarland Farm in 1989. The lovely garden is set at the base of Burnt Mountain in the middle of a soil-rich, long-abandoned pasture.

Jean Haley created the foundation for this garden. Since 2018, Sandy Haley has been renovating and personalizing the garden space with the intention of creating a sacred and restorative place for reflection and access to nature.

The landscape is like an artistic canvas with textured brush strokes of dwarf pine, silky rhododendron leaves and delicate, lacy heavenly bamboo with the soul soothing trickle of water. This peaceful setting invites reflection with many places to sit and decompress while enjoying panoramic views.

Explore the verdant landscape that includes more than 50 plants and trees, and savor a full immersion garden experience as you stroll the delightful walkways. Enjoy a celebration of 30 different roses, delight in the ancient apple and pear trees, amble through the berry garden and visit the unique greenhouse.

Bring a picnic lunch and spend some time in nature surrounded by this charming garden. Life Spring Farm will inspire you to transform your own garden into a peaceful refuge.

English Inspired Garden

When John and Judy Farnsworth moved here from Ohio 18 years ago, the site of their home was a builder’s lot with a tree, a couple of bushes and turf. Over the years, it has evolved into a beautiful garden with a unique mix of ornamental trees, shrubs and perennials.

With the influence of many trips to England’s lovely gardens and garden books, the owners have transitioned their yard into an inviting experience. The mature specimens include tanyosho pine, harlequin glorybower, witch hazel, silk tassel bush and bishop’s cap.

Standing under the blended foliage, the understory plantings of salvias and penstemon combined with Japanese maples provides a private surround for their home.

Recycled Treasures

Mixing a flat, grassy backyard with ingenuity, a flair for “rustic country” and a passion for plants, Cherie Higbee fashions an intriguing garden design with botanical and recycled treasures.

From conifers to sedums and Japanese maples embellishing the collection, variety and abundance abounds. Creativity mingles with serendipity, whimsy and the patina of well-loved objects to transform her garden beds into vignettes with a potting shed, playhouse, green-roofed outhouse, Texaco station and so much more. It’s a visual feast and a one-of-a-kind Higbee original.

A crowd favorite from the 2017 Petals & Pathways Tour, this garden has matured and has new plantings and surprises.

Having it all in a Small Space

Form and function describe the transformation of this small lot. What began surrounded by grass and weeds has been developed into a high-yield, small orchard space.

Compact areas featuring shrubs, perennials and front yard green space provide splashes of color drawing attention to the home. The backyard garden is host to raised vegetable beds, cane berry plants, an herb garden and colorful planters surrounding the patio.

Near the functional greenhouse is an area that underwent rehabilitation using the “lasagna approach” and provides for favorable bird watching — a tranquil distraction from the busy street outside of the fence. Look for the newly planted, septic-safe groundcover.

This lovely, small space is always a work in progress.

Maestros Montagna Viste

Italian for “majestic mountain views,” this property is a 2.5-acre contemporary homestead retreat which began as undeveloped land purchased in 2004 when Douglas-fir and hemlocks were planted along the west for privacy. A ditch pump and well were then added for irrigation. Truckloads of manure from a local dairy farm and sawdust from a mill were brought in to amend the soil.

Construction for the small modern country home began in 2005 with the addition of several outbuildings over the past 17 years, including a studio, potting shed and pump house. These structures are connected by stone pathways and mixed borders of native plants such as salal and vine maple.

The individual charm of each building, along with the clever landscaping, masks their functionality. Throughout the property are various seating areas and patios, framed by sculpted metal gates, as well as a boulder fire pit sprinkled with succulents. Mature specimen trees punctuate out of the spacious lawn and are defined by concrete block edging.

28th annual Petals & Pathways

Featuring six Sequim-area gardens

When: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, June 24

Tickets: $15 in advance, $20 day of show; available in Sequim at The Co-op Farm and Garden, 216 E. Washington St.; Over the Fence, 118 E. Washington St., or Sunny Farms Country Store, 261461 U.S. Highway 101.

More info: clallammgf.org