1) 421 Greywolf Drive
• Glenda McLaren
Welcome to a charming eclectic garden where you are surrounded by plantings that reflect the homeowner’s dream garden. As you are enjoying a leisurely stroll, you will find year-round color, a large number of bulbs and a delightful collection of heaths, heathers and other perennials that attract bees and butterflies.
You also will discover a variety of vegetables that are planted among the flowers. To add to the visual interest, several evergreens have been transformed into bonsai shapes. You also will find a delightful rock garden with miniature trees, succulents, flowers, rocks and driftwood.
Other features include a graceful Russian cypress, a large white heath tree, an eye-catching Tasmanian Tiger euphorbia and a beautiful pearl bush (Exochorda).
2) 339 Finn Hall Road, Port Angeles • Colette’s Bed and Breakfast
Colette’s Bed and Breakfast is a breathtaking 10-acre oceanfront estate nestled between the majestic Olympic range and the picturesque Strait of Juan de Fuca. Stroll through Colette’s outdoor sanctuary that includes enchanting gardens, towering cedars and lush evergreen forest.
The wooded entry of this secluded hideaway allows guests to meander beneath the canopy of soaring trees, along flagstone pathways lined with lush foliage accented with colorful blooms and through the fragrant fountain courtyard. The experienced gardener (Sharon Nyenhuis) leads a staff in designing and maintaining the constantly evolving grounds as trees, plants and flowers change with the glorious seasons.
Indigenous local species, as well as unusual exotic species were brought in to shape this Pacific
Northwest gem.
3) 520 Grandview Drive • Richard and Ellen Gray
This 1.25-acre garden has it all. Richard, a landscape designer, lovingly cares for this floriferous garden as well as a productive vegetable and fruit orchard. Perennials, including a huge collection of rhododendrons, deciduous azaleas and peonies, dance along the borders of sweeping lawns.
Whimsical ceramic sculptures created by the homeowners will surprise you as you meander through sunny and wooded areas. You will find hydrangea, berberis, smoke bush, spirea and weigela featuring gold or chartreuse leaves.
In the backyard, a waterfall cascades through a mature rock garden and into a pond planted with many varieties of iris, sedges and water lilies. Many unusual plant varieties are included in this garden – one in particular is the Tropaoleum Speciosum, a rare perennial scarlet nasturtium, climbing in the Port Orford cedar tree in the front yard. Also look for clematis vines climbing in the redleaf plums.
4) 346 Morgan Drive • Master Gardener Orin and Althea Soest
The homeowners, along with designer Dan Hinkley, have created a visual oasis of rare and unusual plants, which thrive in Sequim’s temperate zone on top of Bell Hill. The garden is complemented by magnificent views of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Protection Island.
One of the highlights is a sloping rock garden, featured in Sunset Gardening in the Northwest, with a backdrop of silk tassel trees and an unusual mahonia tree (Charity). This garden sits in an ideal sunny location with good drainage for the dwarf conifers, grasses, lewisias and other unique plants.
Other attractions include a rambling concrete-lined stream that includes five
waterfalls and borders edged in mossy logs, ferns, iris and ornamental grasses,
a lovely shade garden, great blue poppies of Tibet, Tasmanian blueberries and a beautiful osmanthus hedge.
5) 323 Olympic Straits Drive • Max and Nancy Flockerzie
In just three short years, these homeowners transformed a piece of flat, scraped property full of rocks and weeds into a gorgeous, mature garden. Overcoming the wind and deer has just been another challenge.
You will be enchanted and inspired by the variety of plants – including dwarf firs,
cedars, pines and willows. Perennials are throughout, mixed with many ornamental grasses. Birch and maple trees are accent points in the garden, along with a small fruit orchard. A flagstone walkway leads from the dry creek bed with a cedar footbridge to a sedum rock garden. A beautiful and very productive vegetable garden has been incorporated into their plan.
6) 91 Eastgate Place • Diane Woodle and Robert Mares
This lovely garden is nestled in a curve of the ancient Dungeness riverbed, below a steeply wooded hillside. In five years’ time, this pair of learn-as-you-go gardeners has turned a half-acre of cow pasture into a whimsical combination of cottage gardens, oriental-inspired berms, raised beds and pathways that meander through the space.
In the cottage gardens, the visitor will find a beautiful assortment of perennials, while the Oriental-styled berms contain Asian and dwarf plants. A collection of young trees is planted throughout the garden including pink Kousa dogwood, weeping blue atlas cedar, Mount Fuji cherries and contorted black locust.
Meanwhile, a humble canvas-covered frame, jokingly referred to as "The Summer Palace," offers temporary shelter for reading and napping.
7) 726 Roberson Road • Siv and Ake Almgren
Enter into this garden along a magnificent flower- and tree-lined driveway as it leads to views of the ocean and mountains. The landscaping is developed with a holistic approach that incorporates views of the bluffs along the Strait of Juan de Fuca, highlighted with an observation deck topped with a weather station.
Wander along the paths with clusters of birch and other native trees punctuated with exotic shrubs that provide a backdrop for the ornamental grasses, heathers, lavender, roses and colorful perennials. Not to be missed are the pond and waterfall, the fire pit and the intricate arbor built of twigs and branches that leads into the fruit and berry section.
THIS LOCATION HIGHLIGHTS A VERY SUCCESSFUL GARDEN THAT HAS DEVELOPED IN SPITE OF SPECIAL CHALLENGES THAT INCLUDE HIGH WINDS, MANY DIFFERENT SOIL TYPES AND LIMITED MOISTURE.
