McMenamins - Gardens at the Anderson School

Two words:  Blown Away!  Anna (Flutter and Hum) said of Riz Reyes, Garden Manager of the gardens at McMenamin's Anderson School, " Everything that man touches turns beautiful!" I couldn't agree more.  From his fabulous floral designs to his stellar display garden at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show, everything he creates is stylish, beautiful, and chock full of enough unusual plants to make a plant nerd giddy.  The gardens at The Anderson School are no exception.  The gardens have only been in place since 2015 but look well established!




Several passersby were transfixed by the Eryngium, they'd never seen anything like it.  Notice the opuntia in the bakground.


The grounds are those of a former school and contain a hotel, three restaurants, an indoor saltwater pool, a couple of pubs, a stadium and vegetable gardens to supply the restaurants.  Between all of these are the gardens.










In front  of the Tiki Bar and pool building, the mood swings to some larger leaved tropicalismo.


Moving on past the Tavern on the Square and toward the hotel are paths lined with fabulousness and a meadow garden. Clover is used as one unifying theme of the meadows.  It took me a moment to adjust my thinking from an if it's in the lawn mow it or if it's in the beds, pull it mentality and simply enjoy the beauty of clover which fixes nitrogen in the soil and really is a lovely plant.








How lucky the future inhabitants of this building going up next door will be to have the pleasure of looking out on such gardens and being able to stroll them as often as they wish. That's really low maintenance gardening eh? Hey, I'm seeing a retirement plan:)



These huge allium seed heads are everywhere.  Is this 'Globemaster'?  I've seen it in other gardens recently and I want to grow it next year!




Riz has worked his magic again.  These pictures don't do justice to the scale and beauty of these expertly designed and planted gardens.  I stopped inside some of the buildings and they are, in the inimitable style of McMenamins, over the top amazing. Superlatives fail  when describing the experience of the entire complex.  This place is worth the trip for the gardens alone but the interiors are equally top notch.  Just go!

Speaking of just going, Justin Galicic is hosting the sixth annual Normandy Park Garden Festival on Saturday.  This is a fun and free event for the whole family in a truly amazing  garden.  This year's guest speaker is Sean Hogan of Cistus Nursery in Sauve Island, Oregon.  Of course there'll also be a plant sale... For more details, look here.  To see posts of some previous festivals look here.  Hope to see you there!