Back on the Northwest Perennial Alliance open garden tour trail with Alison back in July, we had the pleasure of visiting the garden of Trang Tu. One of the many things that the organizers of the tours did well, in my opinion, was to include a wide variety of garden situations and styles. We visited only some of the open gardens this year but were treated to sprawling country estate gardens, much more compact gardens in urban settings and everything in between.
Of the gardens we saw, this one was the smallest but was clearly the garden of someone who loves making her garden, spending time there and welcoming others to enjoy her creation. The house sits way back on the lot. Notice how we're in the middle of the two houses flanking this one.
Off to one side of the concrete drive is this lovely vignette.
Utilizing every inch of available space, the wall of the shed behind the house is covered with interesting ornaments and colorful plants.
Love this repurposed object dragonfly.
Succulent gardens in containers. The rusty iron pot is outstanding used as a sedum planter.
Simple and effective! Notice how the lavender bottle picks up the similar color of the blooms.
Let there be light!
Every nook and cranny of this garden holds whimsical pieces to enjoy!
One of my favorite containers in Trang's garden is this metal locker/drawer thing.
It's especially thoughtful that the hosts provide refreshments for their visitors. Notice the repetition of the shiny copper color in the lanterns milk can and hosta leaf casting.
Vegetables mingle with ornamentals. The hand made bamboo trellises are very nice and have given me an idea about what to do with my garage full of timber bamboo that must be cut from my grove every year or so.
Looking back from the vegetable garden to where we entered the garden you can see that the space here is limited but it's used so well that this feels like a garden of larger proportions.
Watch out, attack kitty on guard. Dig the steely look in his eyes! (Yes, you may groan.)
Thank you so much for opening your lovely garden for us to enjoy!