Heronswood Garden

9/16/16 brush pen, colored pencils (banana tree)

Tucked away in the woods of Kingston (which is a short ferry ride from Edmonds just north of Seattle), Heronswood Garden has risen from its dark past. Started in 1987 as a vast garden of international plants, Heronswood was eventually sold to the Burpee seed company in 2000. Within six months, Burpee had declared bankruptcy, and by 2006, the garden was in ruins. Several years later, the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe purchased the garden’s remains, and since then the garden has come back to life with a flourish.

Open for self-guided tours every Friday, Heronswood seemed like a good way to end our summer (I say that retrospectively as rain pours down on our windows this morning). Although not huge, the garden makes you feel like you’re wandering through quiet woods with a surprising and eclectic mix of plantings. Palms and banana trees grow next to ferns and dahlias. Some of the flowers were long gone or on their way out, but brilliant orange dahlias were at their peak, and the bees were certainly happy. Some of the Japanese maples were just beginning to turn.

9/16/16 colored pencils (dahlia and a happy bee)

Greg came home with a small plant (he’s the only one with a green thumb at our house; I can’t touch it or it will die) as a reminder of this lovely garden that we plan to return to in the spring. 

9/16/16 brush pen, Gelly Roll
(waiting in the ferry line)

9/16/16 brush pen (cormorants on pilings at the ferry dock)