NPA Open Gardens, June 11: Two in Columbia City

One of the joys of touring private gardens is getting to visit neighborhoods all over the Seattle area.  Our first two stops on Saturday were in an area of lovely old homes in the Columbia City neighborhood. 

The Herschel home sat above a tree lined boulevard. The driveway has been paved with paving stones and insets of pebble mosaics. 

A deck on the front of the house was hidden from the street by pots of roses and clematis covered lattice. 

The car port was converted to a patio and the garage into a garden shed. 

The shallow back yard seemed large because of the trees, limbed up maples that added a canopy without taking up much space. 

Since the second house was only a block away, we walked. The neighbor cat noted our passing. 

We got to enjoy other gardens along the way. 

The Daggett home has a corner lot with lots of sidewalk frontage. Susan made good use of it. 

Here is the gardener, pointing out a planting to another visitor. 

Above the sidewalk, in the front yard, unseen from the street, was a vegetable garden. 

With a little seating area hidden away. 

The back yard was revised to accommodate a wheel chair ramp.

City lots require you to use all your space well. The raspberry patch was tucked in the alley behind the garage. 

I do love the use of subtle color layering - the purple grape, the mauve hydrangea, and the deeper shade of  purple on the window frame. 

And yes, there were yummy cookies too.