The Graham Garden

As you can see from my header, our wisteria is blooming! We are enjoying a stretch of dry, warm weather, and the fragrance wafting over the lower garden is lovely.

On Sunday we toured four Open Gardens in the South Hill area of Puyallup. They all have views of Mt Rainier, and the mountain was out! It was a bright, sunny day, and our first day of 80 degrees, lovely for touring, but very difficult for photography, especially in the Graham garden, where sunlight and shadow play strongly in this wooded paradise. 

My photos can't begin to capture the magic of this place, with pathways winding through canopies of Japanese maples, leading to hidden garden seats, and edged with lush forest floor plantings, but hopefully you can get some of the feel of it. 

 And then, hidden from view until you are right there, you come upon a fence which you realize is the pool enclosure.

 While there is not much of a view of The Mountain from down below, you realize how prominent Mt Rainier must be from the house and deck.

 Potatoes grown in compost bins.

 The compost pile behind the shed. 

Up out of the vegetable garden and on the other side of that magnificent wall of rhododendrons, we find a small patch of lawn.

 And it just keeps going on and on, around to the front of the house, with patios and arbors and water features and more garden seats. 

 And we stole a peek at the view from right through the house. 

 There was even bonsai. 

 The sign here says this garden is being renovated. I don't think these gardeners ever rest.