Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Floramagoria Shines in the Rain

I'm back from attending the Garden Bloggers Fling in 
Portland, Oregon.

After three plus days of garden and nursery tours, I'm going to file this blog under the category of eating my dessert first. I think it's fitting since this garden had plenty of eye candy. Wink. Wink. I didn't see that dollar when I first arrived, so I think one of the bloggers tucked that tip into the waistband. Cheeky monkey.


For the first two days of the fling, we had experienced hot, sunny weather, but on the last morning, the weather took a turn. We arrived at Floramagoria to cracks of thunder. With our lunch bags in hand, we headed for a large covered patio with fabulous views of the back garden.


After lunch, the rain let up and I ventured off to experience the exciting colors of the garden.


I don't use words like, stunning, just willy nilly, but this tile mosiac is simply amazing. Dare I say, stunning! Yes, I dare!


When it rains in Portland, the temperatures drop significantly. Us poor Texans were a little nippy to say the least. I even had a few goosebumps, so this fire was very welcome. It was surprisingly very toasty and I spent several minutes warming up by it.


The plants in this garden were lush, abundant and artfully arranged. Honestly, what can I say about this? Just wow!


Some plants I recognized, like this luscious, fuzzy pink poppy,


but others I just admired without ever knowing their names.


This blue nigella is a plant I grow here in Central Texas. It's commonly called love in a mist and it never looks like this in my garden. It does self seed though, so maybe some day mine will spread enough to produce a larger display.


Dahlias were a common sight in the gardens of Portland. I'm so jealous because they do not grow well here. A reasonable person would substitute zinnias and move on, but I've tried to grow dahlias several times over the years. My best effort was in a container where I managed to eke out a few large red blooms.


The carnivorous plant collection at Floramagoria blew me away. These pitcher plants growing in a bog were downright amazing.




If I ever took a stab at growing pitcher plants, it's good to know that they do well in containers too. 


These very realistic blown glass pitcher plants are more my speed. I must find out were to buy these. They're gorgeous!


The gardeners who live at Floramagoria clearly have a great sense of humor and whimsy.



A giant sequoia at the back of the lot supports a machine which slowly propels little bubbles out into the garden. I've never seen that before! How fun!



No ceiling, window sill or container planting was left unembellished in this garden.




A raised pond echos the garden's theme colors of blue and orange adding color to a part of the garden rich with tropical foliage.


This concrete leaf slowly drips water as if it were the morning dew. Moss willingly covers many of the surfaces in Portland giving them that antiqued look I love.


Tucked away in the side yard was an adorable potting shed with the tidiest collection of tools and pots I've ever seen outside of a magazine spread.



The vegetable garden and bee hive filled the remainder of the side yard. The gardeners of Floramagoria fit an amazing amount of wow factor into their 100' X 175' foot lot. Very impressive.



Thanks for sharing your garden with us! Floramagoria was definitely the cherry on top!




18 comments:

  1. How fun and so pretty too. The detail on that mosaic is stunning.

    A nice start to your Fling posts.

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    1. I love mosaics and that one is absolutely fabulous. We saw so many great gardens. Hopefully, lots more posts to come.

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  2. I want so many things from that garden, especially a bubble machine!

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    1. I was so excited to see bubble machines are widely available and not terribly expensive. It's on my shopping list. Please let me know if you see those blown glass pitcher plants anywhere. I think those may be harder to find.

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  3. Wow, Ally, that's stunning! :) that's the kind of thing you want to see on a fling to the northwest, I can see why it was your favorite. Beautiful photos, btw.

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    1. Everything was sooo green and there were tons of flowers everywhere especially hydrangeas. I'm glad you liked the pics. There's more to come.

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  4. Gorgeous!
    I bet you all came back with lots of ideas for your own gardens.

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    1. I got so many good ideas, but most will have to wait for cooler temps. It's going to be a busy fall.

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  5. What color. It's making me feel that my garden is rather colorless. And I am swooning over those pitcher plants. Thanks for taking us on a visit to Floramagoria.

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    1. Hydrangeas bloomed on roadside medians. There seemed to be color everywhere. The fuchsias, dahlias and eringiums were blooming like crazy. It was really something to see.

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  6. Wow! I love everything about this garden. I love how they strike that perfect balance with using a lot of color and ornamentation without it crossing the line into tacky. I am completely in love with that enclosed seating/firepit area with the mosaic rug in front of it. Absolutely spectacular!

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  7. Beautiful and yes stunning!!! Thanks for the tour- always so fun to see what is blooming in other places. What a great tour!

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  8. You started with one of my favorite gardens :) Your photos looks great, it was worth braving the chilly rain to get them.

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  9. Glad you enjoyed your visit to the PNW. I was all set up to attend the Fling and then had to cancel for personal reasons. This garden is one that I am devastated to have missed, but I live near Seattle, so when it is open next for touring I'll just have to get my butt down to Portland to see it. Thanks for the great pictures in the meanwhile.

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  10. I'll not forget the jaw-dropping effect I experienced when I rounded the corner from the front garden to the back garden, and it wasn't just because I went the wrong way and encountered the mannequin first! I too loved all the mosaic work and colorful plantings.

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    1. That's so funny. I think it had started raining already and I ran for the dining pavilion. I didn't really look up until I sat down and then I was completely in awe. The view from the pavilion was fabulous!

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  11. Lovely photos ! Your mystery plant is a Sanguisorba, but which one is still a mystery. Couldn't have picked a better place to have a rainy lunch !

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    1. Thanks so much for that ID. I found this one that looks similar; Sanguisorba hakusanensis. It's common name is lilac squirrel. I may be able to grow this. The description says it likes medium moisture, but is drought tolerant.

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