BOOKMONGER
Green thumbs of the
Pacifi c Northwest
A resource for horticultural inspiration and garden eye candy
‘Private Gardens of the Pacifi c Northwest’ is by Brian D. Coleman.
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Years ago, I gifted my mother, a won-
Japanese-style garden infused with wilder-
derful gardener, with a sweatshirt that
ness notes that reminded him of a sacred
said, “When the world wearies and ceases
mountain he’d visited in China.
to satisfy, there is always the garden.”
Wolfe hired a backhoe to create a
I’ve since learned the quote is an
streambed, and a mobile crane to place
abbreviated version of a line written by
not only tons of boulders, but also sev-
British poet Minnie Aumonier, who passed eral mature rhododendrons and Japanese
away in 1962.
maples.
But after a late summer fi lled with daily
However, that doesn’t mean he’s above
doses of geopolitical chaos, environmental getting his own hands dirty. Every spring,
“code red” and COVID-19, Aumonier’s
Wolfe candles his 25 black pines — this
comment seems cogent in the 21st cen-
involves pruning back thousands of the
tury, too!
long, slender buds. And in the fall he
Gardens do
keeps busy clear-
indeed provide
ing the cedar
green solace, and
detritus from his
This week’s book
a new book called
moss garden.
“Private Gar-
Other garden-
‘Private Gardens of the Pacifi c Northwest’
dens of the Pacifi c
ers, too, share sto-
by Brian D. Coleman
Northwest” pro-
ries of clearing
Gibbs Smith — 256 pp — hardcover, $50;
out
invasives, dig-
vides pages of
kindle $22.49
ging their own
balm. Perhaps it’s
ponds and cre-
more than coinci-
ating paths and
dence that Seat-
seating areas. They’ve fashioned planters
tle-based author Brian D. Coleman is also
out of recycled materials and built tree-
a practicing psychiatrist.
houses and aviaries and stumperies ( yes,
Together with photographer William
stumperies ). They’ve amassed plants that
Wright, Coleman gained access to 20
complement one another in terms of sea-
unique gardens for this project. These pri-
sonal succession, color palette or growing
vate properties are concentrated primar-
ily along the I-5 corridor between Portland characteristics.
In Portland, Loree Bohl’s “Danger Gar-
and Seattle, with an additional handful of
gardens located on islands in Puget Sound. den” is a jazzy ensemble of spiky foliage.
There’s just one outlier, a Lake Chelan On the Kitsap Peninsula, Nancy Heckler’s
garden is a haven for hydrangeas. And
garden, on the dry side of the Cascades.
in Maple Valley, Tony Fajarillo has cre-
That region, which presents gardeners
ated a serene sanctuary around his bonsai
with a much diff erent set of gardening
collection.
conditions, really deserves a book of its
Wright’s photography for this book is
own.
verdant eye candy, and if you want to try
Some of the gardens in this book were
to replicate some of that magic, Coleman
developed on a grand scale, where money
thoughtfully provides both common and
seemed to be no obstacle and layouts
Latin plant names in the photo captions.
might be conceived in terms of acres. But
With this information , you can track down
there are also several in-city gardens that
some specimens to add to a haven of your
condense horticultural inspiration into
own creation.
every available inch.
The Bookmonger is Barbara Lloyd
One of the gardeners with consider-
able wherewithal is noted wildlife photog- McMichael, who writes this weekly col-
umn focusing on the books, authors and
rapher Art Wolfe. Inspired by his expedi-
publishers of the Pacifi c Northwest. Con-
tions to Asia, he wanted to transform the
grassy yard around his Seattle home into a tact her at barbaralmcm@gmail.com