Vashon Island Journey
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Date/Time
Date(s) - June 28, 2023
10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Location
Vashon Island Stumpery Garden
Categories
Vashon Journey: The Stumpery and Froggsong
On Wednesday, June 28th, we will be visiting two gardens on Vashon. We will catch the 10am Ferry and Drive first to Pat and Walt Riehl’s stumpery, the largest in the country. Over 10 years ago the Riehls began the work of transforming 1,200 square feet of scrub alder woods into an enchanted forest. Inspired by Prince Charles’ stumpery at Highgrove, The Riehls’ stumpery pays homage to this wild romanticism by amping up the dense, mossy nature of a rain forest and creating a quintessentially Northwest woodland garden with quite the dramatic twist.
The Riehls bought their Vashon property in 2006. Ridding their woods of nettles and thistles was the first step toward a stumpery. Pat planted Japanese maples on the fringes and big-leafed rhododendrons along the path leading down into the woods. It’s only when you pass through a tunnel lined with tree stumps and enter the shadows of the garden that you get the full impact. Here are hefty stumps waving their roots in the air.
The stumps were rescued from Vashon construction sites and carefully placed to form the contours of the shady garden. Paths wind through, around and between the reclining giants. Woodland plants like epimedium, hosta and a variety of specialty ferns grow between roots and along the edges of the paths.Tree ferns (Dicksonia Antarctica, D. squarrosa and D. fibrosa) are the garden’s pampered glory, growing up to form a lacy understory beneath the taller trees. Pat, who died two years ago, tended and enhanced the garden. Her husband, Walt, will be giving us a tour of the garden.
LUNCH – For those who are willing to stay, we will lunch at the Hardware Store on the island.
After lunch we will visit Froggsong Gardens. A six-acre estate garden, available as a wedding or party venue, the gardens are a blend of formal and informal design. A roundel garden, parterre garden, stone ruin, rose garden, and a knot garden support a variety of cottage garden perennials. The “Queen’s Garden” with arches of repeating hornbeams and a new Sunken Garden are the latest additions. The garden has been featured in Sunset, Fine Gardening, Better Homes and Gardens, and recently a book Private Gardens of the Pacific Northwest by Brian Coleman. The visit will end at approximately 3pm. This garden is close to the ferry landing. If you ONLY want to visit Froggsong, please see the Froggsong only registration on the website.
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