Portland: Old Germantown Gardens

After visiting Cistus and Joy Creek Nurseries, we on the recent Garden Bloggers Fling in Portland were off to a private garden on Old Germantown Road (hey bus driver, the "Old" part of that name is actually quite important!)

A hillside garden of about two acres contains just about everything you could want in a garden, and the hosts supplemented that with fresh-baked cookies and ice-cold refreshments. I believe we were only here for an hour, but I could have stayed for several more and still be discovering things! (And not only because of the cookies!)

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I broke my "walk around first, photograph later" rule in this garden, knowing that our time was relatively short and the terrain would make it difficult to backtrack. So the photos started right at the edge of the driveway. 

I must find out what plant produces blooms that unwind like this as they open:

Somebody told me while in the garden, but I don't remember now. Help!   Edit: Inula hookeri

I didn't take many wide shots of the garden at this time, as I was captivated by the details...

...I took several more after I got into the house and out on the deck toward the end of this post, but you can see what wonderful views have been created. The placement of just the right tree (like the red-leaved one above) can take a view from really nice to AMAZING.

A few of the details I saw as I worked my way down the hill to the pond that I was told was at the bottom:

Like most of the other creatures that inhabit a garden, I'm drawn to water, especially if it's moving. The long fabricated-but-so-natural stream in this place led me right down to the pond, where I was treated to...

Newts! I would so love to have newts in my pond, as I don't think I've ever seen wild ones before. So special!

Speaking of special:

A red dragonfly! I knew that they had this species out here in the Portland area as I've seen blog posts about them before, but seeing one in person was exciting!

After the pond I moved into the shady woodland garden where it was cooler, more quiet. 

You know that I can't resist ferns!

It really was a forest back here, offering solitude and escape from the dazzle of the upper garden:

Even here though there were details placed by the gardeners, both manmade...

...and natural. Something that says "this is not wild, it is a garden":

The woodland path looped around and made its way up to the back of the house, past the fairly young bamboo planting...

...and giving you a view of the back. Wow.

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At the top of the steps was a patio with a fountain and of course, a great view back down the hill:

Oh, and a really nice greenhouse too:

The views from up at the house were incredible:

Such a variety of trees, providing so much color and texture! I bet it looks fantastic even in the middle of winter.

Moving a bit to the left in the previous photo gives another fabulous view:

But then going out onto the south-facing deck (I believe) you see the part of the garden where we entered, from such a vantage point!

And then back on the ground, out the front of the house:

I didn't mention the one drawback to a hillside garden: the long, uphill climb to the buses waiting at the street. You'd certainly get a workout tending to this garden every day!

A really amazing , vibrant, diverse, and alive garden. I'm so thankful to the owners for letting us visit!

Believe it or not, there was one more stop on this day's tour...

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