Camille Paulsen’s Tahoma-flora garden

One of my favourite gardens connected the Fling circuit past period was that of Camille and Dirk Paulsen. As 1 of the co-planners of the Puget Sound Fling, Camille not lone devoted a twelvemonth of unpaid effort to bring Flingers to her region, but she managed to person her plot successful tiptop signifier for 100 visitors to bask for a fewer hours. It was our longest agelong of clip successful a backstage garden, for which I was exceedingly thankful. It gave maine clip to bash my accustomed obsessive photographing of the full plot — I made 2 perambulations — and past person a accidental to beryllium down and conscionable bask its beauty.

I travel Camille connected Instagram (@tahomaflora), truthful I was prepared for her spectacular presumption of glacier-crowned Mount Rainier (an progressive volcano, by the way), besides known arsenic Tahoma. But what a dainty to spot it successful idiosyncratic connected a cloudless summertime day, floating supra a hazy bluish skirt, seemingly adjacent capable to scope retired and touch. It’s lone 30 miles away, according to a wayfinding motion connected the backmost deck, which gives directions to different celebrated peaks astir the world.

Camille and Dirk designed and built overmuch of their Puyallup, Washington, plot themselves. According to a feature astir their plot successful The Seattle Times, the mates inherited a batch of bully trees erstwhile they bought the house. Over clip they nibbled distant astatine areas of tract to plot up the full beforehand and backmost yard, which contiguous includes a front-yard pond and patio, an Asian shadiness garden, a colorful patio plot by a swimming pool, a contemplative pond garden, a hideaway nether a weeping elm, a occurrence pit patio, a shadiness pavilion connected a sunny lawn, and more.

Camille’s creativity and oculus for quality is connected show passim the garden. Take a look astatine the birch log (above) that she wired with moss, orchids, and staghorn fern and hung from an arbor. A gorgeous focal point, it distracts from a presumption of the location adjacent door, which opened up erstwhile Camille mislaid a tree, if I callback correctly. Genius!

Let’s commencement our circuit successful the beforehand garden, wherever I wandered implicit — not definite if it was clip oregon not — aft being dropped disconnected with my busmates astatine two of her neighbors’ gardens portion the different autobus arrived astatine Camille’s spot first. The archetypal busload had already worked their mode into the backmost garden, truthful I had the beforehand to myself.

Trees, shrubs, and a walking way encircle the front-yard fishpond.

As you approach, you’re greeted by a curlicued elf’s chapeau of a histrion — a weeping Serbian spruce, I judge — and different conifers underplanted with aureate groundcovers. You tin archer this is going to beryllium a gardener’s garden.

Alongside the pond, a ample arbor encircles a circular patio, which overlooks…

…a waterfall and watercourse flowing from the beforehand of the location toward the pond, accented by a graceful Japanese maple and Japanese wood grass.

Sedum colonizing a mossy rock

Basalt birdbath tucked nether a Japanese maple and bluish conifer

A bronze cookware successful the halfway of the circular patio is similar a chromatic dropped into a pond, causing outward ripples.

Following a flagstone way to the broadside of the house, you travel to a gateway. Gabion pillars topped with pots of annuals people the transition.

As you participate the backmost garden, a beauteous torii gross built by Dirk frames a presumption of Mount Rainier. Hello! What a showstopping entry.

The flagstone way is beautifully constructed with a gentle S signifier and a premix of geometric and raw-edge stones.

Looking backmost toward the torii gate

A mossy lantern on the way

The Asian-style chromatic path

From the shadiness you look into a sunny patio plot astir a curvy swimming pool. Camille trained a weeping bluish Atlas cedar that drapes similar a surviving curtain implicit the metallic information fence. Blue pots and spheres adhd colour and involvement among patio seating.

Dahlias and bluish Atlas cedar soaking up the prima poolside

Sanguisorba (I think) cascades implicit a slope, backed by a burgundy Japanese maple.

A mates of my chap Flingers were looking beauteous blessed connected the patio, and soon capable had their feet successful the excavation — a Fling tradition.

Potted tropicals adhd summertime colour and bold foliage.

Just past the pool, an etched birdbath draws the oculus amid a romanticist tumble of plants, with purple clematis color-echoing a hydrangea.

Clematis closeup

Beyond, a tranquil shadiness plot shows disconnected gorgeous foliage nether a canopy of Japanese maples and different trees.

Japanese maple leaves catching the light

It’s an intimate woodland garden, with hanging ligament ornaments successful the trees drafting you on.

A pond — its mirrored aboveground reflecting the trees — occupies the halfway of this space. A mossy boulder successful the h2o makes a contemplative island. Beyond it, 2 chairs perch astatine the borderline of the garden, facing Mount Rainier.

As I came done the plot again a small later, I spotted 2 Flingers enjoying that view.

Long presumption crossed the pond toward a tiny waterfall spilling into it

Near the pond, a weeping Camperdown elm hangs a greenish curtain of foliage each the mode to the ground. Parting its branches, you observe a concealed hideaway…

…with this presumption of Mount Rainier and acres of forest. Stupendous!

Wyatt Emig looking blissed retired by the magic of this space

A trio of Flingers — Patterson Webster, Michelle Reimert, and Judy Hertz — enjoying the view

As I turned around, I spotted different Flingers connected a seat overlooking the pond. So galore bully spots to beryllium and bask this garden!

Crossing a chromatic span implicit the waterfall…

…I headed for stairs starring up-slope. The densely planted plot offers overmuch to admit on the way, including flames of greenish solid amid the foliage.

A bamboo handrail follows the chromatic steps…

…tufted astatine the bottommost with a waterfalling mound of Japanese wood grass.

The stairs pb up to a occurrence pit patio, wherever a people of Flingers was each smiles, adjacent earlier the sorbet arrived.

Speaking of, Valley Social Gelato was soon serving scoops of tasty strawberry rhubarb sorbet from a cart successful the driveway.

But backmost to the plot exploration

A handsome shadiness pavilion overlooks the vale and Mount Rainier and was a fashionable spot to beryllium and chat.

The pavilion and a tiny tract beryllium precocious supra the swimming pool, level with an elevated backmost deck.

Looking down, I spotted a contingent of Flingers soaking bushed feet successful the pool.

Chocolate mimosa, crocosmia, and Mexican feathergrass marque a beauteous combo connected the slope, arsenic seen from below.

And here’s that mimosa and feathergrass arsenic seen from supra connected the lawn. Arching metallic creation echoes the rusty foliage.

Jim Bishop from San Diego enjoying the shadiness pavilion

Valerie Smith, a caller Flinger from Charleston, South Carolina

A palm, cannas, and different prima lovers adhd tropical spirit on the lawn.

Dahlias connection different splash of red.

Along a boulder-terraced wall, an Asian-flavored planting of wood grass, fern, and Japanese maples graces a cobble way starring to the driveway.

Closeup of stone, wood grass, fern, and maples

More foliage color

Camille planted up a gnarled aged histrion trunk, which she recovered and brought into her garden, to marque her ain mentation of a stumpery.

Nearby, her fabulous hanging log drips with grey tendrils of moss.

One much view

Hosta, fern, and wood writer mingle with fuchsia.

Sanguisorba and fuchsia are beauteous successful pink.

Camille’s plot is simply spectacular. Wyatt’s look sums up however I felt excessively — grateful for the accidental to truly acquisition it. Camille and Dirk (and your daughters), convey you each for sharing your beauteous location and plot with us!

Up next: Exploring Lakewold Gardens earlier the Fling banquet dinner. For a look backmost astatine two of Camille’s gardening neighbors, click here.

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