Sunday, July 20, 2014

Fling 2014: JJ De Sousa

I thought about how best to cover the fling, should we cover it chronologically, by location, type, by day, or even by colour? In the end we thought we would dip in and out of the various gardens, not having a plan as such but posting about the gardens and locations as the mood takes us. Perhaps something will remind us of a garden and so we will cover it. We are not going to set any goals, we may not end up covering them all, or perhaps it will take us up to the Fling in 2015 before we get to the end.

So without further ado the first garden to share is the garden of JJ De Sousa, garden designer and proprietor of Digs, an eclectic shop selling a wide range of interesting home and garden accessories. Sadly we didn't get to visit the shop too.

The garden wraps around the home, which is centred in the middle of a 77'x127' lot. 


JJ De Sousa

You enter the garden via an orange gate of carrots. Well why wouldn't the gate be carrots! Which gives the first clue as to the favourite colour of JJ!

The house itself is rather cute, making us think of a fairy story! The front garden is mostly shade planting, with several large old trees providing a canopy.

Hostas, grasses, coleus, and splashes of orange!

The steps to the front door, are guarded by a number of pots, and more orange... check out the little guard on the front door.


Is the gnome checking we don't approach... or making sure the cute kitty cat doesn't try to escape!
Looking back along the left hand side of the front garden is a seating area flanked by large unblemished pots of Hosta 'Sum and Substance'. Ours seem to attract too many slugs, but maybe the pots of gravel mulch on the ground is keeping them away.
Back along the garden path.
The garden is full of seating areas, we were told there was seating for 68. I could imagine us using chairs similar to these!

On entering the back garden the mood changes, instead of shade is bright hot sunshine, and the planting changes too. Olives, agaves, silver foliage and white blooms jostle for attention with the various decor items.

More seating and more orange!
Metal fencing bounced back the light and heat, more orange and more spikies!

Another seating area with a fantastic looking patio heater.... more orange!

Bump!

Bloggers, bloggers everywhere!
The garden shade had cooling water jets, much needed in a hot sunny day!

These two planters reminded me of two people holding hands. Intentional or just my mind?
We loved this garden, so much fun and full of personality (and orange!)

Gaz

36 comments :

  1. Great post on one of my favorite gardens which I didn't get to visit during the Fling. JJ is such a fun soul, who packs as much into a road trip as she does her garden (we went to the San Francisco Flower show one March and managed to see just about everything else worth seeing in the area too, all in just 3 days!). Glad you enjoyed visiting. Oh and random (fun fact)...those big black chairs in your 9th photo have been turquoise, orange and now black in just the last 4 years...why just stick with one color!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's a great idea changing the chairs every so often, variety brings spice and keeps the interest going. If only that's possible most of the time. Her garden is inspiring to say the least, and so much fun! You were busy yourself that day, hopefully we'll all get to visit her garden together some day, and no doubt see some new exciting things then!

      Delete
  2. I enjoyed seeing this garden. It is so full of personality and looks like a perfect place for a party. I love all the orange accents, especially that fantastic heater! I can't imagine a more enjoyable thing to do in Portland than to visit fabulous gardens. I am totally jealous!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was such an inspiring visit Debs, all the gardens we visited have something special to offer but this one in particular is so vibrant and full of the personal character of the owner :)

      Delete
  3. One of my favorite gardens on the Fling! Thanks for sharing your pics.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I was so entertained by this garden! I loved all the little nooks and vignettes. Great photo tour I really wish I would have gone to her store. Thank you for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wish we had time to check out her store too Laurin, could easily go home with one or two of her items for sale.

      Delete
  5. I love this garden - the quirks, the colors, and the plants. I especially love the octopus wall pot with the cactus - a perfect pairing. The gardener does a great job of using color to integrate different sections of the garden. Thanks for sharing your photos. I hope you've conquered your jet lag.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The use of orange all over helped unify the garden Kris. Every angle you turn there's something fab to see.

      Delete
  6. I saw JJ's garden last year at around this time of year, it's fabulous and so much fun! Thanks for sharing your pictures of it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Alison! We'd love to see her garden again in the future, no doubt she'll make creative changes again.

      Delete
  7. The word "quirky" could have been invented for that garden, and what a social space, too, though I imagine one could quickly loose track of people, so many nooks and crannies, all with seating. The hostas in those huge pots are enough to tempt me back to the dark side. A glance out the window at the tattered mess should be sufficient cure, though I do need to get hold of a couple of large pots to place on drain covers...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A very quirky and delightful garden Janet. And those hostas in the pots look immaculate too!

      Delete
  8. So much fun, just as gardening should be. I think they've created something really wild with surprises at every turn, I love it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Indeed Paul :) a garden that reminds us all to have fun and be creative in the garden.

      Delete
  9. Those are some really lovely gardens. They tied everything together well. The cat is adorable in that photo.
    Cher Sunray Gardens

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad we spotted the cat when she was peaking through the door, she didn't stay there long Cher.

      Delete
  10. Oh those carrot orange gates would look brilliant on my allotment plot :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It will be a cheerful thing to have in the allotment Anna :)

      Delete
  11. Horray for Orange!!!!! Love, love, love this eclectic garden. Really like the S&S Hostas in the containers. I might just have to try that, maybe the voles wouldn't be able to get at them that way.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Those s&s hostas were immaculate too Deanne :)

      Delete
  12. I was quietly swearing with amazement as I took picture after picture of this garden. A great way to begin! Lovely meeting you both. Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And you too Helen :) every turn in this garden there is something to photograph.

      Delete
  13. Exuberant personality abounds! Love it! But my favorite part was the ingenious use of space - as in using those gabions and plantings to create a variety of levels, or garden rooms. That hornbeam hedge was great too... Such a fun, inspiring space - now I'm just waiting for a party invite!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's not a relatively big space but she has used it to its full potential and so creatively too!

      Delete
  14. Amazing how pristine the hostas were --- and everything else. Incredibly styled. You got some great framing shots, something I neglected to do. The "holding hands" planters are lovely, all the silver ponyfoot and the ozothamnus. The back garden would be amazing to see at twilight.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Quite a contrast the front and the back garden isn't it Denise? Shady and calm at the front, sunny and exuberant at the back but unified all the same.

      Delete
  15. Spectacular tour and helps me figure out how the back garden was put together (because I did not get up on the deck). Your photos are as vibrant as the garden.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Amazing how well she has used the space available, every turn there's something to photograph!

      Delete
  16. And after hosting 80 flingers during the day, they were having 70 to dinner that evening...now that's what I call hospitality on steroids. JJ is as fun-loving as her garden would suggest.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow, she sure loves company Ricki! I can just imagine how the fun the parties must be in her garden:)

      Delete
  17. This garden was beautiful. I like how it had shade loving plants and sun loving plants. It is nice when one can have some of both. You got great pictures of it...and even without bloggers!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She had the best of both worlds Lisa, shady at the front, sunny at the back which she managed to tie in together so well especially with her orange colour scheme :)

      Delete
  18. Hey guys,

    Being that I'm now a quadriplegic since 12 years ago and my gardening tour days are a distant memory for me, I can't thank you enough for your Fling reports.

    Can honestly say the carrot gate just maybe the most engaging piece of garden ornament I've ever seen. Would you mind if I used it in a post featuring the best of garden art? Will credit, of course.

    Please visit me to see my first GBBD presentation which has one heck of a back story to it.

    Best, Patrick

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Patrick, thank you for the comment and glad to hear that you're finding our fling report useful. Yes, feel free to use the photo of the carrot gate. Looking forward to hearing more of your gardening exploits :)

      Delete

Thank you for taking the time to reply to our post, we love reading comments and hearing your views.

Due to the increased level of spam, please note comments on older posts are moderated and only published after approval. All new comments are read and any spam is deleted.