Danger Garden Revisited!

We were fortunate enough to join the Garden Bloggers Fling in Portland in 2014 and part of it's itinerary was a visit to the famous Danger Garden. Fast forward to just over three years later we were fortunate once again to see it in the flesh last September.

And it was looking great as always, if not better as it evolved and matured further since our last visit.

Now let's start at the front:

And now to the side...

On to the even more glorious back garden...

Loree from Danger Garden, Gerhard from Succulents and More and Gaz hiding in the background.

We love the grill on the wall, simple but very effective.

I've opted to let the photos do most of the talking but if you have any questions especially with plant identification then feel free to ask, hopefully I'll know the answer.

Beautiful and inspiring isn't it? 

Mark

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Fling 2014: Cistus Nursery

Before we went to Portland we already knew of the reputation of Cistus nursery, so getting to visit whist on the Fling was something we were particularly looking forward to. Cistus is a dream location for anyone interested in the usual, the unique and interesting with plants from all over the globe, such as these fabulous field grown yuccas.

Mark and I were fortunate to visit the nursery a couple of extra times whilst in Portland, so many of the photos in the post were taken when the nursery was quieter rather than packed with a coach load of fellow bloggers.

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Fling 2014: Danger Garden

Several months have passed since our trip to West Coast USA for the Portland Bloggers Fling and we are still only part way though all the posts we wanted to write. However it time to have a virtual trip back to Portland and the summer of 2014, with a visit to Loree's Danger Garden.

Of all the gardens and attractions on the agenda, this was the one we were looking forward to the most. Danger Garden was one of the blogs we discovered in our first days of blogging so have followed the gardens evolution for several years. Loree also visited our garden back in 2012 and we promised to make the return visit, so it was extremely fortuitous when Portland was selected for the fling.

The front garden is given over to a gravel garden packed with succulents, a pathway cuts across the garden at an angle to the front door. 

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A Seductive Garden

Okay, we're lagging way behind with our Portland Garden Blogger's Fling posts. We still have lots to catch up on and the remaining gardens will feature in the next few days.

Rather than sticking with our previous format I've decided to veer off from it and present this garden in a different way.

Bella Madrona - the last stop on the fling itinerary and where the 2014 edition was wrapped up with farewell drinks and canapes. You can read more about this garden and the take of other fling attendees on their own page at the fling blog.

Whimsical, mysterious, magical, quirky, eclectic are the adjectives that are usually associated with this garden. And beautiful too of course. But I'll have to add to the list the word seductive.

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Fling 2014: Portland Japanese Garden

After a break from Fling posts, it felt like a good time to come back to our fabulous trip to Portland. Its hard to believe it that its almost two months since our trip. Looking back through the photos brings everything back to life again.

The garden is coming up to its 50th anniversary, having opened in 1967 on the former site of a zoo. When we arrived Mark and I, along with Gerhard took off in a slightly different direction to many of our fellow bloggers, which possibly allowed us a less hectic visit. As a garden I could have spent most of a day here, I really enjoyed the space, the tranquillity and verdant backdrop.

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Fling 2014: Rhone Street Gardens

One of the highlights of the Fling was to visit the Rhone Street Gardens, home of Fling organiser Scott, his partner Norm, assorted cats, neighbourhood chickens and a really cute house! We had quite a long journey getting to Scotts garden, as we stopped at a railroad crossing for what must have been the longest train in North America. It felt like one of those cartoon moments where the train was on a loop, seemingly never ending, but get there we did and the garden was well worth the wait.

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Fling 2014: Chickadee Gardens

One of the highlights of the Garden Bloggers Fling was to visit the gardens of fellow bloggers. This can be a strange experience as sometimes the layout of the garden or the size and perspective of the garden is different in ones mind to the actual garden. Chickadee Gardens is just five years old, although the garden feels much more established than that. Tamara grows a wide range of natives and maintains an environmentally friendly garden, that has been certified by the Backyard Habitat Certification Program.

Tamara's home is unusual compared to the neighbours, having a more 'Spanish' feel which combined with the planting, blue skies and garden decor created a wonderful place to escape.

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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. 

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!

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A Beautiful Experience

We just got back home from attending the Garden Blogger's Fling last weekend in Portland, Oregon and we had such a great time! It was a truly wonderful and unforgettable experience for the both of us and we give out our huge thanks to the organisers of this year's fling: Heather, Jane, Loree, and Scott who pulled out all the stops to come up with such a well organised, fun fling.

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Morning Glory in the Garden of Sean Hogan

On our first morning in Portland, Oregon we spent some time perusing and relaxing in the private garden of horticulturist Sean Hogan, who is also the owner of Cistus Nursery located in the same city. The sun was shining, the weather was glorious, and just to make it perfect we were immersed in the beautiful personal space Sean has created.

We arrived in the city the evening before wherein Loree met us at the airport and took us to Sean's place. Afterwards we all went out for dinner but as it was well dark already by the time we got back we had to wait till the morning to have a proper look of the garden. I have to say even in the dark you can make out the silhouette of the beautiful plants and you can tell already that it's a beautiful garden. So come the morning, after a lovely breakfast we sat out to relax in the back garden.

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