The colorful house garden and potager stole most of my attention at Heronswood during last month’s Puget Sound Fling. Click for that post and the garden’s tumultuous backstory. Today I’m sharing other parts of Heronswood, starting with the woodland garden.

Woodland garden

One of the best features of the woodland is a Little and Lewis ruin sculpture and pond. Half cloaked in vegetation, with “broken” columns and fading blue paint, it imparts a sense of mystery and age. This isn’t the first Little and Lewis ruin I’ve seen. At the Seattle Fling in 2011, one of the gardens on tour had a similar ruin — a spectacular feature for a private garden that made an impression on me.

What would a Puget Sound garden be without a poofy, sky blue hydrangea?

Tree ferns add a Jurassic vibe.

Tree fern leaf

A mossy old stump serves as nurse tree for another plant.

The house garden again

I emerged from the woodland garden back into the sunny house garden (featured in my previous post). But this section is on the far side, and I’d missed it earlier. A lattice arbor draws your eye along the gravel path, but the deep beds slowed my stroll as I examined all the beautiful plants.

Persicaria’s red flower spikes with airy thalictrum — a pretty combo

White eryngium

More thalictrum — so delicate in front of a broad-leaved banana

Red foliage bringing the fire

A lily offering creamy trumpets

Blue flowers of agapanthus stand out against a russet sedge.

Orange-red lilies team up with pink and burgundy plants.

Pretty scenes all around

These wide cupped leaves collected litter dropped from above.

Flaking cinammon-colored bark — gorgeous

Airy angel’s fishing rod

Towering golden lilies

I love the graceful airiness of angel’s fishing rod.

Bear’s breeches

At this point, I realized I was running out of time and headed to the entrance to check in with the group. Someone told me I had a few minutes, if I hustled, to see the new Renaissance Garden at the opposite end of Heronswood, so off I went.

Renaissance Garden

The Renaissance Garden evokes the great forests of the Pacific Northwest, with tall trees, stumps, and ferns all around.

Here’s how Heronswood describes the garden:

“Sheltered amongst mossy logs, this garden tells of the interaction between nature and the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe through a recreation of an abandoned logging camp. Initially developed in 2018, it contains over 250 different types of ferns together with other shade-loving plants under a canopy of western red cedar, a tree of significant cultural importance to the tribe.”

Bleached tree trunks stand like craggy sculptures in a sunny glade.

A long wooden trough — part of the “logging camp” theme, I imagine — holds a collection of ferns and other small plants.

Mossy log and ferns

Looping back, I came upon the Raining Wall, a rocky wall planted with ferns, sedges, and other plants, with water trickling through.

A bench on a stone patio offers a spot to sit and admire it like a work of art.

It’s lovely. I feel like I’ve seen Central Texas versions of this that mimic limestone grottos.

One last look

Assistant director Riz Reyes spoke to our group about Heronswood before lunch, giving us a nice intro. I told Riz that I’d seen him at the Seattle Fling in 2011, at the garden he worked for then, the Center for Urban Horticulture at the University of Washington. Thirteen years later, here he is, giving another group of Flingers a warm welcome.

At the garden’s entrance, a blackboard with attached bud vases features plants that Heronswood wants to highlight that day.

While I didn’t have time to explore all of Heronswood’s gardens, I enjoyed the parts I did see. Perhaps one day I can return and see how the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe is adding to the garden to express their own history and culture, while preserving the best of the original garden.

Up next: The colorful blufftop Brindley Garden, Dan Hinkley’s next-door neighbor. For a look back at Part 1 of my visit to Heronswood, click here.

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Digging Deeper

Explore the world of succulents and cacti at the Austin Cactus and Succulent Society’s Fall Sale on 8/31 and 9/1, from 10 am to 5 pm. Held at the Austin Area Garden Center in Zilker Botanical Garden, it includes a plant show with specimen cacti and succulents, handcrafted pottery, daily silent auction and hourly plant raffles, and expert advice. Entry included with the cost of admission at Zilker Botanical Garden: Adults $6 to $8, Seniors $5 to $7, Youths $3 to $4, Children under 2 free.

Come learn about gardening and design at Garden Spark! I organize in-person talks by inspiring designers, landscape architects, authors, and gardeners a few times a year in Austin. These are limited-attendance events that sell out quickly, so join the Garden Spark email list to be notified in advance; simply click this link and ask to be added. Season 8 kicks off in fall 2024. Stay tuned for more info!

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