By lunchtime, we’d already visited four gardens on the bonus Seattle day of the Puget Sound Fling. Three more to go! Our next stop was an elegant home right on Lake Washington, with welcoming owners Vangie and Daniel Pepper. Let’s start in the back garden and work our way around to the front.

Hydrangeas were in full bloom all along the rear terrace. White, lavender, and blue, they add lushness and pastel color within a framework of lawn, hedge, and crape myrtles.

While everyone grabbed a box lunch and found a spot to eat, I took the opportunity to devour the garden, starting with the hydrangeas. Walking down these steps…

…I spotted a bubbling fountain in the center.

Purple geraniums sprawl along a side path, harmonizing with a purple, blue, and pink hydrangea.

Geranium and thyme

Coral roses were blooming too.

A low metal fence and gate keep out beavers. Yes, beavers. As the owners explained, “We have added a fence by the lake since the beavers took a ‘bite’ out of the garden two winters ago, hauling off most of the woody shrubs and roses and small trees.” Yikes! Well, I guess they don’t call beavers busy for nothing!

Crocosmia, a plant we saw flowering in many Puget Sound gardens

Along a pebbly beach, a rainbow row of Adirondacks offers an inviting spot to sit and watch boats cruise by.

They were soon filled with Flingers enjoying their lunches.

At the other end, a fire pit patio with boulder seating makes another good picnic spot.

Encircling the central lawn, a deep bed of perennials, roses, and grasses provides color and movement. Golden fastigiate trees add height and structure.

Boulders help retain the slope and impart a sense of age.

Colorful coneflowers

And dazzling echinops

Coneflower and yarrow

The garden grows colorful away from the house.

Lavender, sedum, yarrow, and coneflower

Fine-textured grasses foam over the lawn…

…and frame a view of Lake Washington and a long bridge that crosses it.

What a view

I finally grabbed my lunch and sat on the terrace steps to enjoy it surrounded by hydrangeas.

A water table along the terrace echoes the lake view and drips a rain-like curtain into gravel.

Stairs lead up to the front of the house and offer an overhead view of the hydrangea fountain.

Agapanthus in narrow box planters along the house

An Italian planter allows a vine to scramble up the house wall.

Taller planters line a path leading to a front courtyard.

A potting table — everybody needs one

Red abutilon and fuchsia make a lovely combo.

At the front of the house, French doors open onto this elegant walled courtyard with a fountain.

The contemporary fountain splashes into a small pool.

A magnolia in bloom, along with the crape myrtles and hydrangeas, evoke the Southeast for me.

But not this — Japanese forest grass doesn’t like southern heat.

Buddha watching over the garden

A grapevine on a carport arbor adds a little Mediterranean romance, don’t you think?

Up next: The adventurous hillside garden of Millie Livingston. For a look back at the playful garden of Richard Hartlage, click here.

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Digging Deeper

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