When summer finally arrives in the Northwest, the place to be is outdoors, soaking in the verdant beauty that sustains us through our long, gray winters.
Some of the most rejuvenating scenery lies a ferry ride west of Seattle, on Bainbridge Island and nearby Kingston, where a series of magnificent gardens will lower your blood pressure and elevate your spirits.
Here are a few of my favorites. If you start early and move quickly, you can pack in all of these sights in one day. For a more leisurely excursion, you'll need to pick and choose. Most attractions require advance reservations.
Bloedel Reserve
Whatever you do, don't miss Bloedel, a 150-acre arboretum and nature reserve at the north end of Bainbridge Island. It's a tapestry of manicured gardens and naturalistic meadows and ponds, surrounded by 84 acres of second-growth forest.
Everything is first class, from the trails and foot bridges to the gracious manor house formerly occupied by Prentice and Virginia Bloedel, who envisioned the reserve as an example of "man working harmoniously with nature."
I knew I was someplace special when I pulled up to the formal, gated entrance. Out trotted a cheerful docent, in straw hat and flowered frock, to check my reservation on her clipboard.
Even at the busy season, the reserve admits only 20 visitors each half hour, so everyone can experience its astonishing sense of tranquility.
The docent assured me it was fine to park on the grass if the paved parking lot was full. "Just so you're head-in, to keep the fumes off the grass," she said with a cheery laugh. "We're very ecology-minded."
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JIM BRYANT / P-I |
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Visitors pass the Bloedel Reserve's Zen Garden. The reserve admits 20 visitors each half hour, so everyone can experience its sense of tranquility.
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Thankfully, visitors are left to wander on their own, armed with a map of the 1 3/4-mile trail and a detailed narrative that explains points of interest. It takes about two hours to do the place justice.
By the time I crossed the vast meadow and entered the woodland path, I felt as if, Alice-like, I had entered another realm and time.
The well-groomed trails lead through a diverse landscape. You'll see rustic ponds that are home to trumpeter swans and other birds. A trestle bridge spans a wooded ravine, leading to formal European and Japanese gardens. Be sure to step into the fairylike moss garden and view the stately reflection pool hidden behind high hedges.
"Oh, I love weeping willow!" one visitor exclaimed to his companion as the trail opened up to reveal a formal pond near the manor house. "The is one of the nicest I've seen. This is a beautiful spot!"
The Bloedel residence, situated halfway along the trail, is well worth a stop (and not just for its restrooms). There you'll be greeted by a docent, who will give you a quick, history-filled tour or let you wander the first floor at will.
For all its quiet, good taste, the manor house has a charmingly low-key atmosphere. Program director Kate Gormley said she and her husband went there on a date one quiet, winter day. (She added that the romantic reserve is considered one of the Northwest's "best places for kissing.")
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JIM BRYANT / P-I |
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The rear of the former Bloedel home at the north end of Bainbridge Island serves as a nice backdrop for Mike Janociak's photo of fellow Seattle resident Randy Blum.
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The Bloedel residence, which overlooks Port Madison Bay, has period furnishings, including paintings by famed Northwest artists Mark Tobey and Kenneth Callahan.
The study has a collection of horticultural books that visitors are free to read on the premises. Be sure to flip through the photo album on the desk. It shows the week-by-week growth of a pair of eaglets nesting at the edge of the back yard. They're due to fly off in a few weeks.
It was noon -- time for lunch -- and no picnicking is allowed at Bloedel, so I completed the trail loop back to my car and backtracked along state Route 305.
Bainbridge Gardens
For a midday meal I headed to one of my favorite haunts, the New Rose Cafe, an outdoor bistro at Bainbridge Gardens nursery on Miller Road.
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JIM BRYANT / P-I |
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Bainbridge residents Sheila Fricke, left, and her mother, Kate Walsh, chat at the New Rose Cafe at Bainbridge Gardens Nursery, a popular spot for lunch.
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The cafe has a varied menu that includes salads ($7.95 large, $5 small), sandwiches ($6.95 whole, $4 half) and soup ($4.50 for a bowl, $3.25 a cup).
The rosy chicken salad sandwich on focaccia bread is a good bet. So is the "unnamed salad," which has spiced nuts, fruit and Gorgonzola. The cafe brags on its flavorful, $4 shakes in flavors such as raspberry, espresso and pecan praline.
The food is fresh and the setting is relaxing and pleasant. But service is slow, because everything is made to order, so allow enough time.
Heronswood Nursery
From the cafe, I headed north to Kingston and one of the region's most unusual nurseries, which urges visitors to arrive by 2 p.m. to view the grounds. Situated on a quiet, residential street, Heronswood is open only by appointment except for seasonal open-house events that are heavily attended.
Now owned by the Burpee seed company, the seven-acre nursery is famous for the rare and exotic plants collected from around the world by co-founder Dan Hinkley.
"Our plants tend to be not in the mainstream yet," said Robert Jones, operations director. He said Hinkley makes "two to three extended trips a year, sometimes seed-gathering in the wild."
I saved serious shopping for another day. What drew me on this visit were the lovely gardens at the base of the long, woodsy driveway. Smaller and less transporting than the Bloedel experience, Heronswood's are lovely and unfold like a series of delightful rooms.
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JIM BRYANT / P-I |
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This "folly" at Heronswood Nursery in Kingston was designed by Lewis and Little to resemble an ancient, crumbling Roman temple.
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You'll find bountiful perennial beds, a charming bog garden ringed with arched, espaliered hedges and a potager -- ornamental vegetable garden -- laid out like a formal herb garden.
Everything is organic and Earth-friendly. "We do not kill our native banana slugs, moles, mountain beaver or crows, with whom we reluctantly share the bounty of our garden," a sign reads.
Given the appointment system, crowds aren't a problem (except at special events). On my weekday visit, I seemed to be the only customer around.
Occasionally the breeze carried the distant chatter of garden staff at work. Otherwise, all was peaceful and quiet, except for the whoosh of wind through the tall firs and the musical trickling of fountains.
Heading back to my car, I bypassed the driveway and threaded through the curving woodland paths. As I pushed through lacecap hydrangeas and dramatic, tropical foliage, I heard an arresting sound -- the gurgling of water in the middle of "wilderness."
I rounded the corner and came upon one of my favorite Heronswood features -- a "folly" designed to resemble an ancient, crumbling Roman temple. It was designed by renowned garden sculptors David Lewis and George Little of Bainbridge Island.
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JIM BRYANT / P-I |
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David Lewis, left, and George Little get up to 5,000 visitors a year to see their garden's lush paradise of plants, fountains and sculptures.
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Little and Lewis
From Kingston, you can catch a ferry to Edmonds and complete a loop back to Seattle. However, since I live on Bainbridge, the folly spurred me to add another stop and I headed back to the Little and Lewis garden and gallery. It's a lush paradise that overflows the duo's 1/3-acre yard near Bainbridge Island's Wing Point golf course.
"David bought this house in 1988 and there was nothing between the house and the street but bare grass," Little said, as a 20-foot-tall hearty banana towered over his head.
"We have a lot of common plants in this garden that a lot of real gardeners would be embarrassed about," Lewis added, "but we're not."
The plants are a green foil for the dramatic, colored-concrete artwork. The garden's architectural features include columns, 14 fountains and giant leaves of cast concrete. "We get anywhere from 2,000 to 5,000 people through this garden every summer," Little said, "and they're from all over the world."
You, on the other hand, are just a ferry ride away -- close enough to celebrate summer at some of the area's finest gardens.
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If you go
- Ferry -- Here's one option: From Seattle, catch a ferry to Bainbridge Island and visit Little and Lewis, near the island's terminal. Then work your way north, ending at Heronswood Nursery in Kingston. From there, you can catch the Kingston-Edmonds ferry back across the Sound to complete a loop. You'll find sailing times and fares for the Washington State Ferries at www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/ [1]
- Little and Lewis -- The Bainbridge Island garden is open April to October by appointment. (Fridays through Sundays are the preferred days to visit). An open house will take place July 9 and 10, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. People interested in buying sculpture may visit year-round by appointment. For a reservation and driving directions, call 206-842-8327; www.littleandlewis.com/ [2]
- Bloedel Reserve -- Open by reservation only (available by phone or online), Wednesday-Sunday except federal holidays, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Admission: $10, with senior and youth discounts. No credit cards accepted. No food service. Pets, in or out of the car, are not permitted. Concerts take place summer weekends; tickets are $27 and include light refreshment. Call the reserve at 206-842-7631 for more information. 7571 N.E. Dolphin Drive., Bainbridge Island (see directional sign at the north end of state Route 305). Driving directions, history and other detailed information are on the Web at www.bloedelreserve.org/ [3]
- New Rose Cafe -- Cafe hours: Monday-Saturday 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Sunday 10-4. From Route 305, go west on Northeast New Brooklyn Road to Miller Road and turn right. The nursery is about half a mile up the road, on your left. More information at www.bainbridgegardens.com/ [4]. At Bainbridge Gardens, 9415 Miller Road N.E. Phone: 206-842-4438.
- Heronswood Nursery -- Except for infrequent open houses, the nursery is open by appointment only, Tuesday-Friday during summer. (Same-day appointments often can be arranged.) To view the gardens, arrive by 2 p.m. A $1 donation is requested to pay for maintenance and help Kitsap Regional Libraries build a horticultural collection. Dogs allowed on leashes. Detailed driving directions on the Web at www.heronswood.com [5] 7530 N.E. 288th St., Kingston. Phone: 360-297-4172.
P-I reporter Cecelia Goodnow can be reached at 206-448-8353 or ceceliagoodnow@seattlepi.com.
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
