August 30, 2024

If there was one yard that truly spoke to my very personal sensibilities on the Puget Sound Fling closing month, it was the Yard of Exuberant Refuge, the joyful creation of Daniel Sparler and Jeff Schouten in Seattle. Vibrant, quirky, irreverent, playful, and rewarding to the observant buyer, the yard charmed me from start to finish.

The Sparler-Schouten yard kicked off a bonus day of the Fling for a smaller group of about 50 who signed up for it early. Gillian Mathews, former proprietor of Ravenna Gardens (which I visited in the midst of the 2011 Seattle Fling), put collectively the lineup of Seattle gardens in coordination with Fling organizers Camille and Paula, and it was as fabulous as the other days of the Fling.

I took a bazillion photos of the Sparler-Schouten yard, so I’m breaking my tour into two posts. For half 1, let’s start with the pond yard throughout the entrance yard.

This pond! I’m eager on it. A hoop of lime inexperienced accommodates black water and glass floats. The arrowhead leaves of colocasia and sparkler-like papyrus rise from the water, along with mossy, dripping columns. A toy alligator basks on the pond’s rim because of…why not?

The paving goes all-in on the circle theme, each wheel accented with a purple “eye.” A painted bench and surrounding flowers add further grapey purple.

I like a stock-tank pond, and I like a painted wall. So in spite of everything I’m crazy for this container pond inside a painted concrete wall.

“Every little little bit of this yard is do-it-yourself,” say Daniel and Jeff, along with many painted concrete pillars that elevate pots and yard paintings. “Design purists beware!” they warn. “In case you see one thing remotely tasteful, we assure you it’s purely coincidental. Now in its thirty third outrageous 12 months, this is usually a collector’s yard by way of which the wild and wacky vegetation have taken over the asylum.”

Widespread readers know that I’m not a plant nerd. I like vegetation, nevertheless what attracts me to a yard should not be a novel assortment of them nevertheless reasonably the final feeling a yard evokes, its creativity and spirit. And that’s what I’m eager on about this yard — its playful and creative spirit.

Expressiveness is the issue that’ll seize you, every time. So gardeners, take a lesson from Daniel and Jeff, and don’t be afraid to DIY your yard and indulge regardless of crazy issue thrills you!

I like an excellent pot-head hairdo.

The pond’s ground is a darkish mirror.

Ceramic totem topped with a strappy sphere and slag glass. And moss!

A rubber snake coils spherical a trellis. A vine has grabbed it with its private snaky tendrils.

Bushes that died have been reworked into present pillars…

…for rubber tree frogs.

A shaggy palm trunk wears a pair of juicy lips. One different face stares out from a little bit of salvaged wire mesh.

Alongside a shady path, fast concrete pillars painted lavender, pink, and yellow make a dock-like edging. Each pillar is topped with impressed tiles or stones or rebar used to cradle a potted plant.

This being Seattle, moss has colonized them too.

A red-flowering bromeliad on present

Chunks of inexperienced slag glass make a defending fairy circle spherical a perfectly variegated plant.

Pillar decor

A pleasing gnome and Teletubbies perch on this one.

Glass starfish and beads adorn one different.

Rebar is used to whimsical impression, like this swirling loop…

…with barely mandrill clinging to the tip.

An prolonged arbor offers protected passage by way of the jungle, its curved path enticing you on.

A gargoyle crouches atop a purple pillar.

Shorter pillars present glass and rocks.

These rubber snakes add to the jungle vibe.

The zigzag “roof” of the hallway supplies a dynamic contact.

Gadgets of bamboo wired to the trellis make impromptu vases for allium seedheads, which seem to sizzle like sparklers.

A do-it-yourself shrine offers a goal to pause.

Monkeys dangling from a palm tree keep points playful.

Mossy Buddha on a concrete bench

Ceramic-and-glass totems brighten the shady yard.

An elevated ceramic ball makes a shiny focal point amid tropical-looking vegetation.

Tree fern foliage

Mauve lilies

Rawr!

Heading into the once more yard, the path curves by way of blue pillars displaying pretty vegetation, in the direction of an open-sided shade building.

I like how the owners use painted pillars to lift up vegetation for appreciation, together with peak, building, and shade which will keep even in winter.

The shade building offers an intimate patio space surrounded by the yard.

It seems to be like out on an exceptional blue eucalyptus tree.

Patio vignette

So much good foliage on this yard, with vibrant pots and pillars for exhibiting it off.

Up subsequent: Half 2 of my go to to the playful Sparler-Schouten Yard. For a look once more at Half 2 of my tour of Windcliff, along with the blufftop yard, click on on proper right here.

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Digging Deeper

Uncover the world of succulents and cacti on the Austin Cactus and Succulent Society’s Fall Sale on 8/31 and 9/1, from 10 am to 5 pm. Held on the Austin Area Yard Coronary heart in Zilker Botanical Yard, it includes a plant current with specimen cacti and succulents, handcrafted pottery, daily silent public sale and hourly plant raffles, {and professional} suggestion. Entry included with the worth of admission at Zilker Botanical Yard: Adults $6 to $8, Seniors $5 to $7, Youths $3 to $4, Kids beneath 2 free.

Come discover out about gardening and design at Yard Spark! I prepare in-person talks by inspiring designers, panorama architects, authors, and gardeners just some events a 12 months in Austin. These are limited-attendance events that promote out quickly, so be a part of the Yard Spark e-mail report to be notified prematurely; merely click on on this hyperlink and ask to be added. Season 8 kicks off in fall 2024. Preserve tuned for extra info!

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