Northwest Horticultural Society Events
Tour Three Urban Gardens with Lorene Edwards Forkner
Members: $55. Nonmembers: $65.
June 11 @ 1:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Lake Washington Garden: Vangie and Daniel Pepper’s landscape on the shore of Lake Washington is filled with their favorite plants and delicious flavors. Indoor-outdoor living spaces, cobbled surfaces and a secluded fountain courtyard echo aspects of the couple’s favorite European destinations. Formal plantings of English roses and buxom hydrangeas are punctuated by columnar Italian cypress and a row of statuesque crape myrtle offer blooms to the second story interior while framing views to the lake. Generous dining and cooking spaces are dedicated to Daniel’s passion for cooking with fire. Moving towards the lake, the landscape relaxes with mixed perennial and herb plantings, culminating in a pollinator meadow along the beach.
Bryant Neighborhood Garden: NHS board member Gillian Mathews is a passionate gardener with an eye for creating a vibrant landscape that celebrates a life well lived in her nine-year-old garden. The hardscaping was designed by Richard Hartlage of Land Morphology. Textural plantings accented with bold color embrace hospitable spaces where Gillian indulges her love of plants and entertaining. Features include a dining table set in the heart of the garden beneath a linear metal structure lending height to the landscape and an outdoor lounge area in the shelter of a chunky pergola, while discrete plots provide a cutting garden, fresh fruit and seasonal produce. Gillian is the founder (now retired) of Ravenna Gardens, a shop filled with garden goods and home accessories inspired by her day-to-day passion for a life grounded in the garden.
Montlake Neighborhood Garden: Richard Hartlage’s striking urban garden is filled with choice plants curated with an expert plantsman’s keen eye. Color, form and hardscape materials express a one-of a kind vision and the garden serves as a living laboratory where Richard explores his lifelong fascination with plants. The front garden, a mix of clipped boxwood and seasonal color, is a gift to passersby. In the back, informal conversational seating beneath a hanging garden feature, container plantings, and a novel take on crevice gardening reveal the talented designer’s spirit of invention. Richard is the CEO and founding partner of Land Morphology, a Seattle-based landscape architecture firm known for designing award-winning public and private landscapes, including Seattle’s Waterfront Park and Chihuly Garden and Glass.
Tour leader’s bio: Lorene Edwards Forkner is an author and speaker whose work centers on exploring the wonders of the natural world and garden-making. She writes a weekly gardening column for Pacific NW Magazine in The Seattle Times and posts monthly on Garden Rant. In 2024 Lorene worked with photographer Doreen Wynja on the book, The Spirited Garden: Creative Private Retreats, profiling personal gardens and the creative plantspeople tending their spaces with heart and soul. Both the Pepper and Mathews gardens were featured in the book and each attendee will receive a copy.