The final stop during the 2014 Garden Blogger's Fling in Portland was the garden of Sampson and Beasley, aka Bella Madrona...![]()
That evening (with nearly 100 other Garden Bloggers, a couple of pugs, a charming bus driver and our fantastic host, Geof Beasley) lives very large in my memory—it was the perfect ending to an excellent event. I visited Bella Madrona again earlier this month, with a group from the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon.
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It was great to be back and to compare what the garden looks like now, to how I remember it back in 2014. Ten years is a long time in a garden! (also, I cannot believe that the Portland Fling was ten years ago. How is that possible?)
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There's Geof in the green t-shirt, touring part of our group around the garden.
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My Daphne x houtteana bit the dust last summer, I'm glad that Geof's is still doing well.
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Nolina hibernica 'La Siberica'
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The gnomes were out to greet people who make it into the lower part of the garden.
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The gnome population has exploded since my last visit. A welcome development after some vile individuals trashed the gnome woods several years ago.
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This one was my favorite.
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Having left the gnomes behind...
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Those who attended the Portland Fling surely have fun memories of the swing that, well, swings out over the ravine. Sadly it was not open for business on this visit.
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As is her brother Caper.
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A sunny May afternoon in a beautiful garden with friends and pugs, what could be better?
In case you've never heard of it, Bella Madrona is a private garden about 20 miles south of Portland. Back in the day it was the location of many a party featuring the band Pink Martini (who wrote and performed the song I linked to at the top of this post). It's approximately 5 acres and was created by Geof and his late partner James Sampson beginning 40+ years ago. I went rather photo heavy in today's post, so I'm going to go light on the text, just enjoy the garden!
I've finished walking the garden at this point and it's time to join my fellow visitors for some tasty nibbles and wine on the lawn...
...there were also pug snuggles. That's me and Olive. She was just a 2-year old pup during the Fling visit, now she's a 12-year old senior citizen.
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