Fling 2014: Danger Garden

Several months have passed since our trip to West Coast USA for the Portland Bloggers Fling and we are still only part way though all the posts we wanted to write. However it time to have a virtual trip back to Portland and the summer of 2014, with a visit to Loree's Danger Garden.

Of all the gardens and attractions on the agenda, this was the one we were looking forward to the most. Danger Garden was one of the blogs we discovered in our first days of blogging so have followed the gardens evolution for several years. Loree also visited our garden back in 2012 and we promised to make the return visit, so it was extremely fortuitous when Portland was selected for the fling.

The front garden is given over to a gravel garden packed with succulents, a pathway cuts across the garden at an angle to the front door. 

I love how cute the house is, sat surrounded by gravel and planting. It suits the dark painted wood, which does contrast with most of the neighbours who have generally gone for lighter colours. 

From Loree's blog I knew that the garden was not overly large, however the garden felt a lot bigger than I had expected. The back garden has so many areas, changes in level, structures, and things to keep your interest so it makes it feel bigger than if it had just been left to lawn.

One of the things I have mentioned on posts about some of the other hosts was how at first I tended to feel disorientated when visiting the gardens. Even though I have seen many photos of Loree's garden over the years and many of those gave clear views and show where key plants and structures are situation, I still found myself having to correct my mental map of where things were situated. The main one was the shade pavilion, I was convinced in my mind that the structure was situated on the back fence, but no as we all found it was on the side behind the garage. I think next time I'm visiting a garden I know from a blog I will send a map of where everything should be situated with enough time for the home owner to make the necessary changes. If only I had thought about this before, Andrew could have moved the shade pavilion to its correct location! I love the shade pavilion, such a well thought out space, and unsurprisingly orange! Mark and I both loved the feel of this part of the garden and the bright ceramics. We are no strangers to building structures in our garden, however neither of us are carpenters. The shade pavilion is so well put together and I just loved the over sized industrial bolts.  The feeling of space continues with the large patio area. Many people would have gone for a smaller space but I think the generous patio helps make the garden feel big. Of course the space is also packed full of bright pots of more dangerous plants.

Our host and the gardens creator, Loree

We just loved the bright orange pots

The overall composition suggests somewhere far more exotic than Portland (not that Portland is not fabulously exotic!) 

The real star of the show, Lila

Splashes of color everywhere. I love this hanging Tillandsia

On the right hand side of the garden is a newly planted bed. This had contained a huge overgrown hedge that Loree removed earlier in the year and was planted with a variety of tropicals that will eventually screen the view. Although why anyone would want to screen the multicoloured garage behind the fence I can not understand!



We were fortunate to squeeze in an extra visit to Danger Garden as we stayed on an extra day after the fling. Having visited Portland once I know we will be back, hopefully it won't be too long! Gaz