A Formal-Conifer-Meets-Indonesian-Jungle-Big-Statement Garden

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As we finished our exploration of the Asian woodland garden (blogged yesterday), glancing over a fence, we got a tantalizing preview of the next tour garden, right next door.Photobucket
Saying farewell...
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We walked next door and met a radically different style of garden.
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But what did formal clipped conifers have to do with what initially enticed us?  The gate to the back yard led us from lawn and conifer into something completely different yet again, something that evoked the Asian tropics. 
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We entered to see the Grand Statement:  a dead tree completely draped with Spanish Moss, Tillandsia usneoides.  Talk about Grand Statement.  It creates a soft wooly patio cover. 
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Imagine having a meal there on a summer's evening.  Either incredibly evocative, or to feel like a flea under a sheepdog?
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Adjacent was a palm used as a bougainvillea support.
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Color discipline in raging force here--all flower color was a variant of red.
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No vast vistas here.  Small paths though towering bamboo...
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...leading us to a shaded square bonsai and orchid display.
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Then a bench of pots.  A lot of pots.  
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Pushed all the way to a sense of clutter, inducing for me the merest touch of claustrophobia.
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But many wonderful vignettes, including water plants...
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Each plant thoughtfully displayed to show its best qualities.
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And that red statement color, in the furniture as well as in the rare flower in this foliage and decor dominated space.
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Highly effective clutter in the next photo.  It was only when I carefully looked at the photograph again that I noticed the air conditioning machine.  Rather than building a big disguise for it, the machine fit right in, appearing almost deliberately added as decoration.
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Fabulous, all of it, though after a time I needed a deep breath of open space.  Back out the gate...
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...the contrast between front and back yards made more sense.  The larger scale was a relief from enclosure...
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...the formality became refreshing.
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The red-and-variations color theme continued despite the change in style.
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What a way to beautify a traffic sign!
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I greatly admired the clarity of thought behind this beautiful garden.  A big statement for the front, one for the back.  The statement must be big to get attention in a crowded space.  Color unity and discipline.    Vista vs. intimacy.  Cool!

Comments

  1. After discovering your blog I don't have to watch Gardeners world a television programm on the English TV. Both posts are so great.
    Have a nice evening Hoover

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  2. Thank you Marijke, you are very kind!

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  3. Fun garden!
    I have that flamingo. Mine's head is hanging off from the '94 quake.

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  4. Beautiful photos! Was that a cement flamingo? Don't believe I've ever seen one of those before, now I want one.

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  5. Decapitated flamingo, Renee? :(

    Danger I think it is concrete or plaster, certainly not plastic. Very cool. Might have been with the house for decades. The house is 40's era.

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