Garden Tours

Terry and David Maczuga

5050 Graveline Road, Bellingham

Touring the Maczuga garden, you will be awed by so many different elements that you must experience it to understand. It's hard to imagine that the two of them have created and can maintain so much. There is an abundant food crop, a prolific orchard, and a vast collection of conifers, shrubs, and trees. There are acres to explore with rewards around every corner. Give yourself plenty of time to see it all and don't miss the "elegant hideaway" featured in Debra Prinzing's new book. Living off the land has never looked so enticing.

Directions: From Bellingham, take I-5 north. Take the Slater Road-Lummi Island exit #260 and turn right (east) on Slater Road. Immediately turn left onto Pacific Highway and then right onto Graveline Road. The house is on the right. Park along the side of the road.

 

Chris and Frank Haulgren

2421 Lafayette Street, Bellingham

Through a quaint twig-lined gate you will find the secluded garden that Chris Haulgren has created for her family and cats. Peaceful and serene are the two words that best define the feeling of the Haulgren's elegant four-season garden. Although modest in size, and shaped like a long corridor, she has created distinct spaces within the garden. Her use of mass plantings with an emphasis on foliage and texture make this well-maintained garden both beautiful and relaxing.

Directions: From Maczuga's take I-5 heading south. Take the Bennett Road Exit 258 toward the Bellingham airport. Turn right onto Bakerview and left onto Bennett Drive. Turn left on Marine Drive, which become Eldridge Avenue. Turn left onto Lafayette and right on Monroe Street. Park along Monroe Street and Keesling (next street over) as Lafayette is a dead end and there's absolutely no place to park. Walk back to Lafayette Street and turn right. Haulgren's house is on the left.

 

Rebecca Meloy

2431 Lafayette Street, Bellingham

If you have never visited controlled wildness, this 11,000 square foot created by artist and garden designer, Rebecca Meloy, will surprise you. Since 1979, she has diligently improved the grounds, double dug the beds, and nourished the organic garden. Over the years the soil has become so very rich that her plants seem to grow to sizes not commonly seen. Her artwork is woven throughout the garden, making this in intriguing and unique setting.

Directions: Walk up the street from the Haulgren's. Rebecca's house is also on the left, the second house after Haulgrens.

 

Robert and Patricia Lundquist

2707 Jefferson Street, Bellingham

Nearly one verdant acre of gated, private garden nestles at the road's end on Jefferson Street. Lush hanging baskets invite you to venture through the wooden gate, where a shaded brick path beckons you into the garden's sunlit lawn beyond. Unusual trees have been a particular focus and many interesting specimens are flourishing here. Once in the garden, you will feel its restorative powers and the sense of tranquility, which the Lundquists, one an artist and the other a musician, have collaboratively created as their personal paradise over the last thirty-four years.

Directions: From Rebecca's house walk north on Lafayette to the end of the street. The owner of the last house on the left side of the street has given permission for tour participants to cross diagonally in front of his house to the Lundquist property which is visible from the end of Lafayette. The lundquist house and garage are barn red with hanging baskets on the eaves.

 

 

Annual Tour of Private Gardens

Sorry you missed ...
22nd Annual Tour — June 21 & 22, 2008

Six Bellingham gardens were on this year's tour.

 

Nuha and Izzy Habib

736 Fieldston Road, Bellingham

The Madrona Point garden of Nuha and Izzy Habib welcomes guests with a gracious walkway that leads past two potted weeping Atlas cedars. Among the variety of plantings, notice the Satomi dogwood, helianthemum, Siberian Iris, Mexican orange, and camellias. Pass under a wisteria covered arbor, deliciously fragrant in June, and step into an enclosed courtyard filled with lush plantings of Japanese maples, Chinese witch hazel, daphne and ligularia, whose growth is carefully guided by Nuha's artistic hand.

The expansive view of Bellingham Bay remains hidden until you take the path down the north side of the house. Fargesia clumps and sourwood trees, planted to create a private enclosed path, lead to a lower terrace. Here, the view finally unfolds as the visitor walks past the Japanese Iris. Next, you will encounter the must-have herb garden whose fragrance turns heady on a hot day. Stone steps wind down a steep hillside planted with a plethora of shrubs and perennials.

Arriving at the calm green lower lawn terrace, take in the fabulous bay view. When ready to pull yourself away, locate Nuha's lawn steps to help you navigate the steepest part of the hill edged with Spanish lavender. At the top, stone steps lead to a Bluestone walkway past a Fuyu persimmon tree on the right, and Izzy's mini vineyard on the left. Truly spectacular!

 

Lynn Torno and Dennis Murphy

2202 40th Street, Bellingham

When Lynn and Dennis moved in 7 years ago, they had a blank slate — grass in back and beauty bark in front. They brought in tons of native rock and over three hundred varieties of exotic and native plants to create a lush, serene sanctuary in which to shed the stresses of the workday, complete with stream and pond.

After passing the Clematis Gate created by local sculptor Chris Pauley, the visitor will wander through a series of garden "pictures," including a grouping in which an old chair brightly painted in red, lime green and purple sits on a bed of lime green creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia) next to a Coral Bark Maple (Acer palmatum 'Sango Kaku') with bright red bark and a "planting" of colorful glass balls. You can also travel "Trio's Moon Walk," a shady path lined with plants with white flowers or variegated leaves, or visit the "Good Neighbor" garden near the street with its exuberant plantings of perennials and flowering shrubs. Plants were chosen for their form, texture and vigor — no wimps in this garden! The adjacent property to the north was purchased five years ago, and a multitude of birds now make Dennis' wild "Preserve" their home, adding their sound and color to this peaceful garden.

Linda Lehn

3904 Cliffside Drive, Bellingham

It wasn't hard to figure out which garden on the block belonged to Linda, even without looking at the house. From a few houses away you can see the spectrum of blues to purples in full bloom. The front yard of this standard sized city lot is bordered on all sides with an interesting assortment of perennials of all different shapes, heights, and textures. The new, dark burgundy leaves of Canna lilies were just coming up en masse in front of a large picture window.

As you circle around to the backyard, you will pass under an arbor covered with wisteria and surrounded by lilacs, roses, and honeysuckle. With this combination there will be something fragrant welcoming one to the backyard all summer long. It is obvious that many pleasant evenings are spent here. There is a swinging bench under planted with woolly thyme amongst the cobbles, a fire pit, barbeque, and an alfresco dining area. When is the party, Linda?

 

Sheryl Lindquist

3411 Willowwood Avenue, Bellingham

Upon arriving at Sheryl's garden, it will be immediately obvious why she is a two-time award winner of the "Most Floriferous Garden in Whatcom County." Behind a low white picket fence is an absolute proliferation of flowers, mainly in blues, pinks, purples, and whites. The garden is very well maintained with much thought given to each plant's placement and needs. Custom cement curbs gracefully define the garden's borders. There are many specialty gardens throughout, including antique roses, lavender, dahlias, and a vegetable plot.

 

Kathie and Jack Hardy

3405 Laurelwood Avenue, Bellingham

This colorful garden was a flat half acre field of dandelions 8 years ago. Kathie is a Master Gardener, and designed the expansive landscaping on paper as Jack was building the couple's passive solar house. Hardscaping meanders around the house offering views of different parts of the garden — the main patio, pond patio, hummingbird garden, hot border, pokey blue border and Secret Garden (a no-deer refuge offering safe haven for tulips and roses). The stone throne with the Scotch moss carpet is a new addition this year.

The property id designated as a Backyard Wildlife Refuge, offering plants that are food sources and habitats for birds, butterflies and insects. Thick mulching and an extensive drip irrigation system installed by Jack ensures that the plants are well cared for without wasting water. Winner of numerous Whatcom County in Bloom Awards and an avid collector of specialty plants, Kathie is passionate about "feeding the soil" and Integrated Pest Management.

 

Steve and Laurie Satushek

1235 Marine Drive, Bellingham

Steve and Laurie moved into this 8 acre hidden sanctuary in 2002. Although they were both novice gardeners, their creative minds could see the potential of this amazing property. An exploration of the grounds will show why their motto is to go from ordinary to extraordinary.

As you travel down the long gravel driveway to their house, the landscape changes from prairie to woodlands, then opens back up again. Near the entryway to the house you will hear the splash of waterfalls beckoning you to their Mediterranean garden. A Tuscan wall and several mosaics inspired by their children’s art add to the theme.

Wandering the site you will encounter a cheery butterfly garden with a palette of oranges and purples, an annual garden planted as a labyrinth, with sunflowers, zinnias, and bells of Ireland, and a drought tolerant grass garden. Step up to the viewing deck for a panoramic vista of the property.

For the hardy, you will be pleasantly surprised as you travel down 50 steep steps to Steve’s shoreline domain complete with a stream, pond and a jungle hut.

 

Garden Gallery Art Sale in the Satushek Garden

Featuring local artists:
Chris Pauley
Metal garden art decorative/functional, custom gates and trellises

Benn Mann
Hand painted terra cotta pots and welcome signs

Harold Niven
Large mixed-fabric banners

Allison Hoagland
Hand blown glass sculptures, glass floats and butterfly feeders

Patricia Morse
Hand-built stoneware, rain basins, birdbaths, garden plaques, round forest path vessels, heron tiles

Steve Satushek
Photographs, abstract paintings: flowing resin on textured metal panels

Don Anderson
Steel sculptures: free-standing small and large scale metal pieces, fabricated and welded from steel and stainless steel plate and pipe, from original abstract designs

Suzanne Averre
Cement sculptures: whimsical, sand-cast concrete sculpture to enhance our personal living spaces

Shirley Erickson
Steel and glass sulptures, garden decorations and plant stakes

Dave Lobdell
Basalt columns and basins, steel windmills with compressors

Marlene Riviere
Hyper tufa planters, whimsical garden containers made from recycled materials

Corena's Creations
Luminaries sculpted of handmade paper, wax, stick and natural treasures