Garden of Nancy Heckler: Garden Fling 2024

All apologies; it has been a while. An unexpected emergency appendectomy followed a week later by Thanksgiving had me seeing stars. Not the pretty kind either. Now on the mend and getting back into green, growing things brings me to another post from the Garden Fling, that of incredible plantswoman Nancy Heckler. 

Hers is a third of an acre on the Kitsap Peninsula - Indianola, Washington to be precise. She is a plantswoman whose former two-acre garden graced the cover of Martha Stewart Living. In addition, she was the general manager of Heronswood Gardens for a time around 2013, something of a garden heroine to many of us. What a joy to visit the self-described sanctuary in the woods of a fellow texture and foliage lover. 

In her own words:

I am a passionate gardener, plant collector and nature lover. My small house and garden is tucked away within a secluded woodland setting and is jam-packed with a crazy collection of plants, containers and 100+ hydrangeas. My previous garden was over two acres with sun and shade - including the potager, orchard, woodland, meadow and beach. Now I'm lucky to have bright shade and a few hours of sun in pockets of the garden. The raised beds that were to have vegetables became holding beds. I removed salal and limbed up firs, and tidied up the rest. I planted tree peonies in the sunnier spots, and hydrangeas and martagon lilies in the brighter spots. I planted every shade-tolerant woodland plant I could get my hands on, and anything with texture. That is what my garden is to me - form, texture, layers and all shades of green with very few flowers. Perhaps not enough color for many folks, but it's a very relaxing palette.

 So now my little garden in Indianola is primarily a shade garden with fleeting moments of sunshine. Having to give up growing vegetables and other sun lovers has been a lesson in restraint, but the outcome is a peaceful haven - a woven tapestry of foliage and texture. Hydrangeas, podophyllums, ferns and numerous other woodland treasures are my current obsessions. Hidden away on all sides by a monster hedge, the 1934 restored cabin, surrounded by plants, has become a private sanctuary and my escape from the world.

Nancy is also an artist (see her repurposed vintage lamp making studio here) and her vignettes throughout are all nature-based and therefore incredibly appealing and appropriate to my eyes.

Near the front of her home, Rodgersia flowers adds a rare pop of color beyond the green, silver and gold foliage of the majority of the garden.

A ceramic morel mushroom amongst a sea of Ophiopogon 'Nigrescens' is a perfect touch.

The garden is full of containers and ornaments, artfully arranged with color echoes in each grouping. Sciadopitys verticillata, Japanese umbrella pine, in the pot on the right.

Nancy grows more than 100 hydrangeas in her garden and was definitely a friend of Joy Creek Nursery where we propagated and grew probably as many species and cultivars as that. This, I believe, is Hydrangea macrophylla 'Izu no hana'. While in my region it is increasingly more difficult to keep hydrangeas (especially macrophylla types) happy, they were among the brightest of stars in the Puget Sound Fling.

I was surprised to see an epimedium blooming in mid-July.

Euonymus climbing up a tree, a lovely way to bring green upwards and garden vertically.

Athyrium or Japanese painted fern, perhaps A. 'Apple Court'?

As we are pro-crow (and raven) around here, I was delighted to see this. I believe it to be a Little and Lewis sculpture, a well-loved artistic duo from nearby Bainbridge Island.

New growth of Woodwardia, perhaps W. unigemmata. Woodwardia species are a definite favorite though they do not do particularly well in my summer dry woodland garden.

Amicia zygomeris, a curious pea relative, was new to me. I saw it for sale at Windcliff later the same day, now I wish I had purchased one.

Sweet details

Cardiocrinum giganteum seed pods resting against her home. Again, the kinds of decor that I really respond to.

Impatiens omeiana, another plant that does not appreciate my summer dry woodland garden. I am beginning to see a theme here - I am taking photos of that which I cannot grow yet appreciate.

Moving around to the other side of the garden a lawn opens up to a grouping of Garden Flingers.

With one of my favorites, the incomparable Mary Ann Newcomer, a lovely friend and garden writer.

While foliage reigns supreme here with varying leaf color and shape, the woven wooden spheres and their contrasting shape add energy.

Detail of one of the spheres with tumbled glass beads in cool blues.

A wire and rope lizard sculpture, easily 6' tall, climbs upwards.

Another rope and wire sculpture tucked into a woodland vignette.

Acer palmatum foliage, though I know not which cultivar this is.

Towards the back of the garden past the rope sculpture is a secret woodland garden.

A raised bed, woodland style.

A lineup of watering cans at the ready. I think every Flinger this visit took a similar photograph of these. The gardeners tools as art objects.

Nancy grows many ferns, quite expected for a woodland style garden. This odd looking beauty is likely Polystichum setiferum ‘Plumosum Densum’.

Foliage magic here.

Tropaeolum speciosum wound its way through several borders, coming and going and adding a bit of color. I probably noticed it because the red really contrasts highly with this mostly verdant garden.

A bit of vintage glass adds a color echo to the rhododendron.

Rhododendron pachysanthum 

Tropaeolum speciosum climbing through a pine branch.

A touch of sparkle among Oxalis oregana, hydrangeas and Keringeshoma palmata.

Another example of Nancy's wizardry combining foliage texture, shape and color to a pleasing effect.

She grows many gorgeous begonias, many in containers, though for some reason I only managed to photograph this one.

Martagon lilies are one of the few flowers Nancy grows, the scarcity of flowers makes what is here quite special.

Wider view of a bed adjacent to the lawn where hydrangeas take center stage.

More containers on her back deck.

Brunnera and ferns, more foliage magic.

Area with her raised beds and a few pops of color.

My friend Jerry of Botanica Chaotica doing the catwalk through the front gate. He had the best outfits this trip, case in point his fabulous shirt. Thanks for the giggles, Jerry!

The woman herself, Nancy Heckler, graciously answering a myriad of questions from 100 or so Garden Flingers. I would love to have chatted with her more, as it was all I could get out was something silly like "I love your garden"....insert dumb emoji here. Still, she was full of smiles and welcomes. 

After what felt like an incredibly rushed visit, I was a little dumbstruck and overwhelmed. Here is a woman who I would greatly like to know, one whom I admire and whose aesthetic sparks magic for me. Hopefully a return visit is in my future. A few take-aways from this visit are: to garden where you are - she used to have two acres of sunny veg gardens and can't grow that any longer among the shade of fir trees. She grows what will naturally want the conditions she has. I love that special, artful ornamentation and special plants are all over - that is to say there isn't an untouched area. It's all special. I love that she gardens vertically - many climbers adorn mature trees and bring the garden upwards.

For some wider photos of Nancy's woodland paradise, Danger Garden, Pam Penick of Digging and Janet of the Paintbox Garden all posted fabulous photographs. I encourage a click-through.

 

That's a wrap for this week at Chickadee Gardens, as always, thank you so much for reading and commenting! We do so love hearing from you all. Happy gardening and I promise, no more appendectomies for me. I pinkie promise.