Peony Shade Garden (Cascadia Garden)

This most-pleasing garden began with a pink single Tree Peony in 1997. Enchanted by the large delicate flowers, I added 4 between 2001 & 2006. By the spring of 2007 there was enough shade to plant a variety of woodland perennials. After a colorful display of red & orange Fall foliage, evergreen & early-blooming perennials are clearly visible until late Spring.

Paeonia suffruticosa, Tellima grandiflora,
Heuchera americana & Dicentra formosa

Plant List

Shrubs
Paeonia suffruticosa: pink single
Paeonia suffruticosa: pink double
Paeonia suffruticosa ‘Taiyo’
Paeonia suffruticosa ‘Yoshinogawa’
Paeonia suffruticosa ‘Zi Er Giao’

Euphorbia amygdaloides ‘Purpurea’ &
Heuchera americana ‘Plum Pudding’

Perennials
Aruncus aesthusifolius (Dwarf Goat’s Beard)
Astilbe simplicifolia ‘Sprite’ (Ostrich Plume)
Athyrium niponicum ‘Pictum’ (Japanese Painted Fern)
Blechnum spicant (Deer Fern)
Cimicifuga racemosa ‘Hillside Black Beauty’ (Bugbane)
Corydalis cava
Dicentra formosa (Bleeding Heart)
Epimedium pinnatum colchicum
Euphorbia amygdaloides ‘Purpurea’ (Purple Wood Spurge)
Geranium ‘Johnson’s Blue’ (Cranesbill)
Geranium phaeum (Mourning Widow)
Hacquetia epipactis
Hakonechloa macra ‘Albo Striata’ (Japanese Forest Grass)
Helleborus lividus (Hellebore)
Hepatica americana (Liverwort)
Heuchera americana ‘Dale’s Strain’
Heuchera americana ‘Bronze Beacon’
Heuchera americana ‘Green Spice’
Heuchera americana ‘Plum Pudding’
Heuchera americana ‘Velvet Night’
Hosta sieboldiana ‘Kabitan’
Polygonatum odoratum ‘Variegatum’ (Solomon’s Seal)
Polystichum munitum (Sword Fern)
Primula x juliana ‘Wanda’ (Primrose)
Tellima grandiflora (Fringecup)
Tradescantia virginiana ‘Blue and Gold’ (Spiderwort)
Trillium chloropetalum (Giant Trillium)
Trillium cuneatum (Bloody Butcher)
Trillium luteum (Yellow Toadshade)
Trillium sessile (Toadshade)

Trillium chloropetalum

Groundcovers
Asarum caudatum (Wild Ginger)
Fragaria vesca (Woodland Strawberry)
Maianthemum dilatatum (False Lily of the Valley)
Oxalis oregana (Redwood Sorrel)

The Cascadia Garden

The Cascadia Garden began in 1920. Betula pendula, Camellia japonica, Erica carnea, Pieris japonica, Hybrid Tea Roses, Weigela coraeensis, Aucuba japonica, Rhododendron ‘Pink Pearl’ & Skimmia japonica were planted during the 1st few years.

Iris douglasiana & Stachys byzantina

From 1961 the Cascadia Garden was developed by the Jackson family. Native plants were transferred from family property on Phantom Lake, City of Bellevue. Chief among these were Acer circinatum, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, Gaultheria shallon, Mahonia aquifolium & nervosa, Polystichum munitum & forest perennials Achlys triphylla, Dicentra formosa, Maianthemum dilatatum & Oxalis oregana.

In 1970 Corylus avellana ‘Contorta’ was planted. By 2008 it was 15 feet high & wide. Too many hybrid Rhododendron were added during the 1980s, an era of excess. Many of the original plants were removed with the notable exceptions of the large & gnarled Pieris japonica & the ever-vigorous Weigela coraeensis. Rhododendron 'Pink Pearl' was relocated. Several more Pieris japonica & 2 Weigela florida were planted after 1993.

In 1993 development of the garden increased dramatically. A wide array of plants were added. Many smaller gardens were made. A perennial border was begun in 1993 which gradually became a mixed border of blue & yellow. In 1994 the lawn was replaced with a small vegetable garden, a large perennial garden, a rock garden & a xeric garden.

5 Paeonia suffruticosa were planted in the perennial garden. Within 5 years they had spread enough to shelter a garden of woodland perennials beneath. The Peony Shade Garden underplanting was begun in 2003.

Paeonia suffruticosa & Geranium phaeum

A slender & pendulous form of Chamaecyparis lawsoniana seeded in from nearby gardens. Some were transplanted to better sites. A bosque was created in the southwest corner of the garden using 4 Chamaecyparis & 1 Thuja plicata. By 2008 they had grown large.

In 2004 the xeric garden became the Stony Slope. The area was retained with low stone walls. Large & small stones were scattered throughout. The ground & path were covered in gravel. Plants from dry, mountainous & stony sites in western North America, western & central Asia were planted.

Between 2003 & 2007 the rock garden was transformed into a 7-foot-wide privacy screen along the northern property line. 2 small gardens were made in front: the Eucomis Circle & the West Coast Perennials Garden.