Native plants are the perfect complements for West Sound gardens. They are easy care, once established, and many of our “domesticated” or “cultivated” plants once had native roots. Also look for native plants that survive well in British Columbia, Oregon and perhaps Northern California. Visit the native plant sections at local nurseries for ideas. And […]
hansville
Posted inHome
An English Country Cottage in Hansville
Tires crunching a tidy, graveled driveway announce one’s arrival to Roy and Barbara Wilson’s Skunk Bay home. It lies just beyond the waterside hamlet of Hansville and is nestled on about 5 acres just above the bay. Apples lay at the feet of their expansive lawn, welcoming deer who may happen to saunter by and […]
Posted inHome
Sounds of Silence
Stand on the deck and listen. It’s not exactly silent; there’s plenty to hear. There’s the chirp of birds and the rustle of the breeze in the trees. Crows bicker and an occasional heron squawks as it glides by. Underlying it all is the faint sound of waves from the beach far below. It is, […]
Posted inGarden
Gretchen Lee’s Garden of Graces
The garden of Gretchen Lee is filled with delights for the senses. It exudes peacefulness in many areas but also includes raucous, gleeful rampages of colorful plants in others. She has created garden rooms throughout the landscaping surrounding her home in Hansville. When Lee and her husband, Bill, purchased their home and moved in during […]
Posted inPeople & Places
Living and Loving Art Fully
Entering the home of Darrol and Judy Gover, one is struck immediately with the sense that this is where creativity lives, energy thrives, and not a moment of time is to be lost. Darrol, at 82, has a dozen projects going at once. And when he isn’t working in his garden, carving and painting a […]
Posted inFeatured, People & Places
The Sentinel of Yesteryear Still Beckons Visitors
Long before American ports became a major part of a burgeoning transportation industry — and before roads became as common as Northwest rain — Puget Sound was a bustling maritime throughway. The gateway to Puget Sound for all the ships too large to enter Deception Pass was Admiralty Inlet, where the Point No Point shoal […]
Posted inFeatured, People & Places
Buck Lake Native Plant Garden — A Place to Learn Abundantly
In 2005, Hansville Master Gardeners Roland Malan, Susan Harrington and Sheri Kiley, along with landscape architects Mary Booth and Patrick Leuner, met with county parks staff and presented a plan to steward and beautify a very neglected, weed-infested, abandoned motocross dirt bike track into a native plant garden for all visitors to enjoy. The plan […]
Posted inFeatured, People & Places
The Seaside Garden of Dody Solaas
If you were to drive west toward Hood Canal after passing the Hansville General Store on the right, you could easily miss a charmingly beautiful seaside garden on the Hansville shore. The cozy home and garden of Hugh and Dody Solaas is tucked behind a double car garage and lattice fence, with a small, gravel […]
Posted inAround West Sound, Blog, Gardeners Corner
Hansville Ladies Aid Society Hosts Garden Tour
The Hansville Ladies Aid Society Garden Tour on Saturday, July 26, will feature six gardens in the Hansville area. Each garden has a theme title and signs will be posted at the entrance to the gardens. The theme titles this year are Plant Collector’s Garden, Stylized Japanese Pole House Garden, Beach Garden, Garden with Sculpture […]