Kimberly Robinson is taking the West Seattle Garden tour and providing a series of photos and reports as she visits each location. NOTE we have added EXCLUSIVE to the West Seattle Herald aerial footage of the tour from Marty Riemer's Twisted Scholar Videography.

E Garden
Kathleen Kemp and Tad Davis
10602 California Ave. SW

Perennials and evergreen plants pack this street corner garden. Vines, Wisteria, clematis and honeysuckle along with Akekia vine and Ivy plus jasmine, minty agastache and trumpet creeper are all part of the floral array. Elsewhere gaurs, brown eyed susans, echinacea and fig grow profusely.

F Garden
Diane Kelleher
10710 Marine View Drive SW

Mature trees and a terrace with conifers mixed with plants and flowers are out front. In back are an entry arch in beautiful mosaic, a decorative Balinese themed goldfish pond, with a Japanese umbrella pine. Along the back of the house are camellia, azaleas, and yellow tree peony. Another bed has petasites, daylilies, daphne, choysia and Japanese Stewartia.

Large dahlias and tall windmill palms are at the back of the garden and are joined along a path by Miscanthus, weeping Salix caprea, and a strawberry tree.
A shrub rose adorns an arbor.

In the corner is a shed-style studio with bamboo nearby.

G Garden
Tom and Christine Naylor
9040 18th Ave. SW

Out on the parking strip of this home are conifers of several varieties. In the front garden here you'll find Japanese maples lions head maple and yellow campsis vine. A Walking Stick, star lilac, and large dinner plate dahlias surround a Japonica.

In the side yard are a Frremontodendron San Gabriel, a Ginkgo, sambucus and strawberries in a planter. Viburnum and miniature daphne are here too. A deck and pergola utilize bamboo.

Wild ginger and fruit bearing sambucus are behind the deck. Along a stone pathway are mulitple varieties of Strawberries and crops for the fall including sugar snap peas and Italian beans, blueberries, garlic and asparagus. An evergreen iris is also here. Espaliered apple and asiar pear trees line the north fence.

Garden H
Jim Reid and Richard Smith
1300 SW Webster Street

A large Empress tree and sambucus are out front along with Eucalyptus and colorful pots. Pineapple sage is growing in planters here and apple and olive trees are planted along a fence. Toward the west gate are lilac, viburnum, ginger lilies, and very tall Hedychium Forrestii. Mespilus germanic a 'Marron', a hybrid fruit tree produces medlar, fruit that ripens in winter.

The back yard though not deep is full of trees, flowering shrubs, and tropical plants. Along the east path are red flowering maple and variegated dogwood.

Garden I
Susan and Kevin Maude
1308 SW Webster

Hydrangeas, grasses and yellow azaleas joined by cryptomeria and salvia are the plants you see first here. An arbor is graced with silver lace vine.

This mid mature landscape is occupied by fish, flowers and birds and a small brightly colored rowboat sits in the garden by a crow's nest for a children's play area. A small stream feeds a koi pond and papyrus and cannas grow nearby.

A play cottage for children is here too with a curved planter home to hydrangea, daphne, and sedum.

A curving path at the south fence has heuchear and saxifrage along it and in the east corner are smokebush, viburnum, fuchsia, and sunflowers along with three kinds of bamboo, creating a boundary.

The exit gate has climbing hydrangea and a corkscrew willow.

Garden A
Judy Pigott
1718 Palm Ave SW

Out front on the parking strip you'll find native plants with Creeping Jenny, Rosemary, and Lavender along with a Cherry and Katsua trees that also live near an old rose, forming an arbor for the sidewalk.

Forget-me-nots greet you in the front garden with a tall Mahnonia Japonica full of yellow flowers attracting hummingbirds.Hollywood Juniper grows near a small goldfish pond which is tucked under Ceanothus and Salal. A bluestone path leads to an alcove/patio where Adirondack chairs look welcoming flanked by a large driftwood bowl. Growing here are Mahonia Nervosa, weeping Japanese maple, a dwarf shore pine, variegated saxifrage and black mondo grass.

Along the driveway are two Amelanchier trees and snowberry and fuschias grow near rain barrels. A view of the Seattle water front accented by Heucheara and hummingbird mint are out back. Blueberries, raspberries growing with ferns and Clematis are there too. Berry brambles cover a ravine and in the corner are white lilac and ninebark.

Evergreen sedges line the south path with Akebia vine on the fence.

Garden B
Diane and Stephen Loeb
1917 Sunset Avenue SW

A Yew hedge leads to the front entry and an optunia cactus grows there. The front lawn has been replaced with coral bark and Acer Palmatum, Cotinus, Liriope and black mondo grass plus Witch Hazel which blooms in winter.

Ferns and Leland Cypress form a path, joined by Hellebore leading to the back where you see a view of Puget Sound. There is seating here for the family and a container home for Euphorbia.

Around the yard are Ceanothus, rosemary, willow, and acanthus mollie plus a strawberry tree, Arbutus unedo, and leading out to the front again to sedges, hexes along the driveway. Lavender, sedum and grasses grow in the curb strips with daylilies.

Garden C
Vivian Goldbloom
1938 Sunset Avenue

Tall palm trees look perfect next to the stucco style roof. A path in the shade lined with hellebores, dwarf maple, variegated pachysandra, and Clematis grow across to the next gate. The western view is framed by Japanese forest grasses Goldflame Spiraea and rosemary.

A west facing wall is home for a climbing hydrangea and a Campsis vine grow around the front window.

A stone patio has planter bowls of Heuchera and a tiled fountain. Lavender and Witch Hazel are kept company by symbolic animal friends rabbits, raccoons and a topiary hound. There is a 'Spirit House' here and a stone bench with hebes and rosemary joined by a stone cat.

A small grotto with Camelia and Japanese Maple near a fountain full of colorful glass floats are near the exit of the garden.

Garden D
Linda and David Strout
1945 Sunset Avenue SW

Two Japanese Maples in containers line the entry to the home and frame the view of the Puget Sound, through the house. A weeping Cedurs atlantic a grows along the driveway, with hemlock and hosts on the edges.

A hydrangea lined path to the back garden is also home to daphne, ferns, an aucuba.

The deck has large steps and a low yew hedge is on the horizon of the yard. A cutting garden lies below. Stone pavers with succulents between them and a guar are there plus an olive tree, shrub rose on a trellis, and apple and pear trees.

A cedar tree shades a rhododendron and ferns on the south lawn.

Junipers and a boxwood hedge line the deck and the exit path sees fuchsias, Pieris japonica, Nandina domestica, and blue oat grass.