Wow, glad your wife is enjoying gardening. It makes such a difference when our spouses love it too.

Nice! The plants look good too. ;-)
With my high elevation, 750 ft., and 20 miles from salt water, I'd never try those plants in my yard. Nice to see them in the area though.

I know someone out near Kent that had gums (Eucalyptus) for years, only taking them out when they bent over onto the roof under ice loads. If they had not had them planted near other trees that were shading them on one side maybe they would have fared better.

Same site has a tall Chilean fire tree (Embothrium), a large cutleaf tanoak (Lithocarpus), a special form of California bay (Umbellularia) called fresnensis, a nice southern beech (Nothofagus), an outdoor cactus collection, palms...currently they are experimenting with oleander (Nerium) cultivars ordered from Plant Delights.

Low temperature there (in 1990) was 7F.

Hi Ron.

When I was in college I bought many plants from a nursery that was called rare plants msk, or something like that. The man that owned the house was a U.W. professor and I bought anything they would sell me. One thing they would not sell was a cut leaf Lithocarpus densiflorus. The leaves were beautiful, but the form was just like a common conifer. From a distance, I don't think one could distinguish the rare broadleaf from a common conifer. There is, though many examples from thier nursery at my dead grandmothers house in Snohomish, as well as my parents house. One of these days, we should chat, and maybe go out for a day and take photos, as well as exchange locals for fairly exclusive and hard to find plants. Also, if you are not a vegan, I have two places that have the best clams, little necks, and manillas, as well as possibly the best oysters in the state. After Heronswood is gone, we need to stick together, and continue to learn by trial and error. My wife has out of the blue taken an interest in my hobby, and she would like ot meet some of the people involved. I think the has already met Ian Barcley. Take care.

-Brian

Your yard looks nice and lush. Your wife is pretty, and apparently patient for posing for photos for you. :-) Sounds like she has figured out that if she gardens, she gets to spend more time with you. Hmmm, maybe photography is a way I could involve my DH, who does not like to spend time in the soil like I do. Oh well, at least he'll dig a hole for me every once in awhile.

Brian -- it was the late Maureen Krukeberg's nursery and her husband was Art Krukeberg, botany professor at the UW.

Here is a link that might be useful: MsK Nursery Legacy

Spellcheck: Mareen. I was mentioning the one collection because botann might be interested that somebody else farther out had been successful with such plants. This property is up on a low rise, however, and from the look of botann's shots they may be in a frosty hollow.

If Brian (or anyone) wants to coordinate sometime I (and my friends) know of many intersting plants and places.

bboy, anytime, anywhere, I'm game. I'm retired, so no problem. This could be fun and informative!
Yes, they are in a hollow, but the air drains fairly well there. I have tried to keep the low areas as open as possible. It's hard because that's where the soil is best with the most moisture during the summer and the best place for SE Asian trees and shrubs. My topography on 10 acres varies a lot. Forty ft. behind my house the land drops away to the north at about 45 degrees down at least 500 vertical ft. It's heavily forested with doug firs and ferns.

Likewise with native trees the giant specimens are beside streams and near rivers, often in low areas where moisture and nutrients are abundant. Proximity to water also confers fire protection, on many sites the ones right on the stream or other water source may be the only ones that survive conflagrations and continue on to reach great size and age.

David C. Lam Asian Garden at UBC, Vancouver has prime site for Asian trying southeast Asian exotics: comparatively high precipitation, natural underground irrigation and relative lack of wind. Was even bypassed by destructive Arctic front in 1990, the forceful arrival of which could be heard elsewhere in Vancouver from the Lam garden (down here it sank the passenger ferry dock at the north end of Vashon Island just as a friend was stepping onto the ferry).