Another Different Sort of Garden

It poured on and off today...the first of many days to do so. Although it won't be a steady rain at all, with many breaks. So hoping to get out in the garden and at least a bit to continue the fall clean up. 

But today I had the pleasure of driving up to Ridgefield, WA to visit my friend Ellen, who has created quite a garden on 3.7 acres of land with a heck of a view. She's an avid conifer collector, both dwarf and large and at last count she has 406! We toured her property and then had a lovely lunch with homemade soup and bread. It turns out that we have quite a lot in common (she's a very new friend, so we're just exploring our interests now) including art backgrounds (she's a Ph.D in art history, my undergraduate is in fine art) and gardening and plant collecting of course, and we both drive 2019  Subaru Crosstreks - an odd coincidence.

At any rate, this is her view, on a very murky day. In the distance is the Columbia River (you can see the border of trees and a glint of water - the water in the foreground is sort of a marsh), which separates Washington from Oregon and on the Oregon side you'll see Sauvie Island in the distance, which is where the president of the botanical garden has a nursery. He and Ellen are friends, which is how we met. It's only 8 miles as the crow flies, and 35 miles by road. Amazing isn't it? (Laura, I've added her location to the map...I think she must be sort of close to you.)