Melina’s Seattle Area Garden

My name is Melina. Welcome to my Zone 8a garden in the Seattle area. It has been a few years since I have shared photos of my garden with you all (A Love/Hate Relationship With the End of the Season), so it’s nice to have you back to have a peek around. Much has changed over the past couple of years, and slowly my grass is disappearing as my annual “edging” project turns into another foot (or two) of garden border. (The shovel just slipped, LOL.) Next year I have plans to take out some larger sections for dahlias and berry beds, but here is where it sits right now. I have a collector’s garden, which means I love plants but don’t have enough space to plant three or five of many things. So instead you will find a lot of one-offs jammed together in the borders. Like many, I found my way to the garden through the need for peace and healing. What started as a “hobby” has quickly turned into an obsession that I hope to parlay into a career one day. For now, though, I will keep experimenting in this lovely space—learning and growing through dirty hands, piles of garden magazines, and those of you on social media willing to share your spaces and lessons learned. The gardening community is a wonderful one, and I am glad to be a part of it.

Front bed with sweet woodruff (Galium odoratum, Zones 4–8), hellebores (Helleborus hybrids Zones 4–9), hostas (Hosta hybrids, Zones 3–9), and heucheras (Heuchera hybrids, Zones 5–9), with an azalea (Rhododendron hybrid, Zones 5–9) in the background

‘Quartet Rainbow’ stock (Matthiola incana, annual) is a favorite flower I grew from seed this year.

Another front bed with snapdragons (Antirrhinum majus, Zones 7–10 or as an annual) that overwintered from last year, foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea,