A Garden With a Sense of Humor
And now for another of the gardens of the DC Fling, this one belonging to Ellen Ash and located in the suburbs of Northern Virginia. The aspect of this garden that has stayed with me most is its sense of humor.
The front of the house is mostly conventional, though there were some spray-painted Alliums that raised a few eyebrows.
The back garden is full of tranquil mossy paths …
But those paths lead to frequent quirky vignettes, as with these “attack flamingos”
I liked this mama flamingo and her babies.
Moose and flamingos in the same garden – talk about biodiversity!
There are also fat cats.
And creepy crawly spiders, good for a Halloween display.
There’s a magical watering can. Apparently with the right magic you will never run short of water.
More paths with plenty of shady spots to rest.
It appears that a tea party was interrupted at this table.
A large Buckeye (Aesculus) shrub of some kind provided some summer blooms in the shade.
Here’s a view of the back of the house. The woodland garden surrounds a large central lawn.
All these blue Hydrangeas are impressive, though personally I prefer white Hydrangea blooms.
That back garden also contains a large pool.
While a nearby cat enjoys a swinging lifestyle.
But be careful not to wake the sleeping loepard!
There’s a lovely water feature shaded by a Japanese Maple (Acer japonicum). 
Including a pond full of koi and water lilies.
Here’s another water feature in the shady woodland.
I wasn’t really sure that this aluminum space lady is meant to be reclined upon. It doesn’t look very comfortable.
It’s nice to see a garden where the gardener lets her imagination run free.
That’s all for now.
gardeninacity 
Those flamingos are rad! One of my colleagues had those in his garden. I would do it to if I were more daring. Another colleague is a famous landscape designer in West Hollywood, so it would be extra offensive. Los Gatos has the ‘Cat Walk’, where plaster cats are hidden around downtown. Maps can be obtained at some of the local businesses, so that participants can check off the cats that they find. It sounds silly, but my great niece really digs some of the cats. Some of them are pointed out by signs below. some are hidden better than others.
I can appreciate someone else’s flamingos but they really wouldn’t be a good fit in our garden. We do have a concrete chicken, though.
How are the eggs?
Rather gritty.
Fun ideas, I love the water feature.
I liked it, too.
What a wonderful garden! Love the space lady! Any idea of the size of the lot?
Oh, I’d guess 1.5 to 2 acres.
Nice! It would have been great to have one of those magical watering cans last week when the power was out.
I know. Kind of remind’s me of the sorcerer’s apprentice.
Wonderful space and I love the art! The water features are really lovely as well.
The art is lots of fun.
I enjoyed that garden and loved the water features. The Aesculus parviflora/Bottlebrush buckeye was indeed beautiful. I am hoping that the tiny plant in my garden will have blooms like this one…someday!
I would really like to have one of those Buckeyes – Judy is from Ohio, after all. Thanks for the ID.
I love that front view you shot where you really get a sense of the layout. While there are many things in this garden that I liked, there is way too much distracting silliness for my taste.
Yeah, I don’t think I would ever have that same concentration of whimsy. But hey, the garden is an expression of the gardener’s vision.
What an interesting garden – that’s unfortunately one of the ones I missed as I went back to the hotel early due to a touch of heat stroke from the day before (learned my lesson that day – lots of water and keep that hat on my head!)
Didn’t realize you had heat stroke – sorry to hear that. You’re right about keeping hydrated and wearing a hat.
I live in Florida so I would NEVER put a flamingo in my yard, but they look cute in this one! Lovely place with interesting decor.
I guess there is no need for plastic flamingos when you have plenty of real ones.
I love this garden! Spray-painted alliums? I should try that, since the real ones won’t grow here. I enjoyed the quirkiness of this garden, but I equally like the lovely plantings and moss paths. My kind of place!
I’m not so sure about the spray-painted alliums, but this garden did have a lot of personality.
I think that’s a bottle brush buckeye. I have one but it hasn’t ever bloomed. That’s okay though, because I wanted it for the foliage.
I think you are right about the species.
You have a knack for capturing the heart of each garden you visit. This one was fun to explore and it was obvious Ellen enjoys interjecting her garden with fun and whimsy.
Thank you.
I liked the way the back garden was layered with wide steps, a chair, and lovely green foliage almost cascading down the slope. Good ideas in the garden. Also, a bit of humour in a garden is always great.
A bit of humor is almost always a good thing.
This gardener certainly has a sense of humor. 🙂
Indeed.
I like all the creatures that inhabit this garden. The plantings are lovely.
The creatures are certainly entertaining.
Jason, this garden was so full of twists and turns; it seems you and Judy saw many things that I didn’t notice, along with some that I do remember. I love seeing the same place through someone else’s eyes and this garden was rich with eye candy. Thanks for the great tour!
I had the same reaction when I looked at the posts by other flingers – they definitely caught things I had missed.
A beautiful garden! The conventional aspect makes the jokes even funnier.
Hadn’t thought of that, but you’re right.
This garden is right up my street, loved all the features, especially the watering can and the spiders. Cool!xxx
Did you meet the gardeners? Bet they are fun to be around.
Unfortunately, I didn’t.
I love when gardens reflect the gardener’s personality — and when a gardener feels the freedom to let that personality shine!
I noticed lots of mulch, lots of hard-scaping, not much thought for native bees which for the most part are ground-nesting and need bare soil
There was some bare soil, mostly in the shady areas. Overall, I don’t think that habitat was a top priority for this particular garden.