2026 University Place Garden Tour - Bill and Lisa

This is Bill and Lisa. This is our garden in Roman Ridge and we would like to share it with you. Off we go. A lot of my vision is from my mother. She was a gardener and a lot of the plants I have are plants that she wanted and the wisteria was one of them. Beautiful purple chain of flowers. This is a pink dogwood. We had always wanted a pink one and finally found a spot for it. I really love my trees. I love my weeping sequoia. He's beautiful and my atlas cedars and I obviously love all my flowering trees. Each one has a story. This one's from my mother's neighbor who decided that she didn't like where it was and she just said if you dig it up you can have it. Over here I have a jade that should be on the indoors but just loves to be outside for the summer. And up here we have a hanging basket that my daughter purchased for me for Mother's Day which I love. Then we do have the bonsai that came from my wonderful friend Jim, a bonsai lover and he shared one that belonged to his father which I just adore and I'm gonna do my best to keep it alive. We'll see how that works. And the Japanese maple was one of the original plants from the house when we moved in. What we got here is our little nautical theme. The anchor came out of Puget Sound. It was found on a scuba dive. Well this little guy here is a trillium. It's native and anything I could get that's native I really enjoy them. This is a false lily of the valley. It grows in old growth forests and in forested areas. Then we have the Solomon's seal and this actually came from my mother's house. That was one of her favorites. We really love azaleas and rhodes. We have lily of the valley and it is thriving every year. Just must love the soil or the shade from these trees. So that will be our front yard. So now let's go to the backyard and it's a little busy. So now we have the backyard and we have a lot of plants. This is a black lace elderberry and over here is whipcord cedar and then we have the windmill palms. We've actually had those in pots for 20 plus years and we just decided this year to plant them and they are doing so well in the ground. Then the pond. It started out as a fort for the kids and when it got looking like a pond I said I think it's time to make a pond. It just drowns out the traffic noise and it makes it so fun to relax. The ferns I didn't even plant. I think the birds did that for me but I like them. Bill loves them and the peony which is one of my favorites and then a Japanese umbrella tree. Then you got Bill's mother's blueberries. Look at fruit. This is the fourth of July rose. He's beautiful. This one is Audrey Hepburn and it is so fragrant. Tons of blooms. It's one of my favorites. This is a path that my husband put together. It's a Montana rock and if you notice there's little fossils in them. It's kind of cool. This is the shade area of our yard. This is a South African clivia. They bloom once a year. I have to winter them inside and I've been propagating them. I started out with one I think I have eight now. Coleus, ferns and hostas. Everything that doesn't like the sun. These are Italian cypresses and I love these. I love the height. I have a very small backyard but by putting those I just think that's pretty cool. We got different sections, different rooms that you can go and they all have a different feel or vibe to them but we like to think of it as an outdoor living space. We have our friends over and do our barbecues, watch the news. I love it. This is our pergola and it has been a wonderful outdoor space and we are out here all the time. Kind of our private space. It's just a nice cozy place. Thank you for coming to our garden. We really enjoy sharing. Have a wonderful day.