Enchanted Garden Of A Hosta Hybridizer

A story about a door to a parallel world came to my mind when I stepped into this garden. I read the story long ago. It was about a person who, during an ordinary walk in the city, opened a small gate and found himself in another world.
In this case, there wasn't even a door to the garden that I want to show you. It was just an opening in an evergreen hedge that separated the yard from the road. When you drive by, you wouldn't even know what an enchanted place is behind it.
I made several steps toward the house and gasped.
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Straight ahead, behind a small manicured lawn, I saw an arbor standing at the edge and attracting attention the way a magnet attracts a piece of metal. Or, should I say, the way a light attracts a moth? Do you see that arbor? This is a closer look:
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It had a gorgeous clematis on its left side, in full bloom, and a climbing hydrangea

on its other side.
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A huge, picturesque lupin was the next thing that caught my eye. I think it was the biggest lupin I'd ever seen.
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A tall columbine with huge blooms begged for attention too. Trust me, the blooms were HUGE! Do you see a hellebore to the left of the columbine? It was humongous too!

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Beyond the arbor was a slope, and on that slope, was a magical shade garden under the huge, tall evergreens.
The background of the garden was absolutely marvelous and literally took my breath away.

The forest with different tones of green looked like an enormous curtain. On that background, there was a huge moss-covered stump and three big spheres which James King, the owner of the garden, created himself. I spent several minutes admiring the view.

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The three spheres were the first that Jim had ever made. He said that the spheres' layers are very thin but strong. The staining, made of iron oxide and water, was brushed on and created an instant rust. He also used some acrylic craft paint for highlighting that faded with time.

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These stone-looking steps were created, as Jim said, on a whim, after he cleared the hillside of tons and tons of ivy. He purchased bags of concrete, which were ripped and sold at discount, and used plastic lawn edging as a form in making the steps.

James also made hypertufa pots for different small plantings, such as his hosta minis, that don't do well in the ground.
In the next picture, there is the first hypertufa papercrete that Jim made. "You take rolled up newspaper and use it on the instide of the mold, while you're building the sides. I like the effect this gives the pot" - he said.

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Photo by James King

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Well, back to the forest. But before, let's look behind us. Isn't it a magnificent view?

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The floor of the forest was clean, and the plants, growing on the both sides of the steps were not crowded. There was ample distance between them, which allowed to see every single plant.
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Wild cyclomen, hellebore, ferns and hundreds of hostas. Actually, it was a hosta kingdom.

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The hostas consisted of all imaginable sizes, shapes and colors. In the picture above, there are Jim's hybrids, the result of several years of hybridizing, which are put in the field for evaluating. He uses some of them as subjects for further hybridizing.

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Above is a Japanese cultivar called Hyuga Urajiro, a fine specimen, displaying blue/green leaves with streaking, as Jim noted. "I've used it in my hybrid program, but haven't had any significant seedlings yet. Hybridizing is a lot of work, and a lot of getting lucky".

The gold mini hosta on the right is Atom Smasher. Jim explained: "It is from Ron Livingston, a veteran hybridizer in Detroit who has mentored me since I wanted to become a hybridizer. I bought this plant in 2005 from him and have had several very nice seedlings. This first one was Sizzle. Ron has encouraged me to market it after seeing it in 2007".
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The Maple in the picture above was planted in 1980 when Jim moved into the house. It wasn't until 1995 that he started gardening. "And that was having a lawn" - he says.
He started to create beds several years later. After clearing the hillside of ivy, Jim asked his friend, a gardener, what will grow well in shade.
"Well, I would plant some hostas" - she said. "What's that?" - asked Jim.
The friend shared some of her hostas. Then, they began to visit nurseries together, and Jim would pick up a particular cultivar that he liked.
"I didn't really get into collecting them until I met the Boyz at Naylor Creek in Chimacum, Washington. 
Then, it was like I was in a candy store. I wanted each one of their 300-400 varieties".

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Above is Jim's hybrid that is 3 years old. He said that it's coming along nicely, and he hopes it'll produce some fine new hybrids. "I have some ambitions with it and a new one I produced that has these beautiful fuchsia colored scapes/inflorescence. When they emerge they look like snakeheads, and then fuchsia colored sepals form".

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Besides hostas, there were so many things to see in the garden! Succulents in hypertufas and in the ground, a variety of grasses, saxifragas, bamboo, epemediums, hardy fuchsias... I could easily spend a whole day in James' garden.

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One of the climbing hydrangeas enveloped the huge fir tree. I can only imagine how spectacular it is in full bloom!
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Stones, volcanic rocks and garden spheres look like an organic part of the garden.

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One last look at the enchanted garden... I hope I can see it again one day.

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Photographs by TatyanaS. Text by TatyanaS with commentary from James King.

James King left this world in February 2017.
Thank you Jim for your friendship.
Rest In Peace.
(03/01/2017)

Copyright TatyanaS 2010