Private Garden Tour, Part III

     Probably the most challenging place for a garden from our tour is the Goodman garden. Not only was it right on the ocean with all that entails horticulturally, but it also has a very unusual layout. The lot is shaped like a large letter "L" with an access road to the neighbors property separating the two parts of the L, one which the house sits on and the other where the front garden is. The garden as a whole is a good marriage between plants and architecture, and this is apparent as soon as the front entrance comes into view.

     This gate marks the entrance to a narrow side passage separating the Goodman garden from the neighbor's, and leads to the back garden, which faces the ocean. In lesser hands this would have merely been just a way to get from point A to point B, but I must say, this small space was one of the most intriguing and impressive residential garden spaces I have ever seen (consequentially all the photos). The lush interplay of texture, color, stone, wood and light is even more remarkable considering this is probably a wind tunnel funneling salt air and spray straight from the Atlantic.

     The side garden leads to the back patio where we were met with an impressive display of lilies, and yet again I kick myself for never having grown this type in my own garden.

Crinum and Scholar Stones

     Although wild dune vegetation blocked the view of the ocean from the garden, you could hear the waves, and I am sure the view from the upper floors was wide open.

     We have one remaining garden on the tour, which I will show in the next post, but you can see Part I here, and Part II here.