Daniel Hinkley and Robert Jones took possession of the Kingston house and property that is now called Heronswood Nursery and Garden, in 1987. This garden showcased a vast inventory of rare and unusual trees, shrubs, vines and perennials that had been largely collected by Hinkley on his travels throughout Asia, Central and South America, New Zealand and Australia. They were responsible for sending these plants to all fifty states, as well as Europe and Asia. Then, in 2000, Hinkley and Jones sold the garden to W. Atlee Burpee & company – a seed and plant distribution company. Shortly thereafter Burpee declared Chapter 11 and the garden went dormant for several years.
In 2012, the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe purchased Heronswood at auction and Founders Hinkley and Jones are now bringing the garden back to life. The garden is very much a work in progress, although what is available to see are many unusual plants that we only saw at Heronswood while on our garden tour with the Garden Conservancy in Seattle.
Dan Hinkley himself walked us through Heronswood, which was a treat in and of itself, as he is one of the most well-known horticulturists in the world. His passion for rare and unusual plants was evident at every turn, and we really enjoyed his enthusiasm. It was impossible to find out what every plant was in the time we had for our visit, so I chose to spend my time observing all of the plants.
One of my favorite plants I saw were the hugest climbing rhododendrons one could imagine, climbing up trees. He brought these over from Asia years ago and they are very happy in their new home. It was impossible to capture them with a camera as they must have been 75 feet high – or more.
There is a structured boxwood garden, pictured above, that was once a vegetable garden. They are currently deciding what to do with this space. In the meantime, one can enjoy the gorgeous Japanese maple which serves as a focal point in the garden. Personally, I would love to see a vegetable garden back into this spot, of course!
Heronswood is a garden in the making and it will be interesting to see in another five years. I have no doubt that it will be an important botanical garden for rare and unusual plants. Daniel Hinkley is the person to make it happen.
