My background is graphic design. I live in West Seattle, a peninsula that juts out into Puget Sound just south and west of downtown Seattle, Washington.

Since 1994 I have kept detailed notes of nearly every plant that has gone into this garden, where and when it was planted and the inevitable failures. Eleven years ago, armed with a new, digital, Sony Mavica (that had an awesome macro lens) I started chronicling my garden’s best moments throughout the year with photos. I photographed each bloom and bit of green as it emerged from the earth. (I am now using a Sony A57 that accommodates  my old Minolta lenses.) I have a need-to-know-what-it-is curiosity when it comes to plants and wherever we travel, I photograph plants new to me and then attempt to identify what I’ve seen. I’m a perpetual art student, I enjoy travel, the simplicity of camping and being outdoors.

The original intent of this blog was to act as a reference for one of my sisters who was trying to plan her own garden on the Long Beach peninsula. It has evolved as most things in life do, into more than gardening and garden photography. Now I share about canning and travel experiences too.

I consider a large part of my garden to be a legacy garden, as many of the plants in my garden have come from our grandmother’s garden, so this is a nice a way to visually share what’s happening here with my sisters, other family members and friends.

In addition to ornamental gardening, I have kept a vegetable garden for the past 18 years and take pleasure in eating and preserving what I grow.

If you have stumbled upon this journal, I hope you, too, will enjoy my backyard notes and photos.

—gretchen

I am the photographer and owner of all images on this site. Images on this site may not be used without permission. All photographs and images G.Flickinger ©2012. All rights reserved and may not be used without permission. If you are interested in licensing one of the photographs for commercial purposes contact me at:  inkplusinc@gmail.com