Dan Hinkley still misses his legendary nursery – sort of.
Even Dan Hinkley’s most ardent followers might not realize that he has a soft spot for Sondheim.
“‘I chose, and my world was shaken,’” he quotes from “Sunday in the Park with George.” “‘So what. The choice may have been mistaken. The choosing was not.’”
Hinkley’s travels are endless, his plant discoveries legendary and his speaking engagements frequent. He admits that the cache of publications that discuss him is “nauseatingly large.”
How, then, did the 2007 Bainbridge Home & Garden Show nab the renowned horticulturalist to headline this weekend’s program at Woodward Middle School?
“As I lived on Bainbridge for several years, and I look out to Bainbridge from our house,” Hinkley said, “I feel compelled to return the support the residents of the island paid us while we owned and operated Heronswood.”
It’s Heronswood, the Kingston nursery Hinkley founded over 20 years ago with partner Robert Jones, that brought Stephen Sondheim to mind. Last year’s closure by owner W. Atlee Burpee & Co. left local gardeners in a state of botanical shock, Hinkley among them.
Hinkley still misses Heronswood, along with the extended family that grew up around it. But he has no regrets about selling the nursery. Like Sondheim’s character, he moved on.
Like many of the hardiest plants, Hinkley’s life’s work is a hybrid. His varied, synthesized interests – teaching, writing, plant-hunting – continually return to the “indescribable feeling” he gets when he observes a plant for the first time in its natural setting.
“If I knew the plant already, it is like meeting up with an old friend in his home town,” he said. “If it is a new acquaintance, there is that titillating sensation of another story, or subset of stories, to be learned.”
This curiosity drives his teaching, the area of his work where he says he feels most competent.
His perspective resonates with plant experts and lay enthusiasts, who marvel not just at his vast plant knowledge but also at his generosity in sharing it.
With Sunday’s garden show talk, Hinkley hopes to “excite the palette of the greater Pacific Northwest,” which he believes is “the hands down best place in the world to make a garden.”
He’s referring to the climate, which affords a wonderful opportunity to grow a huge variety of plants. But he also speaks to the savvy of well-known local gardeners, who comprise “a vibrant community of like-minded people.”
“We count David (Lewis) and George (Little) as amongst our best friends,” Hinkley said, “and they, along with Ciscoe Morris, Linda Cochran, Richard Brown and a few non-islanders are part of a small fraternity that we have assembled over the years.”
Over the coming months Hinkley will travel to Europe, China, Australia and New Zealand. But at home in Indianola, he and Robert Jones are busy reworking their south-facing cliffside property, Windcliff Gardens. From there, they can see mountains, Sound and city along with Bainbridge.
Their goal for Windcliff is to create “a less energy, resource dependent landscape.” To that end, they’ve replaced over 70 percent of the five-acre lawn with plants that don’t require supplemental water during the growing season.
“What I ultimately want,” Hinkley said, “is an overgrown, exceedingly fragrant, not too fussy Mediterranean landscape.”
Seasoned gardeners will find it unsurprising that in the midst of these and other large-scale endeavors, weeding still gives Hinkley great purpose. “It is soothing for me to be amongst plants and doing a chore that is somewhat mindless yet allows me one on one time with the plants I am trying to grow.”
Besides, Hinkley added, “I remain convinced that if one has to work a little bit to enjoy a beautiful view, it makes the view more beautiful.”
Hinkley counts his blessings, both the property that he and Jones hope to enjoy together for the rest of their lives and a profession that has “so vastly rewarded” him. He said he feels driven now “to begin giving back more fully to the community of gardeners that have allowed me thus far to shine in my craft.”
He and Jones have willed Windcliff to the University of Washington and its arboretum, with the hope that the institution will “simply sell it to the highest bidder and use the money” rather than try to preserve the garden that is so unique and pleasing to them.
“Gardens come and they go,” Hinkley said, “as they should.”
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Home & Garden
Bainbridge Island Home & Garden Show events at Woodward Middle School include:
Saturday
Certified appraisers: Kathleen Victor and Don Jensen, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Bring in your household antiques and family heirlooms. Cost is $5 per item – max three items per family.
Molly McCabe: Kitchen and Bath Remodeling Trends and Tips, 10 a.m.
Jim Ullrich of Wild Birds Unlimited: Cultivating Orchard and Mason Bees, 11 a.m.
Little and Lewis gardeners: Topic TBA, 12 p.m.
Ann Lovejoy and Bethany Shippen: topic TBA, 1 p.m.
Environmental Home Center: Green building, 2 p.m. (www.environmentalhomecenter.com)
Sunday
Certified appraisers: Kathleen Victor and Don Jensen, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Bring in your household antiques and family heirlooms.
Jim Ullrich of Wild Birds Unlimited: Developing a Backyard Wildlife Sanctuary 10 a.m.
Molly McCabe: Tips on Getting the Most from Kitchen/Bath Projects 11 a.m.
Marianne Binnetti: Known for her 2 acre garden in Enumclaw and her latest book, “Gardening in Washington and California” –
Presentation: “Dirt Cheap Gardening,” 12 noon
Dan Hinckley: Horticulturist, formerly of Herronswood Nursery, 1 p.m., “New and Exciting Perennials, Shrubs, Vines and Trees for American Gardens.”
Mesogeo Greenhouse: Terry Moyemont and Terri Stanley – topic TBA, 2 p.m.
Environmental Home Center: Green Building, 3 p.m.
