
Windcliff, A Story of People, Plants and Gardens
Windcliff is the private home and garden of Robert Jones and Daniel Hinkley, sitting on a south facing high bluff overlooking Puget Sound near Indianola, Washington. Jones, an architect, designed and managed building of the house while Hinkley set about to make his second garden, his first to accept a palette of Mediterranean taxa. Though a work in progress, the structural elements, many raised by Hinkley from seeds or cuttings from his many trips abroad spanning three decades, are achieving maturity while providing the guts for a garden that spans four seasons.
The Washington Post Review
Oct. 7, 2020 – Adrian Higgins, garden columnist for The Washington Post, reviews Dan’s new book in “How Dan Hinkley distilled a lifetime of gardening lessons into a paradise named Windcliff.”

Dan Hinkley’s quest for distinctive plants has led him on expeditions to China, Korea, Nepal, Chile, and remote areas of North America. The Explorer’s Garden: Rare and Unusual Perennials presents the most fascinating perennials found during Hinkley’s treks around the globe, describes the assets each plant brings to the garden, and explains how it is best cultivated and propagated.

Explorers will encounter little-known exotics such as the sapphire-berried dichroas and vermilion-flowered Desfontainea spinosa (Chilean holly). The Explorer’s Garden: Shrubs and Vines from the Four Corners of the World also includes more familiar, but just as garden-worthy, plants such as witch hazels, hydrangeas, and sassafras.

Lengthen the gardening season by transforming your single-season garden into one that blossoms throughout the year. Flowers, berries, barks, and leaves provide brilliant color on dark winter days, and this guide emphasizes plants that possess special cold-weather traits. Included are sections on cultural requirements, pests and diseases, and companion plants. This book is out of print, but available used.