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Continuing our tour of Bill and Linda's garden we see how he artfully mixes up perennials with his shrubs, trees, and hardscaping. This is a perfect picture to see the design of the mixed garden. Here we have an evergreen arborvitae, daylilies, a pine tree in the background with a 'Forest Pansy' in the foreground, as well as a sidewalk to the right of the display. Just lovely.
Here is a long shot of the side of Bill and Linda's home. Bill's garden is set off center to the right of the home when looking at the house. The garden was a destination very close to the home with its own little secret hideaway in the garden--which you will see.
Whimsy was done up right in the garden. There were tons of sitting areas with nice garden artwork to look at while one relaxes in the shade. I especially liked a huge full length mirror hung on a fence. It enlarged the garden nicely and made one want to go and peer inside of the mirror.
Here are some of the lovely ladies who enjoyed the garden tour. We have from left to right: Naomi, Irene, Charene, and Vonna. They are peering inside of the adorable garden shed/retreat.
And you too can peer inside of the garden house. It was fully finished and had electricity, pergo floors, and a lovely wooden finish on the walls and ceilings. I can see myself spending many hours and even sleeping out here.
Do you all know what this plant is? Many of you do but many don't as well. This is 'Summer Beauty' acanthus, aka Bears Breeches. This is a nice architectural plant in a garden. Give it room. If it is a happy plant it will bloom and may even spread out for you. I have one in my current garden and one on the land. The one in my current garden has suckered out a bit and I've been able to share these suckers with some of my friends (Sandy--I'll save you one). Mine has not bloomed but I suspect it might one day. Bills' grew in a mostly shade but I have seen them grow in sun or shade. In my gardens I have planted my plants in about half and half.
We'll finish with this long sidewalk taking us to a formal garden complete with a beautiful statue. We'll look at a few more pictures Friday....
in the garden....
Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden
One of the benefits of being in a garden club--and a fairly active one at that--is the ability to meet new gardeners and to tour gardens. One of our members (Sandy) is from the Hopkinsville/Clarksville region and knows many folks around the area. One of her childhood friends (Bill) happens to be a very good gardener. Sandy had been wanting to visit his garden for a while and wanted to take our garden club (Beachaven). Well, the garden tour finally went on the calendar this year and eleven lovely ladies went for a nice convoy along some country roads to Hopkinsville Kentucky to visit Bill and Linda's garden. What a treat!
I would call Bill's garden a mainly mixed garden consisting of trees, shrubs, perennials, and hardscape. There is a heavy emphasis on trees and shrubs; which is my kind of garden! All of the specimens were artfully sited to titillate the senses with color and texture. Being that it is spring chartreuse was a big color factor so I started this post with a lovely spirea and the spiderwort in the above picture (with blue flowers) is 'Sweet Kate' tradescantia. Blue and chartreuse colors work very well together.
I believe the above shrub to be a 'Tiger Eyes' sumac though I did not ask Bill so can't be 100% sure. 'Tiger Eyes' is a highly sought after shrub that is quite in vogue right now. It and elderberries seem to be all the buzz.
Hardscaping was a major element of the garden. Bill has been very hard at work making numerous paths, formal gardens, a water feature and even a delightful garden retreat. A picture of that will come in a later post. There are three posts on Bill's garden this week. After that I suspect I may take a blogging break or slowdown.
This mock orange was the prettiest mock orange I have ever seen. Maybe because it was growing in full sun it was very happy. I am not sure. The flowers were only slightly scented but did have a nice scent. When shopping for mock oranges always buy them in bloom so you can be sure you get a scent. Even if you buy a shrub with a nice scent, sometimes scented shrubs don't always have a scent each year. I think it depends on growing conditions. I have noticed this with a sweetshrub I purchased last year. It had a good scent then but doesn't have much of one now. This mock orange was unique in that the flowers were really large and it was simply gorgeous!
Bill and his lovely wife were kind enough to set up a little table in the shade with all sorts of bottled water and drinks. It was a delightful little spot to relax and chat about the garden.
Another long view shows some of the conifers mixed with deciduous shrubs. Bill chooses his shrubs for texture and color. Conifers, Japanese maples, and other shrubs fit in nicely together in this garden.
I started this post with a spring picture and I guess I am ending it with a spring picture too. Peonies are a staple of spring gardens. I think Tennessee is getting close to their southern limit but anywhere they can get a good cold spell will ensure your peonies do well. Bill's peonies were bursting with color on this sunny day when we visited....
in the garden....
Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden
If I could grow only ONE rose (it's impossible I know!) it would have to be the climber called 'Zephirine Droughin' (ZD)!
I do not take lightly my choice and have given it a great deal of consideration. There is really no contest in my garden (I have several cultivars and varieties including the ever popular Knockout roses). Nope, hands down ZD beats them all.
ZD is a climber that will bloom sporadically all season long. It gives its main flush of blooms right about now. My ZD is two years old and receives no special care whatsoever. Gosh, I don't even fertilize it! I do have to train the canes. I decided last year once I saw how vigorous it was growing to train the canes to not only grow over my small arbor but to grow over the adjacent chainlink fence. That was a success as you can see! ZD is fairly thornless, has an old rose scent, does not get any defoliating leaf diseases, stays looking good well into the winter, and is an overall excellent rose. It would be my ONE and only if I could grow only one rose. Thank goodness that is not the case!
Blooming nearby are several other perennials. Anything that blooms at the same time and looks good with other plants can be good companions. I just happen to think that some of these perennials are good companions for roses. The first is iris.
Next up are baptisias. This one happens to be 'Carolina Moonlight'. It will be moving to a new home very soon on our land but for now it looks great in Tiger Gardens 1 near ZD.
Peonies. Peonies and roses and irises and baptisias alone can make an AWESOME spring garden. Throw in some salvia and wow!
More peonies in the garden. These bloom with catmint. Catmint is an excellent companion with all sorts of roses and perennials. As a bonus catmint is drought tolerant, looks good all season, repeat blooms, and makes a fantastic groundcover under roses.
Finally a long shot of some of the dozens of peonies in my garden. This is the rear center bed. Here you see some of that salvia ('May Night' shown here but there are many good types) I talked about, catmint, irises, and peonies. There are also roses nearby (directly across from this garden in the Sunny Perennial bed. All are super good bloomers....
in the garden....
What is your ONE and only rose?
Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden
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