And yet another southern beauty…
Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora)
The fragrance is indescribable! It does, however, conjure images of iced sweet tea , enjoyed on the veranda.
© All photos and text 2010
Just in case I needed another reason to love gardening in the south…
The gardenias are blooming. Wish I could post the fragrance!
Are you getting it?
© All photos & text 2010
I am in a quandary.
Do I paint these black (matt) or pale blue?
Surrounded by hydrangeas the blue would be whimsical, but what about when the camellias show in pink red & white?
Recently, Tara Dillard of A Garden View, posted about frames in the landscape. It brought to mind a lovely vignette I saw in a garden while in England. Initially I thought an artist had set up to paint.
As I approached
I saw
What had been ‘Framed’.
The lesson here is that framing a view brings it into relief. Scroll back to the last photo, see the difference? See Tara’s post here.
©All photos & text 2010
Plants with a cascading habit, call attention to the ground plane. Above, The heavy flowers of Snowflake Hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Snowflake’), draw the eye to the Japanese painted fern (Athyrium nipponicum).
The flower on ‘Snowflake’ has double sepals, significantly different from that 
of ‘Amethyst’ above, or ‘Alice’ below.
Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’ forming it’s flower heads. This is one hydrangea that SHOULD BE PRUNED early spring. These hydrangeas form flower buds on NEW GROWTH.
UPDATE ON EPHEMERALS:
The Trillium are fading, (see yellow foliage). What will clothe the ground now is Vinca. I really tried for Selaginella kraussiana aurea, below
but it prefers the path so I’m going to stop fighting and let the vinca do its thing.
Arum foliage has died down & the berries have formed. They need to ripen, then they will be spread where more are needed. See previous post on Arum.
FINALLY THE POTAGER:
Below squash, peppers, cucumbers, beans, Eggplant 
and below, TOMATOES!! 
Have a great week end!
©All photos and text 2010
The Hydrangea serrata are in bloom.
Hydrangea serrata ‘Kurenai’ + Hydrangea serrata ‘Shichidanka’
Close up of flowers, H. serrata ‘Kurenai’ above. H. serrata ‘Shichidanka’ below.
The grapes will soon obscure my old tool collection. below.
Mouth watering anticipation…Blackberries (thornless).
Base of Tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) with a river of Japanese Painted fern (Athyrium nipponicum) & Japanese Hydrangea-vine (Schizophragma hydrangeaoides ‘Moonlight’) Below.
Oak Leaf Hydrangeas ( Hydrangea quercifolia) below, in all their glory.
© All photos & text 2010
I previously mentioned my Clematis Crush ( here and here ). Beside the beautiful flowers, the fact is they require only vertical space. That makes them the perfect companion to any shrub or small tree. Most shrubs have a limited bloom time so a well-chosen flowering vine can really extend the season of beauty. Also, from a design point of view, any element seen at eye level has tremendous impact.
I thought I would showcase some of the clematis blooming in the garden now.
Clematis viticella ‘Venosa Violacea’ climbing through a viburnum.
Clematis texensis ‘Catherine Clanwilliam’ on an obilisk till it reaches into the branches of Styrax obassia. Below, looking up into the flowers.
Clematis ‘Piilu’ or sometimes called ‘Little Duckling’, an Estonian hybrid with smaller flowers.
Most of the above are blooming in viburnums that are passed their peak. The clematis fill the gap between bloom time and berries in this part of the garden.
Below, Clematis ‘Rouge Cardinal’ being trained to clothe Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Snowflake’.
Finally, Clematis purpurea plena elegans, chosen to bloom with the roses. Below.
I hope you consider adding some to your garden.
© All photos & text 2010
How important is Texture? Texture can be more pleasing than flowers, and persist longer. In smaller gardens where every design element is seen up close, it is of particular importance.
Here the bold glossy leaves of Lenten Rose (Helleborus orientalis) stand in a mass of delicate Maidenhair fern (Adiantum capillus-veneris).
Plants used for background need to be fine, dense and matt in order to be a suitable foil for either statuary or flowers. Above St. Fiacre against a matt evergreen Arborvitae (Thuja plicata). On either side the coarse, shining leaves of Gardenia (Gardenia japonica) and Banana Shrub (Michelia figo), reflect too much light to be an effective background.
Contrasting textures apply not only to plant relationships.
Here the fine ferny foliage of Japanese Maple ( Acer palmatum) stand out in sharp contrast to the smooth Bluestone walkway.
The best effects are achieved with simplicity. Texture = contrast = beauty.
© All photos & text 2010
I have for several years grown the ‘Knockout Roses’. They had so much good PR, I was sold. Since it promised a long season of color,( something clients inevitable ask me for) I thought I needed to try them. Well, they did indeed bloom all summer long and stopped only around Christmas but they were far from ‘maintenance free’.
It worked! While I had complained before of their stiff habit; I now see they can be a graceful cascading plant. What will happen during the summer? I’ll keep you posted.
Now, what to do about their lack of fragrance?
NOTE: the wire cage in front is protecting a newly planted antique rose from the deer.
*Vita Sackville West was the planting genius behind the garden at Sissinghurst Castle, Kent England.
© All photos & text 2010
The hydrangeas are coming!
The Oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia) is just starting. This native has much to recommend it. When it first breaks dormancy, the leaves are silver-grey and fuzzy, the flowering is worthy of a glass of champagne. The handsome foliage turns a wonderful burgundy red in the autumn (almost December here in Georgia) and when the leaves finally fall, the stems look like peeling cinnamon sticks. DO NOT PRUNE this shrub unless it is necessary to keep it in bounds, better yet, just give it plenty of space. If you must prune cut bouquets while it is in bloom. This will assure flowering the following year.
The first of the macrophylla types, ‘Penny Mac’ is showing a bit of color. I rely on this plant to carry the garden through the summer months. This hydrangea was not named for my dear late friend Penny McHenry. It came to be known by this name as it was refered to as “Penny’s macrophylla” (hence ‘Penny mac’). This was one of the first remontant types that later led to the breeding of ‘Endless Summer’ and many more reblooming types. There is a new hydrangea, developed by Mike Dirr et al, named for Penny called ‘Mini Penny’ look for it at your local nursery. No pruning here either. See above.
The buds on Hydrangea serrata.
Typically the serrata group is earlier flowering and lower growing, maintaining a height of 3′ and spreading wider. This group hails from the mountainous regions of Japan, therefore not so quick to leaf out on the first warm day (usually January here) and then get frozen as the colder temps return. No pruning.
© All photos & text 2010
It works just like one imagined!
It has taken some years but finally the Variegated Aralia (Acanthopanax sieboldianus ‘Variegatus’ now called Eleutherococcus sieboldianus) is sending it’s graceful arching canes into the Viburnum dilatatum.
Later these viburnum flowers will become clusters of red berries, many will grace the Thanksgiving floral centerpiece.
Somewhere in there is planted a white clematis. It has not been seen yet this season. Although the earlier viburnums have a delicious fragrance, these do not…
© All photos & text 2010
To a peek through parts of my garden. Nothing is styled here, this is real-time. Hoses snaking around beds and weeds.
Poppies, from a dear friend who acquired them from a 90-year-old gardener 40 years ago. End of this month we will celebrate her 94th birthday.
some semi double, some single, all stunning.
I spread the poppy seed on cultivated soil in the late fall, after a rain. These seeds need light to germinate. If they were scattered in cultivated dry soil & then watered the soil would cover the seed, excluding the light.
I always allow the seed pods to ripen. After extracting the seed to be used in bread making and saving some for the garden, the pods are used in dry arrangements. This is an annual show.
And there are more Clematis.
This Clematis is ‘Multi-Blue’, the Viburnum is ‘Michael Dodge’. The viburnum flowers will turn to clusters of yellow berries in the fall when HOPEFULLY, the clematis will bloom again.
Another clematis, ‘Duchess of Edinburgh’ cascading through a Tea Olive (Osmanthus fragrans).
And finally,
The Potager. Growing now, Onions, Leeks and garlic. All the beds are enclosed with wire to keep the rabbits out.
© All photos & text 2010
That was not the front of my house in the last post. This is, below, taken in winter so there is no wonderful green lawn sweeping up to it and the trees are bare.
I thought the other photo was a better illustration of my point.
FYI, it was a client’s house ‘before’. There is no longer a foundation planting of tidy pruned ‘meatball’ shrubs there anymore.
© All photos & text 2010
There are several types of transition spaces. The first would be the porch or veranda. Here the veranda unites both indoors and out, creating a continuous living space.
My veranda outfitted for a long hot summer of outdoor living. (above & below)
Below, the sweeping lawn and the trees on either side anchor the house to the landscape, strengthening the relationship between architecture and site.
Other transition spaces that create interest in the garden are pergolas, trellised walkways or arbors.
Here one passes through a dark shaded area into a pool of sunlight.
The above arbor was created using only plants. No Money? No excuse!
© All photos & text 2010
Another vase of peonies.
Went into the garden to rescue the peonies from the torrential downpour we had on Sunday. Fortunately not many were past the bud stage so there will still be plenty in the garden. I find that peony hoops are ineffective in this type of weather.
I was surprised that many survived the storm.
Have I mentioned that before the clematis love, there were peonies…roses…hydrangeas……? Brings to mind the lyrics “when I am not near the one I love… I love the one I’m near!”
Recreating Eden Landscape Blog 