Month: February 2011

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A HOST OF GOLDEN DAFFODILS

“…A host, of golden daffodils…”                                                                        

“…beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.”

                                                                                                                                                                               

“They stretched in never-ending line………..”

                                                                                                                                                                            

“And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.”

                                                                        

My meadow… a landscape inspired by a poem.

To hear Jeremy Irons recite Wordsworth’s poem…  http://www.facebook.com/#!/BluestoneGarden

© All photos 2011

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FABULOUS FRAGRANCE!

The moment I walked out the door I knew it was blooming.

                                                                                 

Winter Daphne (Daphne odora aureomareginata)  the  most powerful fragrance imaginable. To quote a delivery person “That is LOUD!”

                                                                                         

She is not hard to look at either. Fragrance reminiscent of Lilac…but more… and  hauntingly beautiful.

© All photos & text 2011

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DESIGN “HOW TO”

Donna, at Garden Walk Garden Talk has just completed a series which outlines in detail the design process.  This series is so well done I wish I would have written it. 

Click  below for a summary of the posts with a link to each.

  http://gardenwalkgardentalk.com/2011/01/21/process-of-design-the-base-plan/

/http://gardenwalkgardentalk.com/2011/01/22/process-of-design-site-analysis/

http://gardenwalkgardentalk.com/2011/01/23/program-needs-process-of-design/

http://gardenwalkgardentalk.com/2011/01/25/schematic-design-process-of-design/

http://gardenwalkgardentalk.com/2011/01/27/plan-development-process-of-design/

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FRECKLE FACE!

                                                                            

All of the Helleborus in my garden are seedlings.  Each one has different colouration …. all stunning, all with freckles.

                                                                                         

Only one named variety from the Heronswood ‘Party Dress’ Strain. It is a double, and  not open yet.

                                                                                          

Perhaps because there are so few blooms at this time of year they are all the more appreciated.

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MEANWHILE, IN THE GARDEN..

On a tour of the garden today, signs of spring …

                                                                                           

The Meadow is coming alive..

                                                                                              

Soon I’ll  post the results of 13 years of rescuing daffs and trying to achieve the ‘English Thing’.

                                                                                   

Meanwhile the Winter garden is doing what it is supposed to and is at  its peak….The “peak” lasts a few months…  Above, Prunus mume & Helleborus, below, a camellia…

                                                                                                  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Below,  evergreen shrubs make this is a very satisfactory garden area. 

                                                                                                                                                    

 

Notice, below, the variegated Boxwood, the berries on the Heavenly Bamboo (Nandina domestica ‘Alba’) and the groundcover  Sweet Flag  (Acorus gramineus ‘Ogon’ )…

                                                                                                    

 This is usually the time of year projects get started &/ or continued to be worked on, some, for many seasons. There are so many projects…..

When we started this  garden, we did not consider, EVER, declining  physical stamina.

© All photos & text 2011

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THE SEED PROJECT

It’s that time of year again…

                                                                                     

 Last minute check of catalogues to make final decisions…. it’s the same routine every year…In January  the descriptions, read by the fire, seduce us with their prose. We lust after so many varieties and make endless lists, finally the seeds on hand are checked and then we decide what  will be ordered.

                                                                                           

Dahlia, gets into the act…

                                                                                                                                                                               

                                                                                                                                                 

My husband  trims the list to a “reasonable” size …….15  types of tomatoes, three of each. Those are the beefsteak type. Then there are the Plum tomatoes the best known is probably Roma. I like the ‘San Marzano’  and ‘Amish Paste’. We should have a dozen or so plants of these….

                                                                                      

 and probably way more …. I have to remind  him… we garden, not farm….

© All photos & text 2011