Month: July 2011

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ONE TIME CHARLIE

I think I know why this plant was named ‘One Time Charlie’.

                                                                                 

 

 It produces many large clusters of tomatoes… ONCE  and after a few ripen….the rest of the plant dies.

                                                                                        

     So what to do with all those  green tomatoes??              

                                                                                                Amish Green Tomato Relish!

                                                       

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time……

Where is the summer going? ………………… it’s almost August.

 How did we get from here….

                                                                                               

                                                                                             

to here??

                                                                                      

so fast!????                 To say the Potager/ Kitchen Garden is keeping me busy…………..

                                                                                

      would be an understatement!!           Look what’s coming in……………

 

                                                                                 

                                                                                        

Spending all my time in the kitchen!!

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THIS ‘N’ THAT

Two great ‘finds’ I want to share.

First,  a great book on Hydrangeas.

                                                                            Not a textbook of different cultivars and breeding crosses but one that addresses the basic  questions about  pruning, drying, cutting, planting , fertilizing etc. THE COLORFUL WORLD OF HYDRANGEAS by Joan Harrison deserves a space in every garden  library.

Second, I just discovered  the very best container  for gathering fresh stems.

                                                                               

                                                                                      Three compartments…

                                                                                    

 and a comfortable carrying handle. Just one of the items available from http://www.arrangingsupplies.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=AFY&Product_Code=321&Attributes=Yes&Quantity=1

I found several useful items here, maybe you will too. Did you notice the  lilies? ….These are Lilium rubrum.

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A GRACIOUS GARDEN

Last week I mentioned my client the gracious Ms. C  and her luxurious  flower arrangements.  Now lets take a look at her garden.

Like so many homes here in the piedmont, the house was set into a slope which began immediately past the brick patio.

                                                                                  

High on one side… ( note patio in left corner)

                                                                                      

drop off on the other.

While several talented designers had created plans for the landscape, it was not till Ms. C  bought an antique fountain in England that serious consideration was given to getting the landscape ‘done’.  Enter me.

Entertaining  & a cutting garden were high on the list of priorities .

So, here is what we did.

We cut into the slope to bring it to grade with the patio, and we built decorative retaining walls ( stucco, same as the house). This would create a larger space for entertaining.

                                                                                      

The soil that we excavated was then reused  to create another  garden room where the grade dropped off.

                                                                                            

                                                                                 

We then terraced the slope on the opposite side …                                                                                   

      to create an herb & cutting garden on the uppermost level.

                                                                                  

                                                                                         

Here there is just enough room  to indulge her passion for gardening ,without it becoming overwhelming.

Below, a few more views…

                                                                                                   

                                                                                       

I appreciate it when my clients maintain their gardens, this one was meticulous!

A gracious garden for a gracious lady. Thank you Ms. C.

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THE BOTHY

                                                 

For years I have wanted a greenhouse /potting shed /garden house/ conservatory…  any structure in the garden to serve the above purposes would do. Not to be confused with a tool shed, we have one of those.

                                                       

Over the years , what I had heard from clients who built any one of the above, is that they were  expensive… One client calls  hers “The Taj” another “The Potting Chateau” … you get the idea…  

Then,  I saw the structure Susanne Hudson built in her garden. Soon as I saw Susanne’s Folly, I knew mine was within reach.

                                                                

Susanne is one of those Designers who can make something  out of nothing!! She built this  conservatory with found windows.

                                                          

Same idea as what Bunny Williams did with windows  & pilasters she rescued from a Hudson River estate. Below.

                                                           

I had to work with what I had, the abandoned chicken coop (terrible story …. dogs chewing through wire… feathers everywhere…..heartbreaking!).

‘Thrown together’ by my husband and untrained labor when I was out of town (I’m apparently too ‘demanding’!)  It was the focal point in the Potager! I don’t even have a photo and believe me…that’s a good thing!

Last week  Susanne Hudson surprised me with a visit . As fate would have it,  she had WINDOWS  in her van and she left them for me!

                                                       

Today  I am 8 windows closer to completing  my garden structure …. the BOTHY.

                                                                   

Edith Hope suggested the name when I posted a potting shed. She commented that it needed a tattered but comfortable armchair and tea making facilities. Then she would call it A BOTHY.

(A one room hut or cottage where unmarried male servants  lodged… Also an unlocked shelter where the wayfarer could seek shelter.)

I’m almost there!

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MORE LILIES!

Starring in the Cutting Garden now are lilies!!

                                                                                         

                                                                                Above, Lilium ‘Montreal’ and Lily                                              

 I love them with hydrangeas.

                                                                                          

 a few feathery branches of Kerria japonica  and we are done. (not done yet!)

Several years ago, on a first consultation, I watched my perspective client pull together an  arrangement on a grand scale in no time at all while we talked about her needs in regard to her ‘outdoor space’. I always try to emulate her. The arrangement was loose, natural & ‘happy’, the  antithesis of   Beverly Nichols’ ‘Our Rose’, famous for torturing stems into fantastical & outlandish shapes.  I recently visited with the  gracious Ms C. I will post her garden in the next few days.

Meanwhile…..harvest from the Potager…..

                                                                                          

How fortuitous to have a coordinating bowl for Delicata squash!

© all photos 2011