Roses

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GREAT GARDEN YEAR

Peace, quiet, birdsong, this is a great garden year!

Circle of Freinds at dusk

Circle of Friends at dusk

I am finally back into my garden! I did not realize how much I  missed it.  I spent the last years distracted by various life events and for a time ignored my own needs and passions. Learned some valuable life lessons and returned to my roots, my tribe.

20160604_161957                                  Design of pot attributed to Gertrude Jekyll

Thanks to a very mild winter, my garden this year has been sensational. EVERYTHING bloomed profusely.

Rose 'New Dawn' on old chicken house

Rose ‘New Dawn’ on the old chicken house

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Right now I am enjoying the blooms of Hydrangeas I have not seen (in my garden) for years.

'Fuji Waterfall' aka 'Starburst' these American names given to 'Hanabi'

‘Fuji Waterfall’ aka ‘Shooting Star’ these American names given to ‘Hanabi’

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Hydrangea serrata 'Miyama Yae Murasaki' (AKA Purple Tiers)

Hydrangea serrata ‘Miyama Yae Murasaki’ (AKA Purple Tiers)

The secret garden

The secret garden

It is, however, not just about what is blooming.  A ‘Garden’ must have structure and a narrative. Without these organizing principles, one simply has a collection of plants or chaos.

In my design lectures I talk about the 2 points of view on what makes a garden. One is that a garden is where one puts plants, and the other, to which I adhere, is that plants are used to create the garden.

The first is a ‘yard’. A garden is a refuge, an ongoing work of art to be honed and nurtured.

Below, a plant collector’s garden held together by it’s structure. (another post to follow about this garden & the gardener)

Ozzie Johnson's Garden

Ozzie Johnson’s Garden

 

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What are your thoughts? What is more satisfying a yard or a garden?

photos of my garden, taken with cell phone. Ozzie’s wonderful garden with a real camera!

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GARDEN TOUR SEASON

This is the first garden tour I attended this season, there are several more on the agenda.  I promise to post about them all.

Nothing says Welcome quite like a gate. I saw several that intrigued me on the  Gardens for Connoisseurs Tour to benefit The Atlanta Botanical Garden.

P1240474My friend Becky rushing in to get detail photos of this delightful gate. We were tripping over each other in excitement. look at these ….

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Clever designs and beautiful workmanship. We  loved all the details. Gates like these were in several of the gardens, a wonderful piece, both practical and whimsical.

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Several of Atlanta’s finest private gardens open for this annual event. These are all designer gardens with regular and knowledgeable  crews to tend them. They are perfectly groomed. One will never find a yellowing leaf, no space left where a plant was lost, some annual potted plant is placed in its stead, very tastefully.

Touches of whimsy…….

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The summer containers were packed with  perennial foliage plants and annuals.

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I was particularly taken with a table centerpiece …..

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and of course the peaceful sound of water.

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Beautiful gardens…..

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P1240715All in all a no miss event. With our weather this year, the gardens will be more beautiful that ever.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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THIS ‘N’ THAT

I planned this post about Robert Mallet’s lecture but I got carried away with the early Clematis and the Southern Azaleas (Rhododendron indica) and… and…   So here goes…a bit of this and that. (Robert’s inspirational lecture next, promise)

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The walkway from the work /compost area.

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The drive doesn’t look so bad after all. Blooming plants are a great distraction. When the Azalea (Rhododendron indica G.G. Gerbing) is done, the Oak Leaf Hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia) on the right will start.

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The first clematis to bloom for me is the Japanese cultivar ‘Asao’. followed by…

P1210528‘H.F. Young’ and…

P1210534‘Josephine’. This year she is not as double as most. Lyndy, can you shed some light on this please.

Then there is my favorite rose…

P1210539‘Madame Alfred Carrier’.

The garden is glorious and I have not yet mentioned the Styrax obasia, the white Lady Banks rose, the Viburnums (more about them in the next post)…Life is good!

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AUDITION

Perfect for the part!

‘Shopping my garden’ for the plants to surround the Schiaparelli Bench.

The hot colours of the knockout Roses……

and these purple berries (Callicarpa dichotoma or Beauty Berry)….there is also the perilla.. and maybe some cleome.

This area is coming together…at least in my head!

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GARDENING WITH GRANDCHILDREN

Spent a glorious week in Boston with my grandchildren and much to my delight, the older boy is interested in gardening! We visited nurseries where, like a true dirt-bunny, he wanted everything he saw.

Together we planted a David Austin rose ‘Teasing Georgia’, and started seeds. He choose very colourful Zinnias & some basil for his mom.  I hope he does not over-water in his enthusiasm.

It is so satisfying to encourage a young person to discover the joys of the garden.

From my own experience, I remember the very first time I saw my grandmother pull a radish from the soil, I was shocked that it was not in a bunch!!

 

 

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GARDEN TOUR 2

  I am tickled that the rambling rose Etain  is blooming for the very first time,

                                                                                   

I have envisioned it climbing  20 feet up the Oak tree.

                                                                                    

On the other side I have planted ‘Rambling Rector’, another rose that could, under good cultivation reach to 30 feet. So I have hopes for this area to have real impact …..in time.

                                                                                      

The Oakleaf Hydrangeas have formed their flower buds and are just starting to open, beyond them are the fig trees.

What I have long called the Viburnum Court should be refered to as the clematis court, since there are far more Clematis than Viburnum now.

                                                                                          

Shame on me… those majestic shrubs are reduced to being supports for my Clem addiction!

                                                                                                   

Whenever I pass the Schiaparelli bench I congratulate myself on choosing the paint colour.

Here is a good example of either buying a plant while it’s in bloom or ordering from a reliable source.

                                                                                             

The Clematis was supposed to be white…. oops,  sorry, love it just the same , in fact this is a happy accident.

                                                                                        

A quick peek at Clematis Josephine … So feminine!

                                                                                       

And Clematis ‘Polish Spirit’ above.

I am just now getting around to pruning the dead flowers off the Hydrangea macrophylla.  If one waits long enough there can be no mistakes, the new buds are obvious.

Earlier on I would have pruned more for shape than flowers; but now that I have the choice, I left some of the awkward branches for cutting.

When the Clematis are done… we will move on to rapsodising  over the Hydrangeas!

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GARDEN TOUR part 1

“You should have seen it last week!” The familiar phrase heard from gardeners, when showing visitors around. Well to avoid that I’m posting a  time-lapse kind of garden tour. Photos from the garden over the last two weeks.

                                                                                        

The Dogwoods in the meadow, like most other spring-flowering plants, cooked in the 80 degree temperatures. the blossoms did not last long. Above, in their moment of  glory with the native Phlox (Phlox divericata).

                                                                                    

 Above, the view from a second floor  window,  Dogwoods, Lady Banks Rose (white selection) & Viburnums. Those ‘Snowballs’ (Viburnum macrocephalum) are trained into trees.

                                                                               

Love the tree right by the house.

                                                                            

Early clematis, blooming now for several weeks.

                                                                                 

Along the North Border….Viburnum ‘Kern’s Pink’  & Baptisia…. (below)

                                                                             

followed by Viburnum opulus, Purple smoke tree  (Cotinus coggygria  ‘Royal Purple’ ) & Styrax obassia ..heavenly fragrant bells.

                                                                                   

                                                                   

Clematis  ‘Carnaby’ &  Cotinus ‘coggygria ‘Royal Purple’

                                                                                     

Look at those knockout roses below.. not pruned this year, they are lush & voluptuous reaching almost 6 ‘ tall.

                                                                            

The rose,’ Madame Alfred Carrier’, burst out of her restraints..

                                                                                         

so….the trellis is moving again… to paraphrase Margery Fish, “In time she will learn to walk!”

                                                                                     

All leading up to the Shocking Pink Schiaparelli bench.

To be continued….

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FROM GARDEN TO VERANDA

 

                                                             

Bringing bouquets from the garden onto the veranda is a nice way to connect the garden to the house.

                                                                               

None of the big pots of hydrangeas  are here yet. I wait till the 15th of April before taking them out of the Bothy. That is our last frost date.

                                                                                     

As mentioned in earlier posts; If they make good companions in the garden they will combine well in the vase.

Going to post a Spring Garden Tour…stay tuned.

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FALL TOUR

 The area of the garden I’m sharing now on this Fall Tour is little seen because it’s incomplete. Not that any garden is ever ‘done’ or completed, however this part is has only ‘bones’ and is waiting for me to flesh out the details.  Till now it did not seem too pressing because all the important plants were tiny (1 gal.) but over the years they have matured. So its time has come. 

This green space above, divides the grapes and berries on the right from the vegetables on the left. (My husband’s Vegetable Garden is MY POTAGER)

                                                                                 

This feature, four upright exclamation points, is one I repeat in different garden rooms (with different plants)  throughout the garden. Here,  Eastern Arborvitae  (Thuja occidentalis)  ‘Degroot’s Spire’  marks the intersection of several foot paths; to the right ( West) is the Rose Walk terminated by the Schiaparelli Bench….. (below)

 to the left (east) lies the North Border which runs parallel to the Potager ….

                                                                          

and straight ahead, (south) the Viburnum / Clematis Court.

                                                                                           

Looking back, (north) the uprights  frame the putti that resides at the end of the Cutting garden…

                                                                                               

Going forward (south) through the Viburnum Court, around the bend, Oakleaf  Hydrangeas frame the path to the Main Walk and the  back of the house. (note the Camellia sasanqua blooming on the right.)

                                                                                         

This winter some garden construction is on the agenda.

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HYDRANGEA, LILY, LILY……

Recently, Little Augury posted about Lilies. The Regale lilies in her garden,  John Singer Sargent’s  Carnation, Lily, Lily Rose, and Beverly Nichols’ love of Lilies.    All  favorites of mine.

 Below,  an interpretation with what I have in my garden now.  Alas, no rose, no carnation, no children playing …. but Hydrangeas & Lilies in profusion.                                                             

 Lilium ‘Touching’  above, supported by Oak leaf Hydrangea     (Hydrangea quercifolia). Below, solo, three stems in Tulip shaped vase .                                                              

This Lily  is best  in the vase. The flower head is so heavy it breaks the stem.

                                                                                       

                                                                                          

A wonderful addition to the Cutting Garden.

MEANWHILE, in the Potager,  Blueberries are coming in and Figs promise  a bumper crop soon. The figs are ‘Brown Turkey’ & ‘Celeste’. Tune into LINDARAXA where my friend Julieta, will devise some recipes for all that comes in from the Potager.

© All photos 2011

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SHOCKING 2

I LOVE the  Schiaparelli Bench!!

                                                                              

In context, with plants of like colour.

                                                                                                  

                                                                                   

                                                                                             

                                                                                   

This garden space, which separates the “Pleasure Garden” or Viburnum Court from the Potager, has long given me grief. Originally it was conceived as a Rosemary Walk; a brick lined, grass path, planted on both sides with rosemary. Meant to make contact as one passes and release its glorious fragrance.

                                                                                            

Alas, that failed miserably..  The soil here is heavy with clay, and although it has been well amended, it is still not light enough for a mediterranean herb. BUT it is perfect for Roses with Clematis as companions.  I also allow some Cleome to seed itself…..  Still under construction. …. A garden in Homage to Elsa Schiaparelli “that Italian artist who makes clothes!”-  Coco Chanel

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SHOCKING!

Think pink! 

Shocking Pink! 

Schiaparelli* Pink!    

  

Same colour as the pink ‘Knockout Roses’ below…

                                                                             

 BUT the main purpose was to detract from the mess weeds in that garden space. Distraction as a design tool?  It works!

(Paint Behr 680B-5  Strawberry Freeze)

*Elsa Schiaperelli, provocative fashion designer, rival of Coco Chanel.

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WINTER ‘TO DO’ LIST

Phillip Oliver of  Dirt Therapy  has put together a wonderful ‘to do’ list  for January. Which reminds me to move the rose I have been meaning to for years! It is ‘Graham Thomas’ a David Austin introduction.

                                                                                 

 Temporarily planted at the entrance of our driveway 13 years ago, my husband & guests complain it scratches their cars….  the post office threatened to suspend delivery…..

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HOLD THE PRUNERS

                                                                             

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’.

                                                                      

Why I started pruning them I’m not sure, but I was advised by several gardeners that one ‘had to’. This year I did not, well not all. I did start out cutting them back some but stopped when I was reminded of Vita Sackville West’s* plea to just trim roses lightly. So I did. She is/was after all, one of my first mentors.(I read everything I could on her, and everything she wrote that I could access.)
 
                                                                      

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