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BROWN & CRUNCHY

Wish it were candy I was referring to, but it is not. Parts of my garden are brown & crunchy.

                                                                  

Variegated Weigelia (Weigelia florida ‘variegata’) in April…

Weigelia today.

Truth be told, I have neglected this part of the garden. There is just so much water one can pump out of a well during a period of drought. I do not remember the last time we had any rain, nor can I remember the last time the temps were lower than 90 F. Choices had to be made. 

This part of the garden has been in a bit of decline and it was never ‘designed’ to my satisfaction. Another winter project on the To Do list.

The native plants are so much more tolerant of drought. Below, a photo of both the Native Oakleaf  Hydrangea ( Hydrangea quercifolia) and the French mophead (Hydrangea macrophylla).

                                                                    

Both were watered last week. 

 I would like to introduce you to my new, constant companion! (below)

                                                                    

This is the best type of sprinkler for many parts of my garden, lots of water over a large area.

Moving on…

                                                                  

the basil is doing well

                                                                     and I am making Pesto, which will be frozen for the winter. I love to open a jar of sunshine in the middle of January and eat in front of the fireplace.

The recipe I follow (very loosely) is from Craig Claiborne’s New York Times Cookbook .

2 cups basil leaves (no stems)

1/2 cup Olive Oil

1/4 cup Pine Nuts

5-6  Garlic cloves (or to taste)

1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese grated

Combine in the Food Processor till creamy (the consistency of baby food)

Add salt  to taste and serve over pasta. (or freeze)

If it seems too thick, add a tablespoon or so of the water that the pasta boiled in to thin.

Should you want to be really authentic you can combine all the ingredients with a mortar and pestle. Hence the name Pesto

Enjoy!

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THE COUNTESS & THE CLEMATIS

                                                                     

If you have been following this blog you already know I have a passion for Clematis .

                                                                    

( if you missed them see under categories) they are planted  at the base of almost all the  viburnums  in the garden. So, no surprise today when I came across new growth on Clematis Catherine Clanwilliam ( photographed above in May)  and saw…

                                                                   

FLOWER BUDS!!..

I am so looking forward to this re bloom.  Which brings me to my post today.

Several weeks ago I received an e-mail through the ‘contact me’ page on this blog. Cheryl Purdin  requested  seeds of  Clematis Catherine Clanwilliam. Her plan was to have the gardener start the seeds so her employer, who just celebrated her 87th birthday, could see the plant bloom again. It was to be a surprise. Her employer is Her Ladyship Catherine, Countess of Clanwilliam for whom  Barry Fretwell named said plant.

                                                                  

 The Countess seen above in a photo from 2008, “is a very keen gardener who has made interesting and delightful gardens both in Northern Ireland and in the county of Wiltshire in South Western England.” -Attributed to Barry Fretwell.

Since it would take several years for the plant to bloom if started from seed; my friend Graham, in the UK, helped me locate a mail order nursery in Germany & year old plants were ordered.

 So the countess & the clematis named for her were reunited once more.

 

Don’t you just love a story with a happy ending?

The Countess’ photo appears with the permission of her 6 daughters.

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HYDRANGEAS & GARDEN UPDATE

Hydrangea paniculata looking particularly lovely…

 taking on its autumn hue

                                                                   

  So is Hydrangea macrophylla below.

                                                                 

AND I am loosing the groundcover war @ the Mourning Bench.                                                                     

Some critter is digging up all my transplants and I have to fix them every morning. I have resorted to laying chicken wire over the lot & hope it deters whatever. My guess is a racoon digging for the worms in the compost I spread.

                                                                  

 Perennials need so much maintenance.I think I remember why I thought the vinca could take over!! I cannot spend every day replanting & trying to save what has been dug up with so many other tasks to attend to. AND, I am directed to economise and unfortunately gardening help is very low on the list of priorities. Good thing is, I am getting into shape.

Moving on…

The Perilla I allowed to stay…

                                                                 

 MUST be out of here before it sets seed. So far I have loaded the ‘dump truck’ and I am not done yet.

                                                                       

It served its purpose ; which was to shade to roots of the clematis planted around the perimeter of this garden room.; and, with no effort from me , will return again next year so will the cleome. My garden philosophy is to let the self seeders do their thing.  I can look after the shrubs & clematis. When this part of the garden, The Viburnum Court, is between bloom & berries, the clematis, perilla & cleome really liven it up; then the perilla & cleome take over & keep it ‘furnished’ till the berries show.

                                                                   

What I did Labour Day Weekend… below

                                                                    

  I really like it , It just recedes into the background without calling any attention to itself.

 The To Do list gets another check mark.

And finally… more plants I will be rushing to banish before they set their seed. But oh, the butterflies & Hummingbirds.

                                                                    

not to mention I love the colours!!

© All photos & text 2010

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IT’S THE BERRIES!

A sure sign that summer is drawing to a close…

                                                                        

  above, Viburnum dilatatum ‘Erie’.  Below, V. ‘Michael Dodge’                                                                  

 Today I caught the scent of the Tea Olive (Osmanthus fragrans.) Amazing how a fragrance can stir a memory. More amazing, the HUGE fragrance from such a tiny flower.

                                                                     

Last week at the Atlanta Botanical garden…

                                                                  

A cornucopia covered with dried flowers…

                                                                  

and a lecture by Fergus Garrett; head gardener at Great Dixter. UK

                                                                  

                                                                   

                                                                

Exciting lecture, GREAT GLASSES!

© All photos & text 2010

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DESIGN SOLUTIONS

 Pointing to the car port at our first meeting, Ms. H. said…                                                        

“We will get rid of that eyesore.”  (below)

                                                                     

 After surveying the property, I saw that this side door (very close to the kitchen) was the only access to the garden. There was no back door.

“Wait” I said “I think we can use this”

                                                                     So I designed an outdoor space for dining, with privacy from the street and  access to the garden.

                                                                                                                                       

 A brick semi circular patio completes the space.

Even Mr. H loved it.

© All photos & text 2010

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WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

                                                                               

                                           Rosemary supervises the Blog

© All photos & text 2010

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PROJECT MOURNING BENCH

For this area, the Vinca has too  much movement & energy; the glossy leaves reflect so much light one can hardly make out the ‘star plants’…

                                                                 

  So out it went (to a friend’s garden).

                                                                   

The golden club Moss,(Selaginella kraussiana ‘Aurea’) on the other hand, has a matt texture & absorbs the light. It makes a much calmer background which allows the ‘stars’ to shine..

                                                                     

This is so much better. I first added a wheelbarrow of rabbit manure & raked it over the ground. No digging is done here because there are Trillium rhizomes underground. Then I dug up the Selaginella from the path on the other side…

                                                                  

                                                                   

And transplanted it. While I tried for whole ‘sheets ‘ of the moss, it falls apart, so little pieces with roots are pushed into the ground. They will shortly spread to form the carpet needed for this area.  All the while…                                                                     

  Cleome supervised.  

This type of gardening is really painting beautiful pictures with plants…but the one element the other arts do not have to deal with is TIME.  If I was using paints or pencils…it would already be coloured in.  

The Star plants are:-

                                                                      Black Mondo Grass (Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’)

                                                                   East Indian Holly Fern (Polystichum acrostichoides)  and…

                                                                       Amorphophallus rivieri, a type of voodoo Lilly.. all improved by changing their background.

                                                                  

                                                                  

A good days work all in all, and part of another project started.

                                                                   

“Success depends on simplicity, one plant supplying the quiet background, while the other stands out clearly against it.” – Sylvia Crowe*

*Sylvia Crowe, distinguished British Landscape architect.

© All photos & text 2010

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WHAT WAS I THINKING?

Never one to work on just one project, I am now looking into another area of the garden I may not have discussed before; that would be the Mourning Bench.

                                                                             

  Located  down the walk from the Circle of friends,  just past the intersecting path that leads to the Potager and compost, sits the Mourning Bench. Flanked by two variegated Boxwood (Buxus sempervirens ‘variegata’), it is recessed into the border and one can pass it without noticing.

                                                                    

I spent a lot of time here, both having morning coffee and finding shelter from the sun when working in the Potager. Opposite the bench were planted perennials, a tapestry.  Quite lovely for several years, then…

                                                                  

 the Vinca appeared.  Above, it is pushing the Golden Club Moss (Selaginella krausiana ‘Aurea’) into the path. Earlier in the season I thought I would let the Vinca take over….but It looks terrible!

WHAT WAS  I THINKING?

                                                                  

So, while I recruit an extra pair of hands to help with the landscape fabric, then locate the right colour pea gravel for the Circle of Friends… this is what I will be working on.

© All photos & text 2010

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IN THE GARDEN…AT LAST

The heat has finally broken (low 90’s) and the  humidity has dropped. Early this morning I chose a project from my ever-growing list of things to do in the garden and out I went!

The project is the ‘Circle of Friends’  What is needed here are a few finishing touches.                                                                                                                                            

Today I pulled  string  and arranged the brick to line the path that leads to and from the Circle of friends. Next will be the landscape fabric, crushed stone & pea gravel, and finally painting the furniture.                                                                  

This area is so peaceful, it is one of my favorite spaces in the garden. Arranged  in the shape of an oval…                                                                   punctuated by four variegated Boxwoods, it suggests finality and invites repose.

                                                                   It sits under a wonderful canopy that allows dappled light and provides perfect conditions for both camellias & hydrangeas to flourish. In this case the plants both create the space  and embellish it.

While I had hoped for a carpet of moss, That idea has been abandoned as impractical. The seating is not all I wished for but it is comfortable and affordable and when painted BLACK it will recede nicely. Then all that is needed is a groundcover.

 I just might put a check mark next to one project this summer.

© All photos & text 2010

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THE LAST CLEMATIS

                                                                  The last Clematis to bloom in my garden is the Sweet Autumn Clematis (Clematis terniflora )                                                                  

I love this clematis. If I did not, it would be banished  from my garden. It is a thug. But so beautiful, so fragrant, and  my honeybees are all over it.

                                                                      

 When I lived in Massachusetts I planted it against the house. It climbed to the second story and found its way into my studio window and bloomed inside.

                                                                   

But in Georgia it is another matter. The seeds are all viable and if left to their own devices  will germinate and take over the garden. In order to avoid this, it is cut to the ground immediately after the bloom. Too bad because the seedheads are spectacular, however I dare not let it go to seed. The one year it was neglected  over 30 volunteer clematis had to be dug up the following spring. Of course this does not apply to gardeners in colder climates.

                                                                 

Strong and vigorous it can exceed 30 feet. In the above photos it has smothered a Tea Olive (Osmanthus fragrans).

Known alternately as Clematis paniculata then  Clematis maximowicziana, it is aptly named ‘Sweet Autumn Clematis’. For me this is one of the first plants to signal the end of summer.

© All photos & text

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HEAT ADVISORY!

This may be the first time in my life I wanted summer to be OVER. In Georgia we have had 63 days with temps in the high 90’s and that is before they calculate the heat index.

Hope is on the way… I saw camellia buds today.

                                                                           Cooler weather is around the corner. I can’t believe I was as excited to see these , as when I see the first daffodil pierce the ground in January.

© All photos & text 2010

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HYDRANGEA PANICULATA

Hydrangea paniculata is one of my favorite hydrangeas.These are the hydrangeas my grandmother grew in Montreal, Canada. She also grew H. paniculata grandiflora,aka Pee Gee but I don’t have that cultivar in my garden. (soon to be rectified)

                                                                    

From Left, cultivars ‘Pink Diamond’ ‘Tardiva’ ‘Chantilly Lace’

The major differences in the cultivars are the size of the sterile florets and foliage, ‘Pink Diamond’ being the largest.

This hydrangea can be cut to the ground and it will grow right back and bloom late summer.(see here) I guess that is why it was the choice in her Zone 3 garden. The winter would cut everything to the ground. However, it is NOT necessary to cut it back. The flowers (pyramidal panicles) will be more profuse but smaller if left unpruned.

I also have observed H. paniculata ‘Fragrant Mountain’ given to me by Eddie Aldridge* but it seems to be a later flowering plant and it has not yet opened. Last year I observed that there was NO fragrance, but maybe this year…

 

*Eddie Aldridge and his father discovered and introduced the Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Snowflake’. Eddie and his lovely wife Kay donated their home and acreage  to establish Aldridge Botanical Gardens in Hoover Alabama. Visit if you can, it is extraordinary! Read Eddie’s book ‘A Garden of Destiny’

© All photos & text 2010

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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GOOD BONES

Last week I was in the vicinity of a garden I had designed 8 years ago. I had recently heard that the property was for sale and had been sitting empty since my client had moved out-of-state to caretake elderly parents. Driven by curiosity I stopped by. Much to my surprise this little garden has held up!

                                                                         

Retaining walls were built to hold the bank after we excavated for the patio. Originally the slope started just 10 feet from the back door. Not usable, nor a great view from both living room and eating area off the kitchen.

                                                                     

A shade structure allows for comfortable dinning out-of-doors. ( I noticed the climbing plants are no longer on the wall.)

                                                                     

  Single slab Crab Orchard stone steps lead to the upper level, alongside which there is supposed to be a waterfall terminating in a small pond…

                                                                   where presently there are the remains of a  temporary Rose Garden .    

                                                                      Utilitarian steps to the compost, pea gravel & lumber are fine for this area.   

                                                                       And finally for ease of maintenance, stepping-stones  set into dwarf mondo. Never needs mowing.  

                                                                      Because of the height of the hill, two short walls were erected. One would have looked too much like a fortress.   

Without any care at all in this very long, hot, Georgia summer the Annabelle hydrangeas are holding up. They are underplanted  with evergreen ferns & Lenten Roses (Helleborus orientalis) for winter interest.

 The stone was selected to blend with the colours of the interior. Rich browns & muted terra-cotta, with pops of orange and yellow.

I hope someone buys this soon, and I hope the rest of my design gets installed or repurposed for another.   

 © All photos & text 2010