Dirt Therapy

Blankets of snow

2008-09-03T19:42:00.005-05:00

What? Snow in September? Not quite, but Sweet Autumn Clematis (Clematis ternifolia) reminds me of it as drapes over hedges and mailboxes across town. It always pops up in our garden unannounced and usually in unwelcome places. For example, the hedge in the above photo runs along the street and encloses a tiny vegetable garden. I always see the clematis scampering about it during the summer and I usually just yank it out since this hedge has to be trimmed about every four or five weeks. I don't know how it escaped me this year but when it started to bloom, it was too pretty to pull it out.

The vines are covered with these tiny star-shaped flowers and will reach distances of 20-30 feet if given the opportunity. It thrives here, in sun or shade, and is very drought tolerant. I'm always digging up seedlings and sharing them. It grows fast and can easily cover an arbor or gazebo in a season. It can be cut back all the way to the ground in the fall or the following spring.

In addition to a beautiful show, the vine has an intoxicating sweet smell!

Dutchman's Pipe

2008-08-27T18:12:00.013-05:00

Do you need a fast-growing vine that will provide dense shade? When asked this, I always think about the Dutchman's Pipe (or Pipe Vine) but due to its tendency to invade I'm usually reluctant to mention it. There are hundreds of varieties of Aristolochia, some prettier and more interesting than others. The one I grow is Aristolochia Durior which is grown mainly for the leaves.

The word Aristolochia comes from the Greek - Aristos for "best" and lochia for "delivery." This refers to an ancient belief that the plants aided women in childbirth because the flowers resembled a human fetus in the womb. The flowers are pipe-shaped and appear in spring and are greenish-yellow in color (I don't have a photo of the flower but you can see on here). They are underneath the foliage though and are hardly noticeable. Indeed, the large 8-10 inch heart-shaped leaves are the standout feature on this vine.

This is a fast-growing deciduous vine and can easily attain 20-30 ft. in distance in one season. The twining vine is often used on porches and gazebos where shade is needed. It will thrive in ordinary well-drained soil in either sun or partial shade. A strong structure is needed to support it. It can be cut back in late winter or early spring.

This year, for the first time, I noticed a 2 inch fruit capsule. I'm not sure what one does with this!

Another interesting fact about Aristolochia (all types) is that it is host to the Pipevine Swallowtail, a beautiful black and blue butterfly. Right now the butterflies are all over our garden. I've seen more this year than ever before. I should have included a photo but the truth is I'm just too impatient to chase them around.

We chose this vine to cover a trellis that we built to shade a large window on the west side of our house. Dutchman's Pipe has delivered in that respect. There is a drawback to the vine - the roots spread like wildfire and I find it popping up all around the trellis. They are easy to pull up though and I don't consider it a major problem. The vine was planted about 8 years ago and I've never pruned it back although I do plan to do that next year.

Thank you Fay!

2008-08-26T09:17:00.003-05:00

After months of frustration with no rain (and when there was rain, it always skipped our neighborhood), we finally got some relief yesterday. The rains from Fay arrived around noon and it rained non-stop until late in the night. Fortunately we didn't get any severe storms with the rain although there were tornado warnings and watches in south Alabama. I walked around the garden briefly this morning and didn't see any limbs or debris, just soggy leaves everywhere.

So how much did we get? I'm not sure because I need a good rain gauge. I got a nice fancy one for Christmas last year with a copper tube that floats up as water fills it, but as Leslie Jordan says in 'Sordid Lives', "It ain't a working!" The weird thing is I can't seem to find a plain old rain gauge anywhere, not even at Wal-Mart. I did see one at Lowe's but it also has a thermometer attached to it. I never expected that finding a good one would be so difficult. So I guess I'm gonna have to shop online to find one. Right now we are just thankful that we got some much needed rain and can take a break from all that watering.

Taking advantage of the plant sales

2008-08-16T15:51:00.003-05:00

This is what happens when you go to Lowe's on a Saturday morning in mid-August. They were practically giving things away. I came home with my truck loaded and spent less than $50. A pyramid trellis was marked down to $19.95 (from $69!) and the plants were either 99 cents or $1.99. Rudbeckia, coneflowers, barberry "Crimson Pygmy", hyssop and Loropetalum "Pixie" were among my finds. Most of the plants are in pretty good condition too. I felt like a kid in a candy store!

August bloom day

2008-08-15T21:25:00.013-05:00

August in Alabama is usually not fit for man nor beast but this past week has actually been cooler and the humidity is down. This is my last week off before heading back to work next week and I've got a lot done in the garden this week. Here is what is blooming in the garden -

Double Rose of Sharon

We got a little rain on Tuesday and the Rain Lilies burst into bloom

PeeGee Hydrangea

Pineapple Lily

Rudbeckia loves the August heat. I just bought some more plants this week -

Obidient Plant

The rest of the blooms this month come from container plants -

Coleus

Crown of Thorns

Fan Flower

Ornamental Pepper

Be sure to visit Carol's May Dreams blog to get links to other gardeners blooms this month!

There are nekkid ladies in my garden!

2008-08-13T17:27:00.004-05:00

No, there is no debauchery or ribald action going on in the garden, it is just the Lycoris squamigera blooming. I don't know all the scientific names of plants but this one is one of my favorites because I love the way it rolls off your tongue. As much as I like to say it though, the common name, "Naked Ladies," is much more fun and amusing. Actually, this plant has a host of common names - Surprise Lily, Resurrection Lily, Magic Lily, Mystery Lily and the list goes on. Elizabeth Lawrence refers to them as "Hall's Amaryllis," a name which I never hear today. I've always heard them called "Naked Ladies" because the flowers appear on tall stalks with no foliage underneath.

It would be interesting to see time-lapse photography of this plant blooming because they suddenly appear seemingly out of nowhere in late July and early August. The blooms last for several weeks and if you want to transplant them, it is wise to mark the area because after the blooms go, the plant does a disappearing act until long strap-like leaves appear in late fall and last until early summer when they too go dormant. There is no action after that until the violet tinged pink flowers make a "surprise" appearance in late summer.

These are cold hardy bulbs (to zone 5) and very easy to grow in any average, well-drained soil. I've seen them thrive in very poor soils. They should be planted in the fall at 5-6 inches deep and mulched during the winter. Full sun or partial shade is fine. They spread rapidly and are easily dug and transplanted or shared with friends.

Don't confuse Lycoris squamigera with Lycoris radiata (aka Hurricane Lily or Spider Lily) which appear in the fall and have bright red flowers. But that is another post for a later date.

For an amusing story about Naked Ladies, visit Jeff's blog at Transitional Gardener and read about his childhood memory of this plant.

Ivy Green, the birthplace of Helen Keller

2008-07-30T08:52:00.011-05:00

Helen Keller was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama at Ivy Green, her family home. It is within 6 miles of my house and I'm embarrassed to say that, until two weeks ago, I had only been there once and that was on a class trip when I was very young. I'm writing an article for Alabama Gardener about gardening restoration at Ivy Green and I've been engrossed in a biography on her. I've heard of Helen Keller my entire life but I never realized just how famous she was. She was especially popular overseas, where admirers mobbed her like they do rock stars.

She was a fascinating woman and her achievements are quite remarkable. Try as I may, I just cannot fathom living in a world of darkness and silence. I also find the whole concept of sign language and reading lips (Helen did it by placing her fingers on a person's mouth) quite fascinating but totally perplexing. I still don't understand how Annie Sullivan could transcribe lectures by spelling it all with sign language. How did she keep up? It just baffles me!

Helen Keller was born a normal child but an illness (probably scarlet fever or meningitis) at the age of nineteen months left her totally deaf and blind. She grew up as a wild child, totally unmanageable by her bewildered and helpless parents. An article in a magazine led Helen's mother to contact the Perkins Institute for the Blind for assistance. They sent Annie Sullivan, a young woman who had just recently graduated and was partially blind herself, to Tuscumbia to teach Helen sign language. With Sullivan's skills, Helen's remarkable transformation from an unruly child into a poised and intelligent woman made both of them world famous.

Helen Keller's birthplace, Ivy Green, so-called because the house and trees were clothed in blankets of ivy, is a tiny white clapboard house with an adjoining cottage and a few outbuildings. The surrounding 600+ acres were lush and filled with trees, shrubs and gardens that Helen's mother lovingly tended. Her mother adored roses and it was said that hers rivaled any you would find outside a glass house. She grew them on arches and all around the house.

An old family photo (taken after Helen was an adult) gives you a sense of what the property looked like.

Helen was actually born in this tiny cottage which sits about 30 yards from the main house.

Nature was very important to Helen Keller - she grew up playing in the garden and the woods around her home - she learned the scents of plants and the way they felt - later Annie Sullivan would teach her the names of them. Flowers and plants would continue to be a source of intense pleasure throughout her life.

One of her favorite places to play at Ivy Green was inside this boxwood circle. Recently, the volunteers have added a bench and planted 'Annabelle' hydrangeas.

In 1954, when Ivy Green was donated to the National Registry of Historic Places, most of the garden had vanished. Massive mature magnolias, boxwoods and other trees still dotted the landscape but the roses and other shrubs and flowers were gone. The city of Tuscumbia took care of the grounds and this mainly consisted of mowing the grass.

Thanks to the Shoals Master Gardeners, the Shoals Beautification Alliance, Men's Garden Club and various other local organizations, efforts are now underway to renovate the gardens. It is not a historically accurate recreation but rather creating areas with plants that Helen wrote about in her works and plants that are tactile and fragrant.

The fountain area has been recently renovated. Ragged nandinas around this bust of Helen Keller were replaced with colorful petunias.

A small Japanese garden has been added. Helen Keller made several trips to Japan. The concrete lantern is a gift from that country.

The famous pump where the "miracle" occurred - Annie Sullivan taught Helen her first word - "water"

More plans are in the works. An herb garden, a butterfly garden and a rose garden (I may be helping with that) are just some of the enhancements that are coming to Ivy Green. For more information about Helen Keller and Ivy Green, visit their website.

Blackberry Lily

2008-07-25T09:34:00.002-05:00

Blackberry Lily (Belamcanda chinensis)
(aka Leopard Flower)

Hardy to Zone 4
Bloom Time - June through August
Color - Orange or yellow with red/brown spots
Foliage - Narrow sword like blades (similar to iris)
Size - 1-3 ft.
Exposure - Full sun or partial shade

Culture - This short-lived perennial has dried seed capsules that split to reveal clusters of black seeds which resemble blackberries. The plant is actually a member of the iris family. It grows wild along roadsides and in rocky woods. In the garden, the vivid orange blooms look good next to delicate foliage plants like Russian sage, baby's breath or yarrow. It grows well in average soil and full sun or partial shade. The vibrant color of the blooms will be prolonged if given afternoon shade. You can expect the plant to self sow or collect the seeds and distribute them in the fall. Native to China and Japan where the dried rhizomes are used medicinally.

Raindrops on roses...

2008-07-23T21:39:00.006-05:00

Hallelujah, we finally got some rain! Not a lot, I'm guessing around 3/4 inch, but anything is welcome at this point. We also got a brief sprinkle this afternoon.

This is the shrub rose Gruss An Aachen. Considered to be the first floribunda rose, it is a low growing (under 3 feet) upright shrub which is covered with plump, pale pink flowers that fade to creamy white with age. The name means "greetings to Aachen" which was the city where Emperor Charlemagne made his home and also the hometown of the rose breeder.

A touch of the whimsical

2008-07-21T20:08:00.005-05:00

This month's topic at Gardening Gone Wild is whimsey and I have to say, I almost skipped it because I don't feel that there is a great deal of whimsey in our garden. I've been running across things though and I would think, "That might be considered whimsical" and decided to join in. Some of these objects probably don't fit the category at all but I threw them in for good measure. For a better look at things whimsical, check out some of the links on the GGW blog.

First of all, I'm a huge fan of statuary, plaques, ornaments, birdfeeders, wind chimes, you name it. A few years ago, during a trip to Mentone, Alabama, we found a wonderful little shop that sold unique handmade items. This wind chime is made with forks and spoons - perfect for the vegetable garden, no?

They also had these cute little things made from broom handles

I did a presentation on hydrangeas for the Master Gardener's a few years ago and this is what they gave me. I believe this was made by an Alabama artist.

Our garage wall is adorned with plaques from our various trips and vacations.

More bric a brac on the garden wall

The chandelier that I discussed in an earlier post

On a similar note

Wind chimes again. A good thing to know - Target carries Smith and Hawken merchandise!

Cute little bunny hiding in the ivy

I love faces!

I have an affinity for Pan and the mythological story

Plus he's such a sexy dude

You better believe it!

It's getting hot in here...

2008-07-21T13:50:00.003-05:00

And it is only lunch time!

July Bloom Day

2008-07-14T20:03:00.008-05:00

Many thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens who invites gardening bloggers to post photos of what's blooming in their gardens on the 15th of each month.

As I strolled out to my parched garden this evening, which is taking a Herculian effort to keep it watered nowadays, I was surprised at the number of blooms I found. Not a lot mind you, but anything that can bloom in this hothouse is worth mentioning.

The lily at the top of the page is "Star Gazer." I don't know the name of this one -

A Pee Gee hydrangea -

Phlox and shasta daisies (the background foliage is Harry Lauder's Walking Stick and Banana 'Musa Basjoo')

A red Salvia

Lantana 'Pink Caprice'

Lantana 'Miss Huff' snubs her nose at those who say that pink and orange don't mix!

A container with coleus and creeping wire vine (Muehlenbeckia axillaris). This is the plant that I was trying to think of in an earlier post.

Purple petunias

The late evening sun illuminates Miscanthus sinensus 'Adagio'

The orange berries of Italian Arum

Euphorbia corollata

Not quite ready for Bloom Day, but close, Crinum Lily

And, for anyone who would like to pay the postage, Four O'Clocks! I've been battling this stuff for years and I don't think I'll ever get rid of it. It is so invasive in my garden and would have already taken over if I hadn't been digging it up.

A bloom worth waiting for?

2008-07-10T14:06:00.008-05:00

This is hydrangea 'Ayesha' which finally decided to bloom for me. I've only been waiting about 4 years! I've always wanted this hydrangea because it looks so unique and different from other mophead hydrangeas. The clusters of flowers are densely packed with sepals that are spoon-shaped. It is also described as being fragrant, but I haven't detected a strong scent. I first had this hydrangea planted in the secret garden area and decided to move it because it would not bloom. I transplanted it last year, again with no blooms but this year she seems to be coming out of her shy spell. Not prolific yet, this is only the second bloom but isn't it gorgeous?

A road trip and a new plant

2008-07-08T22:44:00.005-05:00

Michael and I did something this past weekend that we haven't done in a long time - we took a road trip. We decided to drive up to Memphis to visit our friend JoAnn with an alternative agenda which was to stop at a huge concrete statuary place along the way. Well, it figures that the statuary place was closed. We drove on to Memphis and had a good time. JoAnn took us to some places that we don't have in Florence, like the Davis Kidd bookstore, the Whole Foods grocery store and some really cool (and expensive) gardening shops. I had spied a nursery before we got to her house on Poplar St. called Trip's so we headed back there.

As I was surveying the rows and rows of plants, I came across a pomegranate and knew that it would be coming home with us. For some reason, pomegranates have been popular here lately. People had been asking me if I'd seen that gorgeous orange shrub blooming here and there and when I tracked down what they were describing, it was the pomegranate. I'm sure they are not hardy plants and I suppose our recent string of mild winters have really let them do their thing. I had seen some at a local nursery but when I decided I wanted one, they had already sold out.

I have really become enamored with orange plants this year and I don't know why. I'm working on an orange and blue themed garden on the north side of the house (so far the results have been nothing to write home about). The pomegranate will get very large, assuming that it makes it through the winter, and requires sun so I'm planning on putting it in the southern most border that gets the most sun. I can't decide now if I should go ahead and plant it in these 90+ temperatures or hold off until fall. If anyone grows it, send me your suggestions.

Fireworks in the garden

2008-07-01T08:10:00.004-05:00

We are back in drought mode here in north Alabama so it is back to lugging the hoses around. Yesterday was a super nice day with low humidity, a pleasant breeze, lots of clouds and temperatures in the 80s. Unfortunately, I was stuck at work. Why is it that all the nice days come on work days? Anyway, I took some photos in the evening. Here is what is blooming right now -

Crocosmia

Lily 'Muscadet' in a pot - the fragrance is incredible

Miscanthus

Caladium

Coleus

Phlox

Hosta 'Gold Standard'

The common orange daylily

Rudbeckia (Black-eyed Susan)

Plume Poppy

Creeping Jenny with another trailing plant that has become one of my favorites and I totally can't remember what it is called

And a not-so-great photo of the English Rose 'Tradescant' - red is the hardest color to capture properly with a digital camera

Remembering Tasha Tudor

2008-06-25T18:16:00.004-05:00

This morning I stumbled upon the news that Tasha Tudor has died at the age of 92 at her home in Vermont. She was many things - mainly a children's book illustrator - but among gardeners, she was justly famous for her quaint cottage style garden that was illustrated in at least two book in 1990s by photographer Richard Brown. I have Tasha Tudor's Garden and it is one of my favorites. I remember being in awe when I first saw this book and was mesmerized by the photographs as well as reading about Tudor's lifestyle. She loved the old times and lived that way. She dressed in old-timey clothing (making her own and buying them in antique stores), raised chickens and cows, and made her own candles which illuminated her farmhouse that was built by her son. Her garden is full of stone terraces that overflow with foxgloves, peonies, roses and all kinds of flowers. She also loved Corgis and had a menagerie of them. She believed she was the reincarnation of a sea captain's wife and her obituary says that she intended to go back to the 1830s when she died!

The perfect spot

2008-06-23T20:26:00.004-05:00

This is a neighbor's cat but he may as well be ours since he spends 90% of his time in our garden. We call him Chester. He has the sweetest personality and has the oddest choice for sleeping areas. When he was smaller, he would curl up in a pot of portulaca on top of the garden wall but I guess he outgrew that. Now he prefers the birdbath.

Ah, the life!

Uh, would you get out of here with that camera so I can get my beauty sleep?

The Perry Garden

2008-06-19T21:43:00.006-05:00

I have an article in the upcoming July/August issue of Alabama Gardener (available at a magazine stand near you!) about the garden of Leon and Dean Perry in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Leon Perry is 85 years old and moved to Alabama from Mississippi about 20 years ago when he married his wife Dean. He brought with him hundreds of rootings of his azaleas, rhododendrons and camellias and started a new garden here. It is now a mature wonderland and utterly breathtaking. It was a treat meeting him and listening to him discuss his vast knowledge of rhododendrons. I hope you can read the article - in the meantime, here are some photos that I took.

June Bloom Day

2008-06-15T18:31:00.005-05:00

Hydrangeas make up about 90% of the blooms in the garden now (I posted those in an earlier post). I did find a few other blooms this morning. We had a good rain yesterday which was badly needed.

My first photo is for Randy and Jamie because I know they love daylilies. I took some photos of a beautiful red one but it didn't turn out that great so I'm not posting it. I don't know the names of our daylilies although I do have them written down somewhere.

This is a Red Yucca that I bought on impulse at Lowe's a few years ago.

One of my favorite perennials is Salvia 'Black and Blue' - I love this color in the garden.

Fleece Flower 'Red Dragon'

Coleus (I forgot to check the name)

Another coleus with Creeping Jenny (Michael stuck that redbird in it, it came from a flower arrangement that a friend sent me on my birthday).

Ivy and Purple Heart

What would be do without impatiens?

Rose of Sharon 'Blue Bird' which should have been pruned this year

Chaste Tree (Vitex)

Okay, a few more hydrangeas. This is one of the best - 'Veitchii'

'Geoffrey Chadbun'

To see what's blooming in other gardens, check out Carol's May Dreams blog!

Oprah does gardening

2008-06-11T17:30:00.003-05:00

So I'm home on my lunch hour and flipping channels while I'm eating and stumble across Oprah. I rarely watch her show but she caught my attention with this hunky gardener who had apparently made over her neighbor's balconies. I had never heard of him although her website claims that he is a big star in Australia. Anyway he's welcome to come weed in my garden any time. :) It was obvious though that Oprah knows nothing about gardening. She had never heard of a mother-in-laws tongue, for heaven's sake! I will give her two thumbs up though for her show today. Everything she touches turns to gold so maybe she'll inspire more people to start gardening. Her show gave a huge plug to Lowe's - the store's name was mentioned in every other sentence. And, at the end of the show, she gives all the audience members gift boxes (supplied by Lowe's of course!) to start their own window boxes and they scream and yell and act like they just won a million dollars.

The hydrangeas are a bloomin'

2008-06-08T21:15:00.003-05:00

Last year was a disappointment for hydrangea lovers when the late freeze nipped all the blooms. This year they are glorious. Michael is the hydrangea lover in this family and we probably wouldn't have as many if it wasn't for him. I have to admit though that I really love hydrangeas more than I used to. I really can't think of a more versatile shrub (they will perform well in various degrees of light situations) and they are colorful and dramatic in the landscape. All that, plus they are easy to care for.

We have hydrangeas all over our garden but the majority of them reside under a massive pecan tree.

The same border from the opposite direction (looking towards the secret garden). The foliage on the right is the variegated dogwood 'Wolf's Eyes'

The same border, from the top of the hill, near the patio.

Inside the secret garden, the old stand-by 'Nikko Blue' is in full bloom while 'Annabelle' is just getting started.

And now for some close-ups. This is 'Harmony,' and oakleaf whose blooms are so big that they nod to the ground.

'Amethyst'

'Fasan'

'Tokyo Delight'

Michael's favorite, 'Purple Tiers.' Last year, it was purple and this this year it is pink as can be. That is the weird thing about hydrangeas - they can be pink or blue depending on your soil conditions.

This is my favorite, 'Lilacina.'

I love because it has both blue and purple colored blooms, which I'm sure is due to the soil conditions.

Fears and tears

2008-06-06T10:19:00.006-05:00

I love a good scary movie but these days it is hard to find one that doesn't resort to slasher tactics or attempt to gross you out. What a find "The Orphange" is! Here is a film that presents old-fashioned horror in the best possible way, is beautifully told and crafted, and is a film that lingers with you long after the goosebumps have subsided. While I was watching it, I kept thinking that this is how scary movies made me feel as a child. "The Orphanage" also packs an emotional wallop that will leave you in tears by the ending. There are some cryptic plot details and after viewing it twice, I still am not sure if I fully understand the twists (that's ok, I'm a little slow!). Still, it doesn't affect my affection for this wonderful film, so far the best I've seen this year.

First tomato

2008-06-02T20:09:00.004-05:00

Michael is in hog heaven - he picked the first tomato of the season today (the variety is 'Early Girl'). I myself am not crazy about tomatoes. In fact, I didn't even eat them until a few years ago and today I only like them on a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich (which, he informs me, is what we will have for supper tomorrow night). Our vegetable garden is very small, resides under a dogwood tree of all places, and consists of a narrow raised bed that runs around the perimeter of a small enclosed area. Still, there is apparently enough sun to produce tomatoes and a few peppers and herbs. I added mushroom compost this year which really caused the tomatoes to grow at warp speed. I also added a tip that I learned from a lady in my master gardener class that she said her father did and he always had great tomatoes - add 1 tablespoon of lime and 1 tablespoon of Epsom salts to the planting hole. I usually have to spray for blossom end rot but I have not noticed it this year. Perhaps the lady's tip did the trick!

Stone in the garden

2008-05-27T22:24:00.002-05:00

When I saw that this month's Garden Design Workshop topic was about using stone in the garden, I knew that I would have to post because there is a lot of stone in our garden. In fact, I often wonder if I've overdone it. I think the hardscape aspects of the garden are just as important as the plant material and stone has to be one of the most popular features.

When we first moved in, the only visible stone on the property was a slate walkway that leads to the front door. However, once we started digging, we discovered that there was some beautiful rock on the property. It was located inside the circular hedge inside our driveway (here is how it looked then). Apparently the walkways inside the circle were made with stones which had long been buried by the time we arrived on the scene. We dug them up and first used them to make a stone wall along our property line but later Michael came up with the idea to create a half-moon circle with them and this is where they have stayed.

Here it is in 1994 - as you can see, the garden looked quite different then!

And, here it is in a recent photo (the best one I could find)

All other rock has been bought and brought in. I started using stone to edge borders back in 2002 -

And since then, I've gone a little haywire. One day when I was visiting the city mulch pile, I discovered a huge mound of busted up concrete and a lightbulb went off in my head. I decided to bring it home and use it to cover a difficult spot that I was tired of mowing. Almost a year later and an aching back, this was the result. Recycling put to use!

A small waterfall is located next to the steps. This was the first water feature I created.

Our property is on a hill and the major portion of the garden is on a slope. If I could go back and start over again (and if I had the money), I would have designed grand terraces and graded the land properly. Since that wasn't done, I've embellished over the years. This is an area of three large terraces that I hired a friend to do. This was completed two years ago, right before we were on the garden tour. I can't get the proper angle to capture the whole area. This photo gives you an idea -

A set of steps leading up to the patio area. I've never been good at constructing steps. These are not porportioned properly and are a little difficult to climb.

Our small patio was constructed by a professional landscaping business. My dream is have a door leading out from the bedroom to the patio.

I did the pathway that runs alongside the patio. I wrote about this project in a previous post.

I've also used stone for smaller projects, such as this urn fountain.

Not sure if brick counts but I use a lot of that too.

And finally, I want to include The Wall, which is probably the biggest project I've ever tackled. It is made of concrete blocks which were then stuccoed and painted. I wanted it to look like ruins (it ended up looking like a Spanish Mission) and be the colors of Monet's Waterlilies paintings (close enough).

So, do you think there is enough stone in the garden?

May marches on

2008-05-20T22:16:00.009-05:00

After the big flurry of roses in early May, there seems to be a lull during the later part of the month just before the hydrangeas explode into bloom. However, there are still lots of blooms to see.

Peony 'Raspberry Sundae'

Hosta 'Blue Angel' covered by those thingys that fall from the pecan tree

St. Joseph's Lily

A late blooming rambler named 'Super Dorothy'

Rose 'Petite Pink Scotch' growing up into a burning bush

This iris was given to me many years ago and it has multiplied rapidly. I can't remember the name but I'm thinking it is a Louisiana iris. Anyone know?

The Kousa Dogwood, which blooms later than the more popular dogwood.

This dogwood's blooms appear on top of the leaves and are not as showy as Cornus florida. In many respects though, I think it is a more elegant tree.

This is a variegated dogwood called 'Wolf's Eyes'

Inside the secret garden where oakleaf hydranges are blooming along with an iron gazebo covered by the rambler rose 'Bobbie James'. Can you tell I'm going for a white garden here?

Indigo bush (Indigofera) - bought at Home Depot two years ago and I didn't even really know what it was. It has turned out to be a pleasant surprise and is flourishing in the most difficult area in our garden - under a thick grove of hackberries in dry shade.

Close-up of the blooms

Itea (Virginia Sweetspire)

Rose 'Buff Beauty' next to an urn of purple petunias

Rose 'Caldwell Pink'

Rose 'Robin Hood'

Oakleaf hydrangea 'Snowflake'

Oakleaf hydrangea 'Snow Queen'