Just returned from Ct. nurseries/gdn tours Bday trip. Saw many beautifully grown plants and beautifully designed gardens , of both GW members and Garden Conservancy Open Days tour gardens. Wanted to share a few unrelated high points/notable lessons learned -from these great Ct. gardeners:

George , Ego 45, grows lilies up through shrubs like rhodos. No need to stake them, as the shrubs hold up the tall lily stems! Have a row of dead or unwanted yews or other shrubs? He has cut down a row of dead yews and left 3' of their height. They now supply the framework/support for a row of shizophragma hydr. moonlight which he is training up them to form a floral wall.

Sue W, VTSKIERS, shows how unbelievably- happy- hostas can be rhodo substitutes in the garden! hugest i've ever seen.she also has a hakonechloa aureo marg. growing in a 3' fully circular mound- another elegant rhodo stand-in!! Faithfully keeping current with her membership in the Zone-Denial Club, she is successfully growing her banana tree in a hot pocket created by her garage wall and her full-sun heat-reflective patio.

Monique has clematis growing up every type of deciduous shrub, and though they are planted near the very core/trunk of the shrub, they still come up through the shrub and flower like crazy. She and Les have concocted a BRILLIANT technique for hiding an ugly chain link or woven vinyl fence. Over the internet, they ordered fake xmas tree branches and they wove them vertically into the fence. seen from a distance as it is, you have no clue what you are looking at, only that there appears to be an attractive green backdrop to their amazing garden beds! They have also made a handsome 'trough garden' out of the bowl of a cement bird bath that broke off below the bowl.

Ellen Sonnenfroh has changed my way of thinking about designing with hostas. Her extensive rural property is filled with many LARGE hosta sweeps of ONE CULTIVAR each.The visual impact of just ONE leaf pattern- is stunning.Even though my property is miniscule in comparison, I plan to replant all my hostas in patches of one pattern whenever possible. no more 'Pot 'n Dot' for me.

She also demonstrates that sometimes plant happiness makes absolutely NO SENSE- as when you see her very healthy happy patches of sedum autumn joy, hostas and astilbes- all growing right next to each other!!! in a solid-packed bed mulched with wood chips and under a deciduous tree.with no in-ground watering system. go figure!

Linda Allard's garden designer has interplanted climbing roses with clematis- up pergola columns.

In the Brush Hills gardens of Charles Robinson, he has ingeniously "hidden" garden sprinkler heads on top of 10-12' tall homemade plant obelisks made from steamed oak lath that is painted with protective coats of fiberglass.

Do add any specific lessons you've learned lately!

best, Mindy

www.cottonarboretum.blogspot.com