The back borders - 2 years later (Garden II)

16 years ago

Well I didn't want to make the other thread so long as to be totally unmanageable, so I though it would be better to post these pictures in a separate group.

First, the path through the pastel border, in June. The sentinel tall conifer is Cedrus deodora 'Karl Fuchs' (z7 hardy but it hasn't read the books, and has been growing here through 3 average z 5b winter with nary a brown leaf...):

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Another view of the pastel border, late July

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Overall view of the back borders, late July

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The hot color border in early June and July

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The wall bed, first last summer when the first plants were planted

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July this year

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With my favorite clematis 'Blue Boy', at the center (and yes, that's Agastache 'Black Adder' too)

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October

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No pictures of the woodland garden per se from this year. Busy in the spring, and it's mainly a spring garden.

BUT, last but not least, a picture of the fern grotto, down by the creek. 5 species of native ferns. NO work. Planted by the fern faeries.

Maybe the best garden of all! And the least work.

Food for thought :o)

Comments (24)

estreya
16 years ago
~ sigh ~

Intoxicating ...
donn_
16 years ago
Gorgeous place, and a greenhouse tucked in as well!
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The cedrus in the pictures above, C. libanii 'Stenocoma', is a selection from the high mtns of Lebanon that is widely accepted in woody plant circles to be zone 5 hardy. The one I have I moved from my old garden and have had for about 10 years. It browned out the first couple of winters after planting, and one after moving, but by June it is beautiful in new growth and looks healthy as ever. After a few years in the ground, it doesn't even brown needles. There is one near me, at MSU's Hidden Lake Gardens, that is in zone 5a and is about 25 years old and 40' tall. If you want a cedrus in z5, this is the one to plant. In the other thread, I also have pictures of C. deodora 'Karl Fuchs', one that is about 15' tall and has been in the ground through 3 winters at the new place, through winter temps as low as -15F. That plant is planted in a very wind protected spot on the south side of the house. In the same temps, it has not even shown a brown needle once, whereas the supposedly hardier C. l. stenocoma did brown out some this past winter(but looked great by June). Though C. deodora is generally accepted as only being z7 hardy, and I have heard of gardeners who had trouble keeping it in NC, this selection does seem to be hardier than average. I know of 2 other plants in this area that have been through 5 or more winters unscathed. And I supect that the longer the plant has been established, the better it will be able to recover from a hard winter. The conifer curator at Hidden Lake told me that the stenocoma there browned its needles in the first five years, and has looked pristine through every winter since.
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I have two girls: 2 and 4-1/2. My 4yo has been helping me in the garden since she was 1 year or so...I planted a cherry tomato bush for her and she loved loved to pick them and eat them one after another. She always liked to hold the hose. By the time she was two she had learned to dig for worms, and we talked a lot about being gentle with them, holding them only for a minute, and then putting them back into the ground and covering them with dirt. She likes to help dig, sprinkle seeds, use the hose, and this year we started two worm bins. Both kids really enjoyed shredding/dipping/wringing/fluffing the newspaper and gathering leaves to make a home for the worms. The double-watering-can idea is a great one - we have lots of scuffles over the hose, and the older one likes to water the younger one with it, which rarely ends well. Tomorrow we're getting watering cans! Last year I planted a sunflower house with all greystripe sunflowers. It produced over a hundred awesome flowers, but I wish I had planted them closer together (more than 1 per foot) because the leaves never got close enough to make thick walls. So this year I went crazy with seed catalogs and bought 10+ varieties of sunflowers in all colors, sizes, heights, etc. There's one called "American Giant" which is supposed to be 16+ feet tall. I'm going to try to make a better house, and they can help me dig and sprinkle. My 2yo now demands that we dig for worms whenever we set food in the back yard, and if she finds one, the other one comes running. If she finds a slug, she picks it up and says, "Nasty slug get me!" (trans. "Nasty slug tried to get me." Today she found a small rock and thought it was a slug. When I told her it was a rock, she said, "Dirty rock get me!" Two years ago we planted strawberries given to us by a friend with a surplus of plants, so we've talked about how flowers turn to fruit, and how the bees and such do their part. In the summer the girls beg to go and check for strawberries and raspberries every day. These have never made it back to the house. :-) The thing I struggle with the most is when they spill something valuable - like when the two year old poured the bucket of organic fertilizer I had mixed into the grass. And last year when I had my back turned for a few minutes turning soil over, they opened every package of beans (probably about 2+ cups total) and mixed them into their tiny bucket with dirt. 0_o So we just sprinkled them all over and had a mixed bean jungle later that year. I constantly remind them to please not step onto the dirt that I have just planted things in (esp. the potato bed!!) and of course they do so I just try to remind myself that kids who love being outdoors and learn that gardening is fun are more important that a reduced potato yield. (Duh!) They love looking at seed racks, and so I usually let my 4yo pick out a package of flower seeds. There's an old cement double-basin sink in our backyard that we filled with dirt and last year she put in anemones and nasturtiums. This year she picked out sweet peas. We got a flower-seed catalog, so just for kicks and giggles I gave them a packet of sticky notes and they used up the whole package marking what they would like to plant in the garden. Most days they end up completely soaked and/or muddy, and I've learned to send them out barefoot. As of right now there are no fewer than 7 pairs of shoes drying on the back porch. We're still working on helping me weed, since they can't (yet) tell the difference between a weed and a plant that we want to keep. They do have their own buckets and shovels, but even today they eschewed those for the "real" tools. My 2yo grabbed the 6-ft shovel and my 4yo grabbed the rake and they went to town on the newly planted bed of kale and chard. I've discovered that unless the sprinkler is on, they usually just want to do what I'm doing, and the hardest part is keeping up with them (i.e. digging a hole fast enough for the seeds they're dropping). Gardening with kids is an adventure for me and them!
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just: I am pretty sure it will be flowers with purple in them :) Depends on what they have at the annual plant sale on Sunday. It benefits our local food bank and it is where I get most of my plants. Doing good all the way around. I am glad you like the cloths. Momma would be glad I am using them. htnspz: I wish I could but I really have no where for it to go. Frame is bent so I would have to have my welder friend straighten it. Then it would need to be sandblasted. I had one of those here last week to do the bricks...too bad I didn't have the bed then. It will still be beautiful. c Here is a link that might be useful: This bed was auctioned
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tjsangel
16 years ago
WOW! Everything looks wonderful. You've put in a lot of hard work and it definetly has paid off. Just think each year will get better and better : )

Jen
heleninramsey
16 years ago
I am in awe...Helen.
mxk3 z5b_MI
16 years ago
Gorgeous, gorgeous, GORGEOUS!!!!!
nancyd
16 years ago
Can I come live with you? :o) Seriously, very nice, David. Although you're teasing us with glimpses - can you post a picture of your house? It looks beautiful and I love looking at pictures of homes and gardens to see how it all fits together.
Nancy
16 years ago
Superb! What are the red flowers reaching out to get into the picture-the 6th pic down?
john_4b
16 years ago
Hi David!

Thanks for sharing the great photos of your developing garden. It is wonderful to see all of the progress in such a short time, and as gardeners, we can appreciate all the love, passion, knowledge, and hard work that goes into creating all of those lovely spaces we enjoy seeing. You should be very pleased, and proud!

John
triciami5
16 years ago
Everthing is beautiful and so well thought out and alot of work and enjoyment as I well know. Thank-you for sharing with us. Tricia
david_5311
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks everybody. Well Nancy I don't have too many pictures of the house as such, and it is a little difficult to photograph as a whole because it is big and has a 'footprint' which is pretty spread out. It IS a beautiful house, if I do say so myself, and I think really well integrated with the site and the landscape. The house is built along the edge between the sunny open areas of the garden and the woods. One of the best, maybe the best feature of the house is the terrace on the back of the house which has a big outdoor stone fireplace, a screenhouse and a pergola.

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The whole house has this handsome stone base which took the stonemasons about 4 months to do.

The red flower in the pictures above is Crocosmia Lucifer. It is making an ever enlarging clump at the center of the hot color border. One of my favorite plants of the past few years -- I could never get it to thrive in my old garden but it seems very happy here
flowerluvr
16 years ago
Your eye for form, color and texture...just top-notch! Bravo, and I'm so happy for you that the new place has come together so well in just two years. I've been 16 years here, and am nowhere close to that kind of "finished" look. The fern grotto is so cool and inviting-gotta hand it to Mother Nature, she knows her business!!
Thanks for sharing your home!
Brenda
wildflower59
16 years ago
David,

What is the plant you have with Crocosmia Lucifer...the purple...and the (I think Clematis) in the picture with the hyssop...which clematis? And as usual, such an inspiration to all gardeners......just wish I had the space to create gardens like yours
thank you
wild
david_5311
Original Author
16 years ago
The purple blue plant in the picture with the crocosmia is a somewhat floppy (growing too damp...) Nepeta sibirica. That picture was taken late in the day which is why the blue looks more intense(not because of post processing -- there ain't none).

The clematis in the other picture is the hybrid 'Blue Boy'. If I could only grow one clematis, that would be the winner I think, or at least tied for first place with a few others. In its second year at my old garden, that plant bloomed nonstop for a solid 12 weeks. It survived a move and then summer of drought and neglect competing with weeds, and then bloomed profusely again at its new spot last year and this. I think of clematis as just overgrown vining perennials, and that one performs like very few other plants, especially in the blue-lavendar range. It is a 'clamberer', not really a climber, grows beautifully on a 6' obelisk where it sprawls and mingles with adjacent plants. Far better and very different than C. integrifolia selections themselves which are more prostrate and for me make much less of a splash in the garden for a much shorter period. That one is growing with Agastache Black Adder which is one of the great newer hyssops (though not as good as 'Purple Haze'...)
Nancy
16 years ago
I wondered if it was a crocosmia. I don't grow lucifer, but I need to if it looks like that! Thanks for letting me know. You have such nice combos.
deanneart
16 years ago
Wow! wow! Wow! DAvid, your home and gardens are spectacular! That's it, I'm planning on a visit ASAP! LOL I absolutely love the outdoor fireplace. I've been thinking of trying to incorporate a fireplace in my new outdoor room at the top of the hill and that is exactly what I'd like to have there. I'm in awe at how much you've accomplished in two years. Bravo!!!! I must see this in person before another year is out.

PS I got my Inta sculptures from Monique and Les last weekend and they are wonderful! When are you going to get your pieces?

Deanne
always_outside
16 years ago
These look like professional magazine pictures. WOW! Good job!!!
msmisk
16 years ago
Brilliant ! You've achieved the look we're all after. Something for us to dream about !

Carol
prairiemoon2 z6b MA
16 years ago
You must have had a blast building the house and the garden. Great job! Love all your photos and will enjoy seeing them anytime you have more. My favorite is the fern grotto and I love the way you sited the greenhouse. It almost appears as if there was an old house on the property and you built the wall where the old foundation was and placed the greenhouse within the footprint of an old house. It is very ingenious to have the greenhouse just disappear into the property that way. Very nice. :-)
david_5311
Original Author
16 years ago
Hi All. Thanks for the kind comments. I thought perhaps that people would enjoy the last part of the garden -- the greenhouse, and the one I suspect will be the main part for the next 6 months. I have always aspired to have a winter garden. Heck, what gardner who lives in my climate wouldn't. I have tried this on some level for a number of years, but it mainly became a place to grow plants on benches, and not really a plant room. Part of the reason is the plants I chose to grow were adapted to cool greenhouse conditions. And partly because I just didn't have the time and energy to maintain it as a warmer garden conservatory-room. But last spring, I decided to plant out and abandon a lot of my cool greenhouse plants, and over the past few years I have started to grow more houseplants and orchids. And so, my partner Jim and I decided we were going to group these plants together in the greenhouse and rotate some of them up into the house from here.

So, here is how the greenhouse looked yesterday, after we finally moved the outdoor plants in over the past few days (and after one of the mildest Octobers anyone here can recall I am sure).

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I am forcing amaryllis and paperwhites and other cooled bulbs to grow too. Bring on the winter!
michael_in_chicago
16 years ago
Love the greenhouse and what you've done to the grounds. The setting your in seems charming as well; where in Michigan are you again?

I plan on having a greenhouse in our next house, perhaps similar to yours: a place to pot up seeds, but also a winter hangout. Perhaps I'll be picking your brain in a few years!

Planting any clematis seeds this year? If you'd like any, pm me!
david_5311
Original Author
16 years ago
Hi Mike. I live in Ann Arbor. And the setting is about as sublime as you can get around here -- 2 acres of sun, sandy soil, 4 acres of old growth woods with huge trees, great native plant diversity, few invasives. A beautiful woodland creek carpeted with ferns and spicebush, pagoda dogwood, carpinus, skunk cabbage en masse, woodland wildflowers. About as pristine a residential site as I ever saw in these parts. And the great this is that we were able to site the house at the edge of but not in the woods and the woods remained intact. Idyllic place to plan and build a house and garden.
kathwhit
16 years ago
David, your garden is an inspiration! Thanks so much for taking the time to post these pictures. BTW, what is the pink rose growing in the Wall Bed--Is it an Austin?
Sincerely,
Kathy
david_5311
Original Author
16 years ago
Hi Kathy. That rose is indeed an Austin, 'The Mayflower'. Its flowers aren't as 'wonderful' as some Austins, but it seems to be a good recurrent bloomer here and is cane hardy which not all Austins are. I am experimenting with roses at the new place. I grew lots of Austins and other modern shrub roses in my old garden, but the ones that made the cut are those that can tolerate being planted closely with other plants -- and that sure ain't all of them. At the new garden most of the roses have not taken off yet, a function of sandier less developed soil, a hard winter last winter, a great deer love of roses at the new place, a horrible JB infestation last summer, etc. We'll see how they do...
PattiOH
16 years ago
Hi David,
Your garden is enchanting, as I knew it would be.
(I well remember the wonderful photos from your previous garden. As a matter of fact I've been enjoying the beautiful, long blooming clematis 'Betty Corning' in my garden thanks to you. Now, after seeing your 'Blue Boy', I'll have to give him a try as well).

Thanks!
PattiOh

The back borders - 2 years later (Garden II)

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The back borders - 2 years later (Garden II)

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