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Cottage Gardens

My garden is peaking

14 years ago

I think my flower garden is at its peak this week. Here is a link to some photos if you would like to look.

Renee

Here is a link that might be useful: May Garden

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Comments (18)

honnat
14 years ago
I would say that it is peaking quite well!! WOW. I love that Cajun Rhythm Iris and the color combo you have behind it. I also love that pond, and the foxglove and the.......wow.
armyyife
14 years ago
Gorgeous gardens! It looks like you have a secret garden. I am so jealous of your foxgloves! I just can't seem to get them going. Even my perennial foxglove. :O( Thank you for sharing! ~Meghan
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Yes, Cameron - they are prickly. We have deer (and rabbits, etc) - but I didn't notice the malvas eaten - which may not really mean anything because I have tons of borders and the deer may have just passed the malvas on the way to something better... Japanese beetles, however, go for Malva but they are so gorgeous, it's worth it. They reseed great but the only problem with larkspurs, poppies and malvas (from my experience) is that they are very difficult to transplant. You may be able to lift them when they are really small (the malva/larkspurs), but transplanting small reseeded poppies are really difficult and sometimes almost impossible because of their long roots. Maybe someone else on this forum has had luck transplanting them, but I haven't... The cleomes can get very, very tall. The larkspurs I have found look great in the early spring but as it gets really hot, I have found the foliage starts to get yellowish and a bit ratty. Unfortunately, I like to harvest the seeds, so I deal with the foliage a bit longer than I like.... Carrie
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Thank you for all your lovely comments on my small garden - it warms my heart that you like it too. I posted the Pics in 2 threads so they would load faster. The weather is very warm here (90F) ... and I really enjoy the early mornings and the afternoons different places in my garden. I truly take time to smell the roses and enjoy my garden this year. The fragrances of all the roses is outstanding and all I had dreamt roses could offer ... and is healing. (True Ingrid - I have had some adversity in life) - but it has made me more sensitive and stronger - and I live well. Many times I have wished that I lived in warmer climate - and I always imagined that - California - would be close to heaven for roses - but I realize now the PROS of growing roses here (good clayish soil, good rainfall and it is very few days in a year that the temps are above 90F and the sun so strong that the roses FRY. And roses do not grow very big here (Frost and less sun intensity limits their size - it means I can grow many more roses - even if I have just smaller areas to garden - In California I would have to choose ... So my illusion of how easy it is to grow roses in California is gone ... It is hard to find anything as lush green and beautiful as here - on these wonderful summer days - where I regain my strength and get a new sense of purpose and direction - now that my garden has peaked. Also do not have as many garden design jobs lately - but some hard maintaince jobs. And creative writing is a skill I am working on. At least I make half sense in my native language ...LOL. I am so blessed to be able to grow all these roses and grow most of them well - each of them are so interesting and so different and the colours of OGRs do not clash - I have however tried to plant more dark "Red" Austins and HPs even modern shrub roses like Burgundy Ice and they slowly blend in well among the Old Garden Roses - in a year or 2 they will make more of an impact. I all ways have one of my 3 roses benches ready for friends dropping by and they are owerwhelmed by my garden too - one friend said today - but it is almost too much! I said NO - - just wait until next year - I take out some roses and plant some more perennials (later and long -flowering Hardy geraniums) and Dark Leaved Perennials and some smaller ornamental grasses. He shook his head ... And the whole neighbourhood is smitten by my roses and are working on arches and want advice to create the same effects - and I will help them - because I will be able to enjoy these roses too - in a few years. Just saw the weather forecast - we are in for so very warm summerdays - I will take picures of roses in mine and others gardens the next days. This might truly be the best season ever ... next year it might rain and the roses turn into ugly brown mush ... like we heard it did for some forum members Celeste (last year) and Thorngrower. But we all try to make the best of what we have and hope for the best weather when our garden peaks. May all of you enjoy the summer and this season too ...
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Cameron, Congratulations on being recognized for all your hard work! I definitely think you should meet with the writer and fellow garden enthusiast. I agree with Vikki about not over-doing. I have 20+ years in the beauty business and witnessed models showing up for photography evaluations. They arrive wearing white t-shirts and jeans, hair pulled back into a pony tail and with NO makeup. Makeup artists, photographers and stylists are looking for good, unadorned bone structure that they can work with. They definitely will work their magic later. :-) I have a feeling garden photography is much the same. The writer already knows the "bones" in your garden, so don't worry if something is not in bloom at the moment. :-) I hope Hanna spares you. What a hurricane season this is turning out to be. Yikes! Marilyn
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Will, thanks for your posting. Your gardens look fantastic all year round! Some comments to your pics: Picea omorika 'Tijn' Must be written as 'Peve Tijn' I guess you're aware of this info... Picea omorika 'Wodan' I've it listed as Picea omorika x Picea breweriana 'Wodan' This cross was made by the Wittbold-Mueller Nursery from Germany. Cunninghamia lanceilata 'Glauca' I see your specimen developed a leader. Now you can prune it's long side shoots away so the shape will be a nice pyramidal. Chamaecyparis lawsoniana 'Ellwood's White' Yep, your specimen does have several reversions. This can happen to every variegated plant, please get rid of those and prune them, otherwise the green parts will take over and in a few years the variegation will be disappaered... Pinus parviflora 'Tanima No Yuki' Must be written as 'Tanima-no-yuki'. Larix laricina 'Smurf' I never came across this one, please can you give us some background info about it? Is it a seedling selection or discovered as a witches' broom?
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schoolhouse_gw
14 years ago
As the cowboy contestants on The Amazing Race tv show say: "Oh my gravy!" Beautiful.

Someone in another post was asking about what to plant between stone pavers, what is the green ground cover I see between yours?
girlgroupgirl
14 years ago
It's breathtaking Renee! Do your Paludosum Daisies bloom all summer? I need a filler like that. I love the way it makes so many of your other flowers pop!
aimeekitty
14 years ago
SO PRETTY. I can't stand it! so so pretty!

Renee, so, do you just treat your Foxgloves as spring annuals? I'm in a similar zone to you and was considering them. (I bought one, but I don't know how well it will fare...)
Annie
14 years ago
Well, that is just perfect. Beautiful!
Beautiful photos of beautiful gardens. Looks like something I drool over in one of those gardening magazines!

Your gardens and home puts mine to shame.
How can I post pictures of my place and flowers after that?!!! :)

But, Seriously!

Really stunning. Are you a professional?
or do you have gardeners? It certainly looks good enough to be pro. Bravo!
I love it! I love it!

Makes me homesick seeing all those flowers I cannot grow here, and your patio/veranda. Oh man! I often go to Annie's Gardens and drool over many of the plants she sells that I cannot grow back here because of our severe winters. Your gardens are like hers...only better, because it is your home.

Really spectacular.

~Annie
carrieburgess3
14 years ago
Renee- I have goose bumps. Your garden is awe inspiring.

How many years have you been work at this?

Incredible, just incredible!!!

Carrie B.
plantmaven
14 years ago
Where do I sign up for the tour?
Absolutely breath taking.
tammyinwv
14 years ago
I agree with everyone else. It is absolutely STUNNING! Jaw Dropping. Especially Cajun Rhythm Iris. Beautiful! Do I have enough adjectives in here?
Tammy
newyorkrita
14 years ago
I Am always amazed at how beautiful your garden is. And never a weed in sight.
dahli22
14 years ago
so stunning. i'm bookmarking that one! i love everything--plant choices and composition--but also the patio and the way you assembled different bricks, pavers and tiles. It all looks so inviting. Renee--how old is your garden?
timetogrowthegarden
14 years ago
Love it! How old is the garden? I wanna be you when I grow up!!!
~Melissa
roper2008
14 years ago
You are truly talented. Everything is absolutely beautiful. I like that
Looky Loo iris.

Linda
Thyme2dig NH Zone 5
14 years ago
OK, I'm seriously not sure when I'll be able to scrape my jaw off the floor. Your gardens are absolutely incredible. I love they way you have filled every inch of space and there is so much in bloom. Your combinations are just perfect. Has your garden ever been published? It really should be in a magazine. Blows away lots of pictures I've seen in articles. Simply amazing. Nice work. I'm sure it has taken a lot of effort and it has definitely paid off. Outstanding!
hosenemesis
Original Author
14 years ago
Oh my goodness, I'm going to save all of these comments and read them whenever I get blue. Or when I am sick to death of dividing irises and pulling bermuda grass! You are all so kind, and you all have great vocabularies.

I have lived here for 20 years, but I didn't start to garden in earnest until about ten years ago. The flower garden is actually very small, not like the gardens most of you have. I concentrate all of my energies there.

Schoolhouse, the green ground cover between the flagstones is dichondra and weeds.

GGG, Very little lives here through the summer. I garden for the spring and fall now. The paludosum daisies will be yanked some time in the next few weeks and I will try, unsuccessfully, to fill in with white vincas.

Aimeekitty, yes, the foxgloves are my main indulgence. I buy them as started plants in the winter and they usually last until May. They are very thirsty, unlike the roses and irises, so I keep them in one spot near the Calla lilies.

Annie, you really know how to make a person feel good. I have become quite adept at creative photo cropping, and I don't take photos of my front yard at all.

This is the first year my flower garden has come together after ten years of moving plants, walkways, sprinklers, and making horrible mistakes. I appreciate all of your kind comments.

I have been deadheading paludosum daisies, and will have plenty of seed for anyone who would like some. Just send me a private email and I'll stick a packet in the mail to you.

Renee
FlowerLady6
14 years ago
Renee ~ You have created quite the lush, beautiful paradise there in your 20 years of working and living in it. Your gardens inspire, they create a sensation of tranquility, something I strive for in my own gardens. You've done a wonderful job. Enjoy, and thanks for sharing with us.

FlowerLady
aimeekitty
14 years ago
Renee, Thanks so much for letting me know! That's very helpful! :)
hurlee
14 years ago
wow! Just amazining. I cannot believe how many plants are blooming at once! I loooooove your garden path and arbor. Just like a magazine! wonderful amazing job!!

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