Don, you left me speechless! Abosolutely beautiful!

man- your plants are gorgeous and huge!! wow

Absolutely beautiful!!

WOW, how big is your property??

Your hostas look like they're mostly out in the sun. It must work because of your northern location. They'd never survive around here like that.

Do you have an irrigation system, or is Mother Nature responsible for all the watering?

Thanks for sharing!

Deanna

Wow! Gorgeous!

Oh my goodness. What a garden you have created.

Beautiful. How long have you been working on your gardens?

I have about four acres, but only about an acre for my lawn and gardens. Most of my gardens receive a lot of sun. Everything grows well, but by mid-summer the hostas begin looking a little sun-scorched. I have an underground sprinkler system for my lawn and two of the gardens. The other gardens aren't irrigated.

Beautiful!!! Love your Hostas and gardens both. A lot of work you put in to it, but oh so worth every minute.
Cher

Gasp! Don, you have quite the knack for collecting and designing, both hosta and your landscape!
My back hurts just looking at your rock collection, but I know your *method* works well for you, but still....

Maybe it's time for a reminder and review of your *method*! Hmmmm?

Don,
Great gardens and wonderful design. That front yard looks like it gets a lot of sun. Does Liberty and Eliator take that sun OK? How far north are you? I was also noticing the edging on that front area. It looks like plastic garden edging with either concrete or hypertufa holding it in place. Looks like it makes beautiful curves. Can you educate us on how you do that?

Steve

Yowza!!!

So...I need a commentary/anecdote/story on the "Rocks, Rocks, and More Rocks".
gayle

Just amazing.Don!! Your plants must be decades older than mine! My oldest plants are 8 years. Good job with all the rocks. Phil

Thanks for posting.

bkay

Fantastic! So well manicured--looks like it should be in a magazine!!
Karen

Wow - absolutely awesome gardens - i'm jealous! :)

WOW. Absolutely beautiful. Your gardens are amazing. The edging is spectacular. I, too, am intersted in how you did that.

Wow! You really have an eye for putting things together. Everything looks great.

Don, your gardens are amazing and beautiful. I love all that you have done with your property. I can't even begin to say how much I loved looking through your pictures. Thank you for sharing your gardens with us. Simply stunning.

Tracy

Cool and unique garden Don! Really enjoyed the tour!

Dan

Your gardens are gorgeous! Your Hosta 'When I Dream' is awesome, I just love it!
Thanks for sharing your beautiful gardens with us

Wendy

Where did you get the plant markers? Did you use a label maker of some sort ( brother or etc) and then put them on the markers? I looked awhile back and couldn't find any that nice... I settled on the pawpaw rose markers but they aren't nearly as nice...

So many of your hostas are absolute giants! Beautiful. They must really like your sun. Your rock landscape is really different and creative. Those vertical rocks are pretty awesome, too. Enjoyed your pictures a lot.

Simply stunning - magazine cover worthy along with a detailed article on how you accomplished it. Love Love Love it .....

Lynne

Wow, you've put a lot of work into that! You must be a very high energy person! I have a hard time managing my own little spot - and it pales in comparison to yours.

You have an eye for design. Beautiful!

Deanna

Wow. Mature hostas and grand landscaping. Are your hostas free of watering now? I am hoping someday mine don't need any Summer water.

Thank you all for your compliments! I'm glad to hear you like my gardens...it's my hobby and favorite pastime.

The lawn edging is Royal Diamond by Valley View Industries and is available at Home Depot. Commercial grade...comes in a 60 ft. roll.

I've poured a concrete strip 4 1/2 inches wide x 4 1/2 inches deep along the edging. The edging is attached to the concrete strip. The concrete keeps the edging from warping and provides extra strength. It also eliminates the need to trim the grass along the edging. If you want step-by-step details on how to do the concrete and edging, let me know- I can take some more pics and make a seperate GardenWeb posting.

I construct my own plant markers by making an aluminum stake, and an aluminum name plate which is attached with two flathead aluminum rivets. You can see my posting titled "Aluminum Plant Markers". The plant markers are virtually indestructable. The label is made on a Brothers label maker and is very durable.

Regarding the Rocks, Rocks, and More Rocks...I'll be the first to admit I have rocks in my head! LOL. I've hauled them one by one from local farm fields and construction sites. I also have "special ones" which I've hauled from other States and locations in Canada. I have a few from other foreign countries as well. Currently, my largest boulders weigh about 16,000#. I haul the boulders on a trailer and have a bucket loader to place them in my landscape. It takes a lot of rocks, sweat, and time to cover a large area to create a rockscape.

We live near Grand Rapids, Michigan and love to have visitors. Our gardens are open anytime. :)

PS
I like 'When I Dream' also. Over the years, I've had many sports from 'Pin Stripe Sister'...most of them don't have much vigor, but this one (which I've named 'When I Dream') has enough green to grow well. I have many other sports and a lot of nice seedlings, some of which will be introduced in the next few years.

I posted in your Plant Marker thread requesting more details - those markers are so cool.

Do you not have issues with frost heave destroying your concrete edging?

I hope 'When I Dream' is one of your future introductions! I am already picturing a spot in my garden for it :)

Wendy

Don - they are all SO incredible and your landscaping is stunning! WOW - thanks so much for sharing! My plants are WAY too crammed together. I am inspired to change a lot. :)

stunning

makes my place look like a weed patch ...

ken

Got a suggestion - anytime you post of picture of one of your own "creations" you should put your name in parentheses after the name of the hosta. That way we'll know it's yours. :-)

Deanna

That's a great suggestion, Deanna. I can see where that would save some confusion. In this posting, here are the hostas which are mine: Tiki Torch, Color Beauty, Sparky's Dazzler, Blue Challenger, and When I Dream. None of these plants are currently registered.

Tiki Torch- OP seedling of Pin Stripe Sister
Color Beauty- sport of Color Revolt, which is a sport of Revolution (tetraploid)
Sparky's Dazzler- OP seedling of Pin Stripe Sister
Blue Challenger- OP seedling of Halcyon
When I Dream- stable sport of Pin Stripe Sister

Don

Beautiful! Evident no problem with moles and voles. What is your secret?

Have lost so many Hosta to the tiny monsters that I don't plant Hosta in the ground anymore. Permatil, cages, poison, cats, dogs, nothing works.

Don,
I know you said that the front get scorch from that full sun. Do you have drip irrigation in that bed? Also you mentioned that you would describe the edging process you use in that bed. Would you do that in a separate thread please?

Thanks

Steve

The words "awesome" and "amazing" are totally overworked--but I just don't know what else to say, because your gardens ARE awesome and amazing! You must work in them all day every day. Thank you for taking time to share the pictures.

Thank you all...

redshirtcat- You asked about frost heave affecting my concrete edging. I was concerned about that when I poured that narrow concrete strip last summer. As you know, it's only 4 1/2 inches wide x 4 1/2 inches deep...and several hundred feet long as it surrounds all the flowerbeds in my front yard. As a precaution, I prepared the foundation very well by digging out the topsoil, installing a sand base and two inches of chipped stone...then compacted it very well before pouring the concrete. (I did not install re-bar, but that may be a good idea.) Every four feet, I inserted a short piece of crack control in case the concrete wanted to break. I was very pleased this spring when I saw there was absolutely no damage to the concrete from the frost...no cracks anywhere!

nanpam- You asked about moles and voles. I had a vole eat some of my oriental lily bulbs this winter because I had a sheet of styrofoam over them, which created a warm little haven for them. I won't do that again. Otherwise, no damage from moles and voles. We live on a lake, and about the only thing that digs in our flowerbeds are turtles which are laying their eggs. LOL

Steve- I have a cheap 50 ft. drip hose buried under the mulch in the flowerbed next to the house. The drip hose is hooked into my underground sprinkler system, so it drips whenever my sprinkler system is running. I have overhead sprinkling for the other flowerbeds in my front yard. However, I haven't turned on the sprinkler system in any of the beds yet this summer. I think my secret is very good, deep topsoil along with a healthy layer of bark mulch.

You asked for more info on the concrete edging. I'll try to take some more pics in the next week or so and explain the process in step-by-step detail. IMO, the edging turned out very well....looks great and appears very durable so far.

WOW. I am so jealous. Your plants and designs are just gorgeous.

Yikes -- these are spectacular! I just know you have a full-time staff of gardeners. Or else you only sleep 3 hours a night and work in the yard with a headlamp after the sun sets and before it rises ;o) What an accomplished gardener you are.

Fantastic! I like the semi-formal look of your planting beds.

Thanks for sharing.

So beautiful.
In pic #4...how many Golden Tiara did you plant there?
They are all beautiful.
~Sassy~

I love the Golden Tiara border!
Jen

Your garden is beautiful, Don!

Regarding Hosta 'When I Dream': After observing 'When I Dream' in my garden for several seasons, I've determined that this hosta does not grow very well and that it really is not worth introducing. Therefore, I relinquish my claim to the name. There is another individual who is preparing to register a hosta with the same name, and I want to avoid any confusion in the future. Don Rawson

Don Rawson..I saved this post..it takes more than one look to see and appreciate everything!..what a beautiful garden..

I missed the original post since I was not on here then. So gorgeous! I am happy I am here to see it. Those plants must be huge now. Pity about 'When I Dream'.

Thanks for the update and revisit and for only putting out exceptional new Hosta!

I am so happy to see your pictures again! I was here back then, but mostly lurking, which I still do a lot because I am not very good about id-ing my plants since the dogs destroyed my labels and I gave up There are a few I know the names of, but not too many. You were one of my secret mentors when I started my hosta planting!

I am sorry your 'When I Dream' was a disappointment, but there is so much to love about your gardens! Thank you for that!!!

What can I say that hasn’t been said? Jooo-garden-looks-mah-vi-los! (Remember Billy Crystal imitating Fernando Lamas?) That’s the phrase I’m going for......... :-)

debra