Yesterday I met with Brad to see “the plan” and today we officially started the “garden makeover.”
TODAY… was that rare February day that felt like April–sunny and the temp topped out at 58 degrees.
We wasted no time…
Took down the deck railing
Moved brick paths
Created new brick paths
Raked leaves and winter debris
Moved some existing shrubs and plants
And, smiled a lot!!!
THE PLAN… The biggest change in the over all scheme is the new patio and new pathways. Brad did a great job mapping out the flow in and around the plants. The plan includes so many of my favorites (like roses and hydrangeas) but also some new things like Fine Line Buckthorn, Wichita Blue Juniper and Winterberry Holly. I love it!
TOMORROW…
Brad is coming first thing to take a look at the progress, then we meet with the “rock experts” to pick out the flag stone for our new patio which we will work on in the next couple of weeks. I just can’t believe it is FINALLY time to work outside! I am so excited that I am sure I won’t be able to sleep tonight! Here’s a slideshow from today…
Step into the potting shed and the hum of the everyday world dwindles into silence. The air is warm and smells of earth. Wood flats checkerboard the potting bench, terra cotta pots tower in the corner like soup bowls on a kitchen shelf, and bins of soil beckon, their contents rich and deep. -The Potting Shed by Linda Joan Smith/Smith & Hawkins
Love my dirt drawer!
Potting Bench
Twelve years ago my very handy husband built me a potting shed… hand-made desk, shelves, tool closet, cabinets and a potting bench, complete with a dirt drawer. If you are a gardener, I don’t have to tell you the magnitude this gift was to me. My potting shed is cute, it is functional, it is heaven on earth. Every moment I spend in my potting shed is pure pleasure– whether I am pruning, watering, reading or planning and designing the next big project. Spending time there keeps me sane during the long, dreary Indiana winters. I have simply never had an unhappy moment in my shed!
DON’T LEAVE US OUT IN THE COLD
When the temps dip below freezing , I bring the annuals and potted herbs into the potting shed where they will be safe from the cold. Some of the geraniums have spent 6+ winters in the Potting Shed… so they are right a home.
TODAY…
Today when I went into the potting shed I was greeted by a very fragrant bay tree, apple mint (given to me by my mother 22 years ago), blooming geraniums, various leggy plants that need more sun and a stack of books, catalogs, sketches and notes I’m working on to prepare for the BIG SPRING PROJECT! Ahhhhhh heaven.
It happened this week … I finally succumbed to an ugly, ugly case of the Winter Blues. I have totally had it with winter.
To beat the Winter Blues I dived into an old favorite book, Mrs. Whaley and Her Charleston Garden. Mrs. Whaley “speaks” to me through her book.
Mrs. Whaley loved her garden, I can identify with that.
Mrs. Whaley served Coke Classic, I can identify with that.
Mrs. Whaley was known to have a bit of “sass,” I can identify with that.
And, Mrs. Whaley had a Pearl of Great Price, I can totally identify with that.
An excerpt from her book:
Gardening is not inexpensive. … One successful way to finance your gardening, is to choose carefully whom you marry. A good and generous man is needed. … If you are so lucky to find such a man, you must fully realize and fully appreciate the fact that you have found a “pearl of great price.”
Now, what can you do for your “pearl of great price” to make up to him for allowing you all of the freewheeling in your garden? For me it evolved that, amongst other things, he had the privilege of casting my vote. (I cannot identify with that!)
My “Pearl” does so much more than support my gardening from afar, he builds, digs and works right alongside me. I think Mrs. Whaley could have benefited from a man like that, but then she also had Junior—-another story for another time!
Just this week, my “Pearl” sent me the most beautiful flowers to help cure my Winter Blues.
Mrs. Emily WhaleyMrs. Whaley's Garden (30' x 110')My "Pearl" picked out some of my favorite flowers to brighten my day!
I love my garden and this year my garden took a big hit … lightning had its way and took down an extremely large maple tree and left me with, well let’s just say a garden that needs some work.
The project is vast and I need to know the garden can be beautiful again–in the least amount of time possible. I’m in that dreamy stage where I think about having the perfect garden. Hubby has given the okay for some major garden work, so I am now armed and somewhat dangerous—surrounded by books, magazines, garden catalogs AND just had an appointment with a landscaper for some collaboration. This is a very large space! All of this is exciting and scary at the same time. (Before pictures.)
The Goal: Oh, just the perfect English garden–one with just the right amount of order and disorder; just the right amount of free flow and symmetry and one that has a bounty of problem-free flowers and birds and bees and butterflies.
Even during my “tree grief,” it didn’t take me long to realize that less tree = more sunshine and that means more roses. And, while I’m dreaming, the roses will be the garden-catalog variety, no aphids, no black spot, no powdery mildew and absolutely no Japanese Beetles. Think I have a chance? Well, NO … but we are now “in the bleak mid-winter” and this is the perfect time for dreamin’!
Hopeful Completion Date: May 15 // The historical roses start blooming the end of May and I don’t want to be in an ugly stage while they are showing off. So here’s hoping we have an early and somewhat dry spring!
Back to reading, sketching, planning, plotting and dreamin’!
Anne Hathaway's Cottage (wife of Shakespeare) // I could be happy with a garden like this!
The lesson I have thoroughly learned, and wish to pass on to others, is to know the enduring happiness that the love of a garden gives. -Gertrude Jekyll
Gertrude Jekyll (29 November 1843 – 8 December 1932; last name pronounced / JEE-kəl) was an influential British garden designer, writer and artist. She created over 400 gardens in the UK, Europe and the USA and contributed over 1,000 articles to Country Life, The Garden and other magazines. She wrote over fifteen books, ranging from Wood and Garden and her most famous book Colour in the Flower Garden.
Gertrude was instrumental in the creation of the English Country Garden style (my personal favorite). This style moved away from the highly formal Victorian garden toward a greater freedom in planting and the inclusion of a wider variety of plants. Attributes included brick paths and herbaceous borders planted with lilies, lupines and lavenders (YES!). She worked almost exclusively with Edwin Lutyens, a British architect, who she met in 1889 and commissioned to design her own house.
Fun Fact: Her brother, Walter, was a friend of the author, Robert Louis Stevenson; his name may have been borrowed for the title of his famous Jekyll and Hyde story.
Hope she had something other than this dress to garden in ... maybe some Wellies too.Clematis Montana over Gertrude's workshop window at Munstead Wood in Surrey, England.The beautiful and very fragrant David Austin rose that bears her name.
The day after Christmas starts my official countdown to spring. It all begins with garden catalogs. I love them. I even save them. I have garden catalogs that are 15 years old. I dream, plot, measure and make my plan.
My favorite catalogs?
David Austin Roses and Wayside Gardens
My oldest catalog?
Roses of Yesterday and Today (This amazing catalog brought me much desired information back in the day before Google.)
Today I am pouring over the David Austin Handbook of Roses 2011. Since I am on the fast-track, I am placing an order for roses today! Last year I waited and one of the roses I wanted was SOLD OUT! Ugh. But that is not going to happen this year.
Roses 2011
The new roses I am welcoming to my garden are: Rose de Rescht; Reine des Violettes; Roseraie de L’Hay; New Dawn; Comte de Chambord ( don’t they sound beautiful) and the most special of all … Lady Emma Hamilton and The Crocus Rose — special Christmas gifts from some very thoughtful people!
The Crocus Rose
Catalog says: This is a very robust and free flowering rose, bearing large, rosette-shaped flowers that are cupped at first; the petals later reflexing. The colour is soft apricot, paling to cream on the outer petals. The flowers are produced very freely, in large clusters elegantly poised on the end of slightly arching stems. They have a delightful Tea Rose fragrance.
The Crocus Rose
Lady Emma Hamilton
Catalog says: A variety of rather unusual coloring for an English Rose, but nonetheless very pleasing and useful for creating a little excitement. Before the flowers even begin to open, the outside of the buds are a most wonderful dark red with dashes of orange. When fully open the flowers are a lovely mixture of rich, almost tangerine orange on the inside of the petals and a more yellow orange on the outside; the whole set off against the very dark, bronzy green leaves that only slowly become dark green with age. Will flower freely and remain healthy. The flowers have a strong, delicious, fruity fragrance which – it has been suggested – has hints of pear, grape and citrus fruits. Lady Emma Hamilton was Horatio Nelson’s lover and we have named this rose to celebrate the 200th Anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar.
Through the years I’ve had many “themes” for our Christmas decorations, but I often venture back to the Christmas green and red. It’s just hard to beat a classy red rose for your Christmas table…
For the past 20 years I have had a secret crush. His name is David Austin. He lives in England. He grows roses. Actually, he creates roses. He even created a new kind of rose … English roses … blending historical roses (for form and fragrance) with modern roses (for repeat blooming). They are so beautiful. Who wouldn’t be smitten!
My favorite one (for the moment) is Charlotte or is it Gertrude Jekyll. Well, I’m not sure, but I love them both and they are sooooo fragrant.
The ‘Chanticleer’ Pear is a upright-pyramidal tree that is much narrower than other ornamental pears. This tree makes a valuable addition to the landscape and is a good choice where lateral space to spread is limited. It has attractive flowers, foliage and fall color. ‘Chanticleer’ is less susceptible to early freezes than other Pears. It will grow up to 40 feet high and 15 feet wide. The ‘Chanticleer’ Pear is very adaptable to many different soils and it tolerates drought, heat and pollution. Plant in full sun. Prune in winter or early spring. Hardy to zone 4. Because of its shape, the crown is less prone to branch breakage with heavy winter snow.
“Less prone to breakage” is very important when you live in the snowy, windy midwest. 9 years ago while I was working in the garden bright and early one morning–up came a big gust of wind and down went the 40′ Bradford Pear that I was working beside (in full bloom), taking out a Tulip Poplar with it. We now have a pond that we totally love in place of the trees–call us adaptable.
We loved that Pear and are ready to try again. Meet our new Chanticleer Pear. It’s not 40′ …. but we’ll feed it!
