In recent decades many garden designers have sought to de-emphasize flowers and pay more attention to form, foliage, and structure. Giverny’s upper garden, on the other hand, is first and foremost about flowers. There are no hedges, no ornamental grasses that I can remember, and not much in the way of plants used primarily for …
Last fall I did a makeover of the raised bed on the west side of our parkway. The bed was full of larger perennials and was a bit too big and wild-looking for something between the sidewalk and the street. My goal was to have something relatively low-growing and tidy but colorful and full. It …
In the flatlands where I live, gardens with dramatic views are something of a rarity. I was left pretty much speechless, as a result, by the Dudan garden in Walnut Creek. For me, the dominant features of this garden were the far off hills, stone, and water. It was a very hot day – this …
What’s your reaction when you see fake plantation-style columns in front of a fairly modest home, or a circular driveway in front of a house on a quarter acre lot? Do a bit of eye-rolling, perhaps? Then I must tell you that when I saw the grand sweep of Salvia (known as the River of …
It’s been a very long day so I am just going to post some photos of various parts of the garden at the end of May. These pictures were actually taken on Sunday, but close enough. First, the driveway raised bed. The foundation bed at the front of the house. View from behind the sidewalk bed. …
Oh joy, another box of plants have arrived, this time from Bluestone Perennials. With a single exception, all of these are meant for in and around the raised bed at the west end of the parkway. This is an area that gets a lot of sun, and is seldom if ever watered for the simple …
There was an interesting article in the June issue (is it already time for the June issue?) of Fine Gardening magazine with the vaguely Orwellian title of “Finding Freedom Through Structure.” The author, George Schoellkopf, argues that gardens built around straight lines and right angles provides a more “attainable aesthetic” because “the structure is woven …
Late last year I got interested in trying to be more deliberate about the color schemes in my garden. Prior to that, I thought in terms of how two or three plants might fit together in terms of color, but never of a whole bed, let alone a whole garden. When I wrote about this …
Looking at photos from a summer outing to the Chicago Botanic Garden, I was particularly struck by three of the plant combinations Judy took pictures of. (UPDATE: As Alison and Alberto point out in comments, the blue flower below is a tall variety of Nepeta, not Bluebeard. Sorry for the error!) First, Bluebeard (Caryopteris) and …
The Front Island Bed lies between the Sidewalk Border and the low retaining wall of the expanded Foundation Bed. It is filled mostly with taller plants that enjoy lots of moisture, since the soil is a moist clay loam. It gets almost full sun, even though it is on the north side of the house. …
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