Forerunner of Eclectic Gardens

Kerascoet cottage garden - Courtesy of Creative Commons

Can you find anything more beautiful or romantic than an English cottage style garden? There is more life and amazement contained in this eclectic style than can be found in any other method of design. Grandeur pales in comparison with the sheer exuberance of life that erupts in such a planting.

Variety is the spice of life and the lifeblood of a colorful garden. I don't believe there is a more vibrant style of bloom display to be found than this method. Cram it all in and enjoy the show. That is the reason we do this thing called gardening in the first place. The toil is repaid ten fold as the succession of blooming erupts and changes, ever moving around the beds as the sun travels from one axis to another.

Wilton House Gardens - Courtesy of Creative Commons

Granted we can't all have a river running through it. I do admit there are no flowery borders in this image of the Wilton House. Yet, the waterway itself adds a particular magic to the view. We can however add a water feature of diminutive proportions to gain the accent of reflection and mirroring found only with a water element.

The feeling of life one absorbs from a cottage style garden is found in no other style of garden design. There are very few rules to follow which gives you the feeling of freedom. You can toss in all manner of plants and so long as you planned the plantings so the center is taller than the ends and the sides, it will all be fabulously displayed.

Of course, one has to pay attention to grouping plants of like minded water desires. More for the leaves than for the roots as the base can always be amended to either retain or get rid of water as required. Overhead watering is really not a desirable feature in a perennial garden. Using a ground water system allows you more freedom in planting combinations.

Ground water reduces mildew and fungus problems on foliage for plants that are prone to falling prey to them. Heavenly perennials like garden phlox is fine with a once a week overhead bath to clean the dust, but if done every day even the most mildew resistant will soon become diseased. The same is true of asters and beebalm.

Anne Hathaway's Cottage - Courtesy of Creative Commons

When planning the cottage style garden, do be sure to create paths that are at least 36" wide. If you have ever been impaled by the wheelbarrow handle while trying to maneuver a curve in a too narrow garden path this tidbit of wisdom will have already been foremost in your mind while planning the spaces in your garden. Or perhaps it was the time that the leg got hung up on a rock as you turned and all the weeds and mess in the barrow was deposited back in the freshly cleaned bed? (Yes, this happened to me, how did you guess?)


Eclectic is not knew as a style of design. It is simply the modernized term for cottage. Cottage gardens or cottage decorating, it is all one and the same. Oh and that shabby chic look? Those that must get by with what they have or find have been practicing the shabby chic look for thousands of years. It is however, about darn time that having everything matching and the same was discovered as boring. Variety is the only way to over come boredom and regularity.

G.G.

Split Personalities

For reasons unknown to me, the strangest things have happened in my garden and far flung container culture of ornamental plants. Trust me, my collection of plants residing in plastic pots far outdoes anything most of you can claim to be harboring, even if somewhat shamefully. Mine covered an acre of ground, the patios, the deck, the front porch and the front of the barn. I disguised the entire affair as a nursery, but in reality nothing ever arrived to add to stock that didn't totally appeal to me. This nursery sold my taste in plants. Totally personal branding at large.

One year I got into clematis really heavy and Julka was once of the more intriguing cultivars added to the catalog. Mind you any of these plants that graced the catalog was destined to take up residence in my private collection. It is the obsession that fed the madness completely devouring what was once a lovely sloping manicured lawn. Who needs all that grass? It was much lovelier hidden by thousands of plants in black plastic condos.

What became of the coveted and won Julka Clematis? It developed a personality disorder in season two. There is no photo touching done in the image above. The thing actually produced dark red and brilliant blue-purple flowers at one time - simutaneously - on the same stem. A truly psychotic bloomer which seemed to now be so confused that it had no idea who it was.

This vine was affectionately dubbed Sybil since it was quite obviously was no longer Julka. The behavior far exceeded the often troublesome problem of exciting new plants reverting to one of the parents used in breeding. Here was a Clematis that had became so mixed up as to stage an argument with itself that continued all summer long. It never tired of differing in in its own opinion.

Were it not for the damnable rabbits who chewed it off at the ground over the winter, murdering poor confused Sybil in cold blood - you might be able to purchase your own split personality vine today. Have I mentioned how much I abhor rabbits? Does anyone know WHY they only target the things you treasure most? Couldn't they just be happy with the other things you wish would silently slip away instead?

I think rabbits should only come in chocolate, wrapped in whimsical foil to complete an Easter basket properly. The only way to control them is to do away with their population ... or build a fortress around your garden that nothing larger than a Japanese beetle can break into. It is far more cost effective to get rid of Thumper and his kin.

Rabbit stew anyone? Dinner will be ready soon. In loving memory of Sybil whose constant and unending argument shall never be forgotten. May she rest in a peace totally unknown to her in life.

G.G.

Tale of the Lilies

Image credit: Used under permission of GNU license

My dear friend Kelly, the marketing executive, built a fabulous house around the corner from me. As life has a way of doing to us all, half way through the construction phase, she lost her 6 figure a year job due to aggressive takeover when the original owner died. Instead of being able to plant the wonderful gardens that were part of her vision, she was reduced to scrounging sale tables and getting very crafty at how she obtained plants for her yard. Being artistic, she loves beautiful plants even though she has no idea what half of them are. For this technical stuff, she has moi as her personal gardening consultant.


Since we live in the middle of nowhere, there are countless sources for obtaining free plants if you get a hankering for something that grows wild along the fields and ditches. One day she was driving toward town and came to a screeching stop when a the quarter mile stretch of flamboyant tiger lilies blooming like mad along on the roadside came into view. She spun her Jag around and made a beeline for a sheet and her shovel. An hour later her trunk was packed to the gills with free plants and she was off to put something into the some bare areas in her vast vacant beds. The lilies thrived beyond their wildest dreams after she fertilized them and poured water on them daily. Kelly was ecstatic about the success of her ditch digging adventure.


A very talented hairstylist, she put herself through design school by doing hair. Kelly has a salon in her basement that women from miles around discovered and frequent no longer venturing to those higher priced shops in town. This is how she survived her job loss. One wintry day she was chatting with Lisa, while perming her hair, about her interest in gardening. Lisa invited her to join the garden club in town and Kelly jumped at the chance to meet more local women who liked pretty plants. Not only did the salon's business double, but Kelly got to see everyone else's gardens and landscaping.

When the wild daylilies were in full bloom again, Lisa came in for a highlighting touch up. When they walked out to the car together Lisa was admiring a hosta flourishing beside the deck steps. Kelly proudly pointed out her passel of orange lilies across the walk.


"Why those are JUST ditch lilies!" Lisa haughtily exclaimed. Though she didn't say anything in reply and changed the subject, Kelly was fuming inside. Trust me, I heard all about it after dinner. The politics of this particular small town garden club became fodder for our entertainment for years to come. Though I had several times been a featured speaker, I did not have time to join and attend meetings. Time went by and the ditch lily incident was forgotten - once the initial telephone line buzzing slacked off. Kelly weathered the several snide comments overheard at monthly gatherings before winter set in.


The following summer, Lisa arrived for a cut and style while the lowly, undesirable "ditch lilies" were in full bloom. When her designer clogs hit the bottom stair at the entrance of the salon area. She found Kelly around the stair wall cleaning the sink from her just departed client's dye residue. At that precise moment history was made...


"You daylilies are just gorgeous! Were they expensive? That color would be the jazziest accent to my Bloodgood Maple! Where did you get them?" Lisa always talks like that, never letting a person get a word in until she is done with solo act. It is amazing what some good fertilizer and consistent watering can do to a plant that is used to fending for itself! .... And thats the rest of the rest of the story.

Wild Thing ... I Think I Love You

It is weird, somewhat wacky yet wildly wonderful. Probably one of the strangest plants I have ever watched grow! Like something from another planet, this one is best kept potted so you can enjoy it up close and personal. Seeing it go from normal-looking to bizarre is most entertaining. I am a tuned in plant person to be sure, but this strange being is just too bizarre to plant out where it will have any competition masking the daily activity.

I had never heard of this plant when a friend sent me a few seeds. She said it was cool. I looked for photos online and found nothing, so the experimental factor was high. It wasn't until a few years later that any mention of this plant popped up on the Internet. May I say that she is lacking the art of conveying a good picture? But then again, I have seen her idea of creativity, so why would I expect an apt description?

It was only potted to get the seed started ... I had grand plans for an herbary. Suffice it to say, life has a way of mucking up a plan. Instead, the subject remained basking in the intensified heat of full sun on the stone patio. Definitely, living large in that black plastic condo. All the while I raced around it working like the mad hatter at keeping the circus afloat. The herbary now a distant memory.

The blooms appeared atop the stems, so I knew the plant was doing well though set aside for later. As the bulblets grew fatter, I checked on them periodically not sure when to harvest. Lo and behold as I waited for a sureness of proper timing, a most fascinating thing occurred. Another layer of stems shot out of the original clusters and set bloom as well. How queer. Their unfolding was like the most bizarre form of modern art and I raced to freeze the image.

Presenting - Le Onion as art. Perhaps the entertainment factor dims after watching the performance year in and year out like reruns of Star Trek. Not just any old onion, mind you. Rather this one they named the Egyptian Onion Tree. The flavor of which is more than one expects from an onion. I mean , like wow! Wild thing ... I think I love you!

While small (meaning you need quite a few for a small pile of garnish) and not so easy to peel, they are worth all the effort. The flavor is more like a cross between onion and garlic. If you are into Mexican food this is the ticket for a special zip to flavor. They are wonderful on fresh salad as well. If you haven't ever grown or eaten them it is worth hunting down a few seed bulbs to get yourself started.

I suggest pot or tub growing over placing them in the ground. Onions prefer it drier than many other plants and don't get too freaked out if they go without a spritz of moisture one day. One name for this really old plant I discovered is Walking Onion because in the garden it will travel all over from dropping bulblets. Of course if you really want to get a nice sized pile of diced produce to put in some spaghetti sauce, you're going to need more plants than a tub full. I would never have the time to peel that many!

Make sure you set aside a few for next year's seed in case winter's weather causes the original plants to rot out. This little note comes from personal experience. I am now fresh out of Le Onion thanks to a particularly cold, rainy spring that left the tub saturated and half frozen stopping any drainage. Leaving my artsy salad crop roots reduced to rotted mush. Live and learn its a gardener's motto. I will restore Le Onion to a rightful spot in the potted jungle again one day.

G.G.

Share your own Wild Thing story with me - I'll make us both famous!
In the meantime - help me buy a new flowerpot!

The Plant Money Fund

Yesterday was cleaning day, but after a few hours of that I was struck by a streak of rebellion. Nothing like a little dancing with danger to brighten a Sunday afternoon. So I took myself off to the garden center to investigate the scenery. I vowed not to return there again this season unless I required some more potting soil as dwellers of the porch jungle got too big for their britches.

Lord have mercy! There was a boatload of fresh off the truck fantasies to behold. I drifted about considering this and that. Checked for bigger containers that might be on sale. Then made a beeline back to the six heavily preening little vixens that summoned me from afar. I considered which of them I might not be able to leave unadopted. Tallied the register total mentally and looked in my wallet to find that I had less cash left than originally assumed.

"Smooth move, sister," I scolded my rebellious side. I needed all of that $20 to put gas in my tank. Why the heck didn't I just stay home where no true source of disgust could rear it's ugly head? So much for the pleasure of diversion on a weekend afternoon. Instead I inwardly am cursing the oil companies as I walk quickly to the parking lot ... EMPTY HANDED!

After fuming all the way home, I reverted to surfing the web to take my mind off my mood. With the increasing prices on everything today, it is hard to come up with enough spare cash to buy all the beautiful plants you really want. Cruising along reading this and that I found the perfect way to create more plant money without finding an additional job. If I could cut down on the amount of money I had to pour into my gas tank, I would have more weekend cash.

How would I accomplish this at over $4 a gallon for gas? I found the coolest way to actually save money. Its called HHO and any vehicle can be converted to save money on gas. The equipment only costs about $50 and after you get it all hooked up your engine can actually run better and used far less gas. Imagine being able to convert your gas hog to run on hydrogen power, a renewable fuel. Go green! Save some cash to support you plant habit. Click Here!

To make having more cash at the end of the week sweeter, you also are owed an IRS refund for using green technology in your vehicle. This refund is not available to people with factory assembled hybrid cars. You can't buy a hybrid car for $100 more than a gasoline powered one either. Before you start muttering about it being a scam...

I have done a lot of research on this since finding that first little blip. It kept me up half the night! This is the way to fight back and save money to buy what you want to. For the best hydrogen engine system available read the consumer report. To see the views of the experts watch the videos below.



Isn't it time you regain some of the control of your own money? Saving 15% to 70% on gasoline is something we all need to do immediately. The price is going up and it will never go back down. Why would it? We can't live without it no matter how much they charge per gallon. (Like they don't KNOW this already?) Plus, the IRS has to refund you the full cost of the conversion with a maximum deduction of $2000 for a private car or small truck. (You will need to save all your receipts to take the deduction.)



Aren't you ready to fight back too? Cut down on environment pollution and save cash to buy more plants!......... Click Here!

Most Beautiful Garden Center in America

In the most unexpected place, lies America's best kept secret. The beauty begins at the highway curb and must create traffic jams. On the side of the long driveway gorgeous beds distract you from moving along. Over the years I have been to countless garden centers, wholesale nurseries and greenhouses. Some of my past haunts have had some impressive displays ....


none of them holds a candle to this place! The riveting waves of color and texture frolicking down the side of the drive makes it impossible to just drive on by. I suspect the white posts are there to stop gawkers from accidentally steering off into the flowers.

They are a bit distracting and they could paint them green, but if it stops vehicles from drifting off into the petunias we shall just have to ignore the intermittent disruption. The play of shrub against perennial and wild wafting of annual color is breath taking. This is all very unexpected to the newbie in town, an oasis one must leave the highway to acknowledge. Tucked away in an old and historical mill town in South Carolina where wealth and affluence is not found dripping onto the sidewalks ....


This is probably only two thirds of the drive way gardens, and as you pull past the fence and berm the entire parking lot is a wonderland as well. All of this before you even get into the garden center. I wanted to photograph all of it, but a storm came in cutting short my glee of capturing the scenery.

It isn't just the plants - the place is as manicured as any mansion's grounds in its hey day and so clean you could eat off the pavements. The plants displayed inside and out are without one small hint of distress or thirst. Stepping into the main annual bedding plant building it is the most beautiful sight on earth! Nonstop color from the floor to the rafters popping from some of the most vigorous plants you have ever seen. I don't know how I actually drug myself away and back onto the highway. Most likely it was adult guilt of needing to accomplish X amount of errands before the work day ended.

Yes, I was working when I stumbled upon this gem. The quest for the right plants for my client's gardens takes me far and wide; this most maddening quest faces me almost every day Monday through Friday. I constantly lament over the shortsightedness of the greenhouses and nurseries that bring it all to market.

As I was checking out with my new found hoard of color, I commented to the gal at the register,
"This has got to be the most beautiful garden center ever, and I have seen a lot of them
over the years."
To which she replied,
"Yes! This has got to be America's best kept secret. When I first came here to apply for
a job I was blown away at just how beautiful this place is hidden away down here in this
little ole town."

Have you been to Home Depot or Lowe's garden center and seen racks of plants with metal tags on the ends that have word STACY'S cut into it? Welcome to the retail side of Stacy's Greenhouse. It is rather sad that so many of you live too far away from York to take in the sight and enjoy the thrill of visiting America's best kept gardening secret.

Poppies, Irise and Ice Plant

Here's another section of that roadside botanical wonder from yesterday's post. This photo was shot the same day as the first, the breeze has let up in this one. Just look at those marvelous purple Poppies (Papaver)! I didn't realize they came in this color until I saw these up close. That poppy color is really set off with the vast clump of cobalt blue Iris in the background.

Japanese Iris (I. ensata) are just awesome in full bloom. A rugged garden rhizome that has been a gardener's favorite for a very long time. Most Iris need full sun to perform well, Iris ensata will flower quite nicely in a pretty shady situation. Notice the other poppies in the background - a lovely bubblegum pink on such nice tall stems. One day I shall have to meet this woman and find out exactly what poppy variety she has planted in here.

In the foreground is the powerful blooming Ice Plant (Delosperma cooperi) which is an evergreen mat forming plant in zone 7 and south. North of there it is a drought tolerant
beauty that can establish itself to an impressive four foot wide mass. Blooming in blued pink that leans toward lavender from one end of the season to the other. This under used plant really should be taken notice by home gardeners more often.

G.G.

Through The Eyes of a Child

A month ago the new season's plant selections arrived at every garden center in town. I decided to take my granddaughter to the "flower store". She was very excited at the idea which was huge in her two and half year old mind. While very intelligent she is still a beginner in our world, and I had no idea what to expect when we arrived at our destination.

It was nothing like my imagined trip. It exceeded anything I thought would happen. It was one of those days that you could kick yourself for not having a movie camera in your purse. Her first visit to a garden center was more exciting than Christmas morning. You see, most of her knowledge of ornamental plants was from photos and a few paltry pots on the porch.

She petted the Gerber Daisies, exclaiming over all the colors she saw in the rack. The first one gallon pot of May Night Salvia she saw was immediately hugged to her small, slim body. "Nonnie! We must have this one for Mommy!" She was persuaded to put it back and keep looking. So short of stature I don't think she realized there was much more to look at.

After I showed her how many different things there were to see beyond her level of view, she was everywhere. Darting about smelling this one, oohing over the color of that one and generally beside herself with all there was to discover. Next, she discovered scents which started a frenzied search for "that 'liscious smell' which after much searching turned out to be a table of Dianthus.

The entire live plant area was hugged and fondled as that developing mind skipped and sang through the aisles. The Barbie Princess Kitchen was very pale in comparison to this level of excitement. I was hard pressed to keep up with her and put back everything she had to have. I guess she has inherited more from me than my fingernails. Her poor parents aren't into plants, but thats okay, Nonnie is here for you kiddo.

The Guilty Gardener

Justly Accused

I know, it is time to confess my guilt. I have danced away from the label for many years, always shying away from the truth. Yet, as co-dependencies go, at least mine is not unhealthy nor unsightly.

Can I help it if I suffer from pot addiction? If there was enough ground, I would have no use for the pots! Alright, I might need just a few for the porch ... and the deck ... and the patio. I practice restraint whenever it is possible. I can stop whenever I feel like it.

Is it really my fault that ornamental plants just seem to be attracted to me? If they didn't have so much to say, I could easily turn a deaf ear to each and every one of them. Surely I could ignore them all without all the incessant communication.

I beg to differ with this term of addiction! If they weren't natural I might understand, but they just sprout out of the soil and suddenly it is true love. I swear they follow me home on their own accord and force me to take care of them. At least no one can accuse me aggravated foliage abuse or petal abandonment!

Surely, with all the new beautiful introductions each spring one can fully comprehend the need to collect every one that comes in just the right color. Tell them to stop creating new ones and I will be able to quit cold turkey (just as soon as I make sure I have all the perfect colored ones that exist somewhere on Earth).

The Guilty Gardener