A Tour of My Garden 2009
by Diane Linsley
Welcome to my garden! We'll start in the front yard, then go to the back.
This is the corner where the driveway and sidewalk meet. Finally, the plants have grown tall enough that you can no longer see the sidwalk from the house. This is looking toward our neighbor's beige brick house across the street. It's a nice-looking house, isn't it? But it's a good thing you can't see our 50-year-old, red brick house in the same picture, or it would be a horrible clash.
On our left is Muhgo pine 'Tannenbaum', a wonderful, Christmas-tree shaped evergreen. Behind that is Crabapple 'Prairie Fire'. It was stunning last month when it bloomed with pinkish-red flowers. The dark bronze foliage is also nice. Ora Kingsley is a small rose with semi-double, scarlet blooms and beautiful, bronze-green foliage. Sorry, no fragrance. Providing a good backdrop, and reducing the glare from the neighbor's driveway, is Elderberry 'Laciniata', a fast-growing, large shrub with ferny foliage and cream-white panicles of flowers. I'm crazy about elderberries because they make fabulous screens and backdrops. The berries are edible but yucky, so I leave them for the birds. To our right is the pale pink rose, Sharifa Asma, one of my favorites. If you're looking for a great evergreen tree, Baby Blue Eyes spruce is a winner. I have three of them in the front yard. And, of course, we have California poppies, the groundcover of choice for this garden.
Here's a shot of the same garden from a different angle. We're standing on the driveway now. Additional plants in this picture include Rose 'Autumn Sunset', lavender-blue bearded iris, and Scutellaria 'Arcobaleno' edging the driveway. How's that for clashing colors? In the upper-right-hand corner you can catch a glimpse of the beautiful orange rose, Pat Austin. You can't see it, but between Sharifa Asma and Pat Austin is a huge clump of dark purple bearded iris. It's absolutely stunning! Maybe I should take another picture. This bed is 50 feet long from the driveway to the giant blue spruces at the other end. Funny how the camera shrinks it. Now let's walk to the back yard....
We're standing on a path in the back yard, facing north. Here we have a nice clump of Lupine 'Morello Cherry' behind a grayish-black, cement urn. I sowed sweet alyssum in the urn. To the left of the lupine is Golden Celebration, one of David Austin's finest shrub roses. The flowers, however, are not as perfect as Graham Thomas. Across the path is Tranquility, one of the most fragrant roses in the garden. It was bred by John Clements, who had a great nose for roses. In front of Tranquility is Eremurus bungei. It's not blooming yet, but it's fabulous combined with pink roses. To the right of the eremurus is another Clements rose, Scarlet Velvet. Let's follow the path to the top of the picture, where we find a showy combination of Peony 'Gay Paree' and Lychnis 'Feuer'.
A birdhouse sitting on an old spruce tree stump makes a nice focal point for this little garden. To the left of the stump are two miniature roses, Bees Knees and Snow Ruby. A Siberian iris adds a splash of blue in the background. Violas cover the ground, along with creeping thyme at the base of the stump. On the right, you see the exotic-looking foliage of Lilium pardalinum. Although they're not shown in the picture, there are two more elderberries in this northern section of the garden -- Black Lace and Sutherland Gold.
Each of the gardens in the back yard (there are about 7 of them) are laid out like islands with paths all around them. The paths are 4 feet wide, so two people can walk side by side. What I really like is when the roses hang out across the path, begging you to smell them (and grabbing you if you're not careful).
Now we've wandered down another path, southeast of the previous one. We're standing near the south end of the garden, looking up the hill. My favorite white rose, Jacqueline Du Pre, is blooming like mad. It has the most delicious fragrance. The semi-double blooms are pleasing, whether you're an old-rose lover or a modern-rose fanatic. Across the path is the apricot-yellow rose, Teasing Georgia. It makes a large mound about 5 feet tall and 6 feet wide. I have lots of daylilies in this area, and the white and yellow roses go well with them. Further up the path is a fuschia-red rose, New Orleans. It was introduced by John Clements the year after the big hurricane wiped out that city.
Looking up the path, you see the ferny foliage of Honeylocust 'Shademaster'. I planted three of these in the back yard and one in the front. I wanted filtered sun for the garden, not the dense shade that most trees cast. I think the roses will be okay with it. This tree is 2 years old, and it's 8 feet tall. In front of it, you'll see a red cutleaf Japanese maple. It will eventually grow to 4 feet tall and 6 feet wide. Behind the honeylocust is Rose 'April Love'. It's an attractive, warm pink color.
Now let's walk up the path to the pink rose 'April Love'. Turning around and facing south, we see the wooden pillar that my husband built with a little birdhouse on it. No, the birds don't nest in it. But it's cute. Climbing on the pillar are Rose 'Jayne Austin' and Clematis viticella 'Betty Corning'. It's an adorable combination of soft, buff-yellow roses and lavender-blue, bell-shaped flowers. Behind the post in the picture (but about 30 feet away in reality) is a fruiting elderberry covered with white flowers. The far south end of the garden includes an orchard of plum trees. I may get around to planting some flowers down there someday, but first I need to finish the other gardens.
Well, there's a lot more to see. But that's enough for today. I hope you enjoyed the tour!
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