Thursday, November 27, 2014

2014 Garden Bloggers Fling - Westwind Farm Studio

Luckily, after the punishing sun at Old Germantown Gardens, a cloud cover had formed by the time we arrived at Westwind Farm Studio. As soon as we got off the bus, I had to run through the most beautifully golden, flower-bedecked meadow I have ever seen. It made me want to roll around in the grasses and do naughty things. 

19_meadow path

20_meadow

21_in_the_meadow

Closer to the private residence, I became fascinated with this vignette of grasses and bold-textured flowers. At every angle there was a new scene that had to be photographed. Indulge me while I share them all with you.

22_stipa_gigantea_mass

23_steps_and_grasses

24_stipa_gigantea_explosion

25_monarda_and_grasses

26_monarda_and_helenium

27_monarda_and_miscanthus

I believe John Greenlee, grassman extraordinaire, is responsible for many of the updated plantings around the home. Avoiding the crowds I headed to the back side of the garden, and a pretty back side it was. 

28_geraniums

29_vegetable_garden_fence30_dry_greenhouse

I came across this interesting, rustic-looking building which I assume is a guest house. 

31_guest_house

Then I began to get peeks into the main garden - 

32_pool_sculpture

33_pool_view

Why yes, I do believe this studio would be an excellent place to practice my deep breath. 

35_yoga_studio

And then looking back at the garden from inside the yoga studio - 

36_yoga_view

So nice to see plants given enough room to spread out. I always see Helleborus argutifolius reaching for light or overgrown by other plants. 

37_deck_planting

Pool with a view -

34_pool

A substantial outdoor fireplace, to say the least - 

39_outdoor_fireplace

And a calm front entrance -

38_front_door

I like this plant combo. Not sure what the coppery shrubs are though. 

40_grasses

And finally a great view - 

41_the_view

Westwind Farm Stuido was a lovely ending to our first Fling day. 

Friday, November 7, 2014

2014 Garden Bloggers Fling - Old Germantown Gardens

By the time we got to Old Germantown Gardens I was hot and tired. And I'm afraid my photos reflect it. I've posted the least bleary looking ones. Old Germantown Gardens is an amazing place - an expansive garden, sloping away from the house, quite sunny at first and increasingly shady towards the borders. I naturally headed to the shadiest spot I could find as soon as we arrived. 

1_shady_urn

2_inula3_asplenium

4_mossy_steps

Eventually I emerged into the light, central garden space. The beds were bursting with profusions of color. I'm afraid the strong light was unflattering to my photos and I didn't linger in the heat long enough to get many decent photos. 

5_sunny_colorful_border

7_allium_sculptures

This tree caught my eye, or maybe I should say caught my nose. I could smell it's deliciously scented flowers throughout the garden and finally tracked the fragrance to the creamy blossoms of this fairly tall tree. The bees had obviously tracked it down too and its canopy was vibrating with hundreds of bees. I asked the owner the name of the tree and wrote it down but have misplaced my note somewhere. If anybody recognizes the tree let me know! 

9_fragrant_tree10_fragrant_tree_flowers

To the side of the garden was the dry garden, even hotter, but full of well-drained-soil loving plants like Penstemons and Yuccas. I tend to like those scrappy, tough plants so I throughly enjoyed this section despite the heat. And the well-placed water fountain was a nice touch too. 

6_dry_bed

8_water_fountain_in_the_garden

Just up the hill from the dry garden was a seating area with a fairly tropical feel. It was a nice contrast to the dryness below and quite refreshing. 

11_shady_patio

Closer to the house I found the greenhouse with lots of botanical treats inside. Some amazing old specimens looking fantastic against the clever, blue-walled backdrop. 

12_greenhouse

13_greenhouse14_greenhouse_foliage15_greenhouse_light16_solanum

17_trailing_sedum18_encephalartos

I'd love to visit Old Germantown Gardens again, preferably on a cooler day. I feel like there were so many lovelies I missed. Such a spectacular garden, I would have had so many more photos if the weather had been kinder. 

Thursday, October 9, 2014

2014 Garden Bloggers Fling - Cistus Nursery and Joy Creek Nursery

After visiting the Lan Su Chinese Garden, we headed over to Cistus Nursery and Joy Creek Nursery. I've always wanted to go to Cistus so I was very excited, practically pushing people out of the way to get off the bus when we arrived. We only had an hour at Cistus, which really wasn't enough time (grumble grumble) for me to look at the plants for sale and to check out the gardens. By the time I'd selected my purchases it was time to go so I don't have many photos of the garden. I was trying to photograph on my way out as danger garden was (politely) yelling at me to get back on the bus. 

1_cistus_shopping

2_dry_greenhouse

3_spikey_section4_spike_protection

5_greenhouse_solar_system

6_no_plant_is_safe

7_shady_greenhouse

By the way it was pretty hot out. This poor doggie in his heavy fur coat managed to find the shadiest, dampest spot he could. 

8_did_i_mention_it_was_hot


They have a fun system at the nursery that helps you locate fragrant plants. 

9_scratch_and_sniff_game

10_the_nose_knows11_watch_your_nose

I picked up a younger version of this wide-leaved fern. It's doing just fine with my rather forgetful watering. 

12_asplenium

This was a pretty nifty Acanthus I'd not seen before. A little too prickly to take home on the plane though. And this giant duck I did not notice until I was leaving the nursery. I must have had my nose stuck down in the plants the whole time. 

13_acanthus_sennii14_duck_call

I need this for my house. 

15_plant_nerd_crossing

After Cistus we headed over to Joy Creek. We had more time at Joy Creek since we were also having lunch and presentations here. The gardens were lovely. I'm glad I had time to roam. 

1_approach_to_joy_creek

2_monarda

3_yellow_garden

4_rose_hippy5_nice_hips

Of course a lot of the gardens are used as growing grounds for material for propagation. 

6_clematis

Kate Walz of Gardening and Gardens perfectly matched one of the fuchsias. 

7_fuchsia8_purple_hydrangea

There was lots of drama too (thankfully just by the plants).

9_aruncus10_black_and_white

11_rudbeckia_row

12_gardeners

13_eryngium_gate

14_house_garden

I loved this Viburnum. Anyone know which one it is? 

15_viburnum

16_viburnum_close17_eryngium_ghost18_eryngium_starburst19_helictotrichon_hosta_heuchera

20_wire_sculpture

The shopping area was over by a neat, big ol' barn. 

21_joy_creek

22_joy_creek_displays

23_joy_creek_barn

24_joy_creek_tables

25_joy_creek_shed

Next we'll head on over to Old Germantown Gardens and then end the day at Westwind Farm Studio. See you soon.