Now that I’ve got your undivided attention, its time for my second installment of ‘Botanical Trespassing’ for 2013. I’ve highlighted this garden before, and last summer, I was privileged to have Inge as my guest on ‘Through the Garden Gate,’ a now defunct radio show on our local radio station. Before we start, here’s what’s happening in Teza’s Garden. Dracunculus vulgaris is stopping visitors dead in their tracks, and to be honest, rightfully so!
A record fourth and final bloom from M.x sheldonii ‘Lingholm’ caught me by surprise this morning! Now I am most anxious to see if it will set seed, and more importantly, how well it will over winter! Fingers crossed everyone!
D and I have resided in a neighboring community for the past four years. Having left behind a magnificent property in the rolling hills of Mulmer, they settled onto a delightful corner property. It has been a thrill to watch their gardens come to life in the ensuing years!
A stunning Hydrangea anomala ‘Petiolaris’ was inherited with the house, and this season has put forth a stunning performance. If you have a stone facade, this is definitely the climber for you!
The woodland garden is filled with a bevy of hortgasm worthy plant material. Cypripedium reginae has only one remaining bloom! I can still hear Inge when she made mention on the radio show that she had one trailer of furniture, and two of plants! Watch closely, and you will understand how this is possible!
Did I mention that this property is the penultimate plant aficionado's wet dream? Vulgarity aside, hortgasm after hortgasm pulsed through by body as we perused the gardens. Arisaema candidissimum is one of my penultimate Top Ten woodland plants!
A weeping form of Taxodium distichum is another rarity that causes people to stop and stare! Last year, after watching him struggle on my property, I gifted a small and somewhat scraggly Abies koreana ‘Silberlocke’ to this woodland garden, knowing that if anyone could return him to his glory, it was Inge. Judging from the size and number of cones, ‘Silberlocke’ is happy and content once again!
A sublime Pinus longaeva will one day provide a living screen for the days when the residents of this amazing property wish to utilize their front portico. I thrilled to the fact that the gardens are viewable from every direction from inside the house. Only a gardener would have the eye to ensure a feature of such importance was integrated into the design!
Another personal favourite, Clematis integrifolia with its pagoda shaped blue flowers, is but one of many that enjoy the sunnier, Mediterranean garden.
‘If it blooms it is a Tamarix, if it doesn’t, its a Larix!’ Tamarix is a much lacier shrub than Larix. Tamarix is tolerant of salt, Larix is not! Any more questions? Inge and I shared a chortle over the confusion that surrounds this stunning shrub! She grows it, I do not!
Inge has trained a Ribes grossularia shrub into a tree. What a brilliant idea! The braches are at the perfect height for picking the near ripe fruit!
The hot sunnier disposition of the upper potage make it a perfect locale for Thyme and Lavendula which reside happily commingling with one another!
Delphinium ‘Summer Skies’ remains Inge’s favourite and four plants have rewarded her with what looks like a hedgerow! This truly has been a stellar growing season!
The mossy patina on the sandstone has intensified with the abundance of rain and cooler temperatures this year, and create a perfect backdrop for a watering can and one of a kind faucet handle.
Kindest thanks to Don and Inge for extending such a gracious invitation to lunch [ a delicious fresh greens salad, Quiche – an Inge specialty, and a delightful dessert called Eaton Mess, which was sublimely tasty!] as well as chauffeur service to and from my doorstep! You are both the epitome of what garden friendships are truly made of!
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1 comment:
Sounds like you had a splendid day with stellar people! What a gorgeous garden and home! I remember the story of this couple's former garden and your visit to this one last year. Great update!
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