Garden Design
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Apples, Garden Design, Garden Science, Gardening Inspiration, Orchards / Orchard Keeping, soil science, Trees
In a Golden Orchard, Dreaming …
A 100-hundred-year-old orchard in Vermont, with restoration pruning The un-restored lower section of the same orchard … Lovely place for an afternoon stroll, isn’t it? Yesterday I found myself with an extra hour of time around sunset, and I decided to go for a walk in this old apple grove surrounded by golden fields near […]
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Autumn Color in the Garden, Ferncliff, flowering shrubs, Garden Design, Garden Design Photos, Gardening Inspiration, Late Autumn Garden, Native Plants, Naturalistic Garden Design, Perennials for Autumn, Planting Techniques, Plants for Light Effects, Plants for Texture, shrubs, Shrubs for fall color, Shrubs with Colorful Twigs/Stems, Winter Garden
Late Autumn Texture Studies, Part Two: Plants that Play with Low Light…
The native forest on an early November morning… The light of late autumn is pure poetry – bathing the forest in bronze radiance. In the early morning fog, dark, vertical tree trunks move in and out of focus; playing off the back-light and textural forest tapestry. A walk through the woods reveals stunning seasonal change […]
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Autumn Color in the Garden, flowering shrubs, Garden Design, Garden Design Photos, Gardening Inspiration, Gardening Inspirations, Ground Covers, Hoar Frost, Late Autumn Garden, Native Plants, Perennial Close-Ups, Perennials for Autumn, Plants for Light Effects, Plants for Texture, shrubs, Winter Garden, Woody Plants
Late Autumn Texture Studies, Part One: Plants Sparkling with Sugary Frost…
Sedum ‘Purple Emperor’ – Sweet Treat of the Sugar Plum Fairy… Jack Frost and the Sugar Plum Fairy had a party in my garden the other night. Â Â I wasn’t invited. But my naughty guests did leave behind plenty of outrageous evidence and a few party favors. In the morning I awoke to find […]
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Asian Natives, Autumn Color in the Garden, Ferncliff, flowering shrubs, Garden Design, Garden Design Photos, Gardening Inspiration, Ground Covers, Japanese Maple, Late Autumn Garden, North American Trees, Perennial Close-Ups, Perennials for Autumn, Plant Spotlight, Plants for Texture, shrubs, Shrubs for fall color, Shrubs for ornamental fruit, Trees, Trees for Fall Foliage, Viburnum, Winter Garden, Woody Plants
Autumn Brilliance Part Three: Plant Partners for the Late Show and Early Winter Marquee…
Acer palmatum x dissectum ‘Seiryu’ in late October By late October, much of the foliage in the forest surrounding my garden has passed its peak. Although the woods are still basking in the glow of golden birch and poplar, lemony striped maple, rusty red oak and amber colored beech –  the vibrant orange and red maple leaves […]
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Autumn, Autumn Color in the Garden, Berries, Bird Friendly Gardens, Birds, Butterflies and Moths, Color in the Garden, Dried Flowers, Exotic Plants, Fantasy Flowers, Ferncliff, flowering shrubs, Foliage, Fresh Cut Flowers, Garden Design, Hardy shrubs, Hummingbird/Butterfly, Hydrangea, Late Autumn Garden, Old Fashioned Flowers, Plant hunting, Plant Spotlight, Raindrops, shrubs, Shrubs for fall color, Shrubs for ornamental fruit, The Seasons, Unusual Plants, Woody Plants
Autumn Brilliance Part Two – Plants for Spectacular Fall Color…
Callicarpa dichotoma ‘Issai’ (Purple Beautyberry) Could a gardener be diagnosed with OCD if she compulsively checks her ornamental shrubs for changing berry color? Can a collector’s passion for a particularly beautiful cultivar cross the line, where she becomes a stalker of plants? Sometimes I fear I’ve gone too far; slipped off the raft; teetered past […]
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Autumn Color in the Garden, Birds, Ferncliff, flowering shrubs, Garden Design, Garden Design Photos, Native Plants, Naturalistic Garden Design, Perennials for Autumn, Plant hunting, Plants for shade, Plants for sun, shrubs, Shrubs for fall color, Viburnum, Woodland plants, Woody Plants
Autumn Brilliance: Plants for Spectacular Fall Color, Part One …
Viburnum trilobum ‘Bailey Compact’ with Miscanthus sinensis ‘Morning Light’ What an impossibly beautiful morning. The sky is a scraped palette of blue-grey-violet, and the world all around me is a swirling kaleidoscope of orange and chartreuse, scarlet and vermillion, saffron and violet. I began my day with an early walk through the garden – savoring […]
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annuals, Cold Frame Construction, Garden Design, Garden Maintenance, Garden Science, organic gardening, Planting Techniques, soil science, Vegetable Gardening
Gardening Beyond the Harvest Moon: Extending the Growing Season with Hoop-House Cold Frames…
September’s Harvest Moon It may seem a little premature to be writing about cold frames and frost on a beautiful late summer day, (sunny with daytime temps in the 70’s here in Vermont). But the gorgeous Harvest Moon this past weekend served as a reminder that we are nearing the end of the growing season […]
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Ferncliff, Garden Design, Garden Design Photos, ornamental grass, Perennials for Autumn, Perennials for summer, Perennials for Winter Interest, Plant Spotlight, Plants for Light Effects, Plants for shade, Plants for sun, Plants for Texture
Autumn and Everything After……. Designing Beautiful Late Season Gardens with Ornamental Grass…
“Autumn is a Second Spring, When Every Leaf is a Flower” – Camus A Grouping of Miscanthus sinensis, ‘Morning Light’, ‘Variegatus’, and Miscanthus ‘Purpurascens’ in Mid-October at Ferncliff Pennisetum alopecuroides, (fountain grass), with sedum and juniper in the entry garden at Ferncliff  in early September, just before the inflorescence appear. Much as I would like […]
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Ferncliff, flowering shrubs, Garden Design, Native Plants, Naturalistic Garden Design, Woodland plants
Sweet-Scented August: Clethra Alnifolia
Clethra alnifolia, North American native “Sweet Pepperbush’ Some of the most beautiful late-blooming shrubs remind me of that childhood tale, “The Ugly Duckling”. Late to leaf out, looking perhaps a bit twiggy and awkward in June, these stars of the late summer garden take their time dressing up for spring. Sweet pepperbush is one of […]
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Aletha Soule, annuals, companion planting, Cutting Garden, Fresh Cut Flowers, Garden Design, Great Growers and Nurseries, Richard Foye, Tim Geiss, Vegetable Gardening
Bringing Nature’s Beauty Indoors: Flowers Just for Cutting…
~ A bouquet of dahlia and calendula brightens my windowsill ~ One of the great pleasures of successful flower gardening is, of course, the access to seasonal, fresh cut flowers for the dinner table, desk and elsewhere in the home. I also really enjoy bringing an exotic bouquet to my host or hostess when I […]
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Garden Design, Garden Design Photos, Plant Spotlight, Plants for shade, Pots, Shade Gardening, Tropical Plants
Hello Lover…
Cape Primrose, (Streptocarpus ‘Black Panther’) in the Secret Garden at Ferncliff I love a little flirtation in the garden. Yesterday, my cape primrose ‘Black Panther’ reminded me of just how much fun it is to be teased and surprised. I was dutifully weeding the Secret Garden path when I noticed something dark and mysterious peeking […]
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Ferncliff, Garden Design, Garden Design Photos, Native Plants, Perennial Close-Ups, Perennials for summer, Plant hunting, Plant Spotlight, Plants for sun, Tim Geiss
August: Seeking the Thrill of High Summer…
~ A bee visits Rudbeckia hirta “Becky mixed” in the perennial garden ~ Is it just me or does it feels like summer is passing too quickly this year? Here we are at the full Sturgeon Moon, (rising tonight, August 5th,at 8:56 pm EST), and it seems like the warm weather is just getting started […]
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Artful Garden Objects, Garden Design, Garden Design Photos, Garden Paths, Garden Visits, Inspirational Gardens, Sculpture
Design Inspiration: A lesson in planning, editing and restraint… my visit to the private garden of Phyllis Odessey and Peter Mauss.
~ The Stone Garden House sculpture, by artist Dan Snow, at the  Mauss~Odessey Garden Beautiful, isn’t it? Visiting this magical garden last weekend, created by my friends Phyllis and Peter, was truly inspirational. Phyllis Odessey is an incredibly talented garden designer with a knack for making large open spaces seem both intimate and calm. Her […]
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Ferncliff, Ferns, Garden Design, Garden Design Photos, Garden Paths, Native Plants, Perennial Close-Ups, Plant Spotlight, Plants for shade, Shade Gardening, Woodland plants
Ode to a Fiddlehead…
The woodland path at Ferncliff – Image â“’ Michaela Medina – The Gardener’s Eden Call me a fiddle-head, it is true. I have a long standing love-affair with ferns. Ostrich and Cinnamon, Maidenhair and Lady, Autumn and Christmas; even their names delight me, and I can never seem to get enough of this delicate, feathery species. My […]
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Ferncliff, Garden Design, Perennial Close-Ups
Romancing the Garden: Indigofera…
Indigofera kirilowii, laden with raindrops Poetic. Indigofera absolutely glows in the damp, darkness of rainy days and the shadowy, low light of early mornings and late afternoons. This is a romantic flower; reminiscent of castle-bound heroines and hidden, walled gardens. The weeping form and cascading flowers create a slightly wistful, but classically beautiful presence. Although […]
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Garden Design, Garden Paths, Garden Visits, Inspirational Gardens, Public Gardens, Travel
Finding Inspiration in Public Gardens … The Bridge of Flowers, Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts…
Above, The Bridge of Flowers viewed from the bank of the Deerfield River. Â Below, a gravel path leads through The Bridge of Flowers in June… Visiting public gardens has become something of a luxury for me over the past few years. I am a professional gardener and designer, and the busiest season in my line […]
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Garden Design, Garden Design Photos, Native Plants, Plant Spotlight, Woodland plants
June Flowering Shrub Spotlight : Our Native Mountain Laurel, Kalmia Latifolia
Mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia, ‘Pink Charm’) in a naturalistic planting between boulders… One of the great native shrubs of North America, mountain laurel, (Kalmia latifolia), is also a beautiful and versatile garden plant. Â With nearly 100 cultivars ranging in size from the diminutive, (12″ high plants suitable for small spaces and rock gardens), to the […]
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Artful Garden Objects, Bowls, Garden Design, Garden Design Photos, Pots, Sculpture, Urns and Vessels
Sculpture and Artful Objects in the Garden…
Every now and again, I encounter a place in a garden where something seems to be missing. Usually, the space is calling for artful punctuation. I have discovered that sometimes the design element  I am looking for in a garden isn’t a plant at all. On occasion the smooth terra cotta surface of an urn, […]
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Garden Design, Planting Techniques, Plants for shade, Spring Flowering Bulbs, Woodland plants
Bluebells on a rainy day…
Hyacinthoides hispanica,’Excelsior’, (Spanish Bluebell), shown here with Pulmunaria saccharata, (Bethlehem sage), and emerging hosta. Native to Spain and Portugal, this blue-beauty is perfect for naturalizing and for planting between late-emerging perennials and beneath trees and shrubs in the garden.  Bluebell bulbs are planted in autumn. A woodland flower by nature, the Spanish bluebell prefers a bit […]
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Garden Design, Garden Design Photos, Garden Paths, Perennial Close-Ups
At Ferncliff this week: The wildflower walk and other highlights of late spring…
The wildflower walk, very late May… Although there is a more formal entry to my home, at this time of year I usually take the ‘wildflower’ path through the garden. This seeded walkway was not designed for utility, (there is a much wider walkway along a retaining wall), but as more of a whimsical, meandering […]
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Garden Design, Garden Design Photos, Garden Maintenance, Garden Science, Planting Techniques, Vegetable Gardening
The Art & Science of Designing a Vegetable Garden…
Creating a beautiful and bountiful potager A vegetable garden can be an incredible source of pleasure. Â Every sunny morning, my four-legged companions and I take a walk to the potager where we enjoy each other’s company while I sip my morning coffee. Â I like to start my day listening to the mocking bird and watching […]
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