Recent Posts
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Pretty in Pink: The Red Horse Chestnut, Aesculus x carnea ‘Fort McNair’ …
Aesculus x carnea ‘Fort McNair’ Dodging raindrops between appointments yesterday as I ran up the entryway walk, I couldn’t help but stop when I noticed the loud hum of bumble bees, hard at work in the pretty, pink blossoms of my horse chestnut tree (Aesculus x carnea ‘Fort McNair’). Rainy, cool weather has prolonged the […]
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Ferncliff, Ferns, Secret Garden at Ferncliff, Secret Garden Room, Secret Gardens
Pausing as Spring Dances with Summer: A Moment at the Verdant Threshold …
The Secret Garden Door in Late Spring Sunny days and sultry evenings alternate with cool mornings and moody rain showers as Springtime dances toward Summer. The month swept in with dramatic beauty: wild thunderstorms followed by golden sunsets; mist-covered hills illuminated by pink afterglow. This is a busy time of year, but every morning and […]
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Cutting Garden, Flower arrangements, Foliage, Fragrance, Home, Raindrops, shrubs, The Seasons, Vases, Weigela, Woody Plants
Gathering Bouquets Between Raindrops & Simple Tips for Fresh Cut Flower Care
Peony blossoms are of course my favorite cut flower, and by growing many cultivars, it’s possible to extend the flowering season for a month or more After two days of steady rain, I slipped outside this morning to wander around the garden between raindrops and gather fallen flowers for fresh bouquets. Poetic as drooping blossoms […]
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Bee-Friendly Gardens, Beneficial Animals and Insects, Berries, Butterflies and Moths, Cocktails, Cooking, Cooking with Kids, Fruit for home gardens, Plants for sun, Pots, Recipes, strawberries, Vegetable Gardening, Vegetable Gardening/Potager
Strawberries & Homemade Granola: Fresh Fraises des Bois for Breakfast …
Fresh Picked Alpine Strawberries or Fraises des Bois (Fragaria vesca) & Homemade Granola One of the best things about June —besides peonies— is fresh picked strawberries from the garden. I have a small but productive patch of fraises des bois (Fragaria vesca) —better known as alpine strawberries— in my potager (click here for more information […]
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Asian Natives, Cutting Garden, Exotic Plants, Fantasy Flowers, Peonies, Perennial Close-Ups, Shade Gardening, shrubs, Shrubs for early spring blossoms, Trees, Unusual Plants, Woody Plants
Black Dragon Holds a Splendid Flower …
Paeonia suffruticosa ‘Wu Long Peng Sheng’: Black Dragon Holds a Splendid Flower Wu Long Peng Sheng. Translated from Chinese, the name means, ‘Black Dragon Holds a Splendid Flower’. I haven’t seen the black dragon, but I keep looking. Maybe he’s hiding in the fern covered ledges; waiting to pounce if I pick this beautiful, magenta […]
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Cutting Garden, Peonies, Perennial Close-Ups
Peony Petals & The Heady Scent of June
Sweet Dreams are Made of Silken Peony Petals When the early morning air is moist and still and the garden is filled with pale light, I step outside to drink in the fragrance of springtime. Of course, there are many flowers at this time of year; iris, laurel, roses and baptisia. But there is one […]
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Asian Natives, Hydrangea, Living Walls & Fences, Night Garden, Perennial Close-Ups, Plant Spotlight, Plants for Light Effects, Plants for shade, Shade Gardening, Silver foliage, Vines, Vines - Perennial, Woodland plants, Woody Plants
Moonlight & Shadow on the Rocks … Mysterious Japanese Hydrangea Vine
Moonlight & Shadow on the Rocks. Schizophragma hydrangeoides ‘Moonlight’ in The Secret Garden Moonlight Hydrangea Vine. Her name evokes silver-lined clouds in a velvet sky, and midnight strolls through the Secret Garden. I picture a heroine with long tousled tresses, holding a candle by the forest gate. It’s a fairytale of course, and in the […]
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Bulbs, Cutting Garden, Heirloom Bulbs, Old Fashioned Flowers, Plant Spotlight, Spring Blooming Bulbs, Summer Flowering Bulbs, Vases
Silvery Heirloom Treasures for the Vase: Nodding Stars-of-Bethlehem …
A late spring bulb for cutting: Nodding Star-of-Bethlehem (Ornithogalum nutans) sitting pretty in a vase by New Mexico artist Heidi Loewen They are commonly called the Nodding Star-of-Bethlehem, and I think it may be the perfect name for this beautiful, silvery flower. Five autumns ago, with my late-spring cutting garden in mind, I ordered and […]
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Color in the Garden, Dining Outdoors, Ferncliff, Home, Recipes, Summertime Cocktails, The Seasons
Honey Colored Evenings in the Garden And Iced Tea with Lime & Peppermint…
An Evening on the Terrace in Sultry, Honey Colored Mist Voluptuous French Lilacs Drape to the Ground Vanilla Sky: Garnet-Hued Japanese Maple Leaves, Luminous at Sunset June evening. It’s late in the day, and the glow of mist-diffused sunlight –warm and sweet as honey– filters through the perfumed garden. It’s time to relax after a […]
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Beneficial Animals and Insects, Hummingbird Moth, Pollinating Insects
A Garden of Beautiful, Magical Surprises: Meet the Hummingbird Moth …
A Hummingbird Moth (Hemaris thysbe) samples Ozark Bluestar nectar (Amsonia illustris) Out early in the garden this morning, I stopped to photograph the Ozark Bluestar (Amsonia illustris), blooming along the path. I wanted to share springtime images of this beautiful, native perennial, which I often feature in my garden designs. In autumn, Amsonia turns chartreuse, followed […]
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Garden Design, Garden Design Photos, Native Plants, Nature, New England
Beyond the Rain Speckled Windows: Springtime Showers in the Garden …
Blossoming Beyond the Rain Speckled Glass: Viburnum lentago, Just Outside the French Doors Wild thunderstorms passed through New England this week, bringing with them lightning, high winds, hail and even tornadoes just south of here. Fortunately –although the storm front brought loud claps of thunder, drenching rains and dramatic skies– there was little damage in […]
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Peonies, Perennial Close-Ups, Perennials for Spring, Plants for Light Effects, Raindrops, Secret Garden at Ferncliff, Secret Gardens, Woody Plants
Glistening Gold, Perfumed Peony Petals
‘High Noon’ Tree Peony (Paeonia moutan x lutea ‘High Noon’) A cool morning after rain in the Secret Garden, and the fragrance of the first dew-kissed, peony blossoms fills the air. The scent of this favorite, golden flower —exotic and deep— is an eagerly anticipated May-time pleasure. Life gets so busy, and the seasons pass […]
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Bee-Friendly Gardens, Beneficial Animals and Insects, Bulbs, Butterflies and Moths, Meadow Gardens, Native North American Meadows, Native Plants, Nature
Late Afternoon Sunlight in the Meadow And a Prelude to Long, Languid Summer
Camassia quamash and Clethra alnifolia – Two of My Favorite Native Plants in the Meadow Garden One of my current landscape design projects is for a new home in the middle of a high meadow. I couldn’t be more excited. Meadow gardens are some of my favorite landscapes to design. Many things influence me when […]
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Native North American Woodlands, Native Plants, Naturalistic Garden Design, The Seasons, Tim Geiss, Trees, Trees for Fall Foliage, Trees for Fruit, Uncategorized, Winter Garden, Woodland plants, Woody Plants
Native Beauty of the Forest Understory: Our Graceful, Flowering Dogwood …
Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida) Photograph â“’Â Tim Geiss In my work as a garden designer, I am constantly singing the praises of native plants to my clients; encouraging them to soften the edges of their landscape by blurring the boundary between the wild and tame. As an unofficial PR agent for our beautiful  native trees and […]
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Beneficial Animals and Insects, Butterflies and Moths, Caterpillars, flowering shrubs, Hummingbird/Butterfly, Insects/Entomology, Syringa (French Lilac Hybrids), Syringa vulgaris
Of Sunshine and Swallowtail Butterflies…
A Perfect Spot for Sampling Lilac Nectar – An Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) on Syringa vulgaris ‘Mme. Lemoine’ Sunshine at last! Finally, after weeks of rain and fog, golden light returned to the garden this week. And suddenly, the sultry air is filled with Tiger Swallowtail Butterflies —bright as the sun itself— fluttering about […]
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Beneficial Animals and Insects, Berries, Bird Friendly Gardens, Birds
Sitting in the Catbird Seat …
Sitting in the Catbird Seat: My Resident Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis) There’s a broken branch in my doublefile viburnum (V. plicatum var. tomentosum ‘Shasta’). The leafless eyesore is driving me crazy —this otherwise beautiful shrub sits right outside my kitchen window— but I’m not going to prune it. No, I won’t touch it, because it […]
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Annual Flowers, annuals, Artful Garden Objects, Beneficial Animals and Insects, Birds, Color in the Garden, Dining Outdoors, Ferncliff, Fun in the Garden, Furniture, Garden Art, Garden Design, Hummingbird/Butterfly, Vegetable Gardening, Vegetable Gardening/Potager
A Long Weekend in the Garden & Breakfast on the Misty Terrace …
Fallen Silverbells and Breakfast on the Terrace A Pot Filled with Calibrachoa ‘Callie Orange’ Brightens the Morning And a Bottomless Cup of Coffee & Bright Red Chair Help to Wake the Sleepy Gardener There’s much work to do in my garden this weekend. I’ve annuals and vegetable starts to plant out in the potager and […]
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Autumn Color in the Garden, Bee-Friendly Gardens, Beneficial Animals and Insects, Bird Friendly Gardens, Birds, Dining Outdoors, Early spring flowering plants, Early Spring Garden Plants, Fantasy Flowers, Ferncliff, Flowering Trees, Foliage, Garden Design, Hummingbird/Butterfly, Native North American Woodlands, Native Plants, Nature, North American Trees, Plant Spotlight, Woodland plants, Woody Plants
Springtime’s Shimmering Silverbells: Halesia tetraptera in Full Bloom…
Carolina Silverbell (Halesia tetraptera) Carolina Silverbell Blossoms Attract Bumble Bees and Hummingbirds Looking up from the Terrace Dining Table, Into Thousands of Tiny White Bells Halesia tetraptera When it comes to the springtime show in my garden, Carolina Silverbell really knows how to steal the stage. Smothered in […]
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Old Fashioned Flowers, Syringa vulgaris
Hedonistic Garden Pleasures: Lilac Lust
Fresh Lilacs (Syringa vulgaris): the Fragrance of Springtime Lilacs, Lily of the Valley,Viburnum, Daphne and Woodland Phlox; the fragrance of springtime swirls about me throughout the day as I tend to my work. One of my newer projects is a garden restoration and renovation. Oh how I love this detail. Ancient lilacs tower above me […]
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Ferncliff, Garden Design, Garden Design Photos, Ground Covers, Native Plants, Nature, Perennials for Autumn, Perennials for Spring, Plant Spotlight, Plants for shade, Plants for Texture, Secret Garden at Ferncliff, Texture, Unusual Plants, Urns and Vessels, Water Gardens, Woodland plants
Dramatic Darmera Peltata: A Native Beauty for Bog Gardens & Damp Shade…
Darmera peltata’s pretty, pink spray of airy inflorescence Darmera peltata… What a lovely, musical name. Often the botanical labels for plants pale by comparison to their intriguing and creative folk monikers. But in this case, I think the name Darmera peltata is far superior to the common alternatives (Indian rhubarb and umbrella plant). Just look […]
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Annual Flowering Vines, Annual Flowers, annuals, Bee-Friendly Gardens, Butterflies and Moths, Cocktails, Color in the Garden, Container Gardening, Cookbooks, Cooking, Cooking with Kids, Flower arrangements, Garden Party, Garden projects for kids, Honeybee Friendly Gardening, Hummingbird/Butterfly, Indoor Table Arrangements
A Visual Feast: Beautiful, Edible Flowers
Pansies (Viola × wittrockiana) are lovely atop cakes, in salads and especially when floating in cocktails… Or Cocktails, Like this Sunset Mangotini (click here for recipe) (Viola × wittrockiana ‘Matrix Purple’) Candied rose petals, lavender ice cream, hibiscus tea, chocolate cupcakes laced with violets; some flowers are more than a visual feast, they’re actually good […]
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