Tag: secret garden design
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Autumn, Autumn Color in the Garden, Autumn Garden Design, Dark flowers, Gardening Inspiration, Secret Garden Room, Secret Gardens
Welcoming Late Summer’s Slow, Shadowy, Seductive Beauty . . .
Ligularia dentata ‘Britt-Marie Crawford’ in the Secret Garden September is truly my favorite Summer month. In fact, now through early December is my preferred season to be outside and in the garden. Everyone loves springtime, of course, but when you’re employed in the field of horticulture and landscape design, it’s hard to find the time […]
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A Moment of Verdant Bliss
 Cool, lush, verdant: a moment of mid-summer bliss in the Secret Garden It’s been an incredibly rewarding, but also a busy and stressful week at my studio. I bite my nails when anxiety rises and I know that worrying about tomorrow robs me of today. Gardening has taught me to slow down and stay in […]
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Upon a May Night . . .
 An Evening Stroll to the Secret Garden, through a Carpet of Wild, Blue Woodland Phlox (Phlox divaricata) Awake before the dawn this morning —listening to the forest come alive with the songs of hermit thrush and the yelps of young fox— my mind drifted back to yesterday evening, and a few stolen hours in the […]
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Burnished Bronze & Jewel Tones: November Light in the Garden . . .
 Stepping into Late Autumn, Through the Secret Garden Door Jack Frost arrived a bit late to the garden this year, and so far, he’s breezed through only lightly. Though the calendar says it’s November, Black-eyed Susan and her pretty, pink Wind-Flower companions have thus far eluded his fatal kiss. The maples have all shed their […]
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Summer Hide Away: A Shady Nook & Dreamy Gardening Books …
Hosta Leaves in Soothing Shades of  Blue-Green and Lime Cool Things Down on a Hot Summer Day. I Love Creating Shady Vignettes Outside of Entryways. This Grouping of Shady Ladies on the North Side of My Studio Includes: Aruncus dioicus, Hosta ‘Sum & Substance’ and in the foreground, Hosta ‘Blue Ice’ A gentle rain fell here […]
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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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Artful Garden Objects, Beneficial Animals and Insects, Ferncliff, Ferns, Frogs and Toads, Garden Rooms, Gardening without Lawn, Paths and Walkways, Plants for shade, Roses, Secret Garden at Ferncliff, Secret Gardens, Shade Gardening, stonework, Urns and Vessels, Walkways - Stone, Water Bowl, Water Features, Water Gardens
The Secret Garden’s Shadowy Allure & Mysterious Prince Pickerel’s Charms…
Prince Pickerel at the Edge of the Water Bowl in the Secret Garden – Image â“’ Michaela at TGE Cool, quiet and calm; a shady oasis whispers seductively on hot summer days. While blazing orange and yellow hues burn bright as wildfire in the meadow, my Secret Garden shimmers like an emerald in the dappled […]
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Autumn Color in the Garden, Ferncliff, flowering shrubs, Late Autumn Garden, Native North American Woodlands, Native Plants, Shrubs for fall color
Must be the Season of the Witch Alder : The Spellbinding Late Autumn Color of Fothergilla…
Witch Alder, (Fothergilla major, ‘Mt. Airy’), in the sunny entry garden in mid November; luminous against the Secret Garden wall… Oh, would you look at this beauty. Look at the magical, bright orange and yellow color, glowing in the grey November light. Is it any wonder they named her Witch Alder? She’s completely enchanting. All […]
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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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Asian Natives, Perennial Close-Ups, Perennials for Autumn, Plants for shade, Shade Gardening, Woodland plants
Tricyrtis formosana ‘Dark Beauty’ ….. The Late Blooming Perennial Toad Lily
Tricyrtis formosana ‘Dark Beauty’ in the Secret Garden at Ferncliff The first time I encountered Tricyrtis formosana she had been stripped of all foliage and was displayed dramatically with coppery toned twigs in a Japanese vase. It was lust at first sight. I was standing at the front desk in an elegant hotel lobby, and although 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, 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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Garden Design, Garden Design Photos, Shade Gardening
Designing a Quiet Vignette for a Shady Garden…
Image â“’ Michaela at TGE – No usage without permission Perhaps because I grew up in a bright, sunny home with the bold and colorful flowers my mother chose for her garden, I have always been intrigued by the opposite. Â The allure of the shady nook on a hot summer afternoon is very seductive to […]
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