Gardening in Pennsylvania ~ July 2014 GBBD

A bee sampling the nectar in the last foxglove, Digitalis purpurea, of the season in the Shade Path garden.

Welcome to Gilmore Gardens in July!

Work is in full swing still over at our new garden, Havenwood, as I try to prepare new beds to hold our flowers at Gilmore in the fall. There are a lot blooming over there, so here are just a few glimpses this month!

Gilmore Gardens ~ GBBD June 2014

Catmint, Nepeta 'Walker's Low', and Geranium 'Orion' beside the road in the Curb strip this month.

Welcome to my little garden in Pennsylvania!

June is here, and we are enjoying it both at our new garden, Havenwood, and at our old garden, Gilmore Gardens. Here are some pretty shots from Gilmore just after the rain last evening...

Gardening in Pennsylvania ~ GBBD November 2013

Our Rose in November snow.

Welcome to my garden in November!

We had a week of snow here in Pennsylvania. One bright morning, I went out for a walk to see the unusual sights that come from having snow this early in the year...

Gardening in Pennsylvania ~ GBBD June 2013

Our Shade Path Garden full of yellow perennial foxgloves, Digitalis grandiflora.

Welcome to Pennsylvania for Garden Blogger Bloom Day!
There are lots of flowers to see this weekend around our small, town garden. Come take a walk around...

Yellow foxgloves in the Shade Path Garden

Digitalis grandiflora and Clematis 'William Kennett' in our garden this week.

Along the Shade Path garden this week, the perennial yellow foxgloves (Digitalis grandiflora) are in bloom. They are a favorite every year, and seed themselves happily around our dry shade garden.  After they have bloomed for about a month, I trim back their spent blooms to the first set of leaves. This deadheading helps them to re-bloom again in September, which is a real treat!

The Shade Path succession planting started out in January with snowdrops and a few Hellebores in February. It was a really cold spring, so things did not really get going until the Iris reticulata 'Katherine Hodgkin' covered the path in April, followed by many more Hellebores orientalis. Then, the shade garden was covered in blue and white for May. Oh, and there was quite a display of pink columbine in there too.

Gardening in Pennsylvania ~ October GBBD 2012

Perennial mum Dendranthema 'Sheffield Pink' and double purple Aster hybrida 'Peter III'.

Welcome to October at Gilmore Gardens in Pennsylvania! 

Everywhere in our area we are seeing the colors of autumn. The trees are in the middle of their foliage change - the earlier ones having dropped most of their leaves and the later ones still holding on to their green. The asters are out in full force, the milkweeds pods are just about ripe and the first nips of frost have just come this past weekend. Some of the annual flowers did not take kindly to the cold, but others have survived to bloom a bit longer. Hope you enjoy your look around our tiny town garden!

Asters and pumpkins add color to the sunny Driveway Garden this fall.

The Shade Path Garden in Early October

The Shade Path Garden in the first week of October.

October is here and has brought some chilly temperatures in Pennsylvania. It seemed to come on us all at once this year. It was quite warm and rainy, but not truly cold until this week which makes it feel a bit shocking, though we all knew it was coming. We have missed a true frost twice in the last couple evenings. Some tender leaves are browned around their edges, but most of the plants are still standing tall. Very soon the annuals will greet the morning as a puddle of mush and will need to be removed post-haste.

Garden Party at Gilmore Gardens

Our annual garden party in Pennsylvania is in the beautiful month of June!

I wanted to post a few photos of our 3rd annual Gilmore Garden Party that was held the first Saturday in June this year. June is such a beautiful time of year in our gardens, which I am especially appreciating now that the garden is a bit ratty from our dry summer.

I set up the food in the kitchen, since I am shy of being caught in the rain like we were for our first party! We were, however, able to eat outside this year thankfully. The little girls so look forward to dressing up in all their finery. It was a fun, relaxed time of yummy food, walking through the garden and the ever popular hunt for little garden trinkets amongst the flowers. My girls could not wait to find their birdies! In past years, we have had a flower identification hunt with an illustrated guide. It was so nice just to share being in the garden with so many friends.

A garden party needs a yummy cake: Almond cake topped layered with fresh whipped cream and the most scrumptious strawberry icing!!

Red Clematis 'Earnest Markham'

Red Clematis 'Earnest Markham'

The red-flowering Clematis 'Earnest Markham' has one of the longest bloom periods in our garden compared to our other clematis. This year it lasted over 5 weeks, beginning in early May and still going strong in early June for our garden party. It is planted near the back yard fence and with some help in the first year to make it up the fence with a small stake and some fishing line, it was soon covering the pickets in pretty rosy blooms.

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day ~ November 2011

The Hill Garden in November

Welcome to Gilmore Gardens in November!

 We have come through frost and snow to emerge with one more bloom post for the year. It is highly unlikely there will be many flowers for December. But for now, I am immensely enjoying the autumn season this year in our garden and our last moments in the (remaining) sun.

View across the Front Walk to the Hill

Late-fall is full of sedums, roses, foxgloves (yes, Digitalis)... and one more surprise you will find as you read along.  The seed heads, colorful leaves and few grasses do not hurt either. Actually, I love them at this time almost better than the flowers, most of which I have seen already in another part of the year. But, Garden Bloggers' Foliage Day is not until the 22nd at Creating My Own Garden of the Hesperides.

Faded Allium tuberosum viewed from the sidewalk

Looking at the Hill Garden from the sidewalk affords you a view of the Allium tuberosum in its autumnal state, dancing along the now deep-rose colored Sedum 'Autumn Joy' and pop pink Rosa 'The Fairy', all under planted with silvery soft lamb's ears (Stachys byzantine).  These plants have been fabulous partners for months in this sunny and well-drained garden.  Allium tuberosum, which is easy to grow from seed, blooms white in September.

View from the driveway of the Hill

On the opposite side of the Hill we can see pink Rosa 'The Fairy' in front. It's first flush was in June/July. These flowers are wonderfully refreshing at this time of year when everything is in decay. But then, it is decay in the form of changing foliage color and seed heads (like purple coneflower, Echinacea purpurea) that make this such a different experience than even October.  

Sedum 'Autumn Joy'

Sedum 'Autumn Joy' may be an overused plant, but there are several reason why that is so! It looks fresh in the heat of August when many early-season plants look a little tired; it has a three part color change beginning with light pink in September, to medium in October, to deep-rose in November. And I have not yet met a member of the Sedum family that was not incredibly easy to propagate yourself; simply break off a piece and tuck it in soil. 

Vivid tones of purple barberry bush (Berberis thunbergii)

At the opposite corner of our front-yard garden is Cherry Corner, named for the weeping cherry tree we planted there three years ago. Under the tree we have a planting that ends with Sedum 'Autumn Joy', following a succession of daffodils, daylilies, annuals and black-eyed susans (various yellow Rudbeckia mixed).

Sedum 'Autumn Joy' with fading Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola').

If you peek behind the Cherry tree in the above photo, you will see the home of our November flowering surprise...

Trellis around the Circle Lawn with Clematis 'Fairy Dust'

Clematis 'Fairy Dust' was added to the Circle Lawn in the spring. It did not bloom earlier in the season, as it was busy getting established. So this late and unexpected mini-show was fun to come across just as I was out taking pictures of the frost. I love it when the garden I have worked to create surprises me instead.

Clematis 'Fairy Dust' in a November sunset

(Do you suppose it is the rose in the Hill Garden that is responsible for this Clematis' appearance? It is Rosa 'The Fairy' and this is Clematis 'Fairy Dust' after all...We need the fairies to encourage us in our Pennsylvania November.)

View from the Circle Lawn to the Shade Path... color enhanced only by the sunset.

The Shade Path seen from the sidewalk

And lastly, those foxgloves just will not stop on the Shade Path. The annuals and hostas were torn out weeks ago, the native aster is faded, but the yellow perennial foxgloves (Digitalis grandiflora) just keep going. I am so glad that I remembered to cut them back after they flowered! Northern sea oats (Chasmanthium latifolium) stands by the silver maple tree at left in the above photo.

Yellow perennial foxgloves (Digitalis grandiflora)

Thank you again to Carol at May Dreams for hosting GBBD on the 15th of every month!

I recommend spending a few indulgent moments - with a cup of tea as a requirement - perusing through the long list of amazing gardens from around the world. I am looking forward to seeing some spring/summer photos from blogging friends in Australia! (I am perpetually waiting for spring; a hopeless spring romantic.)

Happy November to your part of the world!

Frost on Digitalis grandiflora

  Perennial yellow foxgloves (Digitalis grandiflora) is pretty even in ice. I am glad that they decided to join us again this year by reblooming in September on the Shade Path.

 More on Gilmore Gardens' new season soon.

I have my work cut out for me this week in the garden... and as long as l can keep my fingers and toes from freezing, I will enjoy every minute of it!

Frost this morning...

Clematis on the butterfly trellis by the Circle Lawn

I am encouraged this morning by remembering that this frosty beauty is part of the process of  
               creating art in the garden.
                                                All must fall for spring to rise.

There are reports that Sissinghurst Castle is likely to have its frost any day now too. There is also comfort in commonality. All gardens, big and small, ancient and new, will face this fate: to live through the harshest part of their year in order to enjoy the season to come.

Fall Gardening Task #3: Move and Thin Perennial Seedlings

Oh, what a wonderful sight!

Columbine (Aquilegia) seedlings around the Circle Lawn

Baby flowers everywhere. But we want them all to thrive, instead of smothering each other.  And there are some areas in the garden that are void of these Columbine (Aquilegia) beauties. The solution is simple: pluck them out with a japanese knife (my favorite tool) or a trowel and set them to growing in the bare areas.

This is my favorite kind of gardening. Leisurely.

Here, there and everywhere amongst the geraniums, sedums and turf.

Firstly, it is always better to transplant little babies like these on cloudy or rainy days in spring or fall. 

Do not be afraid to pop them out, even large sections of seedlings. I usually put them in a large pot (steer clear the holes or use a box instead!), divide them apart from each other and then walk around the rest of the garden thinking about where a nice patch of columbine would add some color at the end of May. 

Be sure the soil in their new home is loose, not compacted. Dig tiny holes and be sure that, when you put them in, they are not planted too deeply.  Their tiny crowns need to be just at soil level. If you do not have the advantage of rain after planting, then give them a gentle, tiny sprinkle for their new tiny hole.  I prefer swaths of flowers, so I often plant several seedlings in the same area... some times dozens in a larger area.

Columbine, forget-me-nots and foxglove foliage in May this year.

In the fall, I thin my columbine (Aquilegia), forget-me-nots (Myosotis) and foxgloves (Digitalis). I might also find other little babies that I would like to have more of around the base of their parent plants. Large sections of my garden were covered in just a few years with the extra care in moving these seedling babies around.

You will be richly rewarded for your cold, rainy work come next year!

Read more from the Fall Gardening Tasks series:
#1 Planting Lavender in wet climates
#2 New perennials for fall planting

Fall Equinox

Happy first day of fall!

The first of the vibrant leaves lying on the Ajuga reptans

The back fence: mostly green with hints of autumn

The Shade Path: all aglow for the start of autumn with asters, foxgloves and begonias

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day ~ September 2011

A finishing view from the end of our wrap-around garden walk.

Welcome to early fall at Gilmore Gardens!

For the month of September, I have decided to walk you through the path that I take each morning alone and many evenings with my hubby (read more in my autumn foxglove post). For us, the garden tour begins at the gate, which is rather a romantic/poetic start.

The Shade Path

The bloom in the shade garden is representative of the entire garden this month: like August but better! 
We still have all of the cool green, blue and white-edged foliage to look at and ribbons of annual color, but it also has some nice patches of perennial foxgloves (Digitalis grandiflora) and the toad lily (Tricyrtis 'Blue Wonder') is in bloom.

Left side of Shade Path

I am very happy with the hot pink impatients I chose for the Shade Path this year. It really packs more of a punch, especially at a distance or drive-by, than the pastel shades that I used last year (see Sept 2010).

 With so many natural disasters going on in the weather this month, I find myself more thankful than usual at we have made it into September without much incident... excepting the quarter sized hail that beat-up the hosta and cannas a few weeks ago. Our garden did not sustain as much damage as others in town, though I have removed armloads of broad leaves this month.

Toad lily (Tricyrtis 'Blue Wonder'). It's common name comes from the way each the flowers seem to sit on each leaf along the stem, like little frogs on their lily pads. Do toads ever sit on lily pads?

Layered plantings add mystery and depth

I acquired a sun-stressed baby oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia) a month ago. Here on the outside edge of the Shade Path, it looks mesmerizing surrounded by the froth of native aster (Doellingeria unbellata).

I am totally in love with the white aster in the shade garden. Weak in the knees. 
It seeded itself here a few years ago, and noticing that it looked like an aster shoot, I decided to give it the Chelsea chop like my other asters and see what happened. It makes the most beautiful froth above the green mounds. Stay tuned for its full bloom this year.
(Note the hail damage in the lower right corner above. So sad. Like slugs on drugs.)

The Circle Lawn

When approaching the Circle Lawn, you might want to take a moment to notice the great color echo from the foxgloves on the Shade Path to the bright yellow grass, Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola', on the opposite side of the circle.

The colorful left side of the Circle Lawn.

Then notice that this same Japanese forest grass is planted on both "corners" where the path meets the circle, and also on a third corner to the right (below).

The green right side of the Circle Lawn.

This garden area is a cacophony of colors. I am rather uncomfortable with it at present, but there are a lot of plants waiting to mature; that alone will create more cohesion next year.

One combination I love, though it is rather pushing the variegated plant limit: Sedum 'Frosty Morn' and Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola').

A look back at the Circle Lawn.

Cherry Corner

The inside of this corner garden has the tough job of being a transition point that should move us on to the next expanse, the Front Walk. I tried to keep the planting simple, yet provide for some succession (which I talked about in GBBD August).

Inside of Cherry Corner

Never too much Sedum 'Autumn Joy' for me. They are wonderful in their green state, and the blush tells me fall is here.

Transition to the Front Walk

The Front Walk

View down the length of the Front Walk from under the weeping cherry tree ("Do not mind me, neighbors").

This garden is much closer this year to what dream it could be. The pink Japanese anemones are gaining bulk, now two years old. Pink cosmos sneak in with their dissected foliage at the lower level. Dahlia 'Heat Wave' and Canna 'King Humbert' tower over the rest, giving it a focal point and some punch.

Dahlia 'Heat Wave'

Dahlia 'Heat Wave' and Canna 'King Humbert'

A peak down the the sidewalk complete with the lazy gardener's wheel barrow.

The Hill Garden

The less-often-seen inner edge of the Hill Garden. The garlic chive, Allium tuberosum, has been putting on quite a show. It adds some restful white the all of the lively red this season.

 Planting layers have been key to creating succession in our relatively small boarders. Here, the white allium falls over Sedum 'Autumn Joy', which leans on the curved hedge of purple barberry (Berberis thunbergii; a known invasive), which helps support the crown on flowers at the top.

The crown of the Hill: Echinacea purpurea and Sedum 'Autumn Joy'

Also: Canna 'King Humbert' and  Perovskia atriplicifolia 'Little Spire'

Here we begin rounding the corner... and a quick look back at the Front Walk.

Looping the Hill garden, we can make our way to see one of the best surprises of September...

Roses! I love them. Rosa 'The Fairy' keeps going until well into November.

Like June again. wonderful.

Front Woodland

 This is a good moment for a few glances at the front curb planting. It is mostly green this month, with a few shots of color.

Lily turf (Liriope muscari)

Liriope muscari, or lily turf, provides strappy foliage from late spring and grape hyacinth like spikes in the early fall. The bees like it too!

Liriope muscari 'Monroe White' in its first season.

At the far corner, I just added some artemesia to bring out the L. 'Monroe White'.

Liriope muscari 'Variegata'

Front Walk - lower view

View of the front steps and Front Walk

 The beauty of having a multi-sided garden is enjoying it! It is rather a challenge at moments to make it work together, but very worth the effort.

 I like this annual planting even more now that these self-seeded verbenas popped up from last years planting. The RHS plantfinder tells me this is probably Verbena 'Homestead Purple', a shorter cousin of Verbena bonariensis.

Verbena 'Homestead Purple'

The catmint, Nepeta 'Walker's Low', is blooming again after its summer haircut, giving a nice mounded front edge to this whole boarder.

More fruit of grueling, hot summer pruning: the rebloom of Spirea 'Goldflame'.

Dahlia, Canna, anemone and Spirea 'Goldflame'.  Verbena 'Homestead Purple' in the background.

Circle Lawn: lower view

More walking, less talking.

Cherry Corner - lower view

 The daylily foliage has filled in quite a lot in the past month. (Read more about pruning daylilies.)

View across Cherry Corner.

 More layers: Annuals tucked in amongst Heuchra 'Palace Purple', artemesia, daylilies (Hemerocallis hyb.) and white-edged variegated loosestrife.

Shade Path - lower view

And finally (whew!) we arrive at the other gate... almost. Take just a moment to look and enjoy the Shade Path again with a better view of the autumn blooming foxgloves (Digitalis grandiflora).

Asters waiting to pop.

That lovely aster again (Doellingeria umbellata).

 Notice the white color echo to the hosta across the path.  So nice.

That does it for the front yard! 
Thanks for joining us for a thorough walk around the place.
Time for some tea and cake. 

A big Thank You! to Carol at May Dreams for hosting GBBD!