Goodbye 2016!

Some of my favorite shots from this year, clockwise from top left: Clematis 'Etoile Violette' on the lamp post, The Knot Garden, Agastache near the blue garden door, The Postman's gate into the Birch Walk, Centurea, The Rose garden at sunset, Hardy Gladiolus byzantine, Birch Walk with flowering mustard in late spring. Center: David Austin Rose.

Thank you, friends, for joining me in my garden this year! 

Happy New Year to you! 

~Julie 

Merry Christmas!

The Garden door dressed for Christmas

 "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, 

and the government will be on his shoulders. 

And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, 

Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Isaiah 9:6

Winter solstice

Christmas Rose, Helleborus niger, lifting to the light.

There is still hope growing, even on this day, the shortest day of the year...

December 2016 ~ GBBD at Havenwood

English holly for a proper English garden, even in PA ;)

Welcome to December in my Pennsylvania garden! 

The snow has fallen on Havenwood and all that was brown is now fresh & clean again in time for Christmas. We are celebrating our third anniversary of being in our beloved garden, with most of it being just 1-2 years old. I love the kind of garden that most Americans would consider an English-look, though in reality it is really a combination of the formal hedges from the Italians, French styling in materials and colors, and an English-style planting.

Enjoy your look around! 

Foggy November morning...

Happy Thanksgiving friends!

Autumn views around Havenwood

Last photo of the dahlias and cannas unmarred before frost.

Hello friends! There is so much busy living and gardening going on around our little world right now. Here is a glimpse...

The Hot Border

Coreopsis is a great choice for a perennial that pumps out the color for a long period in the summer and fall.

Things were warming up this week in the Hot border!

August Gardening ~ Garden Blogger's Bloom Day August 2016

The Hot Border in August

    Hello all! August this year has brought some much needed rain, which has largely improved the garden.  Yes, there is more blight on the tomatoes. But everything else is really greened up and looking less tired than it did in July. The big pruning/dead leafing in July has done its job to create a nicer garden picture that will carry us through the autumn.

Purple Coneflower, Clary Sage and Joe Pye Weed

In the Rose Garden this week is the beautiful plant combination of Echinacea purpurea, Salvia sclarea, and Eutrochium purpureum.

Summer is here at Havenwood. :) 

The Rose Garden in August

Pink Canna, white baby's breath (Gypsophilia) and blue Agastache.

August is here and has thankfully brought back the rain to Havenwood. We were in a low grade drought status until the clouds finally let loose two weeks ago and it has been very rainy since. 

The borders are being refreshed by it, especially as I did a lot of cutting back of the ragged early summer perennials in July.  Everything is starting to green up again.  

Geranium 'Orion'

A favorite hardy geranium here at Havenwood! Geranium 'Orion'

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day ~ July 2016

Lily 'Honeymoon' shining under blue skies with the blue larkspar

Welcome to Havenwood! Our one-acre garden in Pennsylvania zone 5 is bursting with all the high summer favorites for July. It has been a beautiful summer around here! It has been unusually dry, but it is hard to complain as the temperatures in the 80s everyday make it perfect for pool going with the kids. :) I need to get out and do a bit more watering, but this is surely one of the most pleasant jobs in the garden.

Pretty Peonies

Peony 'Coral Charm' in the Knot Garden at Havenwood.

Siberian Iris and Hosta

A simple combination for shady areas.

Hope you are enjoying lovely summer weather in your area as well :) 

-Julie

First roses of the year...

David Austin's Rose 'Albrighton Rambler' just began in the Rose garden.

Last year, I posted about all of the new English roses that I put into our new gardens at Havenwood. Here are the first couple to start out our season of roses for the year...

Wildflowers in the Birch Walk

Our Birch Walk is starting to fill up with wildflower, some that I have seeded there and some that I have allowed.

See more about what I am up to at Havenwood on Instagram.

~Julie

Havenwood Comes Alive in May

European Hornbeam, Carpinus betulus fastigiata, leafing out in the Rose Garden.

May is here! I think it is my favorite month, because it is in May that spring truly arrives in my zone 5 garden. We have had many beautiful days of sun, many quiet days of rain, and the last of the frosty mornings. Blooms are popping out daily and are deeply appreciated after our long winter. 

Forget-me-nots in the Rose Garden

Astrantia major rising above the blue sea of Myosotis this week in the Rose garden.

See all that is blooming away in my garden these days on Instagram!
Happy May to you!
~Julie

Tulip sylvestris in Daffodill Dell

Florentine tulip, or the wild woodland tulip, was and is grown still at Monticello.

What a lovely tulip! I am in love with this plant, which I have only read about it books until this spring. Here is a bit about its relatively short history in our country as a naturalizing tulip...

Spring Flowers for April ~ GBBD April 2016

Welcome to Havenwood!

It has been such a roller coaster spring, as I am sure you know or have heard from many other eastern US gardeners. We had more buds in January than ever before, as our true cold did not arrive until February. Then a especially mild March, with more snow and cold in the first two weeks of April. And now it is 70 degrees again today.  This is not totally abnormal for our zone 5 garden, but the high temps have been much higher than usual. This has brought the garden further along than it normally is at this time of year.

Many flowers that were doing so well, so soon... too soon... did meet a cruel end with the frost.

The star magnolia blooms were blackened after one day of blooming all around our town. The taller daffodils did not stand up as well to the snow that covered them soon after they were full out, but the shorter ones have stood the test. The pretty star of Bethlehem, that I recently posted, were soon snuffed out with cold. But still, the garden and the gardener marches on...

There are still a few pretties to see today for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day in our western PA garden.

A Few White Spring Flowers...

Lenten rose, Helleborus orientalis, comes in a plethora of beautiful colors and patterns.

We have had some beautiful spring weather! And also some more snow. That is spring here in Pennsylvania, with its immoderate temperature swings and hour by hour changes. But then much of the interior US is like that. Only the coastal areas benefit from the moderating effect of the ocean.

And yet, we can still have beautiful flowers that hold up to these extremes and come out on the mild days. Here are a few beauties I can recommend!

Crocus 'Spring Beauty'

Crocus 'Spring Beauty' in the curb planting at Gilmore Gardens this week.

Happy Easter to you!

~Julie

New Snowdrops

 Galanthus 'S. Arnott'

Gardening in Pennsylvania ~ March 2016 GBBD

Helleborus orientalis soaking up the sun on Hellebore Hill.

What a change in one month! February saw our garden covered in snow and enduring low temperature. Now, everything is sunny and popping up everywhere! Come enjoy some color with me...

Crocus tommasinianus for Early Spring

The bees are out drinking it up in the spring sunshine.

This is undoubtedly my favorite early spring crocus, as every year it spreads its cheery purple all around both of my gardens, here at Havenwood and Gilmore as well. I cannot get enough color at this time of year. Inevitably, I think, "Why did I not plant a few hundred more?"

Are My Bulbs OK in the Snow???

Crocus tommasinianus in the snow...

People always ask, "Are my bulbs are going to be ok coming up in harsh winter weather?" 

"My tulips are poking up and it is only January! Are they going to be ok?" 

More Winter Scenes at Havenwood

Feather reed grass topped in light snow in front of our pillar arborvitaes and honey-brick house.

Garden in February 2016 ~ GBBD

Wintry day in Pennsylvania

Alas, there was not a thing blooming in our garden in February! Though we had many buds and blooms even in January this year, the extreme cold finally did come and bite them all. 

My family and I escaped to Florida for a week this month though, so I wanted to share a bit of the beauty for you to enjoy :) 

Winter scenes at Havenwood

Primrose blooming in the snow on New Years Day

Hello friend!

I have missed sharing here on WMG recently!  I have been able to Instagram, which has become a form of mini-blogging for me. You are welcome to check in with me there anytime to see what is starting to bloom around Havenwood, or just what we are up to. I am hoping to continue to share some of our big changes and achievements in our garden here in more detail this year.

January 2016 - Garden Bloggers Bloom Day

Creamy Lenten rose, Helleborus orientalis, already beginning to bloom on the warmer days this month.

Welcome to Havenwood! We have been having an extremely mild winter so far, and so we have more blooms this January than any other. Enjoy your walk around!