Tulips at Gilmore Gardens

Cherry Corner is full of Tulipa 'Apricot Impression' this May.

Welcome to Garden Blogger's Bloom Day in Pennsylvania!
We are finally in full swing for spring around here and we are absolutely loving it!

While we have been working like crazy on our new gardens at Havenwood, our old garden is blooming away effortlessly this spring. It is amazing to stand back and watch it go... rather like seeing your beloved child run and win a race all by themselves. We did have two spring clean up times this spring, cutting back out sticks, etc. And another nice layer of mulch. But really, it was very little for such a beautiful show...

Gardening in Pennsylvania ~ GBBD April 2014

Crocus vernus 'King of the Striped' in a curb garden.

Welcome back to Gilmore Gardens for April GBBD!

Nice weather has finally arrived here in western Pennsylvania, and everyone I see around town has emerged from winter hibernation with a huge grin on their face. After such a long, cold winter, I think we all need some time to soak it all in. My family was able to spend a few hours at our old garden last weekend cleaning up the beds from excess leaves, putting out a bit of compost as mulch, and cutting back perennials and sticks.

I stopped over another evening, just after a rain. I was able to take these photos just as the evening golden hour began...

Gardening in Pennsylvania ~ October 2013 GBBD

The Hill Garden with Canna 'King Humbert', Echinacea purpurea, Berberis purpurea, and glorious yellow maples (Acer) leaves for autumn.

Welcome to my small town Pennsylvania garden in October!

I would be delighted to show you around our corner here in US zone 5. The foliage colors are intensifying this month, though they have not yet reached their climax. Our first frost is still on its way this year. Hurray for a few more weeks with tender plants in the garden! The begonias, cannas, dahlias and annuals are still adding their pretty bit to the mix. Come talk a walk around...

Gardening in Pennsylvania ~ GBBD August 2013

Pink Anemone japonica, Spirea 'Goldflame', red Canna 'King Humbert' and white Cosmos fill the Front Walk garden this week.

Welcome to August in Pennsylvania! We have quite a few flowers this month since the Japanese anemones and meadow rues have started their long season of bloom and the black-eyed Susans are prettying the curb. Come take a walk around!

Curb Strip Plantings for August

 Black-Eyed Susans (Rudbeckia) in our front curb for August.

Summer is moving right along, but there are still perennial flowers bloom in our garden. The Hill Garden is full of coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), the Shade Path full of hosta flowers, and the curb plantings are in full bloom again this week. In the Front Woodland (the name of our large front curb strip), the Black-Eyed Susans (Rudbeckia) are beginning to flower. They had a July pruning to about half their height, so the plants are looking fuller, not floppy, and have many branching stems of flowers. They rebound for flowering surprisingly quickly.

Front Curb Planting (aka The Front Woodland)

Our daylilies are all in bloom this week in our curb strip

July has brought the daylilies (Hemerocallis). The catmint, Nepeta 'Walker's Low' is just finishing up around our corner, but still has twinges of blue and lots of attraction for pollinators.

Curb Strip Plantings with Nepeta, Sedum and Iris

Catmint (Nepeta 'Walker's Low') grows low mounds in our curb strip over ground cover Sedum 'Acre'.

The garden is pulling into summer, which make it time for many of my favorite perennials. In our curb strips (known also as parkways, hell strips, etc), we have removed all of our turf and planted beautiful, low-maintenance plants instead. These areas have required some weeding in spring, but with that little time investment (as compared to spending 20 minutes mowing them every week!) we get something that is even nicer to look at, draws pollinators and help make this outlining area part of our garden. Now, we can walk down the sidewalk and enjoy the changing scene every day.

While we were away...GBBD May 2013

Full of tulips at Gilmore Gardens in May!

As excited as I was to be touring Chanticleer and Winterthur last week, I was a little sad to be missing the over 200 tulips we planted last fall in our front garden! So, while we were away on our spring trip, I asked my friend Melissa Ellen to take some photos of our tulips. Melissa did a great job! I knew she would, as she does a wonderful job with photos of everything beautiful on her own blog, Melissa Ellen's Loft. If you are in need of some pretty ideas for your home, give her blog a look. Thanks to her for all of the beautiful photos in this post!!

Gardening in Pennsylvania ~ GBBD Sept 2012

Pink Dahlia with Euphorbia 'Diamond Frost' in our Front Walk Garden.

Welcome to Pennsylvania in September! My garden has definitely perked up for fall. We finally had a normal amount of rain for the month, which is the first month since last year. The plants are putting on new growth, looking greener and flowering a bit more. Here are some highlights from around our two-tenths of an acre at Gilmore Gardens.

Garden Bloggers' Foliage Day - July 2012

Potted red Japanese maple (Acer) on our back steps, which are becoming nicely clothed in ivy. This was one of the first turf areas to be planted with ground cover.

I am joining in very late with a foliage post this July. Here are a few green scenes from Gilmore Gardens, which are truly carrying the garden until the fall flowers begin.

Curb Strip with Irises, Catmint and Allium

Our Front Woodland was entirely turf just a couple years ago.  Photo taken May 25th, 2012.

This pretty blue and white combination developed over the past year in our Front Woodland. The blue Siberian Irises came with our house, so I am not sure of the exact variety. I did learn that when you divide and transplant Siberian Irises, they take a while to settling in and start blooming again.

Blue Siberian irises grow from rhizomes

Gardening in Pennsylvania ~ GBBD May 2012

Our picket fence covered in a red Clematis 'Earnest Markham' and heavenly-scented dame's rocket (Hesperis matronalis). Potted Allium 'Purple Sensation' on the steps.

There are tons of late spring blooms for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day in our Pennsylvania, Zone 5 garden. We are at least three weeks ahead of schedule, with many plants blooming now that usually do not have their day well into June. Most of the tulips are gone as of about a week ago, though the late single Tulip 'Cum Laude' is just dropping its petals this week. The phlox scents the whole yard right now.

One of my favorite large-flowered Clematis, C. 'John Warren' on the flower trellis in the Driveway Garden.

GBBD April Flowers in Pennsylvania, Zone 5

The Circle Lawn on April 15th, 2012.

 Welcome to GBBD April at Gilmore Gardens in Pennsylvania, Zone 5!

Our garden is still a month ahead of where it normally is in spring.  It looks much more like May from last year than April.  We are located on a corner lot in our little town, so we have lots of passersby with which to share our spring celebration. Our location contains gardens in shade, semi-shade and lots of full sun. See the map of Gilmore Gardens to link these areas together in your mind as you look around.

Narcissus 'Topolino'

Narcissus 'Topolino' in the Front Woodland garden with Crocus 'Spring Beauty'

All of our plantings are ahead of season this year, with the daffodils blooming in mid-March instead of mid-April (see last year). I wanted to be sure not to miss posting on Narcissus 'Topolino', as she is one of my favorites.

Crocus biflorus ssp. isauricus 'Spring Beauty'

Crocus biflorus ssp. isauricus 'Spring Beauty' with beautiful purple flames on alternating petals.

In our urban Front Woodland garden, which is situated in the wide curb strip at the front of our property, I planted one hundred of these pretty little crocuses that have a name taller than they are, Crocus biflorus ssp. isauricus 'Spring Beauty'.

Crocus 'Spring Beauty' surrounded by tufts of forget-me-nots (Myosotis).

Anyone with crocuses will know the joy and incredible patience that it takes to wait for them to open. They prefer a sunny day that is above 45 degrees F (7 C). One of the wonderful things about this crocus is that even when they are closed for a cold or gloomy day, their striping gives you something interesting to look at.  It is quite striking in a setting where it has some early green about it.

Crocus 'Spring Beauty' still closed up as the sun rises, showing their stripes.

When open, Crocus 'Spring Beauty' looks much like Crocus tommasinianus.

Crocus 'Spring Beauty' planted on a dry mound around our mature maple tree with Sedum 'Acre'.

Crocus 'Spring Beauty' should relish in the baking that it will get in this pavement-surrounded garden in our Front Woodland.

Crocus 'Spring Beauty' should thrive in this dry shade/sun garden for years to come. Bulbs often need a good baking for the summer. And these will diminish as the other parts of the Front Woodland planting come up to show their stuff for the season.

Glad to be able to share this crocus with you. I have been anticipating it for months, and I was not disappointed!

For more early spring flowers see: Crocus 'Goldilocks'
Crocus tommasinianus
Iris histrioides 'Katharine Hodgkin'

GBBD at Gilmore Gardens ~ March 2012

Crocus tommasinianus in our backyard at Gilmore Gardens

Welcome to our small-town garden in Pennsylvania, zone 5. We are so pleased to be welcoming spring earlier this year, and are thoroughly enjoying the temperatures in the upper 60 degrees F (16 C) this week! I am sure that we will have snow again, more than one more time. But we are not going to think about that right now.
Everything is popping around Gilmore Gardens. Here are a few shots that I captured this week:

This Crocus vernus in a hot place near our back door is the first of its kind this year. I planted a couple hundred in the front borders, but I expect them later since it is quite a bit colder on the north side of our house.

Another photo of Crocus chrysanthus 'Goldilocks' in the Driveway Garden. This one show the striping on the side petals.

Moving around to the slope outside of our fence, you can see what I have called the "Tapestry Garden." This is an area where we killed off the turf (mowing on this slope, ugh!), and then planted hardy ivy, which has proven to be incredibly slow growing here. So, other easily divided plant alternatives have been added: Geranium macrorrhizum, Ajuga reptans, Stachys byzantine.

Crocus tommasinianus has found its way to a nice combination on this slope with Ajuga reptans and moss.

In the Circle Lawn, Crocus sieberi 'Tricolor' is starting to bloom.  And in the back of this photo you can see the Shade Path, which has a few little pretties also...

Crocus sieberi 'Tricolor'

Galanthus elwesii on the Shade Path

A beauty that I have been waiting for since I first say it last year in Rosie's bloom day: Iris histrioides 'Katharine Hodgkin'. Just a few are blooming now; such delicate markings.

Galanthus 'Flore Pleno' stands out with the fresh compost already in place for the season.

As I walked down to the Front Woodland to check for some crocuses, I was accompanied by my little photography buddy. She soon had spotted what I was looking for and set to business getting the shot:

My daughter in proper garden photography style!

After I waited for my turn, I was able to take this photo:

Crocus biflorus ssp. isauricus 'Spring Beauty' with beautiful purple flames on alternating petals.

We are a homeschooling family, so this is what we call Botany class. :)

We also found this vivid moss sending up its flowering shoots. Such a green delight in March!

Happy Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day!
Check out what is blooming in other gardens around the world at May Dreams.

Simple Bulb Planting Tips

As I worked on planting our 800 new bulbs this fall, I thought about a few tips I use and thought another lover-of-spring might find them useful.

There are two ways to plant a quantity of bulbs: many in larger holes or singly in smaller holes. I think the choice should be made based on the effect you desire in a given location. At the moment, I tend to like grouping my larger bulbs (tulips, muscari) and plant smaller bulbs singly (crocuses, iris reticulata).

If you decide to plant in larger holes, then I have found it useful to mark the bulb locations with plant stakes. Then stand back and take a look at what you have marked.

Small plant stakes mark the new bulb locations

This is all about visualization: think back to your garden in April and May (pictures are a huge help!), think about the colors, the forms, what was lacking. Where do you want these bulbs to live? Move your stakes around as you look at it from different angles.

 Once you have decided where they will live, it is time to commit and start digging. When planting in the midst of an already full garden bed, maneuvering the excess dirt becomes one of the biggest problems. My favorite way to solve this problem is by using a piece of plastic to hold the dirt.

Plastic holding the planting dirt

Using plastic enables me to even place it on top of my lower perennials (in this case creeping phlox). Another benefit is that if I happen to dig up some old bulbs in the process of planting new ones, I will see them left on the plastic instead of losing them on top of the dirt somewhere. And when I am done placing the bulbs, I can pick up the plastic and dump the fill right back in the hole with one motion.

Japanese knife made quick work of planting 100 crocuses in the Front Woodland

And when it comes to planting bulbs singly, especially small bulbs (though I also planted a few tulips this way), my Japanese soil knife made it swift work even amongst tree roots.  I think that planting some of the bulbs closer together gives it a more naturalized look, even while you are covering a larger area.

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!