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hosenemesis

Garden pics- ready as I'll ever be

hosenemesis
11 years ago

Hi cottage gardeners,

My garden will be on the San Fernando Valley Iris Tour on Saturday, so I have really cleaned it up. Unfortunately, the irises and the roses are about done, but there are some other flowers blooming well now. I took a bunch of pictures today, and here are a few. It was overcast today so a good day to take photos!

Renee

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Bishop's Castle rose

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Plum Pretty Whiskers Iris

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Side yard:

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Showbiz roses

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Comments (67)

  • party_music50
    11 years ago

    oh my! Your gardens are absolutely gorgeous!!! I too wonder how long it's taken you to achieve -- the stonework is amazing and was probably back-breaking. How large is your entire space?

  • natalie4b
    11 years ago

    Renee,
    I feel like getting a plane ticket to be there among those fortunate enough to live nearby and being able to see your garden in person.
    Congratulations and good luck with the show.
    ~Natalie

  • Charlotte Willner
    11 years ago

    Heavenly! What a breathtaking place! Your visitors are in for a treat.

  • jerrie
    11 years ago

    Beautiful!!! Wished i was on that tour :)

  • hunt4carl
    11 years ago

    Holy Toledo! That is breath-taking. . .how do you find time to do any work?
    I'd be aimlessly wandering around all day, sipping coffee or champagne, just
    trying to absorb it all. . .

    Carl

  • sandyslopes z5 n. UT
    11 years ago

    Wow! What an explosion of color. Beautiful, and so much to look at. You deserve to be on a tour.

  • defrost49
    11 years ago

    Wow! I love your walkways. My favorite photo is the one with all the purples and pinks - iris, foxglove, etc. Your visitors are lucky to see it in real life. Thanks for sharing.

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    11 years ago

    wow ...

    ken

  • booberry85
    11 years ago

    Eye Candy! Just gorgeous!

  • reginaz
    11 years ago

    Beautiful! You have it all, cottage and tropical. Do you have any other pictures of your pond? Regina

  • Tim
    11 years ago

    That looks like a lot of work, but it sure is beautiful.

  • akarinz
    11 years ago

    Do you have to be a member to go on the tour?

  • finchelover
    11 years ago

    If I am be too personal you don't need to answer. I am trying for years to have a garden something like yours its just gorgeous. My question is how many years did it take you to get to the point you are at now. I am still trying even I am 81 years young. I really just started my garden about 8 years ago. Will you share

  • susi_so_calif
    11 years ago

    GORGEOUS! Very inspiring garden - bravo!

  • roselee z8b S.W. Texas
    11 years ago

    It doesn't get any better than that. Thank you for fulfilling our dreams that such a garden exists -- somewhere -- if not in our own back yards. I repeat: BRAVO!

  • chills71
    11 years ago

    spectacular.

    What is the red spikey thing in the middle of the hens and chicks and sedums picture (# 7 I believe)?

    Thank you!!

    ~Chills

  • hosenemesis
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Oh, wow. You guys really made my year. If I get half the response tomorrow from the folks on the tour all of the hard work will be worth it. Heck, it's already worth it. Thank you for your thoughtful comments and encouragement.

    Chills, I don't know what that red spiky thing is. I think it's a type of aloe. It gets sunburned in the summer.
    Chickadee, the golden rose is Julia Child, a fantastic rose here. The little white daisies are annual paludosum daisies. They will be pulled out in a few weeks and the garden will look naked. I fertilize with compost made from grass clippings and the prodigous piles of manure produced by my two chickens, Madame Curie and Blanche. I use Osmocote when I put something new in the ground.

    This is a very small flower garden. The whole garden is on about a quarter acre, and most of it is lawn. Most of the garden has been put in piecemeal in the last ten years, as I got the moolah for plants and irrigation. I just made it to the back of the property last year- I planted six spireas.

    The tour tomorrow is for members of the San Fernando Valley Iris Society. I wish you all lived here too- so we could visit each other's gardens all spring.

    I'll let you all know how it goes tomorrow. Thanks again for all the words of encouragement.
    Renee

  • plantmaven
    11 years ago

    I need an app for sticking my tongue out at you. Serious envy here.
    I know everyone that attends will be thrilled!!!!!!

    k

  • cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
    11 years ago

    What everyone above said! Your visitors are in for a treat. Wow oh wow.

  • brpinson
    11 years ago

    I imagine your visitors today have no idea of the treat they are in for...it is so generous of you to open your garden to them and share your pictures with us. Your garden represents an extraordinary amount of work and creativity...thank you for sharing. Gives us all something to aspire to!

  • Thyme2dig NH Zone 5
    11 years ago

    Hey Renee, Do you happen to know the name of the color green you painted your tuteurs? I've been debating on color for a couple that my brother is making me and I just realized I really like the color you chose. Was it a paint or a solid stain? Thanks for any info! Hope your tour went well!

  • echinaceamaniac
    11 years ago

    That garden is like ZEN. I would never want to leave. I could stare at it forever.

  • perennialfan273
    11 years ago

    Welcome to California. Pretty much anything planted here will do VERY well.

  • chickadee2_gw
    11 years ago

    Thanks for the information, hosenemesis. I ordered seeds for the paludosum daisies. One of the seed growers said to cut the plants back a third after flowering. Have you ever had any luck with them reflowering? It doesn't sound like it if you're going to be pulling them out. I have some Osmocote in the potting shed and will give it a try this year. I also ordered something called Plant Success which contains Mycorrhizal Fungi which are supposed to be good for establishing root systems. I read about it somewhere else on garden web.

    I bet you're exhausted from answering questions all day yesterday. I'm sure everyone was thrilled to see your garden.

  • justkristyj
    11 years ago

    Loved every picture. I can tell you worked your tail off! Great job!

  • mary_lu_gw
    11 years ago

    I know it's been said above, but simply beautiful! I can't imagine the hours of work that goes into your garden! I am sure everyone loved it today! It looks so serene and the colors are magnificent!

  • lizbeth-gardener
    11 years ago

    Your garden is simply breathtaking! It must be a real joy to walk thru/sit in and just soak up the beauty and know that you created something so lovely!

    Do you plant the daisies yearly or do they self-seed? Also, what is the purple low mounding flower to the left of the Plum Pretty Whiskers Iris?

  • hosenemesis
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Hi everyone,
    It was a blast! People were so kind, and I met a lot of really wonderful new people. My sister-in-law said she had never met so many nice people at one time before. I love gardeners.

    Thyme2dig, I bought the first tuteur that color and mixed little bottles of craft acrylic paint to match to paint the second tuteur. It's basically Delta Ceramcoat Medium Foliage Green watered down with a little white added. I like the color because in the summer and fall when everything is turning brown I still have some green in the garden.

    Chickadee, I have tried to deadhead them, and to cut them back, without success. Lizbeth, I collect the seeds and sow them in winter then thin them out. The purple flowers are violas.

    I'll post some photos of one of the other gardens on the tour later after I go through the photos. Happy gardening, everyone!

    Renee

  • slflaherty
    11 years ago

    Every picture looked like it was out of a magazine! Congratulations, you have officially struck me down with garden envy :)

  • mtnrdredux_gw
    11 years ago

    Magnificent. Thank you for posting. There is something to love in every shot, but you had me at the Bishop's Castle.

  • christinmk z5b eastern WA
    11 years ago

    Absolutely superb Renee! I love each shot, but my favorite has got to be the one with the pond and blue agave. I ADORE the tropical-esque feeling of that spot.

    Ps. what is the white daisy -like flower you use as filler?
    Wonderful a thousand times over. Please show more soon!
    CMK

  • ianna
    11 years ago

    Love IT! You've carefully planned out the colour scheme. My eyes are led to follow from one end to another. You have the touch of an artist (shall we say an impressionist artist).

    Can you elaborate on what you used for those white daisy like plants? It does tie in all the beds together. I would love to use your idea for my garden bed.

  • newyorkrita
    11 years ago

    I don't know how anyone could be more ready than that! I know your garden is stunning from having seen your pictures thru the years but it looks to me like you have outdone yourself. Especially that first and that last picture are just to increadable for words.

  • hosenemesis
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    oops- I maxed out my Photobucket account. I hate it when that happens. Here are the photos- I think these are the same ones!

    The little white daisies are annual paludosum daisies.

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  • gottagarden
    11 years ago

    WOW WOW WOW! Wish I could have gone on that tour in person! Your gardens are lush, colorful and gorgeous! Every photo shows your attention to detail and the rude health of you plants. FABULOUS!!!!

  • hosenemesis
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Thanks, gottagarden. It was your 'red bed' photos that started me thinking about organizing the colors more. What a trial and error process! Mostly error- the horrid coral/scarlet/yellow year, the screaming yellow with burgundy mistake, the anti-purple campaign. I was so opposed to going with pinks, purples, and blues or pastels, because all of my garden buddies have those colors and I wanted some variety. Last year at hoovb's suggestion I planted more orchid-purple colors again, and it finally came together. I thank all of you on Gardenweb for your thoughtful suggestions and inspiration over the years. Now maybe I'll let a few things grow and fill in...
    Renee

  • pat_tea
    11 years ago

    I have been following your gardens for some time now. They are sooooooooooooooooooooooo beautiful.

  • onederw
    11 years ago

    Just glorious, Renee!
    If you can tolerate one further question: can you please ID the low growing brilliant red roses, next to the Ali Baba pot, in front of the white/ivory Asiatic lilies?

    Thanks,
    Kay

  • gottagarden
    11 years ago

    I think your carpet of button white daisies ties it all together and gives a bit of "sparkle" to everything. Love it!

  • DYH
    11 years ago

    STUNNING! How large is your garden?

  • luckygal
    11 years ago

    Always love to see your garden pics and they are perhaps even more stunning than I remember! TFS

  • hosenemesis
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Thank you, enablers!

    Kay, that's 2 Showbiz roses in front of the lilies. They bloom late, which can be trouble here, since the sun fries the red ones pretty quickly. They have stayed really small, about three feet tall at the tippy-top. I posted some photos on the Rose Forum.

    Wonbyherwits, the flower garden is very small- about 60 feet across and maybe twenty-five to thirty feet deep. The yard is big- about a third of an acre (big by Southern California suburban standards, anyway) but it is mostly grass and shrubs, nothing like most of the huge gardens on this forum.
    Renee

  • Kiskin
    11 years ago

    Oh My! Your garden is such a sight! What wonderful colour combinations! I especially love the purple-lavender flowers with pale yellow roses and grayish green tuteurs (almost the exact colour of Stachys B)... Just Lovely! :)
    Thank you for sharing!

  • gracesmith_03
    11 years ago

    Truly unbelievable. Fantastic job...I would be drooling thru that whole tour. I can only aspire to be that good in the garden. I'm going to be printing up those pics, and whenever hubs gives me that quizzical look of "what are you doing now?" I'll point to the pics and tell him I'm trying to get closer to replicating Eden.

    Kudos!

  • MollyDog
    11 years ago

    Amazing!

  • JessicaBe
    11 years ago

    Grace Smith i know I get that look too but I don't show him pictures I am going to start HAHAHA I just try to explain then he gives me a look like your crazy...

  • tammyinwv
    11 years ago

    I love how everything is so packed full. Nice large clumps of flowers. I have a very large raised bed I am trying to get full like that, but what do you do when things kinda spread around? I need some advise on how to get my large bed to look like that. BADLY. Yours are absolutely stunning!
    Tammy
    link below shows mine ( it i a raised bed above a retaining wall about 60 ft long
    http://tammyinwv.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-03-29T04:44:00-07:00&max-results=20&start=101&by-date=false

    Here is a link that might be useful: bed

  • daisyincrete Z10? 905feet/275 metres
    11 years ago

    I have only just found this. Early morning here and this is the first thing I see!!! What a lovely way to wake up!
    I also love the foxgloves and iris together.
    How do the foxgloves do in full sun?
    I also have a few, but I put mine in shade. I am still new to warm climate gardening and just don't know much yet.
    I am glad your open day went well. Your visitors must have thought they were in heaven.
    Daisy

  • hosenemesis
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Aw thanks. I just had a long day digging out lamb's ears and pulling up paludosum daisies. I should post pictures of how it looks when it is scalped after the spring bloom.

    Tammy, I use irises, lamb's ears, and the annual daisies to fill in. All the daisies will be pulled out this weekend. I divide and move irises and lamb's ears every year. As the permanent shrubs grow, I weed out these three fillers. I may begin to replace the lamb's ears with dwarf white agapanthus soon- it's too much work to divide them every year.

    Daisy, the foxgloves are planted to get partial shade from the little bitty nectarine and grapefruit trees. They need a lot of extra water here. I will be pulling them out soon- it gets too hot for them so I treat them as annuals.

    Today I got two new irises, so I was hunting for good spots to plant them. No luck. I'm going to have to take something out!

    Renee

  • deanna in ME Barely zone 6a, more like 5b
    11 years ago

    I've looked at this thread several times. I don't know what I'm doing in my garden, although I like doing it anyway, but there is so much I'm trying to figure out. The thing that amazes me about your garden is how you have striking mixes of textures and shapes. You have leetle beety daisy flowers next to big complex roses next to spike digitalis etc etc. I love daisy shapes so I tend to end up with a big swath of daisy-type flowers and it just lacks something. There's something very calming about how you've mixed your flower shapes and colors, while at the same time being exciting to see. I'm just amazed. Your garden is full and packed, but it just makes me feel serene and zen inside. What a beautiful gift you have (along with years of hard work).

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