|
| 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
Bishop's Castle rose
Plum Pretty Whiskers Iris
Side yard:
Showbiz roses
|
Follow-Up Postings:
|
| Your garden is beautiful. I like the digitalis behind the iris, great colors. Those tiny daisies are so lovely. I collected seed from my sister's-in-law San Francisco garden and grew some as an annual one year. Ah, for the abundance of a CA garden at this time of the year when my gardens are still in the growing up stage. The early iris are blooming but the digitalis is very tiny. Your touring visitors are in for a treat. There is lots of interest even without the roses and iris. |
|
| Oh my! Absolutely breathtaking. Any flowers not blooming will surely not be missed. Everything is gorgeous. |
|
- Posted by mantis__oh z6 OH (My Page) on Thu, May 3, 12 at 5:41
| So much to explore! The visitors will be wowed. I like the sempervivums in the rockery. Those are plants that I don't grow but have admired. |
|
| Stunning, truly. You have quite a talent and your visitors are in for such a treat! |
|
- Posted by prairiemoon2 zone 6a/MA (My Page) on Thu, May 3, 12 at 8:04
| Lovely garden! You are a hard working gardener! Do you have help or do you take care of it all yourself? I find it hard to have everything in the garden looking good at the same time. (g) I wonder how many hours you usually garden in a week and if it took extra time to get ready for your tour this year? Love your 'Bishop's Castle' Rose. |
|
- Posted by organic_kitten 7 (My Page) on Thu, May 3, 12 at 9:09
| Your garden is just achingly beautiful, Renee. I could never get tired of your pictures. I too just love the shot with the foxgloves behind the iris. Beautiful! And all of the roses are gorgeous as usual. Your composition is wonderful. what a treat for those who will be touring your beautiful garden. |
|
- Posted by schoolhouse z5/ohio (My Page) on Thu, May 3, 12 at 10:02
| You deserve grand prize! THAT is one beautiful garden, and I agree the foxgloves are just gorgeous. Well, everything is. Congrats and enjoy Saturday, I know your visitors will. |
|
| Would love to be able to see your garden IRL! It's absolutely beautiful! Can't imagine having so much in bloom at the same time. I agree that the foxgloves are stunning! They caught my eye around town this spring, so much so that I've decided to plant some next fall. |
|
| That is absolutely beautiful, gorgeous, amazing!!! And the look that I've been trying to achieve...how long have you been working on this garden? |
|
- Posted by tishtoshnm 6/NM (My Page) on Thu, May 3, 12 at 11:20
| HN, your garden is breathtaking and certainly aspirational. I would love to be able to tour it in person but your pictures brought a smile to me this morning. I cannot wait to show them to hubby this evening. Great work! |
|
- Posted by nicoleternity 6a (My Page) on Thu, May 3, 12 at 11:50
| Lovely thanks for sharing!! :) I too am curious how long you've been working on this... That area by the pond with the huge tropical looking succulent with wide leaves... lovely area and great plant! Nicole |
|
- Posted by aftermidnight Z8 V. Island B.C. (My Page) on Thu, May 3, 12 at 11:51
| Now that's what I call a little piece of Heaven. Some lucky people are in for the treat of their life. Annette |
|
- Posted by chris_in_the_valley z7 MD (My Page) on Thu, May 3, 12 at 12:48
| Glorious! Well done, Renee. |
|
| Note to self.....Book airline tickets next spring to Southern California. Seriously Renee, your garden is just incredible. Between your garden and your friend's from your other post I feel the need to see them in person! Unbelievable as always! Well done! |
|
- Posted by calamity_j z7bc (My Page) on Thu, May 3, 12 at 17:59
| Breathtaking!!!!AND A Pond!!!! |
|
- Posted by chickadee2 (My Page) on Thu, May 3, 12 at 20:07
| OH WOW! I wish I could paint, because you're garden is an inspiration. I love the riot of colors contrasted with the lush foliage by the pond area. What is the name of that daisy you have woven throughout the garden? And that golden rose? So yummy. Yes, please tell us how long it took you to achieve such perfection? What are you feeding those babies? |
|
| I'm going right over to the New England and Perennials Forums to rave about this.....look for more hits..... idabean/Marie |
|
- Posted by party_music50 z5a NY (My Page) on Thu, May 3, 12 at 21:14
| 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? |
|
| 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 |
|
- Posted by cornellcottage 8b (My Page) on Thu, May 3, 12 at 22:02
| Heavenly! What a breathtaking place! Your visitors are in for a treat. |
|
| Beautiful!!! Wished i was on that tour :) |
|
| 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 |
|
- Posted by sandyslopes zone 5 (My Page) on Fri, May 4, 12 at 3:30
| Wow! What an explosion of color. Beautiful, and so much to look at. You deserve to be on a tour. |
|
| 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. |
|
- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Fri, May 4, 12 at 9:21
| wow ... ken |
|
- Posted by booberry85 z5NY (becky@leadtesting.net) on Fri, May 4, 12 at 9:58
| Eye Candy! Just gorgeous! |
|
| Beautiful! You have it all, cottage and tropical. Do you have any other pictures of your pond? Regina |
|
- Posted by plantingman 6b (SC KS climate) (samnsarah620@yahoo.com) on Fri, May 4, 12 at 14:42
| That looks like a lot of work, but it sure is beautiful. |
|
| Do you have to be a member to go on the tour? |
|
- Posted by finchelover 5b-6 (My Page) on Fri, May 4, 12 at 16:24
| 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 |
|
- Posted by susi_so_calif USDA10/Sunset24 (My Page) on Fri, May 4, 12 at 19:10
| GORGEOUS! Very inspiring garden - bravo! |
|
| 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! |
|
| spectacular. What is the red spikey thing in the middle of the hens and chicks and sedums picture (# 7 I believe)? Thank you!! ~Chills |
|
- Posted by hosenemesis SoCal Sunset 19 USDA (My Page) on Sat, May 5, 12 at 1:54
| 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. 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. |
|
- Posted by plantmaven 8b/9a TX (My Page) on Sat, May 5, 12 at 9:41
| I need an app for sticking my tongue out at you. Serious envy here. I know everyone that attends will be thrilled!!!!!! k |
|
| What everyone above said! Your visitors are in for a treat. Wow oh wow. |
|
| 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! |
|
| 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! |
|
- Posted by echinaceamaniac 7 (My Page) on Sat, May 5, 12 at 18:11
| That garden is like ZEN. I would never want to leave. I could stare at it forever. |
|
- Posted by perennialfan273 zone 5 (My Page) on Sun, May 6, 12 at 16:06
| Welcome to California. Pretty much anything planted here will do VERY well. |
|
- Posted by chickadee2 (My Page) on Sun, May 6, 12 at 20:00
| 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. |
|
- Posted by justkristy (My Page) on Sun, May 6, 12 at 22:12
| Loved every picture. I can tell you worked your tail off! Great job! |
|
| 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! |
|
- Posted by lizbeth-gardener 10 (My Page) on Sun, May 6, 12 at 23:27
| 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? |
|
- Posted by hosenemesis SoCal Sunset 19 USDA (My Page) on Mon, May 7, 12 at 0:33
| 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 |
|
| Every picture looked like it was out of a magazine! Congratulations, you have officially struck me down with garden envy :) |
|
- Posted by mtnrdredux 10 (My Page) on Mon, May 7, 12 at 20:26
| Magnificent. Thank you for posting. There is something to love in every shot, but you had me at the Bishop's Castle. |
|
- Posted by christinmk z5b eastern WA (My Page) on Tue, May 8, 12 at 12:08
| 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? |
|
| 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. |
|
- Posted by newyorkrita z6b/7a LI NY (My Page) on Tue, May 8, 12 at 16:52
| 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. |
|
- Posted by hosenemesis SoCal Sunset 19 USDA (My Page) on Tue, May 8, 12 at 23:09
| 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.
|
|
- Posted by gottagarden z5 western NY (My Page) on Wed, May 9, 12 at 6:44
| 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!!!! |
|
- Posted by hosenemesis SoCal Sunset 19 USDA (My Page) on Wed, May 9, 12 at 12:16
| 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 |
|
| I have been following your gardens for some time now. They are sooooooooooooooooooooooo beautiful. |
|
| 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, |
|
- Posted by gottagarden z5 western NY (My Page) on Thu, May 10, 12 at 19:22
| I think your carpet of button white daisies ties it all together and gives a bit of "sparkle" to everything. Love it! |
|
- Posted by wonbyherwits z7b NC (My Page) on Thu, May 10, 12 at 21:21
| STUNNING! How large is your garden? |
|
| Always love to see your garden pics and they are perhaps even more stunning than I remember! TFS |
|
- Posted by hosenemesis SoCal Sunset 19 USDA (My Page) on Thu, May 10, 12 at 23:22
| 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. |
|
| 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! |
|
- Posted by gracesmith_03 none (My Page) on Tue, May 15, 12 at 7:02
| 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! |
|
| Amazing! |
|
| 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... |
|
| 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=2010-03-29T04:44:00-0 7:00&max-results=20&start=101&by-date=false |
Here is a link that might be useful: bed
|
- Posted by daisyincrete 10? (My Page) on Fri, May 25, 12 at 23:58
| 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 |
|
- Posted by hosenemesis SoCal Sunset 19 USDA (My Page) on Sun, May 27, 12 at 0:15
| 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 |
|
- Posted by deanna_in_nh 5a/4b (My Page) on Sun, May 27, 12 at 21:41
| 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). |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Cottage Garden Forum
Instructions
- You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
- HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
- No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.