Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
sweetannie4u

The White Garden - Photos

Annie
12 years ago

Here is the LINK to my FB album:

Suggestions WELCOME.

If you have any suggestions, it won't hurt my feelings. I don't mind revamping things if it would create a better arrangement. I may not take your ideas, but then again, I might!

Thanks everyone.

~Annie

Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's White Garden

Comments (25)

  • aftermidnight Zone7b B.C. Canada
    12 years ago

    Soooooo lovely, I'd love to be able to stroll through. I just sent you an email.

    Annette

  • Annie
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Okay. I'll go read it now.
    Thanks Annette!
    ((HUGS)) and more hugs.
    ~Annie

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

    Oh my, Annie, that is lovely! I wouldn't change a thing!

    Cynthia

  • proudgm_03
    12 years ago

    Very nice! Do you have other "color" gardens?

  • DYH
    12 years ago

    left my comments on fb. I think it is lovely and it is just about letting it grow.

  • schoolhouse_gw
    12 years ago

    I really love white gardens, in the moonlight they simply glow. Thanks for sharing the fruit of all your hard work, Annie. Gives me inspiration to add much more white to my own garden.

  • plantmaven
    12 years ago

    Did you get my e-mail regarding tuberose?

  • Annie
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thank you Cynthia. That is so sweet of you to say that.

    proudgm_03: I love lots of color. Some of my gardens have mostly pastel shades and some are beds and splashes of Hot Spicy colors, or sizzling Tropical colors :), but I like to spice things up, so there could be something totally unexpected or shocking in there, too. My main color is GREEN is various shades and hues. Everything else goes with the green. The White Garden is my only single-color-coded garden, and even that I couldn't resist popping in some other colors for accents. There is even a big red hardy hibiscus! (I LOVE Red!) (sorry plantmaven - but you can send me all your reds if you want to be rid of them.)

    schoolhouse, you are so right! A White Garden glows in the dark. I am scouring garage sales for more Greco-Roman items for my gardens. They are not so easy to find. Like you, I just love them!

    wonbyherwits, thank you so much for your support and friendship & everything.

    plantmaven: Yes, I did get your email(s) and I answered them as soon as I got up this morning. ;) (DH and I went on a date last night and this morning I was IN THE GARDEN. I wasn't able to answer them immediately, girl friend.)

    ~Annie

  • proudgm_03
    12 years ago

    Please show us more of your gardens. The white one was lovely!

  • christinmk z5b eastern WA
    12 years ago

    Wonderful! I must say I am a bit envious of your amazing statue!! That is the exact kind I have been wanting for my own garden. Love the touches with sea shells and pots.

    I for one think it is so much better to add in hints of other colors or white flowers that have blushes and tinges of other colors than all pure white. I saw a pure white garden in a magazine and it looked rather bleached out. But with other colors it keeps it from being too monochromatic.

    You have done a great job and I certainly have no suggestions to make it any better. It is perfect as is ;-)
    CMK

  • kathi_mdgd
    12 years ago

    Gorgeous Annie,love your statue.Also like the little specks of pastel colors in there.I wouldn't change a thing either.I really love that clump of daisies you planted from seed,i'll have to look for those.Daisies have been around forever,but they are still one of my favorite flowers.
    All your hard work has really paid of.TFS
    Kathi

  • Annie
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    THANKS, Christin! :)

    I was so pleased when my almost-daughter-in-law gave that to me about 12 years ago. She and my son were still together at the time. We are still good friends and she still calls me "Mom" (Aaahhh). We are FB friends too. :)

    That thing weighs about 150 lbs! HEA-VY! They got it from their neighbors (college boys) who were moving out and couldn't take it with them. I am very fond of it for a number of reasons. I like how weathered , broken and old looking it is too.

    Kathi, thank you too! You guys are making my head swell.
    Like both of you, I wanted little dabs of color. I think the bits of color at a little pizzazz to the whole garden and each plant contributes its own attributes without getting lost in a sea of white.
    The Daisies - well, the packet label said it was "Becky", but I am not sure what variety it is, to tell you the truth! The blooms are very frilly. I just love it, whatever it is! :)

    It wasn't so much "hard work" as it was HOT work! My lower back was killing me while I trimming back those irises, but it hurts most of the time anyway, so what the heck! It didn't take very long. I would cut and clean out one section at a time, going inside to cool off, irrigate and rest a bit, then go back out and do another section, until I got it all done. The pictures make it look like that area is cool and inviting, but it is still over 100 degrees in the shade. I guess it is "cooler" than the rest of the yard, but still no place that I want to sit and enjoy the garden in right now. Sheesh! It was 108 today. Not sure what the Heat Index added to that, but it was another miserable day for sure.

    I added some big rocks in there yesterday. I just plopped them in between plants and pots and it looks like a natural wash or dry creek. Well, to me it does. I like it anyhow. Gives me something to step on too when I have to get in there to trim or prune or what-have-you, so the soil won't get compacted from me tromping around in there. Also, keeps the chickens from scratching in there.

    Today I dug up and potted my White Butterfly Ginger plant and set that in there. It was not happy where it was planted. The only time it has ever bloomed for me was when it was potted. I sure hope it does the trick. It belongs in the White Garden, anyway.

    proudgm, I could post the link to my Roses and Irises/Spring pics in my FB photos, if anyone wants to go view them or just send you the link via email, whichever.

    ~Annie

  • ianna
    12 years ago

    beautiful. What flowers are now in bloom? You can only add more flowers rather than eliminate anything.

    In my yard that would be the lilies. My shasta daisies are now past.

  • Annie
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    The Shastas began blooming the week of Memorial Day (end of May) - they always do. They bloom for a month and then need a haircut. I deadhead them and they bloom a little again. Then, it is time for them to rest through the heat of summer. I cut them way back and now they are putting forth new leaves again at their bases and will bloom for me again in the Fall. I just love my Daisies!

    Right now Phlox are blooming and some of the daylilies are getting ready to bloom again. There are white Cleomes blooming and bobbing in the breezes. Love those.
    Soon the Gardenias will bloom. Ah, what would a summer in the South be without Gardenias?! I love their fragrance so much, that I buy the cheapy Botanicals Gardenia spray and lotions for the times when I am feeling especially sassy :] or dreaming of those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer while wading through snow or slipping around on ice-covered sidewalks and streets. :[

    Let's see, ah yes. The Dianthus are still blooming and some that had rested are beginning to put on more blooms. The Sweet William will hopefully bloom again. There are a few little pink blooms.

    As the days progressively shorten, many plants that bloom well in the spring will bloom again in the fall, like the Roses.
    The white Angelonia is really putting on more flowers now. I took new pics of her awhile ago. I wish I could have purchased about six or more of them, but there were only a few left and only this one look healthy. I will shop early and buy more next year, by golly!

    The Rose of Sharons are starting to bloom. There are the lovely blueish-plums and whites. I need to move one of the white ones into the adjacent area for a backdrop of white flowers in a green tree. I think that would look so nice.

    ianna,
    the White Garden is sorta new - that is to say, I just recently converted the once "Shade Garden" into the "White Garden". So, many of the plants are new plants I added or are transplanted from elsewhere. I'm sorry - I thought I made that clear. They will mature and really put on a show next year, God willing.

    Thank you all for taking a peek and your thoughtful comments. It REALLY cheers me up and encourages me to keep on trucking!

    ~Annie in Okie

  • irene_dsc
    12 years ago

    Gorgeous photos, Annie! I especially love the lily (I forget the name now) - it was very unusual but beautiful. After everything you've been saying about how everything is dry by you, I am amazed at how lush and green it looks!

  • freezengirl
    12 years ago

    Very lovely and serene looking garden. It does give the illusion of cool shade. Great job!

  • mytime
    12 years ago

    Absolutely lovely. I can't imagine how you keep the pots watered in your heat...I have a difficult time here with pots in the garden because I have to be home all the time to make sure they're watered.
    I think you might want to check the labels you put on photos 11 and 13. I want to know what #13 is--it's gorgeous!

  • Annie
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thanks mytime!
    What the heck???
    I fixed the problem!

    The original info is now ALL there. :), including the name. That is Rosa, Ballerina. It is a small climbing rose. Never gets more than 5 ft tall (it says on the label). Mine seems to have topped out at 5 ft., so maybe that is correct. It blooms off and on from Spring til Frost - blooming more often and more lovely when we get rain.

    ~Annie

  • mytime
    12 years ago

    That rose is so beautiful. And it might even be hardy for me, so I'll keep an eye out for it.

  • mytime
    12 years ago

    I think the title for photo #11 still reverted to something else--I see what looks like geranium in the ground, and what looks like vinca (I've never grown it, so I'm not sure about my ID) to me.

  • Annie
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    mytime;
    Corrected and added more pics.

    Today, the temperature rose to 112 Degrees F. The heat was so bad that the instant I stepped outside, it burned my skin! I knew I had to do something.

    So, I put up green, greenhouse cloth panels over the White Garden and the Daylily bed to shade them. I used these panels last year over my patio. It really helped cut the heat and the plants already seem to be responding. The hens liked the new shady areas too. :)

    I watered until very late tonight, using a flashlight to see what I was doing and where I was going. "Twernt" easy holding a flashlight (torch) and dragging that long heavy water hose all over creation in the dark (and a little scary too), but I "gotter done". The night air was very pleasant, but I think I caught a cold for pity's sake! Can't win for losing!

    ~Annie

  • mytime
    12 years ago

    I don't know how you do it. I can't function with the temps over 85.
    If you plan to go out in the dark much (or if you have power outages, or any other reason to use a flashlight often), I would suggest you go to a sporting goods store (or even the sporting goods section of any store that has one, like Walmart) and get a headlamp. The price for them has really come down in recent years. They're great because they leave your hands free, you don't have to set them down, and they're lightweight and the batteries last forever. We never travel without them, and have been glad we did on more than one trip! You can get a Petzl for $20 (that's the brand we've been using...we use them in situations where we HAVE to have good dependability, so always buy a good brand), so I'm sure there are probably cheaper ones. I'm glad I did a search to show you one...I see what the middle grandsons are getting for Christmas! (The grandkids love having their own for power outages, walking the dog in winter, and other things). No, I'm not a salesman for them, LOL...just think that they're indispensable.

    Here is a link that might be useful: a small selection of headlamps

  • mary_lu_gw
    12 years ago

    I have to agree with mytime. Headlamps are great. My DH is a trucker and uses one often. Many times he has to secure his load in the dark, check his lights on the trailer when one malfunctions, etc. He wouldn't be without one. I just never thought about buying one for myself for the garden. I too water at night many times because I just can't get it all done during daylight. Especially as it is 4:30-5 PM before I get home from work. Gotta get me one too!

  • Annie
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    mytime...I love it!

    I was just telling Mother the other day that I was going to see if I could find one of those. She laughed at the image of me out in the garden late at night with one of those on.

    THANK YOU, Sweetheart! You must be psychically linked to me or me to you, or both. :0
    I'll have to show your link to the DH.
    Those would indeed be handy to have on road trips, camping and just in general. You smart girl, you.

    It's w-a-y too hot for me today. It's 113 out there right now (at 4:15 p.m.) and the peak won't hit until around 5 P.M. I mulched around my little trees and grasses and watered each as I mulched. I had to keep wetting my feet and legs and getting a drink. My gosh, it is severely awful! Thank God for Flip-flops and water hoses! I can puddle as I work and it helps me stay irrigated and cooler. :)

    It rained for about 5 minutes...well, sprinkled really. I barely got damp. I just kept watering though. I don't trust it to rain enough that I should quit after just a little sprinkle. It did feel good though. The silly hens took off running all over the yard, flapping their wings and carrying on like a fox was chasing them. It's been so long since it has rained, that I guess they forgot what it was. Like goofy Chicken Little, they were yelling at the top of heads, "The sky is falling! The sky is falling!", and running in every direction. (ha ha ha).

    After that, I wet down the hen house roof and the big plum tree that covers the henhouse like a huge umbrella. That works like a water cooler AC to cool the air inside. Their window fan pulls the cooler air through and it does help a lot. My poor little girls having to go in there to lay eggs in that oven! One of the hens has been laying her egg in the pen every day. She made herself a nest in the soft dirt in the shade. Too hot in that old henhouse, even with all I do to try and cool it down for them. And imagine giving birth EVERY day for your entire adult life. Jeez Louise! No wonder they only live a few years.

    I watered other areas briefly, my okra, potted plants and potted Tomatoes, but that is IT! I am finished for today. Going to go take a nap with the cats. Can't wait! I am exhausted.
    We're having a Pioneer Supper tonight - just bread and milk!

    Well, heck! The weather radio alarm just went off. Severe thunderstorm warnings with wind gusts to a mere 50 MPH. (Yawn)...but that's still good news. I hope we get a really hairy thunderstorm with a torrential downpour! I'll sleep like a baby.

    Hang in there!
    Later...

    ~Annie

  • gottagarden
    12 years ago

    Looks great Annie! All that white looks cool and tranquil on a hot summer's day.

    Your iris patch is also very calming. I know it's a lot of hard work to make it look that great!

Sponsored
Landscape Concepts of Fairfax, Inc.
Average rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars17 Reviews
Northern VA's Creative Team of Landscape Designers & Horticulturists