Great garden writing

[Ann72]

Lately, as often happens at this time of year, my thoughts turn to gardening.  I've picked up some of my old favorite garden books and dipped into them for inspiration.  Margery Fish's "We Made A Garden" is full of ideas and sometimes, like her chapter on making a gravel drive with her husband, absolutely hilarious.  I re-read her chapter on rock gardening recently, because I'm trying a rock garden at my Airbnb in Maine.  Her chapter is full of ideas, which is so inspiring.  I try not to get discouraged over the fact that we in the Northeastern US don't have the fabled Gulf Stream.  But gardeners are born optimists!  I planted this little cobweb hen & chick last year and hope she comes back, because she is the dearest little thing, don't you think?

Cobweb hens & chicks

I also recently started re-reading V. Sackville-West's Garden Book.  She writes about how she and her husband wanted a yew hedge, so they planted baby yews that looked like little sticks for YEARS.  Their patience was rewarded in the end and they got the yew hedge they dreamed of.  But the key word here, as in any garden, is "patience."

When I want to know something, I look it up on The Spruce or on Gardenia.net.  I've recently been salivating over a picture from Gardenia.net - https://www.gardenia.net/garden/a-serene-and-elegant-border-idea-for-your-garden.  I have a river birch that I've been underplanting with ferns, but after looking at this picture, I'm going to start adding other plants.

What are your favorite garden books, writers, or websites?  And do you recommend any great gardens to visit?  I'm going to England next month and want to try to visit at least one English garden between business meetings!

[Cathie19]

Well hello my ol’ online friend @Ann72! What a wonderful post! 

I’m so glad you put up an image as I had NO IDEA what on earth “cobweb hens and chicks”  could be! I thought immediately of the ol’ henhouse… minus foghorn leghorn! Lol

(Yes I know the cross reference is completely random). 🌻

It must be an incredibly hardy little plant to handle the weather, but such a pretty display of optimistic colour. Does it come in other shades or just this pretty pink? 

I imagine you’ll have no trouble finding some beautiful gardens in England as they are scattered everywhere. From yards to parks, the local greens and of course window pots. The bulbs should be beginning to make a showing soon with spring on the horizon. But a “local” can give you abundant information when there. Kew comes to mind, but you’d have to visit the website.  🌻

But as an aside, the 23rd March was Eucalypt Day here in Australia. Although there is many variety of gum / acacia trees and some in other parts of the world, we have so many varieties to suit the different geographical locations, from alpine to the tropics. The koalas have a specific one they eat as well. 

So Ann, hear is a little doodle from me for Eucalypt Day. https://www.eucalyptaustralia.org.au/eucalyptoftheyear/

“Give me a home among the gum trees, with lots of plum trees, a sheep or to and a kangaroo… “ as the John Williamson’s song goes…….

[Ann72]

Look at that beautiful pastel, @Cathie19!  I love those long dry eucalyptus leaves.  I had a tree in my back yard in St. Petersburg, Florida many years ago.  They smell so good.  They make a mess but it's kind of a nice mess.

When I was reading Vita Sackville-West on yews, she also wrote about acacias:  "Similarly, we planted some acacias. They looked like walking-sticks stuck into the ground. I paid about 2d. each for them, from a nursery in France, and truly they were not more than twelve inches high. Twelve naked little inches of a miniature walking-stick. Today they are large and graceful trees, twenty to thirty feet high, at a modest estimate, drooping their sweet-scented tassels of flower in June. A good twopennyworth."

I'll find out next month if the cobweb hens and chicks made it through the winter.  We put evergreen boughs over them so the frost wouldn't heave them out of their nooks and crannies.  But you never know until they tell you.  I haven't seen their blooms in other colors.  The real star is the "cobweb" that forms across the green rosettes after the flowers disappear.

Foghorn Leghorn - one of my favorite cartoon characters.   ("Now ah say!")  I had the strangest sensation that Daniel Craig's accent in "Knives Out" was based on Foghorn Leghorn...

[Helen744]

@Ann72  when you mentioned the yews Ann , it reminded me of my trip to Ireland and the enourmous yews at Howth castle . I had only ever heard of them in books so the reality was just marvellous . They have red berries as well and against the castle walls it was easy to see the magic of this lovely ,but poisonous plant . Often grown I believe in cemeteries . I love the picture of your hardy little rockery plant .. H

[Ann72]

I would love to see those yews at Howth @Helen744 - dramatic!  I’m glad you like my adorable little girl 🙂

[Cathie19]

@Ann72 

acacias and gums have a wonderful smell. Plus the antiseptic qualities is well known. 

Just for something different, these gum leaves are painted in watercolour. 

I’ve had a few comment to me that it has a May Gibbs feel to the finish. Now there’s an illustrator! 🌻🍃

[Fred13]

Great post  @Ann72 , brought a smile. Coincidentally, this year we have gotten into gardening and also making garden figures (like turtles, starfish, shells, etc) painted colorfully for the island. Your post gives me some fresh ideas. And hi Ann, trust all goes well.

[Ann72]

Oh nice!  Pictures please, @Fred13!  I would also love to hear more about your garden projects.  

All is well here, but I’ll only get up to Maine for May and June this year, so I’m trying to plan as much of the garden as possible ahead of time.  I’m even taking an online class with the New York Botanical Garden that’s a lot of fun, some hard work, and very informative.

[Jennifer3733]

Great i like your post.

[Jenny]

What a wonderful post, @Ann72 - I love it.

I've got a gardener coming to handle some of the heavy work in my little garden, but once that's been done, I'm hoping that I can plant some wild flowers and install some bird feeders around the grass.

Indoors, I've been working on windowsill plants, and I've currently got:

Four spider plants with a couple sprouting baby plants

A Dutch lavender plant

Parsley

Chives

Basil

A bell pepper plant

Venus Flytrap

A cactus

Aloe vera

Where in England are you visiting?  There's an awesome place called The Alnwick Garden, in the north of England.  

Please feel free to come back and share any photos, if you manage to visit any gardens between meetings.

[Ann72]

@Jenny  How do I change my profile picture?  I updated my Airbnb profile picture, but can't find how to do it here.

Speaking of pictures, I would love to see some of your gardens - indoor and outdoor.  Bird feeders are a wonderful idea.  I don't have them in Maine because you're not supposed to put them out unless you can keep them filled year-round.  But I did put in a birdbath and the birds use it a lot.

After visiting friends in Kent (who are not near Sissinghurst, alas), I'll be in London, so will probably head straight to Kew, while also stopping in at nearby Russell Square and taking a walk through St. James's.

[Jenny]

Hi @Ann72 

If you changed your profile photo on Airbnb, the change will filter through to the CC, it might take a few days though.  How long ago did you change your photo?

I'll make a point of getting some photos for you, I'm going to be on annual leave for a few days (I'm going to stay at an Airbnb in Glasgow!), but I'll share some when I return.

I'll dig out some photos from my Mum and Dad's garden too, as they've got a family of squirrels who visit them.  We sit in the conservatory and the squirrels sit on the birdhouse eating their peanuts, and I'm not sure who is watching who!

Dad also feeds a robin who stops by for mealworms each day.  I love going over there, it's like something out of a Disney movie.

Looking forward to catching up on this thread when I return.