Category: Gardens

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The Boboli Gardens (Photos)

TheGardenLady loves to travel to visit gardens around the world.  One of the gardens TheGardenLady visited many years ago was the Boboli Gardens in Florence, Italy.  Unfortunately, TheGardenLady had not taken any photos. When my daughter had the opportunity to visit Tuscany this summer, I begged her to take photos of gardens if she had the opportunity.

Below are some of her pictures of the Boboli Gardens, including the garden outside the Museo Porcellane, the grottoes at the Medici Villa, the Pompeii reconstructions, and the citrus garden.

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Roses in TheGardenLady’s Garden

Welcome to TheGardenLady’s garden. I will be posting some photos of plants in my garden. I had hoped to send you photos as each plant flowered. But the season is passing quickly and so many of the flowers, like my Jacob’s Ladder-Polemonium and bleeding hearts-dicentra have already finished blooming in my yard. So I am posting photos of some of my roses.

This year TheGardenLady’s roses are blooming their heads off. They are so lush with flowers that the branches can barely support them.


There are two Knock Out Rose Rosa ‘Radrazz” and the Pink Knock Out Rose, Rosa ‘Radcon’.  I have had these roses for a few years. The last two years I have pruned these two rose bushes in early spring. I mulch the bed they are in with aged horse manure. I see that the roses get water if there is a heat wave or drought. When I water I let the hose run near the roots and soak the roots. I do not spray water over the leaves.

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Downloads of Nature Walks

What can you do when you can’t get out into your garden?

Our friends at How to Cope with Pain wrote this week about a website Peaceful Walks, which offers downloads of nature “walks” for sale.  As How to Cope with Pain says, these won’t replace getting out into your garden or the outdoors, but they are beautiful photography and relaxing to watch.  Here is a review.

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2010 Garden Conservancy Open Days

Garden Conservancy Open Days in Mattituck & Cutchogue, NY by justmecpb

This is the time of year to visit the Garden Conservancy Open Days private house gardens.  Please don’t miss taking advantage of this opportunity to visit America’s best private gardens. You are in for a treat. If you love visiting gardens, you get a peak at some of the most wonderful gardens in this country. If you want to landscape your property, you can get out to see how others have done it. If you want to just see novel plantings or to find something new for your garden, don’t miss these Open Days in your area. The Open Days are available in 20 states across the nation and in the District of Columbia.

The 2010 Open Days season began in early April and extends through the end of October. Usually you can get to see a few gardens on one date since many gardens are in the same area. Go online to see some of the dates.  See here.

Gardens are open in California on May 22nd. Philadelphia has some gardens open on May 23 in the Chestnut Hill area. Portland, Oregon has Open Days on June 5th.  Chicago, Il has Open Days in July. I have just mentioned a few of the open Days.

There is a small entrance fee that helps to support the Garden Conservancy Program.

Hollister House (9) by KarlGercens.com

The Garden Conservancy has done more than any other national institution to save and preserve America’s exceptional gardens for the education and enjoyment of the public and by your visiting the Open Days Garden, you are helping to save and preserve these exceptional gardens. They support great gardens such as the Hollister House Garden one of the most beautiful English style gardens in the United States. How do they do this? One example happened in 2005 when George Schoellkopf signed an agreement with the Garden Conservancy and Hollister House Garden Inc. binding him to donate the entire property, including house, garden and twenty-five acres, either during his lifetime or through his will, to Hollister House Garden Inc. This magnificent garden is in the Litchfield hills of Conn.  See here.

If readers of TheGardenLady blog have visited or visit any of the gardens during Open Days, please let us hear what you think of the gardens. Your photographs would be greatly appreciated. So please send them for all to see.

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The Home Garden as a Place of Personal History

A flower stand of a Common Lilac. by Bienenwabe

The home garden is a joy for the present and is also something one plants for posterity. But when TheGardenLady walks around her garden, so many of the plants that she has were given to her from family and friends in the past and continues in the present. So for me my garden is a place of my personal history and so many of the plants bring back memories of loved ones or the beds recall the fun or pain of digging them in the past. I consider my garden as a living tribute to those whose plants are living here with me. So for me, being in this garden is a way of spending more time with friends and family even when they are not here in the garden themselves.

For example, many of the lilac shrubs Syringa vulgaris, the rose of sharon Hibiscus syriacus shrubs, the wisteria vine and some of the Japanese peonies Paeonia were on TheGardenLady’s parents’ farm. Since my parents were only the second nonnative people to live on their farm, these plants could be considered antique – which means 100 years old. Horticulturists call them heritage plants.

Galium odoratum (Sweet woodruff) by ngawangchodron

The sweet woodruff Galium odoratum was given to me by a dear friend who passed away.

My favorite double daylily, monarda and so many other plants were given to me by another friend who passed away. And my Magnolia grandiflora that I look at through my living room window was won in a raffle that this friend’s garden club had sponsored. The first raffle I ever won.

So many of my new personal favorite plants were given to me by friends who have spectacular gardens.

dictamnus by peltierpatrick

For example, my Dictamnus or gas plant was given to me by a lady whose garden is a show place. My French lilac and many of my giant hostas and other plants come from another friend with a show garden. I can go on and on about the different gardens and friends the plants come from.

Once when I took a tour of someone’s private garden, her labels not only gave the Latin name and common name of the plant but also included the name of the family or friend who gave her the plant. I thought this was such a clever idea that someday TheGardenLady wants to copy this idea in her personal garden.

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Mt. Cuba Center: A Wonderful Woodland Wildflower Garden

Mt Cuba Center 1 by Larry Wilder

Spring is around the corner. I can’t wait. I look forward to visiting one of my favorite gardens called Mt. Cuba Center, in Delaware, known as the mid-Atlantic’s finest woodland wildflower garden. This 650 acre estate preserves and promotes an appreciation of plants native to the plateau between the coastal plain and the Appalachian Mountains that is called the Piedmont area. Mt. Cuba encourages the use of these native plants in gardens and supports their conservation in nature.

While at Mt. Cuba you can visit their woodland wildflower gardens and formal landscapes. Inside the garden you can walk in the woods, visit ponds, walk along the Dogwood Path, visit the meadow, see hundreds of trilliums in the Trillium Garden, see the trial garden, go to the lilac allee, visit the Round Garden where there are tulips and delphinium displays followed in the summer by heat loving annuals and native perennials, etc.

Trillium pusillum by dogtooth77

This estate was created by Mr. and Mrs. Lammot du Pont Copeland whose passion for native plants and naturalistic gardening led them to create the wonderful gardens, meadows, paths and ponds. Today these gardens include over 1900 plant species, varieties and cultivars. You can visit not only in the spring, but in the summer and fall. Contact Mt. Cuba and take a 2 hour tour-by calling for advance reservation. Their spring wildflower tours run from April 15 -May 28.

Helonias bullata by Illingworth

Mt. Cuba also has excellent Continuing Education programs. These inexpensive courses are extremely varied and include such topics as a Native Plant Buying Trip, to Bird Gardening to art and photography classes.

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Rain Gardens

A new concept in gardening that is ecologically and enviromnenally sound is called the Rain Garden. What is a rain garden?

“A rain garden is a naturally landscaped, shallow depression that allows rain and snow melt to be collected and seep naturally into the ground.” These are small gardens designed specifically to withstand extremes of moisture by taking advantage of rainfall and storm water runoff. These gardens are situated near the source of rain runoff from storm water like under a rain spout, driveway or sump pump. Rain gardens capture rainwater runoff to stop the water from reaching the sewer system and are designed to trap all the water that might possibly deluge the area; but plants have to be chosen that will tolerate both a lot or water as well as for times of drought and for all the times in between. To this end, mostly deep rooted native plants and grasses are planted- though one can find other plants that will work.  (See here)

The Rain Garden is a specialty garden that needs a special site- probably one place that you might have despaired of ever having a nice garden. Examples of rain garden design are here and here.

By building a rain garden you will not only enhance your landscaping with a garden that will attract native butterflies and birds but will help the water quality in your area and will provide storm water control.  (See here)

When looking for native plants to put in your rain garden check out your Native Plant Societies- each state has such a society.   Here or here and many states have a native plant public gardens.  See here.   In Pennsylvania a lovely native garden is Bowman’s Hill. These societies and native plant gardens can give you advice on perfect plants for your rain gardens and often have plant sales where you can buy these native plants. Bowman’s Hill has plant sales in the spring and in the fall and also sell seeds.  See here.

TheGardenLady would love to have photos of your rain garden. Please email photos.

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Free Tickets for Botanical Gardens and Arboretums from Bank of America

Davidia involucrata by Jura Wanderer

When TheGardenLady learns of free tickets to gardens, she will share them with her readers. And she hopes that if TheGardenLady readers learn about free or reduced rate tickets to gardens, they will share this information with TheGardenLady blog.

The newest list is thanks to Bank of America.  See here.  Though it is ostensibly for museums, and most of the tickets are for museums, some of the places listed are for botanical gardens or arboretums. TheGardenLady also loves to visit museums, so I hope her readers do, too, and will take advantage of these wonderful offers.

Dorion by Bruce Beasley by Kaldoon

In Hamilton, NJ one of the best places to visit both for the sculpture and for the grounds is Grounds for Sculpture. This Sculpture Park has 35 acres of beautifully landscaped grounds with interesting trees and shrubs as well as some flowering vines, perennials and annuals. There are two indoor museums, 250 outdoor pieces of sculpture, two shops, two restaurants- one modest priced and one called Rats which is one of the best restaurants in NJ and certainly one of the most beautiful restaurants in the world. I call Grounds for Sculpture the Garden of Eden; though the landscaper, Brian Carey, insists it is more like an arboretum. Take advantage of these free tickets. Plan on spending an entire day on the Grounds- you really need that much time. Then let the GardenLady know if you agree- should it be called the Garden of Eden or maybe Paradise?

Winterthur ~ A Country Estate by Diana827

In Deleware , you can get tickets to Winterthur and visit both the museum and the grounds which has one of the best outdoor plantings of Galanthus (snopdrops) and other minor spring bulbs. And if you are lucky, you might get there during the spring when the Handkerchief or Dove tree- Davidia involucrata is in bloom. This Handkerchief tree is located near the main buildings. It is one of the most unusual flowering trees TheGardenLady has ever seen. The flowers look like handkerchiefs fluttering in the breeze. I have seen more of these trees in European gardens than in American gardens; it is fairly difficult to find these trees in many nurseries in this country. It grows in zones 6 through 8. It likes a protected site that has rich, high organic matter in moist, well drained soil, a site that has shade in the afternoon. I understand it takes 15 years to bloom.  See here.

Cheekwood Botanical Gardens by rbglasson

In Nashville, Tennesee you can visit the Cheekwood Botanical Garden & Museum of Art. And then take in some Grand ole Opry- sorry I couldn’t find free tickets for that.

The Living Desert Zoo & Gardens by Fritz Liess

In Palm Desert, California you can visit the Living Desert which is a zoo and a botanical garden.

I didn’t check out every state to see where they are giving the free tickets. I will let my readers choose where they want to go. Have fun. And again, Thank You Bank of America.

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Coastal Maine Botanical Garden

This past summer TheGardenLady went to Maine with her family. The first night we stayed in a lovely Bed and Breakfast called Snow Squall Inn that my son found serendipitously on line. The owner Paul Harris is not only a professional chef, but he loves to garden. He was originally from England where, I think, gardening is in the genetic makeup of the people. We arrived later than expected, but Mr. Harris came out to greet and welcome us. Upon learning that I was interested in Gardens, he told me about a new botanical garden in the area that he said shouldn’t be missed. How right he was.

The Coastal Maine Botanical Garden opened in 2007 on 128 acres of pristine land with 3,600 feet of tidal shore frontage in Boothbay. They were then gifted more land adjacent to the original 128 acres so that ” Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens is now comprised of 248 acres, which makes it the largest botanical garden in New England. The property boasts nearly a mile of tidal salt water frontage. It is also one of a very few waterfront botanical gardens in the United States. ”

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Mick Hales Gardens Around the World:365 Days

By now TheGardenLady readers know, as do friends and family, that TheGardenLady loves to visit gardens and parks and nurseries in her area every season; and when she travels she loves to visit every garden she can. Because of this a friend gave me a book entitled “Mick Hales Gardens Around the World:365 Days.” One would think there would be 365 gardens in the big book of lovely photos from the gardens. But some gardens have more than one day devoted to them. Still there are about 160 gardens listed. I wonder how the author chose the gardens. Were these all the gardens he visited? Or did he just take the best of the best photos he shot and use them for the book?

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