Why do I garden?

Why do I garden? Simply, it makes me feel good. Strike that, it makes me feel great!

Sunburns, stiff knees, aching back, poison ivy blisters, wasp stings, mosquito bites and a host of related pains doesn't change this. Gardening makes me feel incredible.

So, it's no wonder that whimsy in the garden makes me smile. I just adore finding out that others enjoy gardening as much as I do. The garden owner who put this in her garden told me that it was very theraputic. When ever she ran into this mean woman in her town, she'd come home and dunk this head under the water!




Of course when I saw this bird house I just had to have it. It's been in the garden for four years now but nobody's moved in :-(

I saw this garden swimmer while on a daylily tour. Isn't she delightful?

P.S. Thanks Mary Anne for teaching me how to reduce my images!

Planting Fields Arboretum

The Coe Estate at Planting Fields

Today seems like a good day to try something new. I'm adding a label for my posts to see if it changes the layout here. The photos in this post were taken in June 06 by my daughter Emily who was 12 years old at the time. She had come with me to Planting Fields where I attended a meeting of the Long Island Daylily Society. Instead of sitting inside on this stunning day, Emily took my digital camera and went on a tour of the grounds.

This first shot must have been taken near the Horticultural Center.

Here's the first of many arches we'll see.

What would an arboretum be without some specimen trees?

Just one example of the lovely statuary you can find at Planting Fields.

Be still my beating heart. These roses are amazing!

Oh what beautiful colors and textures.

Ok, not daylilies but what lovely yellow lilies.

Closer...

Closest yet!

Wish this was a scratch and sniff photo. These rose arches are stunning.

Up close and personal with one of the rose arbors.

Ha! I wish I had the name of this handsome fellow. I'll take a guess and say it's Eremurus, the fox tail lily?

Fairy roses tumbling all around.

Fairy roses and a Kousa dogwood.

Goldilocks would love this place!

Truly, a cottage garden.

Yet another arch, this one is all green.

What a nice place to sit for a while.

Here I thought I knew every inch of Planting Fields and yet Emily found a pond I have never seen. It's hidden well, but we've got some clues to it's location.

Mr. Turtle is sunning himself on a log.

Mr. Turtle and the goldfish have a lovely lily to gaze upon.


My smart girl took this photo and also took a picture of the garden name. So now I can tell you that this is the Heather garden. That sweet pond is hidden at the top of this photo.

Arches again, these are of stone.

This little pond is in a great spot, it just needs some more planting attention.

What a cool roof-line!

On beautiful days, one often comes upon wedding parties taking photos at the arboretum.

The End
(thanks Emily!)

Green with Envy

How apropos the term "Green with Envy" is when applied to gardening.

If you are a gardener and you visit any other gardens, the time will come when you will see a sight that just blows you away. Luckily I get to see lots of gardens and I confess, many a time I come away wishing I could grow something that I've seen in that garden.

Sitting here in my chair, doing my virtual gardening thing (hey, it's 12 degrees outside and a sheet of ice) my eye was caught by this series of photos. I can honestly say that of all the things I've seen so far on my various garden tours, this one structure and it's planting scheme has to be my all time favorite. If there's one thing I could have in my garden tomorrow, it would be this little house, lock stock and barrel.

I guess you'd call this building a Potting Shed and the world's most perfect potting shed it must be! It's quite small, just enough space to step inside and store some of your larger tools. But the outside, oh my, every inch of this shed is a delight to see.

The roof is what blew me away at first, chock-a-block full of succulents, Sedum, Sempervivum and all kinds of luscious goodies.

Then there's the mirror, perfectly placed on one side to reflect more loveliness out in the garden.



On the opposite side I saw my first living wreath. It was so inspirational that I've made many of these now on my own. At least it's something that I can easily do here.

Of course the perfect potting shed has to have a potting area. As you can see in the photo here, one side of the building has a built in potting table and lots of clay pots to play with.

As a final touch, the plantings all around, leading up to this building and along the walkway were just perfect. Wonderful texture, delightful color and a smorgasbord of delicious plant material.

What a perfect place. When I tried to decide which photos to post here, I couldn't make up my mind so I've included them all.

Hope you love it as much as I do. Oh yes, I believe I saw this building on a garden tour here on Long Island at a commercial place called "Beds & Borders".