My Beautiful May Garden

What makes a beautiful garden?Color, certainly. Healthy plants. Proportion and balance. Variety. Movement and flow, repetition. Fragrance. All those things, but much more. A beautiful garden can be humble or grand. It is highly personal. For me: a peaceful atmosphere, comfort, birdsong, memories, a little whimsy.

May is a beautiful month! I want to be outside every day, tending my garden. I love Confederate jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides), which is in full bloom on the arch by the patio. The intoxicating fragrance is a delight whenever I walk under it. I can also catch a whiff of rosemary. Nearby, pink 'Anthony Waterer' Spirea is blooming.

Coral drift roses line one edge of the patio, along with bacopa and a silvery artemesia:

On the patio table is a ceramic green rabbit, a souvenir I brought home from Hills and Dales Estate in LaGrange, Georgia, a very grand and gorgeous garden!

Here are more images of some of the flowers in my May garden:1st row: 'Penelope' rose; 'Anthony Waterer' spirea; Lichnis coronaria, commonly called rose campion. 2nd row: Yarrow; Calibrachoa; 'Snowflake' Hydrangea. 3rd row: Rosa palustris, also called swamp rose; Coral honeysuckle; Gardenia Jasminoides 'Kleims Hardy', a dwarf gardenia bush.

As much as I love flowers, I am also drawn toward colorful foliage. I purchased a variegated geranium without even knowing what color the blooms were; the leaves are spectacular! It has started blooming now, and the orange blooms complement its foliage perfectly. Near the steps leading from the patio to the arbor garden are two 'Francis Williams' Hostas, Japanese painted fern, and an interesting plant with variegated arrow-shaped leaves, 'Red Dragon' Persicaria. I have placed an unlikely companion next to one of the the hostas: a red poinsettia, left over from Christmas and still looking good! 

Clockwise from top left: 'Francis Williams' Hosta with poinsettia in background and a neighboring branch belonging to Edgeworthia chrysantha; A variegated geranium; 'Red Dragon' Persicaria and 'Francis Williams' hosta; 'Red Dragon' Persicaria and Japanese painted fern.

I have featured 'Tropicana' Canna lily a number of times over the years. Its bold colors hold up well to the hot sun that bathes the front of our house in summer:

The stone steps leading down to the much shadier woodland garden are located across from the front parking area. One of my favorite views of the woodland garden (shown many times on this blog!) is seen from the bottom of the steps. Moss paths tie different parts of the woodland garden together and give it a peaceful, quiet atmosphere:

The white birdhouse in this photo was home to a family of bluebirds, recently fledged:

I put this little woodland sitting area in last year. It is near an area featuring ferns and native azaleas. Moss and ground covers will soon carpet the ground around the chairs. That is an old iron magazine rack holding small potted begonias. The blue flowers are Tourenia fournier, also called wishbone flower. It is my newly discovered favorite annual for shade. Tourenia comes in various colors. The cobalt blue blooms of this one are fabulous. I also planted lime green Scotch Moss (Sagina subulata), Creeping Jenny, and wild violets in this area. :

More plants in the woodland garden:1st row: Japanese felt fern; 'Whitewater' weeping redbud; Hardy begonia. 2nd row: Athyrium filix-femina 'Lady in Red'; bench next to fern glade; Polystichum acrostichoides, a native fern also known as Christmas fern. 3rd row: Hellebore whose red blooms have faded to green; wild violets; Woodland rabbit with Colocasia.

This beautiful Bird's Nest fern (Asplenium nidus) stays in the woodland garden until cold weather arrives. It spends the winter inside, but it flourishes outside when the weather warms:

What about you? What makes you pause in a garden? How do you define beauty? The wonder is that I have seen many beautiful gardens, and they are all different!

You may also enjoy my previous post, Seven Elements of a Beautiful Garden.

Deb's Garden, April 2017

April has always been one of the prettiest months in my garden. We are shaking off effects of last year's severe drought and a couple of mid-March freezes and moving forward. Here are views of Deb's Garden today: 

The lawn is bordered by the front garden. The Japanese maple on the left is our 'marriage tree,' purchased soon after Lou and I married 41 years ago:

This view of the front garden was taken near the patio:

Here is a red Japanese maple with a flowering dogwood, Cornus florida, in the background. This is one of our older dogwoods that survived last year's drought:

A few days ago we purchased Cornus florida 'Cherokee Brave,' a new variety of pink flowering dogwood bred for vigor and disease resistance. But how many dead dogwoods have we cut down? We plan to buy another Cherokee Brave this week. That makes two, a small beginning, but we are grateful that a number of our dogwoods still survive, including some younger ones.On the left is one of our original white flowering dogwoods. On the left is our new 'Cherokee Brave.'

If you follow my blog, you know how much I love Japanese maples! Japanese maple 'Aconitifolium' is one of my favorite green ones:

Here are views of assorted other Japanese maples growing in the garden:

Japanese maple 'Waterfall' grows in the woodland garden:

The blue bridge image is one of my favorite views of the woodland garden through the seasons. Here is April, 2017:

As I walked in the woodland garden today I noticed several butterflies. This Eastern Black Swallowtail was preoccupied with a native azalea and did not mind me taking its photo:

Also in the woodland garden today was an anole lizard resting on the side of a green watering can:

Here are assorted flowers currently blooming in the garden:Top row: Camellia japonica 'Gunsmoke'; Ajuga. Middle row: Fothergilla; Pink Columbine. Bottom row: Bloodroot; Hellebores.

Clockwise from top left: A white Encore Azalea; White double petunia; Variegated Solomon's Seal; Philadelphus (Mock Orange).I hope you enjoyed the tour! Have a great week!  Deb