| Author |
Message |
    
Frostycurls
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| | Posted on Saturday, August 02, 2003 - 08:17 pm EST : |   |
We've had a long period of drought and the lawn is icky brown but there are still areas of the garden that are pretty enough to share.
Penny Oregon Zone 7 |
Galanthophile
| | Posted on Saturday, August 02, 2003 - 09:42 pm EST : | |
Penny! Pretty doesn't do it justice. It looks gorgeous - perfect late summer borders. Thanks indeed for sharing. I'm definitely going shopping today!
Ann UK |
Plantynut
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| | Posted on Sunday, August 03, 2003 - 01:15 am EST : | |
Penny I Just love your gardens.
Arlene Zone 7 Long Island, NY |
Connerjn
My Weather
| | Posted on Sunday, August 03, 2003 - 02:04 am EST : | |
Penny,
Your pictures reveal, like those of other gifted GardenBuddies, a great skill and dedication to your gardens. An artist couldn't arrange the textures, shapes, sizes and colors any better. Brilliant!
Jim MI, Zone 5/6 |
Lilybeetle
| | Posted on Sunday, August 03, 2003 - 02:37 am EST : | |
Makes me wish I had a garden tour planned for today. Your style and combinations are inspirational. I long for the pink and blue blooms of the hydrangeas. Last year the harsh winter destroyed all the flower buds, so mine were cut back to the ground. Soon I will have to accept that even wrapping them in thermal blankets is not sufficient for zone 4 winters. I love to see them in other gardens. What is the red shrub in front of the Pee Gee and is the ornamental grass behind it a clumping one? Great post.
Kim Ontario Zone 4-5 |
Frostycurls
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| | Posted on Sunday, August 03, 2003 - 04:35 am EST : | |
Oh Kim too bad about your hydrangeas, I love them in the garden this time of year. The red shrub is berberis 'Red Pygmy' and the grass is miscanthus 'Cosmopolitan' and it is a clumper. I stay away from any grass that isn't. 
Penny Oregon Zone 7 |
Gardenbug
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| | Posted on Sunday, August 03, 2003 - 07:18 am EST : | |
Penny, I want to visit again! NOW!
gardenbug Ontario, Canada 5b, USDA 4 |
Frostycurls
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| | Posted on Sunday, August 03, 2003 - 09:12 am EST : | |
Come on over, stay a week, a month, a year. Wouldn't we have fun?
Penny Oregon Zone 7 |
Bloomorselse
| | Posted on Sunday, August 03, 2003 - 10:59 am EST : | |
How lovely. Looks so organized and just makes me want to go out and look at my garden, although, I don't have nearly as nice a garden.
Joan B New Brunswick Canada Zone 4b |
Kniphofia
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| | Posted on Sunday, August 03, 2003 - 12:55 pm EST : | |
Words fail me! What a fantastic garden you have Penny!
Sue Central Maine z4 |
Deb
My Weather
| | Posted on Sunday, August 03, 2003 - 01:55 pm EST : | |
Hydrangeas are my favourites I think so I am thrilled by your photos! Blue ones, imagine that.
-Deb-Ontario Zone 5 |
Monique
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| | Posted on Sunday, August 03, 2003 - 02:11 pm EST : | |
Unbelievable..I love the romance of it all too..All the hydrangeas..Blue would be so nice here too..
Have tried..to no avail.
Your gardens are truly inspirational.
Thank you.
Monique Quebec Zone 5 |
Goswimmin
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| | Posted on Sunday, August 03, 2003 - 03:54 pm EST : | |
It sure doesn't look like you hve had a drought. Your pictures are just wonderful. Thanks, Mary
Mary Wenger Georgia zone7 |
Kniceone
My Weather
| | Posted on Sunday, August 03, 2003 - 06:41 pm EST : | |
WOW Penny! The garden is so beautiful! I've always loved hydrangea but alas I'm Z4 too and have been told by many elders here that they just won't make it so I have to settle for Annabelle's. I love the combo's you have. Just stunning!
Jodi, ONT, Z4, Great White North
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Periwinkle
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| | Posted on Monday, August 04, 2003 - 04:04 am EST : | |
Oh, oh, oh! And the clematis arch!
I wonder how many hours per week you spend working in your garden.
DENISE in Northern Wisconsin z3b
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Susanq
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| | Posted on Monday, August 04, 2003 - 04:04 am EST : | |
Gorgeous, Penny! Your gardens are an inspiration. I, too, am envious of your blue hydrangeas. Do you add anything special to help the color? I planted 3 Nikko blues and one blue and white mop-head last fall and they all survived. So far, 2 of the blues have flowered - pink. I had been using coffee grounds which I had read about. It didn't work for me. Now I'm going to see if aluminum sulfate will work for the one remaining blue and the mop-head. But I'm not sure how often to apply.
SusanQ - Zone 4b-5b Wisconsin |
Connerjn
My Weather
| | Posted on Monday, August 04, 2003 - 06:53 am EST : | |
Susan,
Be careful using aluminum sulfate. Below is a clip from an article regarding changing soil pH. Changing the natural pH of soil is one of gardening's toughest challenges. (That¡¦s because the soil always wants to return to its natural pH, and residual elements ¡V usually metals ¡V left in the soil must also be properly managed.) Determining the rate and frequency of such soil amendments really can only be determined through proper regular soil testing. Inappropriate applications of significant amounts of such soil amendments can have unintended damaging consequences.
LOWERING THE pH OF A SOIL
Lowering the pH of a soil is usually done with a sulfur source. There are many different forms of sulfur that may be used to effect the desired pH change. It is inadvisable to use large amounts of aluminum sulfate to lower the soil pH. At low soil pH's, aluminum is quite soluble, and the addition of aluminum sulfate to soils will lead to aluminum toxicity. Adding elemental sulfur to a soil that is at a pH above 6.0 will not effect a lowering of the soil pH, as the microorganisms that attack elemental sulfur are not active until the pH has been lowered to a pH of 6.0. It is better to use iron sulfate to lower the pH to 6.0 and then use elemental sulfur to complete the lowering of the pH if a pH less than 6.0 is desired.
Jim, Michigan, Zone 5/6 |
Sheba
My Weather
| | Posted on Monday, August 04, 2003 - 07:35 am EST : | |
Penny, that is amazing! Except for that little patch of grass that snuck into one picture, you would never know there was a drought. Everything is so beautiful!
Sheba - Indiana - Z5 |
David_b
| | Posted on Monday, August 04, 2003 - 10:49 am EST : | |
"pretty enough to share"
Now that's an understatement if there ever was one, as others have suggested. These are just AWESOME Penny. They really make me jealous. The image of the fuchsia, the wonderful blue hydrangea, the phormium, all these things we can't grow. But what comes through even more than the plants to be jealous of if the artistry, the wonderful combinations of textures and colors. You are a master at this Penny.
I love the combination of the Hydrangea paniculata cultivar with the variegated miscanthus, and the burgundy foliage in front. And that's one that even we who live in cold climates can do!
David Michigan Zone 5-6 |
Frostycurls
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| | Posted on Monday, August 04, 2003 - 10:54 am EST : | |
I don't do anything to my hydrangeas for color, just let nature take its course. Maurice Horn one of the owners of Joy Creek Nursery says that the true color doesn't show up for about three years after you plant them. Also the owner of Hydranges Plus spoke at a meeting of a gardening group and said that the hydrangea serrata forms are not subject to color changes via soil like the macrophyllas are.
A friend gave me three Nikko Blues that he took out of his garden, for the first two years they were the prettiest shade of soft pink, this year one of them is light blue. The hydrangea in the third picture down is Ayesha, I have three of them in different parts of the garden, they are all the same plants as two of them I grew from cuttings. Each one of them is a different color. They are truly interesting plants.
Penny Oregon Zone 7 |
Fbonsailady
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| | Posted on Monday, August 04, 2003 - 01:09 pm EST : | |
Absolutely stunning Penny, the Hydrangeas, the red hot pokers and those Clematis are to die for. Heh, heh I see a couple of fuchsias too, good old Celia Smedley what a strong grower she is, and you are going to get rid of some of those perennials Penny, never
Kath.zone 8b. UK. |
Frostycurls
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| | Posted on Monday, August 04, 2003 - 02:27 pm EST : | |
Oh no Kath, not the good ones like hardy fuchsias, just the floppy ones that die out in the middle and quit blooming and have to be divided every other year. Every year I add a few more. We have a grower in Eugene, Or that has the most incredible list and every year when I get a catalog I can't believe all the new ones that have been added. They are almost as addicting as clematis.
Penny Oregon Zone 7 |
Susanq
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| | Posted on Monday, August 04, 2003 - 04:04 pm EST : | |
Jim, thanks for the advice on PH, I will take note! Maybe as Penny says it will take a couple of years for the blue to become evident. I think I'll look for iron sulfate in the meanwhile. Any other thoughts out there?
SusanQ - Zone 4b-5b Wisconsin |
Derek
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| | Posted on Tuesday, August 05, 2003 - 02:19 am EST : | |
Penny, what a delight to wander through you August blooms....it is no wonder that Marie wants to make a return visit
Derek Quebec,Canada Zone 3b |
