Sunday ... in the Garden ... with a Friend

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon catching up with my friend Robert in his garden. Regular readers will remember Robert's fantastic garden from a post and slideshow I did in May. (Those of you who missed it, click HERE.)


Sunday was a beautiful day to spend time outside visiting. We had three straight days of rain late last week, from the remains of Tropical Storm Ida, but yesterday was clear and sunny with temperatures in the 70's. The low angle of the autumn sun made for nearly perfect photography conditions ... I spent quite a bit of time trying to capture the artistic feeling of his garden and the surrounding woods and stream.


Dexter, the cat, was our companion throughout the day.

I started my album in May with a photo of Robert's barn.

It looked like this on Sunday.

The sky was clear with light clouds, creating the most beautiful reflections in Robert's pond.

The path around his pond provided some wonderful views of the path and the woods and stream beyond.

Colorful leaves glowed in the sunlight.  Even the poison ivy was beautiful.

Cepheus, the kitten, followed and watched me from a safe distance.  He's not too sure of strangers.  Being the cat lover that I am, I wanted to scoop him up and give him a great big hug.  Maybe I can once he gets more used to me.

I loved the view of the back of Robert's barn, with the fallen pine needles and metal siding.

More colorful details .... Beauty Berries, Climbing Pinkie and Climbing Clotilde Soupert roses, a lavender Clematis, and Hens and Chicks in a garden urn.

Sophie, the pug, watched us through the fence.

As the sun started to fade, it was time for me to say goodbye and head for home.

Robert gave me Phyllis Bide, a rose he rooted from his garden.  I have one spot left on an arch in the Rose Field that will be perfect for it.  Once the ground dries up a bit more here, I'll get her planted.

I can't think of a better way to spend a sunny Sunday than in the garden with a good friend.  I hope your Sunday was just as nice as mine was.

Flowers on Friday

Earlier in the week, I hinted about today's Friday Flowers post.  It's time for you to see why I was so excited.

Last Saturday, after we left Brent and Becky's Bulbs (and had a fabulous lunch at Olivia's, a restaurant in downtown Gloucester), we headed to Yorktown to visit the garden of Pamela J. Harper, author of many books on gardening and perennials ... her book "Time-Tested Plants" is sitting beside me on the desk right now.  Mrs. Harper is an extraordinary gardener, designer, and plantswoman.  Everywhere we turned, there were wonderful vignettes with carefully chosen plants. 

We began our tour just off the quiet suburban street, at the beginning of the most wonderful driveway.  (Get used to the superlatives, because I expect to be using a lot of them.)  This view hints at the wonders ahead for us as Mrs. Harper led us through her garden.

This waterfront location, near two rivers, is at least a full zone warmer than my Zone 7A garden in Hartwood. There were flowers blooming in Mrs. Harper's garden the day we visited that would have been killed by our hard freeze up here the night before.

The camellias, in every size, shape and color, were some of the stars of the garden this day. There were huge ones as tall as the trees, in shades of pink and red, in the background. I tried to take a photo to show the effect, but I couldn't get one that was any good.

(Maybe I should have saved this one, with its 'puddle' of fallen petals, for White Wednesday)

The spaces within the garden were divided by paths into beautiful 'rooms'.  Everything I read about garden design says that we should be doing this, and I have never seen the concept executed as well as it is in Mrs. Harper's garden.

Everywhere within the garden, we found lovely vignettes and focal points.

I loved her vine-covered potting shed, with Autumn Joy sedum in the foreground.

A bench, made from a fallen tree trunk, sits beside one of the paths.

This was my favorite arrangement ... granite owls arranged on a tree stump, with hosta, ferns, and a concrete leaf.

Mrs. Harper paid careful attention to the smallest details ... like snowdrops planted under a camellia, bathed in fallen petals. 

Here are a few of the asters and chrysanthemums.

My very favorite element in this garden were the hardy cyclamens.  I loved these so much that I've ordered some seeds to start my own little cyclamen colonies. 

Since I'm a rose gardener, and this is mainly a rose blog, I'll leave you with a couple of rose images.

Visiting Mrs. Harper in her garden has given me a new perspective on what I want to accomplish here in my own garden.  I hope to be able to implement some of the ideas I saw, and some of the design details I loved, as the gardens here evolve and grow.

(written by Hartwood Roses.  Hartwood Roses blog)

White Roses on Wednesday

I'm looking for a few ways to get me through the winter, while the rose are sleeping.  Fortunately, I have hundreds of photos to sift through here on the computer. 

Following along on the alliterative quality of my "Flowers on Friday" theme, now I'll go along with an established blog theme of "White Wednesday".  (I love reading what other people have to say and show on their blogs, don't you?) 

Since my blog is about roses and gardening (with the occasional restoration/building project thrown in for variety), it's logical that my first White Wednesday contribution is photos of some of my white roses.

(Nastarana, Hybrid Musk, 1879)

(Aviateur Bleriot, Hybrid Wichuriana rambler, 1910)

(Moonlight, Hybrid Musk, 1913)

(White Cap, Climber, 1954)

(Auguste Gervais, Hybrid Wichuriana rambler, 1916)

(Silver Moon, Hybrid Wichuriana rambler, 1910)

(Secret Garden Musk Climber, Hybrid Musk, found rose)

(White Dawn, Climber, 1949)

(Hume's Blush Tea-Scented China, bef. 1810)

(Danae, Hybrid Musk, 1913)

(written by Hartwood Roses.  Hartwood Roses blog)