The garden tour

I finally decided I'd try to get a spot on the local garden tour for next year. I've been thinking about it for a while but never thought I could do it. They will be evaluating gardens next week (for next June 27th). There's nothing like this to cause you to see your garden in a new light! I regularly get rid of things that don't work here and I didn't realize how many holes that practice had left! Also I had always gardened so that there was something pretty all the time but I had never planned to have it look great on a particular day. Especially the end of June. I'm starting to wonder if I'll have anything blooming at that time. All the spring stuff is done, or nearly so, and so far the summer flowers haven't really started.
Right now I have liatris, achillea, butterfly weed and hydrangea"Endless Summer" on the edge of blooming. If they make it I will be very happy. Those, plus the things I have in bloom that I think will still be okay, should do it.

Very interesting to garden this way. I realize how short a year is when it comes to a garden. I think you need two or three years to really change a garden. No matter if I get on the tour or not it's been a great learning experience

I enjoyed the tour around your garden!

I also enjoyed the tour! I can't imagine my yard ever being tour-ready.
Yours looks great.

I love going on garden tours because I always get ideas to try. And I especially like gardens that the owners do themselves and are there to talk to.

My hunch is they'll welcome you with open arms!

We've been part of the Southold Historical Society's Garden Tour in 1998 and 2005 (the only two times they've had it) and we really enjoyed meeting other gardeners as well as those who just come to look.

Your gardens are absolutely lovely! Many will be inspired by what they see and have questions for you.

rteets: Gardens are beautiful!
How do you keep the edge on your grass in picture 4? I try to spade mine. It really wears me out.

Your garden is beautiful. I'm sure they will want your garden for the tour. I've been on several garden tours and many are not as nice as yours. My friends and I always prefer gardens cared for by the homeowner. Some gardeners around here have crews of workers each week. One has a full-time horticulturist and a crew of 10. Those landscapes are superb, but it's hard to get ideas we can use in our own gardens from places like that. Best of luck!

I, too, love your garden and wish you the best with getting into the tour. I prefer the gardens made by "regular people." I'm not that impressed when someone hires a designer and then hires a bunch of staff to plant and then care for it on an ongoing basis. I'm looking for the person who has the ideas in the first place, like you, and who gets in there and tweaks and tweaks and changes and changes again. Anne Lovejoy said that perennials should come with little wheels on them because she moves them so much. That's the kind of gardener I'm impressed with!

karinieri - those professional gardens don't have relevance to me and my gardens, either. I enjoy them the way I enjoy going to somewhere like Butchart Gardens, to see something on a grand scale. But there aren't ideas that I take home from those gardens.

Now on to the other challenges you mentioned - getting things to bloom during the lull periods and getting vignettes to bloom at the same time! I can't tell you how many things I have taken out or moved to try to rectify those problems! And then, the groupings that do work will have a plant that doesn't make it back the next spring. In our climate, it seems that plants don't bloom when the labels tell them too. You'd almost think they can't read!

Thank you all so much! How kind all of you are! I do every bit of work myself including the ideas (which are both good and bad). My gardens and yard are 100% organic with absolutely no pesticides or herbicides. They are also thriving in the presence of lots of deer. I guess I do have something to say.

I do the edges of my beds by hand with an edging shovel about 6 in wide. It's not so bad if you do it after a good rain when the ground is soft. However, it's a big job so I always break it down into several days.

I'll let you all know how it goes.

Just beautiful!

rteets I love your gardens. I am especially impressed with your no chemicals rule. I still occasionally use slug bait and fertilizer, but feel a bit guilty. I am gradually shifting to planting things that do well without any poisons. I would like to tour organic flower gardens in my town. I am sure the gardeners could give good advice like you.

I use fish emulsion/seaweed fertilizer, occasionally. Mostly just compost applied in the spring every year. I think plants become junkies with too much fertilizer. I see that with the plants I bring home from some nurseries. My favorite nursery sells small plants that haven't been forced and I think they do much better sooner in my garden.

As far as snails, I use diatomaceous earth around some plants but mostly I encourage and protect my garter snakes. They have places to hide and rocks to sun themselves on. I put the plastic water catchers from plant pots filled with water for them under shrubs. They are the only helpers I have so I try to take good care of them!

These pictures were taken today of my garden.

Your gardens look lovely. I can't imagine that they wouldn't be thrilled to be able to share it.

Pirl, I bet your flower gardens are beautiful! Do you have any pictures posted anywhere? I would love to see them and I'm sure others would too.

This message was edited Jun 22, 2014 12:25 AM

There was a TON to see. It is quite beautiful. I am oohing and aahing and I KNOW I'm not alone.

I use lots of seaweed and compost too. I add both through the season.

Your observation about plants from nurseries is quite true. Lots of those plants are nitrogen "junkies" because so much of it is used to bring plants into bloom at the time to sell them. Then they start to decline because they no longer have their fix. I'll bet that you avoid buying plants in bloom and just go for the ones that are primarily in bud. Then you can get them into a withdrawal mode. Like plant rehab.

DonnaMack, you are right. I almost never buy a plant already in bloom. I try to buy the tiniest specimen of what I want. I don't like to dig big holes anymore and I think they assimilate better.

Thank all of you for all the compliments. What I think might give the committee pause is that my garden is unlike any garden I have seen because there is lots of open space. Every garden I have ever seen on a tour has the plants very close together. I don't dislike that -in fact it can be very well done. I just like to see the shape of most plants and I like to see the separation of plants and areas with mulch. Just my taste. We will see what their taste is. I'm really not too worried. I'm the kind of gardener that spends a lot of time ripping things out. A bit backward I know.

In the meantime I have a question for all you zone 6a gardeners. What do you have blooming now or will have blooming in about a week? I still have a year.....

I'm zone 6 b
Lilies, Orientals and Orienpets. Coreopsis Dianthus Salvia 'New Dimension' Nepeta Platycodon Clematis (Group 3) Roses Thyme Veronica Lavender
Asclepias tuberosa (finishing) Black Eyed Susan Astilbe c. 'Purple Candles'
Salvia 'May Night' (finishing) Geranium 'Rozanne' Echinacea Lychnis chalcedonica
Lychnis coronaria Campanula Speciosa Aster


Annuals:
Nicotania 'Fragrant Cloud' Snapdragons Petunias Pentas Angelonia
Impatience Larkspur Moss Rose

Gloriosa Rothschildiana (Gloriosa Lily Vine) (have to lift) but really unique bloom and beautiful. I put mine in a planter with a trellis.

Sambucus (Elderberry Shrub)

Wow, what a difference from what I have going: Peonies still, dianthus- many, Group 2 Clematis, Salvias and Nepeta going strong... And NO Platycodons, Asclepias, Lilies, Lychnis...Astilbes yet to come... Seems like your weeks ahead of us!

Yes, once things get rolling here it's non stop.

I'm in 6a.
Here are some blooming pics from yesterday:
#1 Gladiolus Boone.
#2 Telekia speciosa.
#3 Crocosmia Hellfire.
#4 NOID daylily.

And a few more from today just getting started:
#1 Ligularia japonica
#2 Actaea (cimifuga) racemosa
#3 Ligularia stenocephala The Rocket.

Weerobin,
Could you post more photos as your 'Ligularia stenocephala The Rocket' progress? I'd really love to see how they grow in a real garden, not just pictures on the web. I've always meant to try them but something else always got me sidetracked. LOL But would really love updates!
Sherry

Too late! It's completely done. Just a wilting flower spike.
Somewhere on DG a year or two ago, someone posted a fabulous, huge Rocket.
Mine is puny in comparison. I think mine is too deep shade.
Mine just gets one or two flower spikes. I've seen plants with dozens of flowering stems.

Curious how the Garden tour went for you. Hope you had a lot of visitors show up. Would you do it again and if so, what would you change if anything? I don't know of any garden tours around here but I'm going to ask around.

The garden tour is not until next June. They just evaluated gardens to see who would be included next year. I'm happy to say I made it. Just getting the garden ready to show a committee was a lot of work! One thing it has made me more aware of is how things will develop and look a year from now. Gardens dont change quickly! Also I never gardened with the idea of having the whole thing look fantastic on one particular day. I have always been happy if something looks good all the time. I'm not going to be able to make it all fabulous for one day but I am aiming a bit differently now. Also, the end of June is a very difficult point in my garden! The spring stuff is over and the summer things have not really gotten into gear yet. Maybe that's by design - it really seperates the men from the boys! I know now what is blooming at that time and I am trying to increase those things and showcase them.

As far as how many visitors I will have - I have no idea. Someone told me it is usually around 100. I'll let you know. I think they charge about $10-$15 to tour 8-10 gardens.

That's the story right now. Feel free to come to Eastern Pennsylvania next June and see my garden!

Yay!
What fun it will be, to show your garden to people who care.
What a lot of work!
Does anyone ever have a little display of photos to show their garden each month? That would be nice. (I have never been on a garden tour). If I went to tour peoples gardens I would like a little photo display like that, as I would be contemplating similar plantings in my yard... You could take photos now, and each month until the show, and put them in an album.

That's a great idea. I think I'll do that!

So, what are the plants that will be blooming during the garden tour? Every summer is a little different--sometimes plants bloom early and sometimes late. I know you know that.

I wrote down the list of plants that were blooming on June 27.
Oriental Lillie's,clematis , salvias,lamiums, coreopsis (3 varieties), allium 'ceruleauma',heliopsis,, violas,hydrangeas,,asclepsias, centaurea montana, nigella,monarda,weigela 'Ghost', oenothera,achillea, potentilla, Itea Virginica, Veronica,scabiosa, and Nepeta.
It sounds like a lot but
It really
Wasn't so bad but two weeks before or a week later and there were twice as many things blooming. Luckily I have lots of foliage plants that are beautiful all the time. Heuchera, creeping Jenny, pulmonaria, ornamental grasses, brunnera, various ferns, and so forth.

Bottom line is it will be what it will be. I am doing all I can and it's been challenging and also fun. Next year might be slightly earlier or later and be stunning. I can't do much about it either way. I've been gardening long enough to gain a measure of acceptance for the whims of Mother Nature.

Congratulations! That's very exciting!

Interesting list of blooming flowers. I am sure your garden will look spectacular. There's nothing like having a garden tour to get your garden in tip top shape!