Ghostwater Garden

Part of my job is going to folk's residences and measuring their house when they want to renovate or add on to their existing home.  The rest of my job is coming back to my office and drawing up that home on the computer, for their architect or designer to work with.  That's what I do.  I draw buildings. 

Last Wednesday I got to take a few pictures of a client's garden.  And because it's late in the season and we are all hanging on to every last glimmer of summer, I have to share:

Sweet summer.  Sigh. 

Note to self:

Plan a vacation around The Garden Conservancy's Open Garden Days.
I've a yearning to see how other climates in the states face their gardening challenges. 

I'm Cheating...

...and using the time function to post this three days earlier than I am writing it...

Saturday was the beginning of fall by the calender, and living in Michigan we find that fall comes pretty much on schedule.

The nights have been chilly for several weeks now, and the color begins as early as August, like the one peony I have that colors so prettily.  I think the one that is blushing is Festiva Maxima, a fovorite of mine for its etheral perfume in the spring.  Other peonies put on an even brighter display, and it's worth shopping the nurseries in fall to look at their color show. 

As summer comes to a close here, I am taking the opportunity to look back and the year and reflect on my successes.  It was not a good year for fish, as I've noted, but the waterlily I had been nurturing gave me bloom after bloom.  I think I got five or six, nicely spaced out over a similar number of weeks.

This was the plant that I thought was Helvola.  I still think Helvola is one of the parents, but this plant is too big to fit the description.  It's leaves and flowers are about 3" across, which is twice as big as Helvola.   It's a great plant though, and put on a great show with only one feeding of pond tabs.  I forgot to add more in the middle of the season, and my other lily never bloomed.  I'll give that one the extra feed next year and see if she'll come around. 

I love the buttery yellows, and was thrilled to see that a gift plant I took somewhat reluctantly - a cactus for Michigan? - also bloomed in this hue. 

Fabulous!

One of the annuals I started this year from seed was a Calendula from Johnnies Selected Seeds - Triangle Flashback.  I've been fascinated by this flower all summer. 
Utterly charming. 

And finally this cooler weather always makes the roses happy.  I moved my miniatures out of the dry front/south border and potted them up in whiskey barrel.  This proved to be the perfect place for these little guys.  I have them placed in the 'pond' garden area, and have enjoyed watching them bloom and grow as I sit and contemplate the water and the fish.

This flower is only 2 inches across, every line as beautiful as it's bigger siblings.  Some of the little roses even have the tearose fragrance, another thing to appreciate with a chair pulled up nearby and a raised planter. 

LACASA Garden Tour, Part Two

The county I live in is one of the fastest growing in the state.  It's one of those lovely rural areas that everyone that lives in a crowded bedroom community wants a piece of.  Pretty soon now, maybe only ten years down this road, it too will become a crowded bedroom community.  Ah, progress.

But in the meantime, there is a wealth of space.  Human beings like space.  We like elbow room and long expanses of green to soothe the eye and cleanse the air, and we are willing to devote a good bit of labor in the workspace and in the yard to be able to have both. 

Clover  Cottage

This charming little home had three distinct garden areas:  The front of the house, the back of the house, and the side yard to a tiny woodlot.    The woodlot drew me like a magnet. 

Did I mention this day was hot?  It was hot.   A bench tucked under the trees was just the thing.
And the view from the path to the road, where one of the tour participants serendipitously parked their monarda-colored car!

The shade was delicious.

Well, Gang...

If you haven't already been contacted, there's a new face in town:
Gardora.net

I don't know if there is a catch, they sent me a letter: