Friday, November 21, 2014

Refreshing a Winter Focal Point




October 2014
 Somehow it has worked out that most of our entertaining at the SJC house takes place in the winter months. Dozens of relatives come from all over the country to visit and dare I say hundreds of friends stop by some time between Halloween and Valentines Day. Needless to say, they are certainly missing the prime time in the gardens which I would have to say is spring, followed by summer and then fall.
November 2014
By the time winter rolls around most of the prettiest scenes are tired and taking a rest. Roses are either spindly or cut back, most iris are sleeping and of course the clematis, wisteria, flowering shrubs and vines are either bare or devoid of blooms at best. Even the willowy grasses are often cut back to bristly stubs. I am thankful for the azaleas and camellias, of which I have planted many, and there are always the plants that look good consistently year round which add the foundation to the gardens. I do try to add some seasonal color in the way of cool season annuals that I probably would skip if not for the onslaught of guests. As you can see by the top picture, the Moonlight Garden was showing signs of a long hot summer a couple weeks ago, so a carload of bright white perennials and annuals in addition to some organic fertilizer has brightened up this focal point and will go a long way to keep this garden looking good until the spring plants start to wake up. If you look closely, my 'Golf Ball' (more like Basketball) pittosporum look terrible, having been covered with blight all year. They are supposed to stay small and round, hence the name, but these became so large and gangly they were trimmed back at the wrong time and have become a mess. I'm debating whether to remove them all together or just cut them back and
give them another chance. But enough about problems! I've been out every weekend with a watering can and some seaweed fertilizer to make sure this area is robust for the upcoming months and all our guests because next weekend there will be soccer balls, baseballs and maybe even a few Frisbees landing among the newly planted daisies and phlox and they need to be as robust as possible!

Just for fun here's a look at years past. If you are on Pinterest and 2010 looks familiar to you, it has probably been pinned a few thousand times!




2009
2010


2011


2012








4 comments:

Lee@A Guide to Northeastern Gardening said...

Your gardens are breathtaking. I just returned from California and you have some of the most interesting plants in the world. I enjoyed visiting the San Francisco Botanical Gardens on my trip.

Lee@A Guide to Northeastern Gardening said...

Your gardens are breathtaking. I just returned from California and you have some of the most interesting plants in the world. I enjoyed visiting the San Francisco Botanical Gardens on my trip.

Hoover Boo said...

All the white looks fabulous--I wish I had the energy for annuals. Palms, Agave, cypress, so classic!

Try some Aloes if you haven't yet--they are the stars of winter for me--not enough shade for Camellias.

ELLandscapers said...

Your garden, even in the past, looks great! I wonder how it looks now? It's so abundant with the greenery and the flowers. There is no doubt you do your gardening well.