MySecretGarden

U.S.A., Washington State. USDA zone 8b. Sunset climate zone 5

Random Notes From My Recent Garden Tour. Part 1

One of the things visitors liked in my garden was the variety of green color and the careful use of vivid colors. They said it created a peaceful, serene atmosphere and made the garden perfect for relaxing. I do love green as a color. Actually, it's my favorite color, and I do love random splashes of bright color here and there. The most colorful part of the garden is the cutting garden. Beyond it, green is a queen, and other colors are its pages.
 Different tones of green, variety of textures, sizes and forms maintain the interest.         

Hydrangea 'Oregon Pride'

I love, love, love topiaries - both in containers and in soil.  They give my garden a light touch of formality. It was also noticed by guests.
The visitors said that the garden had some formal elements, but they are subtle and not overwhelming.
Some people believed that my garden reminded them of Еnglish gardens.



Foxgloves were beyond their best shape during the tour, so I removed most of them.
Only some plants were left to provide touches of color.
I also like how tall plants bend and show their curves. 
In the so-called sunken garden, I don't use mulch or gravel. It's pleasant to step on the soft moss.
A bit brownish now, the moss will get back its green color after temperatures cool down.


You can see in the next picture that the sunken garden is lower than rest of the yard.
Protected by the Japanese Holly hedge, it creates a comfortable feeling when you are there.


 The hedge got a lot of compliments, and I believe that it was one of my best projects to put one hundred bushes here, on the back of the house, and in front of it.











There was a photograph on the little table inside the grape gazebo which shows the same gazebo under the snow in 2008.
It was published in the on-line edition of Fine Gardening magazine.



Many people liked the size of hydrangeas growing on the north side of the house. They like this shady spot with  moist soil and protection from the winds.
Several years ago, there was a naked wall and a piece of lawn here. Our boys helped me to remove the turf and dig the planting holes.
I let hydrangea branches touch the ground. They start growing roots, and I separate rooted branches and plant them all over the garden.

Japanese Аralia and Аstilbe also enjoy this corner of the garden.
Below is the part of the cutting garden which I'll show later.
I thought there would be nothing to do for me after the tour in the garden, but I was planting again today, and there is not enough time for blogging...


I want to thank everyone out of the thousand people who visited our garden during the tour.
I got great pleasure in sharing our garden with you, and you gave me a lot of inspiration.
If you don't like to see yourself on one of the pictures, please leave me a comment, and I'll be glad to remove that picture.





To be continued
Part 2 is HERE

***Copyright 2013 TatyanaS

32 comments:

  1. How I wish I could have been there. I just love garden and its style. I also like green a lot. It's my favorite color as well. I'm so sorry my foxgloves are so small this summer that they won't bloom. Next summer I'll have lots of them.

    Happy gardening, Tanya!

    Satu from Finland

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Satu, thanks! I hope you'll have a great open garden in August!

      Delete
  2. Loads of visitors Tanya, a very successful looking open day :)

    The garden is looking gorgeous as always!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your garden is amazing to see... the hedge is perfect as are the topiaries... I am always in awe! Larry

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Larry, thanks! Your garden is an inspiration for me!

      Delete
  4. I along with visitors appreciate those spots of whimsy and surprise and pops of color !!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow, your home and gardens are absolutely beautiful and so serene. It would have been wonderful to have been a visitor there.

    Have a wonderful 4th.

    Happy Gardening ~ FlowerLady

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wonderful place, wonderful pictures, gardens are magical places:) Regards

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow, what a gorgeous garden. Wish I could of been there to take the tour in person, but seeing all the photos made up for it.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Your garden is such a beautiful place - I love the mixture of hedges and topiaries combined with natural growing plants and shrubs. Delightful!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Katarina, I appreciate your comment! Thanks!

      Delete
  9. Your foxgloves may have been past their peak, but I love those blue ones just the same.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jason, I can't imagine my garden without them! Thanks!

      Delete
  10. Thanks for letting us in on the tour. Lucky those who are able to see it in person! I do love all your evergreens, and I see you have a red banana! I like the photos of your hedge with colorful flowers in the background. Happy 4th!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Deb, thank you! Two Abyssinian Bananas were stars of the show!

      Delete
  11. How lovely, your garden is a nice balance of formal and informal and it works so well! The variety of green along with textures gives a very calming effect.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Gorgeous! I wish I could have seen it in person. I agree about the hedge - it's fantastic. I usually like more informal plantings but the hedge really sets everything else off beautifully. I don't know how you do it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sarah, thank you! I just need to keep that hedge in control and don't allow it to get too tall.

      Delete
  13. Wow!! Congratulations on your excellent gardening and creativity! I'm truly impressed with your beautiful and spectacular garden, Tanya! Thanks for sharing all those lovely and large garden photos... almost as good as seeing them in person.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jacqueline, thanks! The weekend was very sunny that is not very good for photography. Fortunately, I manage to take some pictures early in the morning.

      Delete
  14. The combination of structure created by your trimmed hedges and topiaries and the free flowing nature of your mixed plantings strikes a perfect balance. I've always admired your posts about your garden but this one gives much broader views and has helped me piece together the layout of your garden even better. Congratulations on a popular and successful open garden day!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, outlawgardener! My goal now is to unite all the parts of the garden by using some common elements. Boxwood cones and balls serve me well in doing that. I hope one day you can see this garden in person.

      Delete
  15. Just spectacular...I can see why so many visited...I love the foxgloves and blue hydrangeas!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Donna, thanks! Hydrangea started blooming very early this summer!

      Delete
  16. The hedge is spectacular! Love the structure and definition it gives. Everything looks perfectly groomed! Wow! I'm so impressed by the photo tour, I would have loved to have seen it in person.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Freda, thanks! I'm glad you like it! I should admit that planting the ilex hedge was one of the best things I've done for my garden.

      Delete

Thank you for stopping by and for your comment! I appreciate your time! See you soon on your blog!

Blog Archive

Search This Blog

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

I'M GLAD TO SEE YOU!

Labels

Abyssinian Banana (4) Actaea s. (1) Agapanthus (1) Agressive plants (1) Alaska (8) Amaryllis (5) Aquilegia (1) Aralia (4) Arizona (1) Arundel Castle Gardens (1) Autumn (47) Bainbridge Island Gardens (8) Before and After (8) Berry (4) Bird Houses (1) Bloedel Reserve (1) Blotanical (3) Blue Poppy (2) Book review (1) Botanical Gardens (3) Bouquets (9) Butchart Gardens (9) California (3) Calla (1) Canada (2) Chanticleer Garden (1) Clematis (4) Coleus (1) Colonial Gardens (7) Conifers (3) Containers (22) Corydalis (1) Dahlia (5) Dan Klennert (1) Desert Landscape (1) DIG (1) Dogs (14) Dry creek bed (1) Duris Cucumber Farm (1) Elandan Gardens (2) End of Month View (12) England (16) English Gardens (2) Euphorbia (1) Eze France Exotic garden (2) Fall garden (19) Far Reaches Farm (1) Favorite plants (52) Favorite plants. Tree Philodendron (1) Fences (2) Foliage (7) Formal gardens (1) Foxglove (14) France (4) Frankfurt Botanical Garden (1) Front Garden (5) Fuchsia (8) Garden decor (3) garden design (1) Garden elements (48) garden rooms (1) garden structure (1) Garden Tour (1) Garden works (15) Gardening Tips (4) Gardens of nature (11) Gardens to see (113) Gardens to see (tours) (25) Geraniums (2) Germany (5) GH Garden Tour (7) Giveaway (4) Giverny (2) Gossler Farms Nursery (1) Grasses (8) Great Dixter (3) Greenhouse (2) gunnera (4) Hampton Court (1) Hawaii Garden (1) Hellebores (8) Herbs and Vegetables (22) Heronswood (7) Hidcote (1) History of gardening (11) Holidays (25) Hops (1) Hosta (4) Hydrangea (7) Illumination (1) Italy (12) Japanese maple (14) Kew (4) Lakewold Gardens (22) Lavatera (1) Lavender (3) Leucosceptrum stellipilum ‘Ogon' (1) Little and Lewis Garden (1) Lobelia tupa (2) Meconopsis (2) Melianthus major (2) Minter Gardens (1) Missouri Botanical Garden (1) Mount Vernon (1) My Garden (150) My Open Garden (4) MY PICTURE OF THE DAY (80) Neighborhood (9) NPA Open Gardens (13) NWFGS (29) Old Goat Farm (3) Orchids (1) Oregon (4) PalmenGarten (2) Pampas grass (1) Peony (6) Perennials (59) Plant ID (9) Poppy (5) Problem areas (3) Recipes (2) Rhododendron (5) Rock garden (2) Romneya c. (2) Sarah P. Duke Gardens (2) Serre de la Madone (Lawrence Johnston) (1) Shade Garden (20) Shayne Chandler Garden (1) Shrubs (11) Sissinghurst (9) Sky Watch (1) Slope garden (6) Slugs (3) Spring/Summer garden (141) Stachys (1) Succulents (9) Summer/Fall garden (74) Texas Arboretum (1) The Garden of Great Depression (1) Tree Peony (2) Trees (36) Trips (81) Tulip Festival (16) Uncategorized (7) Vegetable garden (4) Vegetables (1) Villa Cimbrone (2) WA (114) Weigela (1) Wells Medina Nursery (1) White garden (3) Wild animals (21) Wild flowers (16) Windcliff (1) Wineries (1) Winter and winter garden (54) Wordless Wednesday (31) Yang's Garden and Nursery (6)
Copyright 2009-2022 TatyanaS, MySecretGarden Blog



*