Beams of sunshine shooting through the trees at Jeanne Cronce's property in Washington State only add to the beauty found in these gardens.
"I live in Port Orchard, Wa. This year has been a year of tremendous grow both weeds and plants. Our 5 acres have really kept me busy and enjoying gardening. What a wonderful way to spend life….in a garden!"
Have a garden you'd like to share? Email 5-10 photos and a brief story about your garden to [email protected]. Please include where you are located!
Have a mobile phone? Tag your photos on Instagram or Twitter with #FineGardening!
You don't have to be a professional garden photographer – check out our garden photography tips!
Do you receive the GPOD by email yet? Sign up here.
Follow us: @finegardening on Twitter | FineGardeningMagazine on Facebook | @finegardening on Instagram
Comments
Beautiful! What are the purple flowers in 5th photo look like hyacinths but too tall?
Good morning Noreen. These are called staches "Hummelo". Great color arent they!
Lovely garden. I especially like the section shown in your third photo - the combination of purple clemantis, golden raintree (I am right?), the ferns, brunnera, Japanese hinoki, et al. And the 'helping hand' made me grin; perfect little bit of whimsy (Is it a 'helping seat'?). The David Austin pink rose is gorgeous; roses are my brown thumb. They develop black spot and all other rose evils as soon as I look at them. All your hard work as produced wonderful results; it obvious you love spending your time in your garden.
In my next life I want to come back a gardener in the pacific northwest. Thank you for sharing
Hi Sonya.. I always say if i could do it all over again id like to study and work under a famous gardener in England. Haha. We are quite fortunate to live here in the North West for sure. California wouldnt be bad either! Sorry about not being able to grow roses. They are a little work. But so pretty. Ive been tempted to take them out and make room for other unusual plants. I have a huge area with roses that there is no picture of this time. But when they are all blooming i decide i will keep them one more year. I dont spray other than maybe once in the beginning of the growing season. One thing fun about gardening is that its always changing. Happy gardening!
Good morning Jeanne. I always enjoy looking at beautiful lush PNW gardens and yours is beautiful. So many of my favorite plants, grown better than I can grow them here in Charlotte... yum. I love your stachys 'Hummelo' and your podophyllum pleianthum . Thanks for sharing! Happy gardening. I hope the heat and smoke are dissipating for you.
Good morning Jay! Yes.. we have a tremendous amount of smoke and heat. The smoke is from fires up in Canada. But Iam fortunate to still be able to be outside. It is supose to get better this week. Isnt that Hummelo sweet! This is the best it has ever looked due to the many days of hot sun. Happy gardening Jay!
Thanks for identifying the 'Hummelo', Jay and, surprise, surprise,(not really) when I went off on my google search to learn more about, what did I come across but a great article by you on Houzz. You certainly sang its praises very convincingly. Are the pictures labelled Jay Sifford Garden Design from your own garden or those of clients?
I think those photos are from my garden, if I remember correctly.
always always snazzy and never a disappointment. it all looks wonderful.
Hi Jeff! Thank you!
Jeanne, what a treat this morning to see your garden. In the photo after the hand, I thought you had corn growing amidst your landscape plants! I quickly realized it is a tall ornamental grass. It's always wonderful to see your garden. I can't even imagine weeding 5 acres! You are amazing!
Hi Rhonda... I cant keep up with the weeding this year. They are growing so fast and so much. I think i made more work for me than i can handle! But i so enjoy being in the dirt!Haha. Have a great summer!
Absolutely ravishing !
Hi Sithanthi. Thats a word i havent heard in a while! Thank you very much!
Good morning, Jeanne. Such a treat to start the day with your magnificent garden. The first photo is stunning and welcomes us in to a visual treat. I love the photo with the Laburnum paired with the clematis and hakonechloa. Breathtaking. Each photo is full of interest. I also love that you have stachys officinalis 'Hummelo', as Jay identified earlier. It is a terrific, underused, carefree plant that works as a clumping groundcover when not in flower. Well behaved, evergreen in my zone 6, and handles summer heat and humidity like a champ.
Hi Kevin...yes Hummelo is a great plant for sure. With this long hot summer this time the form and color is outstanding. Hope you have a great finish this summer. It sure has gone by fast!
So, Kevin, does your 'Hummelo' have that same awesome purple color as Jeanne's? I did a google image and info search on it earlier after I read the id and I saw some pictures showing it pinker or more magenta. I wonder if some aspect in the soil affects the color like in certain hydrangeas.
Hi, Michaele. That's a great question. Mine looks more pink early, but then darkens some (see attached). Not sure about soil pH or if Jeanne's photo was edited at all. I know there is only one cultivar, and it has always looked more pink to me. Great plant, nonetheless.
What a happy, generous sized looking clump, Kevin. Do you have it in more than one place? and does it reseed for you or spread in any way? The foliage is certainly a pretty green color and I can see why it get a thumbs up whether it's in flower or not.
Michaele: This plant is a clump former. Never reseeds or spreads where I don't put it. That clump has been there about 3 years from a division about 1/4th the size. I just cut it with a spade, nothing fancy. In some areas, I use it in the front of the border as a ground cover. In others, I have it tucked behind some spring bloomers like brunnera, when I want to focus on the summer blooms. This is a well behaved ground cover. I cut it to its basal leaves in the fall to keep it looking good all winter.
My, oh, my, Jeanne, what a fascinating garden you have...it's so lively, so lush, so filled to the brim with enviable goodies of plant life. Even your seed heads elicit a sigh of admiration (yes, I'm talking about you, alliums). What are the upright purple dudes sharing the picture with the spent alliums...darn, they are a gorgeous color!
Did you make the helping hand yourself? Wouldn't it be great if it sprung to life to give assistance during those times our mere two just don't seem enough for the task at "hand".
Hi Michaele....The purple flowers is called Staches "hummelo". It is really enjoying the heat and sun this year. My husband and i made the framework for the hands out of rebar. He thought i was crazy but he did help. Then i wrapped it with wire mesh and packed in cement. They turned out okay for being the first time of doing this. The pair will hold up huge bamboo posts which will hold up a framework of bamboo for some shade. Yes it would be fun to have help! For sure next year i will hire someone to help around here. I just need to quit buying plants and there wouldnt be so much work! I guess iam a plantaholic. Hope you are having a great summer!
I hope you show us a picture, at some point, of the hands doing their holding of the bamboo posts. Sounds like a creative project. I love your intrepid spirit to embark on trying something new and different and from your imagination.
Just amazing, Jeanne. Boundless beauty from every direction. Everything looks so fresh. I'm so envious of your growing conditions, especially as I watch my garden go crispy. And how true to have such a wonderful life to be immersed in the garden. I long for the days when I can put more of mine into it. What is the plant below the purple clematis in the fourth photo?
Good morning NC Yarden! Thank you.. so glad you enjoyed seeing these pictures. If i wasnt watering every day i believe this year everything would be crispy. So glad we have a well! Your day will come to be in the gardens more. I remember when i was so wanting to and now it is all i do in the summer, fall and spring. Even in the wintertime if its not too wet! The plant you have inquired about is unnamed. I use to know. So sorry. I will try and find out and get back with you!
Just such a gorgeous garden Jeanne, with beautiful combinations of
color, texture and form. The plant in question beneath the clematis appears to be yellow wax bells Kirengeshoma palmata. That photo is particularly breathtaking!
Sweet. Thanks for the ID.
-David-
Your gardens look fabulous, as always, Jeanne! I am especially drawn to your photo that includes the golden chain tree which I have never seen other than catalogs. Beautiful! Love the hand, did you make it?
Hi Margaret... thanks. Yes isnt the chain tree sweet! Sure wish it would bloom longer! The hands we made. My husband and i made a framework out of rebar and he welded them. Then i wrapped them with wire mess and packed it with cement. Then finished them off with another product. There is a pair of them which will hold up huge bamboo poles which will hold up a bamboo framework to create some more shady areas. A garden is never finished. Enjoy the rest of your summer!
Stunning !
Thank you Lily!
i love it, beautiful. love the fountain too
Thank you! mcjense!
HI Diane, Thanks for your comments. The colors are so fun during the summer when our winters are always so dark and dreary. The hand is going to be holding up a huge bamboo pole which makes up a fence. I have two of these. Something different in the garden.
Oh, I love it all- the texture, the pops of color. Yours would be a fun garden to take a stroll through. I can't wait for Part 2. Thanks for sharing!
You are so welcome. This blog is so fun to visit because we are actually strolling thru one anothers gardens! Only you dont get to see the unfinished, weedy parts! Happy summer to you!
Jeanne I'm loving your plant combinations, masterful pairings of color and texture. The green and yellow tones in the fourth picture allow the clematis to take center stage. The heuchera and fern pairing in 'The Hand' photo is a great color echo. Can you identify the fern for me? Also, perhaps the plant NC Yarden is asking about is Yellow Wax Bells?
Dearest Luvfall...spot on with the name of the yellow wax bells! Thank you. Iam sorry but not sure of the name of the fern. They just started poping up all over in an old greenhouse so i dug them up and moved them around. They have gotten really big.
Oh my goodness, Jeanne, how stunning! I wish I were walking through your garden right now! Is the purple clematis 'Guiding Promise'? It is one of my favorites and is almost iridescent! Can you tell me the name of the hosta in the picture just below the "hand"? It's so wonderfully blue, plus it seems to be streaked in green as well as white.
NWAgardener...hi. well the clematis is not that. I believe it might be "the president". Its been so long ago and i have so many plants that its hard to remember. Or maybe its old age! Haha. Oooh...not sure! So sorry...have a wonderful summer!
Good morning ' almost neighbor'. What a treat today to see a bit of your interesting garden, Jeanne. Do you garden all of your 5 acres or did you leave some wooded? We have about 2.5 with some still wooded and we pretty much water all day every day except for the grass which is very crispy. Your combinations are beautiful, especially the photo with the laburnum and clematis. That stachys is also a really rich color and may have to be added to my garden. Can't wait for part 2.
Hi Linda! Not all of the acres is gardens. We do have some timbered areas. I cant make any new beds now because i cant take care of them all. I water every day trading the outer garden with the inner garden. I enjoy it though. So glad we have a well!
Fantastic PNW garden. Would you please identify the purple bloom in 7-th one looked like a seed head? Thanks for sharing.
Lilian ~ that plant with the purple feathery flowers is 'Sanguisorba hakusanensis'
Hi Lilian...this is a Sanguisorba hakusanensis..."lilac squirrel". It is a fun plant. This has gotten so big this year. Almost five feet tall!
Thanks both Jeanne and Meelianthus. I am in Vancouver, Canada and has similar growing conditions. I am on the look for Sanguisorba hakusanensis..."lilac squirrel" and Stachys officinalis 'Hummelo'. Thanks Kevin for the information on Stachys.
Jeanne, Your gardens are the stuff dreams are made of. Every photo is terrific & enviable.
"The love of gardening is a seed once sewn that never dies" Gertrude Jekyll ,describes your attitude perfectly & the results speak for themselves. Good luck, Joe
Fabulous texture and colour combinations, Jeanne! I love the photo of the Laburnum with the purple clematis and all the different leaf shapes below.
marvelous as always, Jeanne. I'm especially crazy about your nice clump of Podophyllum pleianthum!
Hi Tim! Yes...she is looking pretty good! Happy days!
Beautiful garden and photos, Jeanne... I have a couple questions: Which rose is on the green trellis? Looks very full and healthy! What is the grass/bamboo/corn-like plant behind the large, glaucous Hosta? And, what is the bright pink flower hanging above the Opium poppies? Also love your buttery, light yellow Kniffofia!
Hi Peggy. The rose is called "Eden". Slow to start but after the second year it really takes off. It also comes in a light pink almost white with pink edges. Havent made room for that one yet. The tall grass is called " Arudo doxana" i think. This has always confused me. This is an awesome grass. It hasnt spread too bad where i have it. It also comes in a white and green varigated which i love. And for your last inquiry that is a sanguisorba hakusanensis..."Lilac Squirrel". This is a fun one. And they are as soft as they look too! Hope you are enjoying this beautiful summer!
Ms. Cronce
I just cannot decide which I like better.... the Photography or the Subjects!! ..seriously...
Oh, and then there's the co-ordination of architecture and colours.... !!!!!
And, I hear ya about the weeds this year. Our's are on steroids and I'm racing to snatch their vigorous counter attack from victory by spending virtually all of my time with population control....before they drop the next generation onto the grounds or disperse them upon the breezes... While some on this post are experiencing baked conditions, we're being blessed with un-naturally mild conditions. Hence, the weed explosions. The bad news is that my knees have callouses. The good news is that my tan lines are looking mah-va-lous!!
Thanx for the beautiful and inspirational posting, and can't wait to see tomorrow's share!!
jesse
Youre awesome Jesse! Funny too. Well said about the weeds and tan lines! I feel so bad when i water certain areas because they are full of weeds but i dont want the plants to die. Oh well. Thanks!
It looks beautiful, Jeanne. I especially like the mossy rocks around the fountain/pond. Is the stick is there so if something falls in it can crawl back out? Not sure about that hand. Maybe if it was holding something. Otherwise it looks like an early Halloween decoration! (You didn't bury anyone there, did you?) Simply amazing garden!
Hi Chris! Haha...no, the hand will be holding a huge bamboo pole and there are two hands. So this will be holding up a bamboo roof to create more shade. You are right about the stick. Birds were drowning so i put that in there and there hasnt been a tragedy since. Hope u are doing well!
Hi Jeanne! Every vignette in the photos is such a treat to all the senses. I think this is the first time I've learned of your garden's name and I really like it. I'm looking forward to day 2 tomorrow. PS Like Tim, I'm crazy over that podophyllum.
Fab U Lous. Fabulous Fab U Lous
Log in or create an account to post a comment.
Sign up Log in