Garden Photo of the Day

READER PHOTOS! Carla's garden in Connecticut

comments (12) June 1st, 2012 in blogs

Michelle Gervais, Senior Editor

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Last week I had the privilege to visit the garden of one of our frequent commenters, cwheet000! Turns out she lives just north of me in my town, and I couldn't pass up her invitation to stop by. It was well worth it! Not only did I get to actually MEET one of the GPOD readers (my friends who I FORCE to read my blog don't count... :-D), but her garden was super-charming and cute! It screams cottage garden, and it was definitely in the midst of a peony and iris moment. Carla says, "I live in an antique house in New Milford, Connecticut, with my husband and two-(almost 3)-year-old little girl. This is my seventh gardening season here. I spent the first several seasons weeding this large garden. Yuck! Now, I am finally starting to replant. Yeah! The are several long perennial borders scattered around the property and a large walled in section with slate pathways between the beds. I also have planted quite a few containers. My yard is still very much a work in progress, between a part time job and taking care of a toddler. I have no professional help. It is just me. (We also have 2 acres of lawn to mow. Yuck!) By midsummer, my new plantings should start filling in and the 45 dahlias and dozen Cannas I just purchased should be blooming. Right now, the bearded iris, Siberian iris, and peonies are doing their thing." It was a total pleasure, Carla--thanks so much for having me over for a visit! I'll definitely be back later in the summer...

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posted in: Connecticut

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Comments (12)

tractor1 writes:

Carla, sounds like you have your mowing under control, a 5' mower is fine for two acres. Naturally one needs a push mower for the detailing and edges, I use a string trimmer too. I wish they still made light weight narrow push mowers but alas no more, there used to be 18" push mowers with decks of magnesium, if I remember correctly they were by Lawnboy... they made mowing much less fatiguing. Unless one springs for a $2,000 golf course greens mower what they sell today are all garbage, bulky and heavy. I would never buy a self propelled, better to go with a riding mower, depending on terrain one of the zero turn models may be best. My neighbor has one, with the mower out front they give a superb mow but they don't have four wheel drive and they have small skinny front wheels, I've already pulled him out of the mud four times. It's still raining here, but I went to my favorite local nursery and bouth veggie plants and another "Fat Albert" Colorado blue spruce... now all I need is sun to dry things out so I can plant. Have a good weekend.

Posted: 8:01 pm on June 2nd

cwheat000 writes: Thank you Olympic mtn gardener. Thank you everyone. It was so much fun to share a bit of my garden with you all. Posted: 7:07 pm on June 1st

olympic_mtn_gardener writes: Each feature in your garden is gorgeous, but even more impressive is the way it all comes together to look so tranquil and beckoning. You state that it is still very much a work in progress, but it is hard to imagine how you can improve on what is shown here. I look forward to seeing more photos in the future! Posted: 10:58 am on June 1st

cwheat000 writes: peony fan -Thank you. Those are chocolate cosmos. They are blooming early because they were greenhouse grown(not by me). Those pots contain chocolate cosmos, Heuchera 'Marmalade', Heucherella 'Sweet Tea', Supertunia White Russian, Sedum hakonense 'Makino', Osteospermum 'Margarita Sunset' and Ipomoea 'Sweet Georgia Bronze'(put together by me). Now that I wrote the names down, I think I must have been having a chocolate craving.
Posted: 9:03 am on June 1st

MichelleGervais writes: PeonyFan, those chocolate cosmos pots are DREAMY, as were the pots by the door! I could not stop taking pics of them. The whole garden was super cozy and beautiful. Carla, I can't wait to see it with your roses in bloom! Posted: 8:45 am on June 1st

cwheat000 writes: My day is now truely complete. Thanks for all your comments, tractor1 (my other favorite GPOD blogger). You are right about those rugosas. I have only one bush and I hack it to the ground each spring. I won't let it get the best of me. With a severe pruning, I keep it tidy in the border. It is just right of the clump of bronze and purple German bearded iris. I like the photo of the serious piece of machinery you posted today. My husband usually mows the field. We had to purchase a commercial style mower. We got a 61" deck Bobcat with a sulky you stand on, from a retiring landscaper, for a fraction of the cost of a new one. I find it a blast to zip around on, however i am not the one doing it all the time. It has been a blessing the last few years. The only downside is it is too large to fit between some of the openings in the stone walls. I do the trim work and the few walled in sections with a 21" Honda walk behind. (It rained all week before the photos and was in need of a mowing in theses pics). There is one moist section in the middle of the field. I put my extra Siberian iris divisions there. We also have 3 raised beds fo veggies there and would like to build more. The raised beds improve the drainage, but once the veggie roots reach the moisture, I don't have to do much watering in the summer. Later this season, I promise some more pictures. Posted: 8:37 am on June 1st

PeonyFan writes: Lovely garden, lovely photos and lovely peonies, thank you! Much as I love peonies, I was most taken by the photograph of the dark pots with what looks like chocolate cosmos (one of them partnered with heuchera, brilliant!). Is that what it is? And it blooms so early? It was 46 degrees this morning in my Minnesota garden.... Posted: 7:55 am on June 1st

tractor1 writes:

user-26134: I think it was a tad early for roses in the northeast at the time of those pictures. However I'm sure the wild rugosas were blooming, they are here in the Catskills. Rugosa is pretty but deadly, especially how they take over the borders of hedgerows where I mow... they grow at SST speed and way their thorny canes reach out to tear flesh I'm surprised there wasn't a movie made to rival The Blob... I found the best way to battle rugosa is with my trusty machette.

Carla: Your property looks lovely and cozy and with all those spring blooms it's like a bit of Eden... I particularly like those fire engine red peonies. Next I'd like to see that two acre meadow and surrounding borders, sounds like mowing it is daunting but with the correct machine it's a mere 40 minute ride. Thank you for displaying your garden.

Posted: 7:37 am on June 1st

cwheat000 writes: My day is complete. One of my favorite GPOD bloggers, meander1, likes my garden. Thank you. Posted: 7:18 am on June 1st

cwheat000 writes: user-261344- Thank you for the nice words. I promise to send more photos or have Michelle stop by again. When Michelle took pictures the last week, the roses had not started blooming yet. All of them are starting to open this week. There is a medium pink hybrid tea from the previous owners, a white hybrid tea I think is called JFK from my mom, 3 white David Austin roses called Claire, a white rugosa rose, and a double Knockout, a pink Knockout, and a yellow Knockout mixed into the borders. Now that you mention it, this garden could use more roses. It is dangerous to suggest more plants to a plant addict, lol. I would love more David Austin roses. Anyone looking at the pictures, please let me know if I can identify anything for you. I had a really great time meeting Michelle and was so honored she stopped by my humble garden. I wanted to give Michelle more info, but I got a little distracted. Both of our little girls managed to get boo-boo's while we were trying to take pictures ( everyone is o.k.). Thanks again, Michelle. It is so exciting to see my garden today! Posted: 7:10 am on June 1st

meander1 writes: For some reason, when I think of gardening in CT, what I see in these picture's of Carla's garden is exactly what comes to mind. I envision interesting rock walls with a sense of history, charming gates that beckon one to explore further, tidy picturesque fences and everything surrounded by beautiful flowers and bushes.
We need to see follow up pictures when the dahlias and cannas are in bloom although nothing could be prettier than this stunning spring display of the iris and peonies at their peak. Posted: 7:09 am on June 1st

user-261344 writes: The garden is gorgeous, but I have a question: No roses? Posted: 5:27 am on June 1st

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