ncgardener

Oh wow, this is gorgeous. I love your shade garden. It gives me hope for some of my shady areas.

Oh wow, talk about deep container gardening. I love phlox's as well. They always seem to pop up with a color that says "Let's get ready to garden!" That area is going to evolve into a beautiful meandering spot.

Beautiful!

Beautiful garden. I have a shady area that I am trying to interject some color into it. many shady gardens just have variations of green, I love your colors.

I love the blue vase and how it is repeated in the flowers! Beautiful!

Sorry I did not see the question about the red plant but I think it is an Astilbe because I fell in love with those that year. The next year was lilies and I just couldn't get enough of them. Thanks from all of my friends from the North Carolina Community Garden Partnerships and the North Carolina Extension group their websites are loaded with tons of tips for Carolina clay.

Hi there sorry I am late getting back to respond but I will try to get to all. Thanks for all of the kudo's. The purple spiky plant is called a Chaste tree and it was rumored to keep girl chaste. The fragrance is between a lavender and lilac and the bees love it so it is a great pollinator. I will admit to anyone that it is all due to compost. I brought it in by the truckloads and now I just add a layer each year. I am starting a Veterans Organic garden here in New Bern for disabled and homeless veterans and will send in photos of that once we get started. Thanks again for all of the comments!

I voted for the Burdick garden, the curved terraces were amazing. I like the idea of turning an item that may have been a detriment and turning it into an asset. The textures that jump out at you as you view the garden were interesting as well. The spikes along with the flowing plants which replicated the flow of the water. it was the pathways that ultimately tied everything together for me. They are beautiful and make you wonder what is around the corner as you meander through. Lots of work but well worth it.

Those containers are gorgeous and the placement is wonderful with the coneflowers in the backdrop. I lost quite a few succulents by leaving them outside but I may try bringing them in and finding a nice cozy spot for them. Do you have any soil recommendation? Thanks for the wonderful ideas.

Wow that is amazing and so impressive. I have no excuse not to be motivated. Hydroponics, hmm!

Beautiful photo, I only hope my Autumn Joy will look as nice. Michelle get well soon! We are sending good thoughts your way.

As much as I love flowers, I love the different textures as well. This is such a wonderful example of that. Nice photos, I would love to see more. I too have found that composting twice a year gives me more benefit than some fertilizers. Thanks for the ideas.

I love it, North Carolina is such a temperamental mistress when it comes to gardening. I relocated here 4 years ago and I have one soil type (sand) in the front and (clay) in the back. The hardscapes are awesome. I love your ideas for garden rooms!

I was stationed in Rota, Spain while I was in the military and the climate reminded me of California. Beautiful garden space in the photos and well manicured. I would love to have edging like that on my beds.

Beautiful garden Jay, Wonderful to look at with all of the 100 degree heat we have been having here in North Carolina lately. the bio states that you are a garden designer, are you involved with any of the Community gardens in Charlotte?

Love it, especially the succulents and bromeliads. She really does have a great eye for blending. I always with something overtaking the pots.

Love it, love it, love it! I hope you get a chance to feature the back and/or side yard. Sitting on that porch must be so relaxing. I would love to hear the story of how the garden came together and the history of her gardening techniques. Please feature her again later.

Beautiful pots, I love the textures and colors. It is amazing how beautiful the leaves blend together. The paths with the pop of color is also inspirational. Thanks for the peek into your garden.

Beautiful garden, very relaxing!

BEAUTIFUL! The bees and butterflies have probably named your garden as a all you can eat bonanza. I love how light and airy it looks. It shows that you are having fun.

That is a great idea, sometimes rebar can be a bit crude looking. And what a way to use old worn out hoses.

Beautiful garden. I can relate to the expanding garden and the reduction of grass. I can't help myself when it comes to trying a new perennial. I love how you have curved your beds so that you wonder just what is around the corner. Nice job!

I love the before and after views. To see the area you started with and what you have now is pretty amazing. It will only get better each year with such a beautiful variety! Great photos.

Gorgeous garden. I am trying more grouping of plants in the front yard to give my garden a more defined presence in the front. In the backyard it is still utter chaos, which I love, and glorious to me. I love the photos of the dogs, I have two cocker spaniels and they have a kitty (cousin) that comes to visit and they have a ball. Thanks for sharing.

Beautiful! I love the swaths of color I wish I had more restraint to do something like this. Maybe next year. :-) I love the photo with the 4 legged family member. He/she is gorgeous!

Beautiful garden. I am starting a Veterans Organic garden for disabled and homeless veterans and I would love to get a few tips on pathways and height restrictions. I am also working with NCagribility which helps with modifying agriculture equipment. What you have been able to do in your garden is wonderful. I would love to visit if possible. Thanks for a preview.

Wow, that is beautiful. I have stepping stones that my children and grandchildren have done in my garden as well. Young and old, that is one of the first things they check on. Priceless!

I love it! The yards in modern housing is so small and this looks like a great way to squeeze in a few fruit trees and make a statement at the same time. Thanks for sharing.

Beautiful, I love the different shades of green and texture. It is a wonderful solution for a problem area. Talk about making lemonade from lemons!

Hey Roho, it is a great site and I think that you will see it is well worth it. I recommend it to all of the gardeners I know. During the upcoming winter it will be a salvation for you because sometimes it seems like Spring will never come. Glad you made it, just another gardener!

Yummy, who's got the glass of milk?

Beautiful gardens when you click on the visit. Love it, love it, love it!

Talk about a great place to meditate or yoga. Beautiful!

Beautiful!

Beautiful blogsite and I love the idea of producing scarves with your images, you are definitely talented and have an eye for beauty.

I live in New Bern and we do the same thing only with Bears. I love the watering cans though. They are gorgeous!

Beautiful shots! Grasses really seem to come alive in the fall.

Sometimes I worry about the investment I have put into my garden in the past 3 years but 100 roses, I love it! These photos let me know it will all be worth it. Beautiful!

Beautiful, I may need to use that photo as my screen saver during the winter to remind me that summer will come again. Thanks!

Yummy!

This has to add a smile to your face, with such vibrant color as you pass by. Wonderful!

Beautiful, I love looking at the other photos but I always get great ideas for my borders from the flower photos. Now if I could only get my hostas to look like those.

When I first saw the title I thought not another Chanticleer photo but I was sooo wrong. This was worth it. It is such a unique thought. I automatically started thinking, how can I adapt this in my garden, maybe on my fence post? Thanks for a great idea.

I love the ingenuity of the items. This is wonderful, especially the usage of the plants to draw the eyes up and add a sense of flair.

Beautiful photos. Love the the craftsmanship of the structures.

It is gorgeous. That is a beautiful and calming location. I love it!

Sorry, I'm a country girl, my first thoughts when I saw it was that it was a watermelon being used for target practice. The view is lovely though.

I think that they should go big or stay home! Try a larger focal point or work of art. Maybe a metal orb of some type or metal rod curved into half an orb with a ivy vine covering it. I love the orbs though!

Those shots are beautiful! With the hot summer that we have been having a mixture like the one JulieBW described make so much sense. I had a portion of my front yard that the deer were using as an all you can eat deli.

Okay, this is great. But here are my questions:
1. Are all of the plants perennials or is that a mixture?
2. Do you start all of the containers in the Spring for all of that fullness?
3. Are there any tips for making them last?
4. Do you have any favorites or color combos?
Thanks for any help every year I try to work on my containers but end up with 1 or 2 plants that make it.

Love it. It makes me feel good about the curves in my garden. I wonder if you could use that same style with a concrete path? Hmmm!

Wow, I wish you had said the type of tree it was. That is amazing.

The camera-shy cat looks like a lion in miniature. How regal!

I have to agree, I make my paths in my garden for my two companions, Tiger and Chloe, as well as for me. Chasing lizards and leaping at butterflies is just another part of their day while I dig and plant and weed.

Nice look. I have done this, especially with my larger containers and it make such a difference. I also like to use it on bare spots as the season transitions. great idea!

Nice shot. I have Cardinals nesting in my New Dawn rose. It is priceless.

Very nice look, I love placing a deep colored plant in my beds. The foliage adds so much, flowers not necessary.

Oh wow, that is to cute. I have seen quite a few hummingbirds this year, so I think that I am planting the things that they like. It always sounds like a miniature helicopter when they fly past.

Beautiful, relaxing site.

I wonder how the frogs in my garden would react to those. They are so beautiful.

Oh wow, that is too cute and it must take a lot of time to put together. I bet the kids really love it.

That is gorgeous. I love the colors!

I love the textures. This is a beautiful garden. I love the way that you have taken foliage and made it interesting.I am working on my borders how do you keep them so neat looking?

Hmmm, never thought about using it in as a border plant. Interesting!

I love it, I asked yesterday about what to do for my bare fence and I think this is a great idea. I love the different sizes as well. Now I have to go hit the garage sales.

Wow that is gorgeous. I am just getting started on containers as well so great ideas. Do you have anything that I can use along along a bare fence that gets quite a bit of sun?

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. I am getting started on my ground covers on my paths and this is such an inspiration.

Those are so cute. I like the last one the best though, the "family of tin men". She is a amazing artist, sculpturess and conceptional designer.

The folding of the leaves, praying that the slugs don't get them. I have been using ammonia and water this Spring and so far it is working great. My hosta's have never looked so good. I am using a very mild mixture, 1/10: ammonia/water. Even the potted hosta's look great.

It is gorgeous. I have to agree. Last year the slug and snails raged a war against mine and they mostly won. But this year I am back armed with a list of tips and tricks and so far so good. Maybe I can get one like that this year. Hope, hope, hope!

I had the same problem but this year I started the seeds indoors until they got about 4 inches high then I planted them outdoors, oh yeah I hardened them off first. They seem to be doing just fine. Yes I lost a few but the others are going strong. Good luck.

That is beautiful. I am so worried about it being invasive. I am still on the "fence" as to whether I will try it here in NC. But these pictures make me think it might not be a bad idea. Hmmmm.......

It's like winkin', blinkin' and nod. How cute!

I love the floor design. I am sure it must have been time consuming but the final product is gorgeous.

I got a chance to visit my son who was stationed in Japan and their love of gardening is amazing. "Serenity and scale" are the key words to describe it. They also had some really neat garden tools. My thoughts are with them during their massive crisis.

I like the look. I am trying to get lambs ear established along a couple of my borders but I am doing it the cheap way. Divide and conquer! It is nice to know what it will look like once established.

Wow I love how the red just pops out at you. I am definitely trying the Bleeding hearts this year. That photo explains the name to perfection. I have Daffodils and Hyacinth up here in NC and the tulips are peeking out as well. Thanks for the photos.

Blushing Lucy looks like a beautiful rose. At first glance I thought it was New Dawn. I am on my second year of trying to get my climbers established. They still have that "scrawny" feeling but this gives me hope. The bench on the path and the way it seems to curve into another area make you want to keep going. Nice!

Wow, I was thinking the same thing when I saw it. My garden has more of a country eclectic style in the back but I wonder if I could try it in the front yard. I love the pop of color and layers. Hmmmm, where oh where shall I try this?

Seriously! Wow I thought the fairy rose in snow was awesome. I was expecting something with a little bit more "pow". No offense to the photographer it is a nice photo, but the winner! Really.......hmmmmm.

Wow, that does look great. I am in my 3rd year of a perennial garden and I only hope mine looks that good. It is amazing to me each year to see what comes back and what has gotten just a little more established. I love your mixture of texture and the color combos. Great job!

Wow, Wow, Wow! That is gorgeous. I am trying something in a large pot with Canna's and elephant ears and I plan on sprinkling in a few annual in the Spring. Thanks for the ideas.

F.Y.I. I am in Zone 7/8 on the coast and I take in my glazed pots. I learned the hard way the first winter that it is not a good practice to leave them out. Empty or full they just came apart. :-(.

Wow, that is gorgeous. It is really nice to see after our 3rd snow storm here on the East coast of North Carolina. I am sure it is the highlight of the mail person's day and joggers too!

That is a traffic stopper. I plan on trying them on a rusted bench I have in my side yard and I can only hope that I have the same impact. Please do more courtyard garden styles!

I love the Southern courtyard look. Maybe Fine Gardening can do a week filled with courtyards and include some tips. :-) I am trying to build one in my small suburban backyard.

I remember Spring, although here in North Carolina it is kind of hard having gone through our second Snow storm. I had to go out and lay another layer of mulch in some areas. Hurry up Spring!

I love the way you mixed the grasses in with other plants and the chairs give that little pop of color, awesome. I wonder if this was done on purpose or a wonderful mistake. Either way it looks great.

I wish there was another shot so that we could see the flower in the garden bed to give some perspective. Nice info on the bees.

I love the pergola, do you have vines on it during the summer? Maybe you will come back and delight us with a summer photo. Thanks

Wow, it looks like in a few minutes you would see a couple of fairies peek out with little fur coats and scarves of spanish moss. Delightful!

She is a cutie. That is how I got my start, as a child in the garden picking cherry tomatoes. Now I have grandchildren of my own that I am taking out in the garden. Thanks for the memories.

Wow that is so nice and I especially love the fairies. My front lawn is west facing so I may try it on the edge of my rose border.I will definitely add "Annie Hall" to my list of spring plants.

Wow that looks awesome. It is really different from the ivy covered critters. This has been a very inventive week of photos. Love it!

The tree looks like it is decorated for Xmas. Naturally done.

Nice, I like the look.

Compost, compost and then, oh yeah more compost. I am working with Carolina clay and construction hardpan so I feel your pain. It is pretty to look at but trying to turn it into working soil is a lot of work. Maybe raised beds or containers. Or bricks?

Very nice grouping. I want to start using succulents and I was a bit overwhelmed but this seems do-able. Nice look.

I wonder what they are screening? Or maybe it is a sculptural screening?

I love the way the plants are growing around the "entryway". I agree, great idea.

I love the anoles in my yard. This past summer I found a couple of them on the underside of my Crape Myrtle leaves scraping off the aphids as if he was at an all you can eat delicatessen. Great photo.

The above photo is very nice but I clicked on the webpage and was astounded by the containers and groupings. Great ideas and beautiful plants!

I too am a "Jennyite" and I am in my second year of attempting to spread it throughout my garden. It is a beautiful ground cover that gives a pop of color. I keep dividing my mounds of Creeping Jenny hoping that it will someday look like those in the photo.

wow those look great. I am still trying to mine established. They were intermittent at best but I am still trying to work on this clay soil. That gives me something to look forward to next spring.

That is a great idea, that I plan on using. I have a lower garden that I want to add a bit of style to, on the return trip. Plus I have some extra tile that needs a new home.

I live in zone 7 as well. I am going to try overwintering them in a hypertufa pot I made this year and see if that will work. Usually I come out in the Spring and have to see if any of them survived. I am using the hypertufa because it is lighter than concrete and easier on my back.

Keep it for at least another year. In the meantime thin it. Take some cuttings for propagation and then if they root and it is still an issue try to move it. It seems well established and it may not make the move but if the location is that much of an issue, move it. Compromise is the key.

I have to agree with the above comment. Maybe if they were mortared into place. It really is beautiful but I usually do the the dog test. Anything that my two cocker spaniels will not walk on or walk around is just not usable. Beautiful view though.

Wow, I love the rock bed. I have a slope in my back yard that I have been trying to figure out what to do with. This is a great idea. Definitely on my to do list.