trashywoman62

Whew, I am exhausted trying to see plethora of plants in each photo!! John you have such an eye like putting the white candelabra with the chair and table!! And I see the table is made from an old treadle sewing machine!!

I can FEEL your restraint in the front yard!! It must be a challenge to keep it in within the "normal" guidelines!! Your brug is fabulous!! What zone are you? Do you did up the whole plant in the winter or just take cuttings? I have a couple and would like to have one do that for me but I am zone 5...ooops now they say we are zone 6.

Can you tell us the name of the airy blue ground cover in photo 2?

Thanks for the photos.

Congratulations, Karen! We all knew your combinations were magazine worthy! I hear the readers calling for one of my favorites, the dark rudbeckia seedheads In the fall and the snow covered plants in winter!

Guess there are no Japanese Beetles in California! The lushness of that rose is amazing!

Just my 2 cents on how to keep the plants in the ground after you decide what to plant!! I saw, maybe in my Fine Gardening magazine, an article that suggested covering the area with burlap and pinning it down with those landscape staples and then cutting small holes with scissors in an "X" to plant in. The burlap holds the soil and plant in heavy rains, allows the rain and air to flow through and is brown so no ugly black landscape fabric flagging through mulch.

Hello Maryland,

My aunt (a former paid gardener, don't we all wish we were) lives outside Annapolis and she suggested that my mom plant Harbour Dwarf nandina around her maple tree. I think it is a zone 6 plant so should do well for you. Other plants you could use--Ivy, Big Blue liriope or Mondo grass.

Beautiful groupings, Tim! And I love the yellow peony, Garden Treasure!
What is the reddish pink spikes flower that is planted with the heucheras under the dogwood tree? It looks about the size of Red hot Pokers but not the color that I have.

So when can we all come for a visit? Does your city have a garden walk? Are you on it? I am ready to travel!

Some awesome fall colors. The red japanese maple (?) near the water is huge!!

meander1,

I think the scarlet red stems behind the bird are Salix alba britzensis, a willow which is kept as a bush and very nondescript during the summer but the branches turn a brillant red in the fall if you cut them back severely every 2 years. If you look closely at the larger photo you will see a stump from which all the new branches grow. They stay red all winter and look wonderful in winter arrangements outside. Easy to propagate for additional plants too! Just stick in wet soil and wait for roots. I put mine in a pot of sand in my pond to keep them wet until they root.

I fell in love with Pennisetum 'Moudry' 4 years ago and planted 3 small clumps of it along the outside border of a partial shade perennial bed. It was beautiful and prolific!! The 2nd year I had a full 6 by 4 feet area of Moudry!! OUT it came about mid summer before the seed heads could find new homes!!

Now 2 yrs after removing the plants, I am still removing babies, even in my lawn nearby!! The dark plumes are beautiful but they DO have a dark side!

I am in Central Illinois with hard freezes and lots of snow, which did not seem to bother the reproduction of this grass.

I recently visited a garden that had lots of plantings around their walnut trees and she told me about this website called Plant friends of the black walnut. Here is the link which may be helpful to those that have these trees. His list is from the American Horticultural Society of Mt. Vernon, VA.
http://tomclothier.hort.net/page43.html

Thank you, JeanBHall. It is so hard to photograph good clear pictures when it is cold outside.

Forget the artificial gazing balls... what are the shrubs because the round seed pods or bloom stems are awesome?? Does anyone know what kind of plants these are?