wwross

Seems like a lot of work.

That bleeding heart is quite amazing. I don't know how you do it. A question, though, what do you have in that area for when the bleeding heart fades as Spring and Summer progress? In my experience, they tend to die back severely during the year.

Beautiful! But, how come the lily garden is "infamous"? Is there some story behind it?

Great lessons for growing a new sunny garden where one was once shadier.

I love the way you provide interest by creating unexpected curvilinear perennial beds within your lawn.

Wow. This beautiful garden gives me some great ideas for plant and hard scape composition in a semi-urban, semi-formal context.

Wow, its Garden All-Star, Hall of Fame day!

Michelle, I love the theme that you display for all these gardens--its the design, not just the pretty plants that makes the difference.

Long Vue is gorgeous. For the vacationing gardener who likes to visit the great gardens in America, its one of those must-see places.

Signed, cold Northeasterner.

The Sweet Potato Vine as a seasonally showy groundcover is a brilliant idea. I have always done them in pots. You have me inspired for a different place to plant them next year.

Sally -- You have done it again. This is the prettiest garden I have ever seen on these pages.

Wow! Beautiful colors on your headline picture!

This is beautiful. Michelle, I really like the photo presentations that show how the plants fit in with the garden designs. Franlky, I get much more out of it than just looking at close-up, pretty pictures of plants. (Oops! Sacrilege!)

Clare, I love the effect of how you position complementary plants in front of and behind your walls of stone, while allowing the eye to sweep along the curves of the garden.

A beautiful job combining many of the traditional, toughest perennials.

I made a copy of your 3 yellow pots with blue flowers. Thats what I am doing next year!

Now that's a garden.

Fabulous color combinations! What kind of ivy is that in a couple of the pictures? Is that a problem for you?

Yes. Great hair!

This is great. But I have a general question. How do these gardens with lots of rock pathway, rock "mulch" do over time? They look wonderful during the first couple of years. But in my experience, whenever a place rocks in the landscape, eventually weeds come through and the rocks start to get interspersed and covered with soil. Landscape mulch, which I don't prefer either, doesn't work. Over time, crushed leaves, broken twigs, blown soil creeps in on top of the mulch and weeds grow up in that medium. As you know, weeds are difficult to extract from rocks, as opposed to pure soil.

Meander1 always has good insights and the right questions. Yes, my first questions was the same. What is the low-lying ground cover in that photo?

The cedar fence is intriguing and a great idea. I wonder if there are other evergreens that could be used for that.

Neat. Looks like a lot of work. With so much space, it would be nice to also see a more naturalistic section with things less clipped and ordered.

I have been looking at these photos for a few years.

This is the prettiest ever.

Judy! Not fair! Too much sun, space, and gardening/artistic skill.

I love the architecture of those chairs. Where can I get them?

Thats great! Tractor1, come on, have a sense of humor.

This is very nice. I have a question, though. Whenever I have put rocks in a bedding garden or as a border to a lawn area, the weeds end up being a problem after a while--and its much more difficult to weed between rocks. I have found that weed blocker fabric is useless after a year or so.

Anybody have other solutions?

The coziness of the back patio is wonderful. The combination of the hill slope and the walls is a beautiful design. Looks like a nice place for a gin and tonic!

Michelle -- Thats cheating. Thats not a garden, thats the Blue Ridge. Thats not a water feature, thats a river.

Just kidding. Beautiful.

Michelle -- I am not worthy! These gardens just get better and better. Great mid-Winter inspiration!

The watered down latex paint becomes a stain, which will not peel, rather than a shell of paint, which will peel. This is really useful with pressure treated wood structures, where regular paint can be a peeling disaster.

I have used this idea on on outdoor deck flooring and outdoor wooden furniture.

Very nice! Thats why you keep us husbands around for, right?

Michelle, I especially appreciate it when you show how people have come up with a beautiful solution to a garden "problem."

Thats cool. Do you have a lot of pool maintenance with leaf dropping?

Yeah, I am not seeing a lot of garden there, but I am seeing Montana, and its beautiful.

Is that Squirrel Buster comment a commercial? Doesn't seem appropriate.

Okay experts. Whats the large vine? Climbing Hydrangea?

I tend to agree with Tractor1. Its pretty, but there is a lot one can do with lots of money. Michele, its just nice to know if a garden is a professionally designed, landscape garden or one that is essentially produced by the homeowner themselves. It gives us a better perspective on what is possible.

Related to this, I was amazed be the "clean" almost sterile look of the water feature. In the stone creek that I built myself, out of stones from my own garden, things get pretty messy, with leaves falling into the creek, and dirt flowing in to it from storms. Maybe the pictured water feature is very new.

This is very nice, but I agree with gdigi; The pea gravel, or other similar solution only works successfully in certain locations. In the East Coast of the U.S. there is too much stuff (leaves, twigs, etc.) that comes down onto the surfaces during the year. The gravel gets tough to keep clean and maintain. (Dirt actually starts filling in!)

Flat stones, flagstones, etc. interspersed with walkable ground cover, to mimic the lost lawn grass is another idea.

Unbelievable! I'm not worthy!

Very Nice. Another way to fix up a old chain link fence, is to paint it. Take some good old Rustoleum (comes water-based now and in many colors--black, dark green are really good). Then slop it on with a roller on the chain-link part and with a brush on the poles/rails. Since its an outside paint job, you can do it very fast.

Anyone who grows flowers or vegetables in the Pacific Northwest is cheating. The weather and soil conditions are too nice. Whenever I see a great garden in a magazine or book, my first instinct is that its in Oregon, Washington, or B.C.

Signed,

Resident of Virginia

Chanticleer is an astoundingly beautiful garden. The variation of the plants and flowers, the fantastic flow of the grounds and the artistry of the designers and craftsman who have built the hardscape are all wonderful. Its also the most enjoyable collection of container plants I have ever seen. If you ever have a chance, go there.

Michelle -- I love the way we are getting more edgy and critical--yet respectful with our comments.

I agree on the impracticality of the pool. But golly, it sure is pretty!. I love the two layer stone "walls."

Michelle -- You little minx! You changed your picture!

Thanks Susan 749. So what is the concensus on bone meal and bulbs? Are we wasting our money and time using it? I had always assumed that some type of fertilizer is needed for them to keep blooming year after year.

In Zone 7 in a sunny, drained bed, my Russian sage comes up and expands, but its floppy and takes much of the Summer before in blooms, and not that much.

Any ideas?

Beautiful! How do you keep the Lambs Ears staying attractive? Mine tend to kind of rot away at the time they start blooming. Even when I clip the flowers, which aren't that attractive, they turn brown.

Thats nice. I hadn't thought of using a tall pot for helping to draw the eye to the other plants.

Ditto on using pots to fill in for season gaps in the bed.

Way cool! The one reason I hesitate growing more vegetables in my fairly small urban front and side yards, is that they can become a bit messy and ragged as they reach maturity. Solutions like this can help us give them a more pleasing visual interest throughout the growing season.

Sorry, I am not feeling it. The container is really nice, but its so attractive and striking, the repetitive use takes away from its effect. Also, the plant seems out of place in that locations with that backdrop.

That's great. How did you get that Wood Duck to pose like that?

That's forsythia, behind the bench, isn't it? Or is that too late a blooming time for forsythia?

I have got to get me some of those Karl Foerster grasses.

So what kind of tree? Come on, experts! I need to know!

Thanks.

Thats a great idea. I have a large plant that has been repotted and grown over several years. I then bring it inside. However, it is very heavy and sheds quite a bit. Maybe I will divide some of it next Spring for other pots and then leave the big remainder outside for the Winter look.

Thats very clever and pretty. I just wouldn't want to put my glass of wine down on that table!

Beatiful. But how does the thyme look the rest of the year, after the couple of weeks of blooming? In Northern Virginia, the thyme is very nice, but then looks ratty and needs to be filled in.

Way Cool. A neat way to get color into the garden. My garden could use it during certain times of the year.

Wow! Where do I find Cornus canadensis?

This is nice.

But I have found that Japanese Blood Grass is one of those plants that are sold and promoted, because of their distinctiveness and conveniently small stature, but which do not grow well in many locations. I have tried them 2 or 3 times in various locations in my garden and they either do not thrive or are overwhelmed by neighboring plants.

Sorry, but its a bit awkward and harsh, visually.

Keep it. Thin it.

If you do 5 things when visiting San Francisco, make one of the places, the tea garden.

Double, way cool!

The Haupt Garden is small, but wonderful. And free!

Looks easy!

This is absolutely beautiful. But its not really black.

This is great! As a fellow N. Virginian, it inspires me for my own small garden and deck.

Thats kind of weird.

Sorry, its not that attractive, at least from this angle.