Photo/Illustration: Courtesy of Cande Cerniglia
Today’s photos are from Cande Cerniglia in West Des Moines, Iowa. Cande says, “We’ve had a mild winter and early spring, so the spring bloomers here in central Iowa are 3-4 weeks ahead of schedule. My garden is mostly Midwestern standards that I’ve dug up from various farmyards, or have been given to me by friends and neighbors. Note the pine branches lying on the ground at the bottom of the trellis – my husband’s attempt to foil the rabbits from eating the pole beans. So far it’s working!”
Very cool, Cande! Thanks so much for sharing these pics with us.
****ATTENTION!! FREE STUFF ALERT!!****
Hey all, I have a TON of gardening books (mostly on veggie gardening, Hot Topic #1 these days) laying around my office, sent to us from publishers hoping for reviews in the magazine. They’re all great, but we only have a tiny bit of room, and only once in a while, for reviews in the mag. While talking to my editor about it last week, we decided to spread the wealth. Sooooo…I’ll be randomly choosing two people each day from all of the people who to send me photos of their gardens (or their gardening travels) for the rest of this week to get a free book (my choice)! Email photos to me at [email protected]. No guarantee that I’ll post your photos on the blog (I explain why HERE (way down at the bottom)), but you’ll get a package in the mail in a couple of weeks. When you send in your photos, be sure to include your full contact info (and your username) and a description of the photos you’ve sent. Woohoo! Exciting, yes? I’ll announce all the winners sometime next week, since I’m out of the office most of this week. Now go dig out some photos, or drag your camera outside!
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Comments
Had to give this a big thumb's up because it's all my plants in a different place! Love the mid-spring garden when everything is relatively small and compact...before I need a machete to thin out the overabundance. Especially love seeing the perennial geranium. Great article in last month's Fine Gardening on these underused plants.
Why did I expect to see acres of corn field, just doesn't seem Iowan otherwise. The twigs to protect the trellis is a grand concept, I bet it will keep Brer Rabbit out, but it won't keep The Streak from the pole beans, close your eyes! LOL I love that privacy fence, means the neighbors are wonderful, but still it needs more things growing on it, or at least in front... some semi dwarf conifers will add winter interest too... I'd plant a corn patch along the sunny portion of that fence, maybe some mammoth sunflowers too. Very nice yard.
Thanks for the great tip about the pine branches. I can't wait to try that! And your gardens are just beautiful!
Everything looks lush and bountiful. The bearded iris are majestic. What is the chartreusy leafed plant in the last picture? Is that the perennial geranium that GrnThum made reference to?
I love gardens created this way---from bits and pieces gathered from friends, relatives, and orphaned plants. It somehow makes the whole seem more real and less staged. And it's so nice to look at a plant and remember the person who gave it to you with all the associations of a past or present relationship.
Hi meander1,
The chartreuse plant in the last shot is agastache, from my next door neighbor.
The perennial geranium is in the first picture, near the center. And if you look closely, you can see that it is creeping into the chartreuse-colored thyme next to it, so there is a bit of purple bloom peaking out. I may have to 'tame' it later, but for now I love the purple in the chartruese.
Love the fence. Did you make it yourself. We are considering something like that to keep out the deer.
I'm with you, Cand...the combo of chartreuse and purple can't be beat.
Yes, we did build the fence outselves, to keep out the deer. But, we have an ordinance that a fence cannot be higher than 6', and that height does not even slow down the deer. I've had better luck with a product called Deer Vik that I read about in Fine Gardening several years ago. It really seems to work, although you have to be diligent about re-applying.
Love your garden!! The irises are my favorite!! Gosh - didn't know deer could jump a 6' fence - wow!
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