Japanese maple underplanted with peonies, Knockout rose, sundrops, Geranium pratense, Rozanne geranium, pussy willow, oriental lilies, hostas, and hellebores. This area is also full of spring bulbs.
Today's photos are from Eddi Reid in Columbus, Ohio. We visited Eddi's indoor garden last month (refresh your memory HERE), but I just found more photos in my messy inbox (I'm a horrible inbox housekeeper….). Now we get a look outside! Eddi says, "We live on 11 acres of clay. Seven acres are pasture and grass with one acre being a pond and the remainder house and garden. Although gardening had always been an interest there was not much time to indulge it as a passion until retirement and an empty nest – sort of! Now my garden is a retreat and a place of joy and peace where I can "potter" (husband's description for all I do) to my heart's content. My husband does all the manly work and we have some help with tasks we cannot quite manage ourselves. Between us all we manage to keep things sort of "tidy-ish"." Sort of tidyish….I think that describes my garden on a GOOD day! Your garden looks wonderful!
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Snowball viburnum that I grew from a pinned down branch. Yellow flag irises beside the pond, backed by cattails. The lily garden. The lavender in the foreground was almost wiped out this past winter. Tiger lily A cup plant – about 7 feet tall. The junction of leaves and stem holds dew or rain from which finches drink. The flowers are pollinator magnets. View through from driveway Wildflower strip–gaillardia, coneflower, goldenrod, Queen Anne's lace, sweet William dianthus, and many others in a spring to autumn progression. We had honeybees nesting between basement wall due to the amount of goldenrod. That's another tale! Another wildflower area. Blue lobelia and teazle. This is Stephen's Garden, planted in honour of our son who passed away in 2008. Every tree and plant here is chosen by family and friends. The beautiful horse chestnut was given by my garden club, especially as a reminder of a grove of ancient trees in England where Stephen and his older brother loved to walk. The small sugar maple is a seedling from his sister's garden. The area is underplanted with hundreds of narcissus. There are also wood hyacinth, crocus, allium, and various other deer proof items. Stephen's Garden. Peonies, yellow baptisia, etc. The tree is a ramshorn willow. This garden is bordered by wildflowers along the edge of the pond. Redtwig dogwood, various hostas, crabapple, pink dogwood, vinca, and sweet woodruff, with lily of the valley, Solomon's seal, and violets. The logs are courtesy of the Emerald Ash Borer! Japanese maple, crabapple, hostas, hellebores, heucheras, agastache, brunnera, pulmonaria, and 'Golden Basket' sedum, which is used in various areas as ground cover. There are also ferns and daffodils earlier in spring.
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Eddi! What a treat this morning. Besides being beautiful, your garden looks like Ohio to me! :) I love Stephen's garden; so beautiful and emotional. The pond, flag iris and cattail have to be a great wildlife area. The lush planting under the Japanese maple is definitely a winner!
Glad you enjoyed this, Tim. I wanted the garden to blend as seamlessly as possible into the surrounding land, but it's hard to resist certain "foreign" stuff!
I'm certainly in favor of natives, but if I were to make a beautiful painting, I would never restrict myself to one or two colors. As long as it isn't invasive, if it's beautiful, gotta have it. It's art. cheers.
Great garden, Eddi. You've really accomplished a lot considering you didn't really get to dig in until "later." I love all the space, it's like an arboretum. I like the various pockets of gardens, and the combination of manicured and wild. The pond is a wonderful attribute, as I so wish I had a water feature. And great humorous spin on your collection of logs. Thanks for sharing
Thank you for spotting all the trees NC. A friend of mine calls this place Eddi''s Arboretum! In the beginning - 1984 - there were only a few sad crabapples and two decrepit locusts, so I planted quite a number of trees with which I fell in love. My husband and I also celebrate wedding anniversaries by choosing trees! Addict? Yes! Mother Nature has contributed hundreds during the past thirty years.
I love the wildness,too. Glad you enjoyed this.
Hi, Eddi, I thoroughly enjoyed this colorful tour of your outdoors and enjoyed lingering here and there via your pictures. Your remembrance garden for your son is lovely and the blossom tipped horse chestnut tree is striking. Did you and your family originally live in England?...since you made mention of an ancient grove of trees that Stephen and his brother were particularly fond of. I have a smallish tree that I call an Ohio Buckeye ...is that the same as a horse chestnut...the flowers look the same. I'm not familiar with "teazle" although those seed heads look like something I wrestle out of my dog's coat now and then...off to do some google reading about it.
The horse chestnut is a close relative of the Buckeye. And, yes, we are from England and visit family when we can, so Stephen's holiday with his brother and the memories associated with that are very important. If you can imagine trees 500 years old set in a glade together then you will know how very beautiful they are. The trees were at least 60 feet high and wide, their branches interwoven as the trees grew. Breathtaking. Yours should grow quickly and last longer than the rest of us!
The teazle was used in the wool industry to remove tangles and debris - just like your dog's coat. The spines are very strong and if you collect the dead stalks and tops when they are dry they make beautiful dried arrangements as well as being suitable for painting and use as Christmas decor. The flowers are also attractive to bees and butterflies.
Hi Eddi, I agree with Tim. This is a real treat to wake up to. Absolutely love your garden. What a tribute to your son, Stephen, to have such a beautiful memorial. I may do something similar in the form of a secret garden. Love that the plants were from loved ones. All your areas are so beautiful. Thank you for sharing ?
This is pretty secret,too, as one must walk through a gate before seeing it. That makes it doubly peaceful and private. Have fun with your new project, it will provide much peace and solace.
Enjoyed your photos and pleased to see your garden in honor of your son. What a lovely idea and remembrance. The Japanese Maple garden is so full and lush; love it. Nice job! And so great to have a pond area too. A wonderful treat for lots of wildlife!
Hi Eddi, Did your family build the pond? Do you have animals on your pastures, that perhaps provide organic matter to your gardens? Your gardens are so lucky to have a pond to showcase them. Wonderful to have the wildflowers and cup plants for the pollinators. Providing for pollinators is the subject of many lectures and meetings for gardeners lately. Last spring at Master Gardener Training Day I was fortunate to hear a lecture by Connie Schmotzer, horticulture educator for Penn. State U., that identified what native perennials attracted the most pollinators. Here is a list from the study:
1. Clustered mountain mint (Pycnanthemum muticum)
2. Coastal plain joe pye weed (Eupatoriadelphus dubius)
3. Stiff goldenrod (Solidago rigida)
4. Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)
5. Gray goldenrod (Solidago nemoralis)
6. Rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium)
7. Flat topped aster (Doellingeria umbellata)
8. Spotted joe pye weed (Eupatoriadelphus maculatus ‘Bartered Bride’)
There's still more info for anyone who goggles Connie and Penn State. Happy Spring everyone.
Good morning! Thank you for the list - I have quite a few of these plants, although not the Rattlesnake master or the spotted Joe weed, so must look for those. The search for beneficial plants is fun, isn't it?
The pond was dug by the county when the land was used for farming and used as fill for a new bridge north of us. It is spring fed so a wonderful and never ending source of fascination with what are now mature trees, cattails,etc. attracting an amazing number of birds in all seasons.
We used to keep a horse and pony so the manure was always used - also I would harvest pond weed and pile that around flower beds, which was an absolutely marvelous mulch and food,too.
So glad you liked my garden.
Eddi, I can't think of a better memorial than a living garden, especially one created by contributions from friends and family. Beautiful!
I like the word "pottering". That describes how I garden these days, taking time to enjoy the little things as I work, rather than rushing through trying to get everything done at once.
Well May, I strongly feel that gardening should be a task done with love and tenderness (except for yanking out all the pernicious weeds) and unless we do our pottering we will miss all that goes into gardening. We notice what the earth needs as we carry out necessary tasks and plan accordingly, so our form of slow appreciation, never mind diminishing strength, sore knees and backs, etc. is absolutely essential. Plus, I wouldn't miss getting my hand in the earth, for anything, not to mention the fresh air, the sun on my back, the sound of the birds, etc,etc,etc....
Want to go out and play?
Michelle, it has been while since you told Rhonda that her pictures would be on GPOD (see comments in 'Peg shared her hypertufa secrets') and I've been wondering when they will be shown :-).
Michelle, I had only the faintest idea that you had posted these, so a wonderful surprise this morning. Thank you so much for raiding your old Inbox!
Eddi
Eddi, your gardens are not only beautiful but they are also very welcoming. You must smile with fond memories and your heart must feel warm every day when you look at Stephen's garden... and I would guess you have wonderful conversations with your son every time you work in his gardens.
Hello Sheila, It does make me grateful for all the time we shared. Stephen was an artist and musician, he created amazing works in both genres and I know he appreciates the garden. As you may imagine, watching plants grow and thrive is very uplifting, a definite antidote to sadness.
Beautiful gardens Eddi. I am sure Stephan would appreciate his garden that his friends and family have contributed to. What a wonderful memorial. Happy pottering and welcome to Spring.
Hello again. I love the pond and the yellow tiger lily. I just went back to look at the earlier set of pictures - your garden in beautiful in any season, Eddi. Love your indoor garden too. You can't move - what would you do with Stephen's garden? Thanks for the reference to Connie and Penn State. I will look it up. It is such fun to learn from each other. Hope spring finds it's way to the east coast soon. It is well under way here. Your reference to an ancient forest grove in England reminds me of an ancient holly grove in the shelter of a dune on Fire Island, off Long Island, NY. Many years ago when I was a child, my mother, brother and I used to take a ferry over there to spend a day at the ocean and sometimes wandered thru the holly grove to enjoy its beauty and cool shelter. It was one of a kind. Hope it is still there.
That's moving on with a vengeance, Isn't it? I'm not sure how I'll cope with it all, but sometimes we just have to grit our teeth and step out bravely. Probably silly, but I have a really strong feeling that this part of the garden will be loved and cared for.
Loved your seaside memory, there's just a very special atmosphere around old growth trees - perhaps we are all part elfin!
Your reply is very much appreciated. Happy gardening.
Love all the yellows and garden ornaments. I especially love the garden in honor of your son, what a great idea. I think I will do one for my son. Thanks, Eddi.
So charming, lush and natural. It looks like heaven for the pollinators who share your hard work. Stephen's Garden is surely magical as the sentimental purpose for gathering the plants for it was out of such love and respect. Lovely, simply lovely
What a lovely natural garden you've created, Eddi. So spacious , yet warm and inviting . Stephen's garden is very special with so much love growing there. The red horse chestnut is perfect . I especially like the collection of plants beneath the maple. I'd like to see all your critters, too--esp. the musk-rat...altho I sure wouldn't want another nibbler in my garden.
And I didn't mention the deer,rabbits,geese,herons,voles, skunks and those dear little fellows with a stripe down their backs and stiff little tails! Love them all, but lost patience when a pair of skunks decided our basement was The Place To Be!
Oh My Goodness. So beautiful. I'm brought to tears. Love Stephen's garden. Love the under planted Jap Map. Love the Viburnum. Love Love Love it all.
Boy ! Are we a blessed lot to see all the beauty everyday on here. I so thank you for sharing & the messy inbox for coming clean :).
Comments
Eddi! What a treat this morning. Besides being beautiful, your garden looks like Ohio to me! :) I love Stephen's garden; so beautiful and emotional. The pond, flag iris and cattail have to be a great wildlife area. The lush planting under the Japanese maple is definitely a winner!
Glad you enjoyed this, Tim. I wanted the garden to blend as seamlessly as possible into the surrounding land, but it's hard to resist certain "foreign" stuff!
I'm certainly in favor of natives, but if I were to make a beautiful painting, I would never restrict myself to one or two colors. As long as it isn't invasive, if it's beautiful, gotta have it. It's art. cheers.
Great garden, Eddi. You've really accomplished a lot considering you didn't really get to dig in until "later." I love all the space, it's like an arboretum. I like the various pockets of gardens, and the combination of manicured and wild. The pond is a wonderful attribute, as I so wish I had a water feature. And great humorous spin on your collection of logs. Thanks for sharing
Thank you for spotting all the trees NC. A friend of mine calls this place Eddi''s Arboretum! In the beginning - 1984 - there were only a few sad crabapples and two decrepit locusts, so I planted quite a number of trees with which I fell in love. My husband and I also celebrate wedding anniversaries by choosing trees! Addict? Yes! Mother Nature has contributed hundreds during the past thirty years.
I love the wildness,too. Glad you enjoyed this.
Totally love the idea of trees for anniversary celebrations. No better gift.
Hi, Eddi, I thoroughly enjoyed this colorful tour of your outdoors and enjoyed lingering here and there via your pictures. Your remembrance garden for your son is lovely and the blossom tipped horse chestnut tree is striking. Did you and your family originally live in England?...since you made mention of an ancient grove of trees that Stephen and his brother were particularly fond of. I have a smallish tree that I call an Ohio Buckeye ...is that the same as a horse chestnut...the flowers look the same. I'm not familiar with "teazle" although those seed heads look like something I wrestle out of my dog's coat now and then...off to do some google reading about it.
The horse chestnut is a close relative of the Buckeye. And, yes, we are from England and visit family when we can, so Stephen's holiday with his brother and the memories associated with that are very important. If you can imagine trees 500 years old set in a glade together then you will know how very beautiful they are. The trees were at least 60 feet high and wide, their branches interwoven as the trees grew. Breathtaking. Yours should grow quickly and last longer than the rest of us!
The teazle was used in the wool industry to remove tangles and debris - just like your dog's coat. The spines are very strong and if you collect the dead stalks and tops when they are dry they make beautiful dried arrangements as well as being suitable for painting and use as Christmas decor. The flowers are also attractive to bees and butterflies.
Hi Eddi, I agree with Tim. This is a real treat to wake up to. Absolutely love your garden. What a tribute to your son, Stephen, to have such a beautiful memorial. I may do something similar in the form of a secret garden. Love that the plants were from loved ones. All your areas are so beautiful. Thank you for sharing ?
This is pretty secret,too, as one must walk through a gate before seeing it. That makes it doubly peaceful and private. Have fun with your new project, it will provide much peace and solace.
Enjoyed your photos and pleased to see your garden in honor of your son. What a lovely idea and remembrance. The Japanese Maple garden is so full and lush; love it. Nice job! And so great to have a pond area too. A wonderful treat for lots of wildlife!
Especially when the musk rat crawls out and eats delicious new Lily shoots!
So glad you enjoyed the pictures. Thank you.
Oops! Guess I should have omitted THAT comment! Hopefully, the good outweighs the bad.....
Hi Eddi, Did your family build the pond? Do you have animals on your pastures, that perhaps provide organic matter to your gardens? Your gardens are so lucky to have a pond to showcase them. Wonderful to have the wildflowers and cup plants for the pollinators. Providing for pollinators is the subject of many lectures and meetings for gardeners lately. Last spring at Master Gardener Training Day I was fortunate to hear a lecture by Connie Schmotzer, horticulture educator for Penn. State U., that identified what native perennials attracted the most pollinators. Here is a list from the study:
1. Clustered mountain mint (Pycnanthemum muticum)
2. Coastal plain joe pye weed (Eupatoriadelphus dubius)
3. Stiff goldenrod (Solidago rigida)
4. Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)
5. Gray goldenrod (Solidago nemoralis)
6. Rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium)
7. Flat topped aster (Doellingeria umbellata)
8. Spotted joe pye weed (Eupatoriadelphus maculatus ‘Bartered Bride’)
There's still more info for anyone who goggles Connie and Penn State. Happy Spring everyone.
Good morning! Thank you for the list - I have quite a few of these plants, although not the Rattlesnake master or the spotted Joe weed, so must look for those. The search for beneficial plants is fun, isn't it?
The pond was dug by the county when the land was used for farming and used as fill for a new bridge north of us. It is spring fed so a wonderful and never ending source of fascination with what are now mature trees, cattails,etc. attracting an amazing number of birds in all seasons.
We used to keep a horse and pony so the manure was always used - also I would harvest pond weed and pile that around flower beds, which was an absolutely marvelous mulch and food,too.
So glad you liked my garden.
Wow. So much variety. Stephens garden is such a beautiful memorial. Loving that chestnut.
Eddi, I can't think of a better memorial than a living garden, especially one created by contributions from friends and family. Beautiful!
I like the word "pottering". That describes how I garden these days, taking time to enjoy the little things as I work, rather than rushing through trying to get everything done at once.
Well May, I strongly feel that gardening should be a task done with love and tenderness (except for yanking out all the pernicious weeds) and unless we do our pottering we will miss all that goes into gardening. We notice what the earth needs as we carry out necessary tasks and plan accordingly, so our form of slow appreciation, never mind diminishing strength, sore knees and backs, etc. is absolutely essential. Plus, I wouldn't miss getting my hand in the earth, for anything, not to mention the fresh air, the sun on my back, the sound of the birds, etc,etc,etc....
Want to go out and play?
Absolutely!
Michelle, it has been while since you told Rhonda that her pictures would be on GPOD (see comments in 'Peg shared her hypertufa secrets') and I've been wondering when they will be shown :-).
Michelle, I had only the faintest idea that you had posted these, so a wonderful surprise this morning. Thank you so much for raiding your old Inbox!
Eddi
Eddi, your gardens are not only beautiful but they are also very welcoming. You must smile with fond memories and your heart must feel warm every day when you look at Stephen's garden... and I would guess you have wonderful conversations with your son every time you work in his gardens.
Hello Sheila, It does make me grateful for all the time we shared. Stephen was an artist and musician, he created amazing works in both genres and I know he appreciates the garden. As you may imagine, watching plants grow and thrive is very uplifting, a definite antidote to sadness.
Beautiful gardens Eddi. I am sure Stephan would appreciate his garden that his friends and family have contributed to. What a wonderful memorial. Happy pottering and welcome to Spring.
You are very kind.
Hello again. I love the pond and the yellow tiger lily. I just went back to look at the earlier set of pictures - your garden in beautiful in any season, Eddi. Love your indoor garden too. You can't move - what would you do with Stephen's garden? Thanks for the reference to Connie and Penn State. I will look it up. It is such fun to learn from each other. Hope spring finds it's way to the east coast soon. It is well under way here. Your reference to an ancient forest grove in England reminds me of an ancient holly grove in the shelter of a dune on Fire Island, off Long Island, NY. Many years ago when I was a child, my mother, brother and I used to take a ferry over there to spend a day at the ocean and sometimes wandered thru the holly grove to enjoy its beauty and cool shelter. It was one of a kind. Hope it is still there.
That's moving on with a vengeance, Isn't it? I'm not sure how I'll cope with it all, but sometimes we just have to grit our teeth and step out bravely. Probably silly, but I have a really strong feeling that this part of the garden will be loved and cared for.
Loved your seaside memory, there's just a very special atmosphere around old growth trees - perhaps we are all part elfin!
Your reply is very much appreciated. Happy gardening.
Love all the yellows and garden ornaments. I especially love the garden in honor of your son, what a great idea. I think I will do one for my son. Thanks, Eddi.
You won't regret it for one moment, for you will find it consoles you more than you could ever expect. Good luck, blessings to you both.
So charming, lush and natural. It looks like heaven for the pollinators who share your hard work. Stephen's Garden is surely magical as the sentimental purpose for gathering the plants for it was out of such love and respect. Lovely, simply lovely
Thank you Annek. I love being out there.
What a lovely natural garden you've created, Eddi. So spacious , yet warm and inviting . Stephen's garden is very special with so much love growing there. The red horse chestnut is perfect . I especially like the collection of plants beneath the maple. I'd like to see all your critters, too--esp. the musk-rat...altho I sure wouldn't want another nibbler in my garden.
And I didn't mention the deer,rabbits,geese,herons,voles, skunks and those dear little fellows with a stripe down their backs and stiff little tails! Love them all, but lost patience when a pair of skunks decided our basement was The Place To Be!
What a terrific space--so much to discover and wander in and amongst ...
Exactly!
love all of your hosta!
Oh My Goodness. So beautiful. I'm brought to tears. Love Stephen's garden. Love the under planted Jap Map. Love the Viburnum. Love Love Love it all.
Boy ! Are we a blessed lot to see all the beauty everyday on here. I so thank you for sharing & the messy inbox for coming clean :).
Yes, we certainly are blessed. And all of you are so very kind, too. Thank you for leaving your comment.
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