Today we’re visiting with Shelley Haefner in Old Chatham, New York, who is sharing a few favorite garden photos that always help her make it through those long New York winters.
I started gardening ten years ago in an attempt to “pretty” my yard. Little did I realize the journey I was about to begin! Our home is situated in upstate New York, half of our landscape is in the shade, and the other half is in full sun. I get the best of both worlds and enjoy creating interactive gardens around my home. I use mostly perennials, shrubs, and small trees. My gardens have meandering borders and follow the contours of our natural landscape. Beauty was only the beginning of my journey. The garden has since rewarded me with amazing experiences. I love learning more every year about the relationships between insects and flowers, plants and soil, and humans and nature. It is my true happy place.
My shade garden is over 40 feet long and 20 feet wide!
In the full sun garden, a panicle hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata, Zones 3–8) blooms in the foreground, and a variety of coneflowers (Echinacea hybrids, Zones 4–8) and other perennials do the same beyond.
Another view of the full-sun garden.
‘Festivus’ daylily (Hemerocallis ‘Festivus’, Zones 3–9) takes center stage in the sun garden.
The boulder to the far right was dug up during excavation of our property. It is an amazing part of the structure for this shade garden.
A local artisan in the Catskills built this rustic cedar arbor for me as the entrance to my vegetable garden.
I caught this beauty on my phone and used the “Live” option to see it fully open its wings as it flew.
Yellow hakone grass (Hakonechloa macra ‘All Gold’, Zones 5–9) highlights the foreground of this small island bed.
Hummingbird on our catmint (Nepeta × faassenii, Zones 3–8).
Looking down the length of the shade garden.
A tree frog rests on ‘Golden Jubilee’ hyssop (Agastache rugosa ‘Golden Jubilee’, Zones 5–8).
Late summer, packing the blooms in!
Have a garden you’d like to share?
Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!
To submit, send 5-10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.
If you want to send photos in separate emails to the GPOD email box that is just fine.
Have a mobile phone? Tag your photos on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter with #FineGardening!
You don’t have to be a professional garden photographer – check out our garden photography tips!
Do you receive the GPOD by email yet? Sign up here.
Comments
Lots to like. Thanks for sharing,
Thank you!
Beautiful gardens. Lush and full of life!
Thank you!
Your garden if fabulous, Love everything about it, the meandering borders, the panicle hydrangea, (I now need one), those red hot pokers are awesome, you have truly been rewarded for all your efforts....No doubt that you look forward to spring every year...thank you for sharing, I’m inspired!
Spring is the best season for us after the long winters! Right now everything is awakening and it’s so exciting! Looking forward to a great year!
Lovely!
Hungrily drinking in your splendid photos this morning was like a blood transfusion in these tired sad arteries after a cold, depressing and brutal Canadian winter. Your garden is awesome. Thank you.
Yes, you know very well then living in Canada. Photos help! Thanks for the comment!
Your garden is stunning, both the shady and sunny sections. Congratulations on a job well done.
I appreciate that, thank you!
Gorgeous gardens! Love the lushness, colors and textures. Looks like you are working on some slopes - I like how you contour the beds and arrange the plants around them. So many happy, healthy plants, and lovely sense of design.
Yes! But it wasn’t always this way. My shade garden was two separate oval gardens at first (8 years ago) and it wasn’t until I had this “ah ha!” moment that I combined them with a contoured and meandering border and totally fell in love with it!
What are the flowering shrubs in the Festivus picture?
That is a hedge of ‘Little Quickfire’ Hydrangeas. :-)
All of your pictures are incredible, but that final one, Late Summer, is jaw-dropping! You have done an amazing job. Congratulations.
Thank you! I try to plant for a succession of color but that is one of the peak times in that garden!
Your photography, and observations of nature are beautiful...That is the coolest photo of a butterfly ever!
What a super nice garden...shade, sun, and woods you have it all in this garden....so nicely designed too!
Thank you! It’s been a fun journey!
There is something lovely everywhere you look in your stunning gardens. Thank you for sharing your gardening skills with us.
Thank you 🙂
Truly Lovely! Your garden is spectacular, and your photography is superb! Thank you so much for sharing
Thank you! I love to photograph everything! The fun connection between gardening and photography is rewarding!
OMG Shelley, your garden is absolutely amazing. You had my full attention before I even opened up the page. I love everything about it; the lay-out, the colors, textures, structures and plant selections. It is beautiful. This is what my happy place would resemble. KUDOS to you. I look forward to seeing more.
Thank you! It’s been a work in progress for years but so rewarding!
Love, love, love your photos!!! Every picture is a work of art!!! Your garden is exquisite!!! What a marvelous eye you have!!! Simply amazing!!!
Thank you so much! 😊
Spectacular and well kept. So much variety of color and shades and textures. True treat to see your photos.
Fantastic Garden !!!
I appreciate your feedback, thank you!
I am late in visiting this site. What a beautiful, colorful, lush garden! Your plants color selection is truly gorgeous! Love the pinks, purple and blues. Looks like your garden backs into the woods. I was wondering how do you keep the deer out of your garden? I have woods too in my backyard and gardening in spring and summer has always been a challenge.
The greatest fine art of the future will be the making of a comfortable living from small piece of land. ( concrete contractors lehigh valley pa
Log in or create an account to post a comment.
Sign up Log in