Before You Garden…

English gardener transplanted into American soil

Posts from the Garden advice category

More Witch Hazels for winter into spring bloom

By JennyRoseCarey on 2016-02-29

Preventing snow damage to evergreen trees and shrubs in the snow

By JennyRoseCarey on 2015-01-25

The poisonous caterpillar gets attacked

By JennyRoseCarey on 2014-09-09

Do not Touch! The scary pretend face of the Saddleback Slug Caterpillar means beware

By JennyRoseCarey on 2014-09-06

Weird parasitic plant – Thyme Dodder

By JennyRoseCarey on 2014-07-24

Digging dandelions? Salad anyone?

By JennyRoseCarey on 2014-04-01

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Join me on WHYY radio for a phone in show about autumn gardening and gardening after the recent storms. It is tomorrow- Monday 20th September at 10.40am East Coast time - 90.9 FM or online. If you miss it it will be recorded

Rhossili Bay, Gower Peninsula, South Wales is a great place for a walk in the fresh air. It blew the cobwebs away as my Mum would have said. Having a great time walking, drinking tea and visiting family. More photos on stories

Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens are a feast for the senses- from the fragrance of the Eucalyptus trees and the ginger lilies to the sound of the wind in the trees and the squishy paths coated with decades of organic material. It was a great place to walk or sit a while on one of the many benches. See the fallen trees with carved animals that are shown in the middle pictures. Our favorite was a wonderful swing with views across the hydrangea path. We had a little shower of rain but then when the sunlight peaked through the clouds the lighting was dramatic. This garden is right next to Chesil Bay and the Jusassic Coast - all in Dorset

Athelhampton House and Gardens in Dorset. There is a series of garden rooms that open out in sequence as you stroll from one to another. There are some water features, a dovecot, urns, vistas, large old trees like the Cedar of Lebanon (over 300 years old! and summerhouses.

One more food post - before we left Cornwall we had breakfast!!! Actually second breakfast of another cup of Earl Grey Tea and Eton Mess - dessert- all served on wonderful red and white stripy china - made in England called Cornishware. I have always loved this china and bought a few little pieces in the traditional blue and white stripes. And yes the Eton Mess tasted great!

The Garden House in Devon is known for its naturalistic plantings. The autumnal colors are subtle with a preponderance of browns and tawny shades. Lovely greens are found in the shady nooks. Structure is provided by walls, gazebos, benches and garden structures.

The Garden House - Walled flower garden in its September glory including Dahlia Magenta Star - a personal favorite, Helenium Sahin’s Early Flowerer, Crocosmia, and some great hot colored red and orange dahlias - unfortunately not named. A central grass path leads you between lush borders and slender curved hedges backed by thatched buildings on one side and stone walls and an observation tower on the other. Multiple views of this garden as there were so many fascinating ways to see into and along it. I had wanted to see this garden for decades after a talk by Keith Wiley many years ago. Next post will be of the other - more naturalistic side of the garden which is located in Devon in SW England- plentiful rainfall and temperatures moderated by the Gulf Stream along the English Channel

Hidden Valley Gardens - some of my favorite Dahlias from their display. The ones I chose are mainly pinks but they have many other colors.

Hidden Valley Gardens in Cornwall lives up to its name. Down a narrow lane at the boot on of a hill near a ford - stream running over a road- you round a corner and there is a lovingly cared for garden that nestled into the valley. On this September day the autumnal colors were in full force with the yellow and russets of Helenium, the purple of verbena and asters, the bright yellow rudbeckia and assorted red hot pokers. Looking from one garden area to the next there were layered plantings where you glimpsed another patch of flowers through a little gap to entice you further around. Productive rows take up part of the site so we did pick a box of raspberries to take home. Dahlias galore / see next post all to themselves! .

Those who know me know that I rarely post about food! BUT I have been missing England and all things English and when one of my darling daughters found out that I could have a gluten free Cornish Cream Tea! It was time for a shout out to Brown Sugar Cafe in Fowey. Views before, during and after, I know that I might have put the clotted cream and strawberry jam on the scone in the wrong order? But that is the way that I like it. All washed down with a piping hot cuppa of Earl Grey Tea. So delicious. Did I make your mouth water yet? Back to flowers and gardens soon.

The bubble-like domes of the Eden Project float in an old clay mining pit with gardens outside and inside. My favorite outside garden was the North American prairie garden that was looking lovely at this time of the year. Inside I liked the Mediterranean Biome with its fragrant herbs and Western Australian flora that reminded me of being in Perth. Amazing transformation of a degraded site

Lost Gardens of Heligan - Walled Flower Garden with lovely rows of different flowers creating a stripy quilt of color. Only a few flowers shown but I loved the Tall Scotch Prize Marigold and the lovely pink Amaryllis belladonna growing outside at the base of the greenhouse. Fun treat

Lost Gardens of Heligan- Head Gardeners’ office poignantly shown empty with a lovely vase of flowers to represent the gardeners who left Heligan in 1914 to fight in World War I and never returned. Also shown are the potting shed, tool shed, water butt that is fed by the drain pipe off the roof, the pit for growing prestigious pineapples, the pelargonium/geranium house, and the general scene of the Melon Yard. Very moving space to be able to explore.

Lost Gardens of Heligan Dahlia Display looking like a box of delicious jelly beans. Thanks to the Cornish Dahlia Society for planting and maintaining this fabulous display. I had to keep coming back to see it again

The Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall were rediscovered in the 1990’s after nearly a century. Now they have been renovated and rejuvenated to enable visitors to explore wild and cultivated areas. This post shows some of the naturalistic areas and rare animals. The Jungle is a valley with tree ferns, a rope bridge, Gunnera, ponds and streams. Later posts will show the productive areas like the Flower Gardens, Kitchen Gardens and Glasshouses

Montacute House Orangerie with tree ferns, a ferny grotto dripping with lovely maidenhair ferns, bright pink bell-shaped abutilon, a lovely red and green grass-like plant that I think I saw growing wild in New Zealand (name escapes me but one of you will I am sure be able to tell everyone!). Most of all a lovely light structure, gentle dripping water sound, a pleasant place to be

Montacute House - no filter - to show the changeable weather on this late summer day - from light rain to bright sparkly sun and back within the space of a few hours. So delighted to be on a garden visit in England again after two years away. Lovely to be back.

After the tornado came through we found trees uprooted and others like this healthy pin oak and a very old, huge willow oak ripped and twisted off at about 11-12 feet. Driveway blocked, no power until late last night thanks to amazing electrical crews from Canada and North Carolina. 7 electrical poles snapped in area behind our house and lots more along the road. Neighbors Norway Maple fell between their house and garage luckily missing both. Took out our 6 foot fence and some of the flower garden. Arbors down last photo shows one of them. Hard to photograph as it just looks like s big mess screen window, lots of different colors of insulation and roof tiles etc. My heart goes out to people who lost their lives, their houses, their possessions. I feel very lucky to be safe and well. Those of you who know this area will not recognize it. All around trees denuded, ripped, torn. And then go a block and it as it nothing happened. So freaky.

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