MY GARDEN(S)

People ask me if my garden is large or small and I stumble all over the answer. The correct answer is yes. Plunked down in the midst of 40 acres, my garden is small. If it were in a townhouse community it would be too large. It is difficult to categorize my garden. It is really a series of linked gardens that encompass the foundation area of the front of my house. If you stand on my front porch, to the right of my 5'long sidewalk is a 10'wide area that is planted with azaleas, peris japonicas, "Firepower" nandinas. roses and a small japanese maple. It includes an outer border of cranesbill and curves around the corner of my house to a lorapetalum. To the left of my house is a stepping stone pathway leading around a large spruce tree to my informally formal garden. Or you might feel it is formally informal. The tree is planted around with day lillies except on the side closest to the house where there are a christmas fern and a japanese painted fern, catmint and ginger mint. and lillies of the valley. Around the bay of the houses are peeris japonicas and a crimson barberry with a heavenly bamboo nandina tying that to a row of azaleas down the bedroom wing.
The formal garden is 62' long by 34' wide. It has aspects of an english
garden. It is a flower garden, a vegetable garden, a scent garden, a color garden, a shape garden. a butterfly garden. It has aspects that are very Zen. There are paths throughout the garden and the beds are outlined in interesting rocks we have gathered from the farm after the farmer plows them up. You enter the garden on a peony lined 10' path of thyme and roman chamomile. The path circles a 4' diameter bed of golden galardia centered by a birdbath. It is like the circular sun of the garden. The entrance path curves around to the right and left corner beds which contain most of my herbs: sage, tgarragon, rue, germander, meadow sage, santoliina, southernwood, lambs ear, anise hyssop to the left and lemongrass, texas sage, chives, garlic chives, winter savory, burnett to the right. These beds on their outer corners have day lillie and iris. I have over 60 daylilliles and about 3 dozen iris. Down the path after the galardia bed is a square 6' x 6' brick patiio with an antique iron white table and two cnairs. Next is a small circle of pilled up rocks topped with a little concrete dog statue. Then it goes on to an oval bed containing hydrangeas marginata and pink diamond, a hugh golden mum, and four blueberries. That leads to te final bed of dianthus, day lillies, iris and a rose of sharon. The front corners have daylillies and iris the same s the back. The right one has an oak lead hydrangea and a red carbet rose. The left one has a korean spice viburnum, a red canna and a pink carpet rose. The outside beds in th e middle of the garden contain hydrangeas, peonies, day lilies, bergamot, angelica, hardy hibiscus, feverfew, horehound, salvia, roses, mexican primrose, yarrow, garden phlox, lavender, marigolds and tomatoes.