Friday, June 25, 2010

A Hosta Garden Tour

From In the Garden
One of the benefits of belonging to a garden club is you sometimes get invited to tour gardens you might not otherwise see. Such was the case when Beachaven Garden Club was invited over a member's daughter in law's garden. It was quite a garden too. I know hostas look great in May and June then kind of peter out later on in the summer, but this shaded garden had some pretty spectacular specimens that I think would look great all summer long.

From In the Garden
The drive up to this wonderful home on the river was quite a treat. Do you see the huge limestone blocks above? They were brought in from another home the owner's in laws used to own. They were simply spectacular and made quite a presence. The home was also surrounded by huge river rocks. All of we ladies in the club were simply drooling over the rocks-myself included. I don't think you can have too much stone in the garden.

From In the Garden
The hostas were no slouches either. I had no idea hostas could get so large here in the south but these ones were as big as ones I had seen growing in my home state of Maine. They were huge! Of course there were little ones to play off from the big ones, brightly colored ones and subdued ones as well. There was quite a mix.

The hostess was most gracious and invited the club in for a spot of refreshments and to enjoy the gorgeous river view. I think I can speak for all who visited to say a very hearty thanks for the wonderful tour of your garden Debbie. It was splendid....

in the garden....

Speaking of garden tours, last May my family and I had the pleasure of touring Freda's lovely garden in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Well, if you are a subscriber to Southern Living magazine you may have noticed her garden in this month's issue-so you too get to tour her garden through the magazine. Freda is quite the designer and has a wonderful garden. If you haven't visited Freda do so and enjoy her tips for a deer proof garden and beautiful cottage gardens. Also, go get that Southern Living magazine and let her know you saw it! Blogging is great in that it brings folks closer together and makes the world a smaller place where we get to see magazine worthy gardens and the such-in person and on the web as well as through published work.

One more note, please weigh in on the poll on my sidebar. Thanks.





Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team,

In the Garden

35 comments:

  1. it is nice to do a garden tour. it rekindles enthusiasm. ~bangchik

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  2. What a beautiful place! I guess the hostas don't mind the pH a little high. The ones I have are planted right next to the foundation and do very well. They probably like the coolness more than anything. I agree with you about the stone. Close to where we live now in Tallahassee you can see limestone outcropping, which seems kind of weird to see in Florida.

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  3. Good Morning All.
    That was a wonderful tour Tina.I love hostas but can't seem to do much with them. Now that my new neighbor has cut trees down & limbed up the rest I have a lot more sun where mine are on the East side of my home.I've seen them get large like that.
    Love that rock also. We have rock here in Fl. that looks like it has diamonds in it & when the sun hits it, WOW.
    Hi Nina, Anonymous, Jean, Dawn, Skeeter.

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  4. I do miss hostas so much! What a fantastic hosta garden on your tour.

    Your poll is interesting to me. I'm trying to come up with a way to give away seeds and such, but to ask for first-come in comments means the east coast folks are way ahead of the middle and west. When I had a scavenger hunt to giveaway a book, it seemed to difficult. Random drawing a name-- means printing and cutting, which seems like the only way. What do you think?

    Thanks so much for the kind mention, too. I'm a bit shy about it all.

    Freda

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  5. The hosta is amazing! I was never a big fan of hosta but have gradually added more to my garden. Seeing a garden like this is inspiring. Thank you.

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  6. My goodness those hostas are really something! I love the big, big hostas and hate that I can't have but a few now. The Arboretum has a wonderful shady area that is just full of the plants--all types. If I had shade like that and room, I would plant hostas everywhere!
    Have a great weekend Tina!

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  7. I am hoping my hostas will be that large someday. What a fabulous garden the lady had.

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  8. I'm going to whip out my Southern Living and recheck that Tina! It's one of my favorite magazines even tho I no longer live in the south.

    The garden tour is incredible. I need to join our local garden club ~ I can't imagine what I'm missing out on... Fantastic place & hostas.

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  9. Good Morning everyone! Hot is the word of the month here in GA. Whew, I can hardly stand to be outside....

    I love the hosta and have seen some pretty large ones lately it seems. I recall the park on Riverside drive having some large specimens when I was there a few years ago in the summer months. I am usually at the park for Christmas lights in the winter. The Saints Elvis is really putting on a show right now. He is full of blooms and the buzzers are loving them. Speaking of buzzers, my bee stings are ever so itchy again today. I will never look at a bee the same again with this pain I have endured the past two days…

    Congrats on the Southern Living spread Cameron (Freda). When out and about today, I shall pick up a copy and check it out! What a wonderful thing to see ones garden in a magazine. The ultimate compliment :-)

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  10. I had a rather brief love affair with hostas while I tried to grow them where they didn't want to be. I have the popular and very excellent 2004 edition of Diana Grenfell and Michael Shadracks' "The Color Encyclopedia of Hostas" (Timber Press, Inc.). The Prince of Wales wrote the foreword and in it states: "I discovered they (hostas) did well and were not too badly plagued by slugs." I talk to a lot of folks here who're terribly stricken with slugs on their hostas. I wonder what variety the Prince of Wales grows?

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  11. I think I'm drooling over those rocks right now! I can see why they brought them along. Hostas are very cool!

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  12. Garden tours are fun. I look forward to them every year.
    I used to have a lot of hostas in my old garden. Now I only have two and I had to make a shady spot to grow them.

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  13. Thanks for sharing this beautiful garden with us. I would love to have enough shade to grow that many Hostas. :)

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  14. Lovely gardens and oh my, how I do love the large stones!!! My eyes went to them before the garden and I think I may have been drooling. It also looks like she does a very good job of tagging all her plants. I have 8 or 10 hosta that are at least as big as her big ones. Like you said, they do get big in Maine. Problem is, I can only see the 2 on the ends of the circle as my honeysuckle is now covering them. Got to trim the devil outta that honeysuckle. Think it will die soon as it is being pulled forward so much it is coming outta the ground. It has gotten so big in the front that the weight just got too big for the roots.

    A big congrats to Cameron, what an honor. I will have to pick up that issue.

    Hi Lola! Good lucky tomorrow. Got my fingers crossed big time. By the way, what is the name of that plant you picked up and put in a baggie for me. It is doing great and double the size. I have it in a pot inside the house. Not sure if I sould put it outside till I research it but can not remember the name of it.

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  15. Those hostas are huge. Two years ago I found the secret to huge hostas. You can't just plunk them down in your regular soil, even amended soil. I planted three in pure rotting leaf litter and they have grown bigger than ones in the garden that are six years old.

    I agree, Freda Cameron has a wonderful eye for garden design. What I admire most about her is her commitment to live with the nature around here instead of trying to fight it or eliminate it. She wanted a garden in deer country so she planted a beautiful garden deer wouldn't eat. I wish everyone would adopt this philosophy.
    Marnie

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  16. I especially love the huge hosta with the crinkly leaves--they look so prehistoric!

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  17. Hosta is beautiful! and rock.....we have plenty of rock, Maine grows them in the "rock gardens" Ha!
    Congrats to Cameron!

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  18. What a gorgeous garden. Those stones were one of the first things I noticed. Doesn't look like snails or slugs area problem there.
    How exciting for Freda Cameron's garden to be in the magazine. She really has a good garden design eye.

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  19. Those are big rocks! They look great holding all the hostas. What a collection.

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  20. Good morning all! Just back from my wild area for a walk with the new pup. And guess what I found just sitting there waiting for the right home? I a complete white metal table and chairs. No table top or chair seats but I suspect I can fix that. Anyhow..

    Bangchik-Definitely since someone else is doing the work in that garden:)

    W2W, Seeing stone by the beach might indeed be weird. Limestone is so pretty though.

    Lola, They say the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago-the next best time is now. You go plant you a good shade tree (a must in Florida) and soon you'll have lots of space for hostas. Love the trees.

    Cameron, Cutting and pasting is the way unless you use a random generator. Some do it that way but I'm not sure how to. Skeeter did a personal give a way and cut and pasted. That would be me too. Jury still out on sponsored give a ways. Problem is they offer these things to tons of bloggers and following along is not my style. A seed give a way or personal thing is different. I say do it. Don't be shy about the article-it's awesome to see you there and you are great in person too.

    Jeanne, There is just something comforting about hostas-it might be the shade they grow in when we swelter in the heat. I like them but come next month-we'll see.

    Linda, Don't worry your tree will grow fast and soon you'll have some space for hostas. You have a great weekend too!

    Keewee, it won't take them long. You have some pretty big ones already it looks like.

    Kathleen, You would be a fantastic asset to ANY garden club. Your growing abilities and design abilities would be most popular. Go join you one! Call the extension office or ask around.

    Skeeter, Hot here too-urgh! But hey, it is June and it is summer so we must expect it. Hostas are cool. I remember your Elvis post-seems like yesterday. You stay cool.

    TC, You must email the Prince and ask him. He seems to have a great interest in gardening and might be amenable to an email? It would be fun at least!

    Dave, Those rocks were most cool for sure.

    Melanie, Two is a start and a good one at that.

    Racquel, Just give it time-gardens seem to have a way of getting more shady over the years.

    Mom, Time for that honeysuckle to come down. Don't bother pruning it, just take it down and plant some hydrangeas with your hostas. It is a dinosaur and has sure served a great purpose but the house would be better off without it. Plant one on the south side of the house instead.

    Marnie, I try to plant my hostas in good soil or compost and I agree-it makes a big difference. I think we figure hostas are such tough plants we just plunk them anywhere-guilty. Good thing they are forgiving. Cameron has sure adapted-real well! Not sure I would as well if I had such a wildlife problem though those voles...they are training me.

    Monica, They are awesome for sure. Do you grow them? I'd think they'd do well there.

    Dawn, That must be why I like rock gardens so much!

    Catherine, Those rocks sure are something. Slugs and snails-somewhat. She may use something for them but they aren't such a big issue here as in the NW where you are.

    GSS, They are unreal-took some big equipment to move them too.

    Thanks so much for the comments on Freda's article. It is great everyone knew who she was since I did not use her screen name! A nice community we all have here indeed.

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  21. Stones and hosta - I could be completely content with this combination. You really ARE blessed to have spent such a lovely day in this garden!

    (I'm looking forward to a house/garden walk tomorrow...our first of the season!)

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  22. I like the stone accents but I'm not a big fan of hostas because they get so big and crowd out everything else. Good to hear about your niece's wedding but sorry about your dad.

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  23. Tina how lucky to get to go see gardens like that. I'm growing more fond of Hostas all the time. I've always liked them but REALLY liking them now and getting quite a few. I recently purchased a dwarf and then got a teeny weeny one (about 4-6" leaves) called Blue Mouse and it has the sweetest little short 2 toned bloom. Great post I really enjoyed that.

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  24. I love hostas. I can never plant enough! Carla

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  25. I appreciate the kind comments from you and your readers on the Southern Living story.

    I noticed something very interesting today. I picked up an extra copy of Southern Living at Sams Club to give to my son. The cover is different! The inside is all the same content and page numbers. I'll have to ask Grumpy about this odd phenomenon!

    Thanks,
    Freda

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  26. Jean, was it the sedum that I said I brought back from N.C.?
    Thundering here, low 90's. Maybe if it rains maybe it will cool off a bit.

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  27. Wow, those are the biggest hostas I've ever seen! I'm in snail land so it's tough to justify buying them when they get demolished so fast.

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  28. This Hosta Garden is beautiful, I can't express that enough. I have been following your blog, but never commented, but I had to take a moment to let you know that this is Awesome...Keep up the Great work...
    I will be continuing to follow...
    Take Care

    My Recently Launched Gardening Blog:
    www.totallyterrafirma.com

    Please feel free to register and leave any comments or thoughts that you might have...
    And Remember - The Good Earth Provides The Soil That Ultimately Feeds The Soul...

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  29. Ooooo aaaahhh! Those are beautiful.

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  30. I agree, i love stone in a garden! This garden really is beautiful. Hosta is a plant i started with a an indifferent opinion of, but I have grown to love them more and more through the years. I love the ones with huge quilted leaves!

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  31. I love hostas too. Each year I try to divide my large ones and place them in bare, shady areas around the yard. This year I just added 20+ plants from one of my large hostas. I love the variety in your photos and what a great visit that must have been. Love the stone, as well. Yes, I believe one can never have too many rocks and large stones in the garden;-)

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  32. I am deathly afraid of garden tours. I would stress out too much. I am glad other people are willing to do them though!

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  33. Cameron, I have heard that Southern Living puts a regional picture on the cover of their magazines. The cover represents the area of the purchaser...

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  34. The climate here in Southern California is pretty hostile to hostas, but you're fortunate to be where they look so amazing! It's no wonder nurseries around here still sell the plants, though chances of success aren't great. Look slike a great garden tour!

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  35. LOVE those wonderful stones, and the gigantic hostas Tina! I've never been in a garden club before, but have been recently thinking about checking out our local club. You've given me another nudge towards attending a meeting soon.

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