Angie's Garden Part I

 (Phil's Picture)

Garden tour season is upon us and is in full swing starting with Ray's Pond and Gardens two weeks ago. Now we shall move on to a designer's  garden here in Clarksville. This special garden belongs to none other than Angie, a wonderful gardening friend and splendid (the best I've seen) designer of gardens. I posted about Angie's garden last year but like all gardens they change on a daily basis. Here are some pictures of her garden from this year.

 (Nancy's Picture)

Angie lives on a quiet cul-de-sac in Clarksville and for all of my local readers you are in for a treat as Angie's Garden will be on this year's Montgomery County Master Gardener's tour. My garden will also be featured but I tell you I am humbled when I visit Angie's garden. Angie is a Gardener Extraordinaire (my term for very very dedicated and smart gardeners) who is not really a plant collector like most gardeners (myself included). What Angie is instead is a designer though she is very modest about her talents. She has taught me quite a few things and I'll share at least one in this post. I show Angie's home because it is worth noting that when you pull into this cul-de-sac you will immediately know a special gardener lives in this home. This garden is a high maintenance garden and Angie does not disappoint. I think she spends a lot of hours in her garden yet she still manages to keep a beautiful home, spend time taking care of her husband and dog, and tends to other necessities of life all in a seemingly effortless manner.

One thing I like about the gardens (this is but a small part and is in the front yard) is that the garden is functional and easily navigated. Concrete paths Angie's husband poured for her are splendid additions to the garden. Here we can see the bones of the garden. Look past the phlox and peony blooms and you'll note a great deal of foliage. Notably the poppy foliage is standing tall and proud. A trained eye will find the next great perennial already preparing for its big day in the limelight. You see, Angie gardens with a limited palette but plans her garden in such a way that all of the plants are massed and there is a clearly defined pattern in the gardens. Angie's garden is somewhat formal and is on a grand scale. Plants that Angie uses a great deal of are: roses, peonies, coreopsis, poppies, rudbeckia, zinnias, irises, daylilies, mums, phlox, columbine, Japanese anemones, lilies, and violas. I am sure there are many more but the blooms and foliage of these plants are what stood out to me on my recent visit to Angie's Garden.

Of course I forgot to mention the amarylis and crinums in the above paragraph. The amount of groups of these two hardy bulbs in Angie's garden is mind boggling. They are all so beautiful. Be sure to look at last year's post for some more of the crinums.

Irises are probably Angie's most ardent love. She has maybe two to four hundred cultivars and I am not talking the ordinary run of the mill irises either. These are mostly all mail order irises from specialty nurseries. Angie has all of her irises in a large area dedicated solely to irises. One trick she uses in her iris bed is to apply Treflan. Treflan is a pre-emergent herbicide that allows Angie to garden on the grand scale that she does in her iris bed. You simply weed the beds then apply Treflan in accordance with package directions and you can pretty much forget about weeds for several months. Angie uses Treflan only on her iris bed for several reasons but mainly because weeding out weeds amongst irises is nearly impossible. I find that if I get weeds in my irises I might as well dig up the clump and replant. There is another consideration when using a pre-emergent on irises that anyone who grows irises knows. Irises cannot stand to have their rhizomes buried under dirt or even mulch. The rhizomes need to bake in the sun and all of the weather elements and the rhizomes need room around them. This fact allows all sorts of free dirt for weeds so Treflan is a big help. I plan to try it on a few of my beds as soon as I can get to the Co-op. I'll use Treflan in beds that I do not normally garden in and in beds where mulch does not help with the weeds.

More irises in the iris bed.

When I visited Angie's garden last spring the Japanese peonies were done blooming but I could still tell what they were and I thought wowser! I need to come and see them in bloom. Well, here they are.

(Phil's Picture)

More of the irises with the Knockout roses beginning to bloom. Boxwoods and junipers are a big part of Angie's garden. She always has something interesting going on in her splendid garden. I tell you I am excited she is on the Master Gardener Garden tour so that everyone else can see this garden in person too! Tickets will be going on sale soon so be sure to look for them. I'll have some available as well. The date is June 2nd so mark your calendars. 

(Phil's Picture)

The irises are amazing. I never knew there could be so many different kinds. I must also note this important fact-Angie does not breed irises. She is unlike other iris gardeners in the local area in that she simply enjoys the irises and her garden is a private garden-never before opened up to the public. However, Angie was most generous in allowing my garden club to have a private tour last week. All who toured the garden were wowed. Garden clubs can be most fun especially if you are into gardening!

(Phil's Picture)

I think I like this picture of all of the ones of the irises because it shows the scale so well of the iris bed.

Or maybe this one shows the scale of all of the irises. I suspect there are waaay more than two hundred cultivars located here. Some of these cultivars have found their way home to my own little garden. I feel very lucky to be gifted with some irises from this splendid garden and from Angie herself!

 (Phil's Picture)

Angie does not like her picture being taken but you all must know the gardener as well as the garden so I am taking liberties here by posting Angie's picture. I'll beg her forgiveness later:) This young lady is just as beautiful as her garden!


in the garden....

Come back Friday for a Part II of Angie's garden. I hope to get caught up and post some of the 70 pictures I took this past weekend when I visited her home. 

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden