Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Irene's Garden Part II


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Continuing our garden tour of Irene's garden we find another border garden filled with attractive shrubs and a Japanese style concrete lantern. I really like Irene's ability to combine different styles of gardening successfully. Irene is an expert at combining formal and informal areas, as well as cottagey type gardening and English style gardening. Each plant has its space and plays well with its neighbors. This is also a lesson I need to learn-leave enough space!
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More textures and a combination of evergreen and deciduous shrubs and grasses.
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A rock garden where some more drought tolerant plants grow. Most all of the paths through Irene's large garden are grass.
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A long view.
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Another sign paying homage to Puerto Rico. Irene's husband does help her out in the garden to a certain extent so she makes sure he has some areas of his own.
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Irene's property is very large and as such she has filled it up with gardens but has also managed to keep views of the surrounding country. Right behind this garden is a small driveway and on the other side of that is a large fenced in pond that contains a bunch of ducks and waterfowl that belong to her neighbor. Irene enjoys the view from the upper story of her home. Here, I took the picture from ground level.
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Obedient plant was blooming its heart out. It was quite a sight on a hot and dry August day.
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A vintage patio set is placed conveniently in the garden.
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Vegetable gardening is important to Irene. Most of her beds are raised up by concrete blocks mortared together. In Tennessee, raised beds are really the only way to go. Note the PVC framework for some heavy plastic in order to extend the growing season. The PVC frame makes it a cinch to drape heavy plastic over the bed in order to grow cool weather vegetables during the winter months.
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I leave you with one last picture of the front foundation garden of Irene's home. Again, textures combine with color and the area is quite interesting to look at. I think the red is perfect against the stone on the house. With my new house where the house is all brick, I am having difficulty getting good plants to show up well without clashing with the dark brick. I have pretty much figured out white blooming plants or lighter blooming plants such as pinks, will be my go to colors for my house foundation gardens. 

When we come back on Friday I'll showcase some more of Irene's foundation beds and a few more garden tour pictures....

in the garden....
Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

2 comments:

  1. Love this garden! I will think of Irene while we are in Puerto Rico next month! Maybe I will find something whimsical to incorporate into my gardens while there.... Looking forward to Fridays posting...

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  2. Lovely garden! Thanks for sharing. I do love Japanese gardens too.

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