Dr. John Matthews' Garden (Part Deux)

Everyone wanted some pictures of Dr. Matthews' Garden and I agree! Afterall, I only posted sun pictures yesterday. Let's look at some of his shade and vegetable garden today.

I will be posting 'Garden Tour' photos all this week. I've really been lucky to be able to see so many gardens this year and hope you all enjoy them as much as I have.

The above picture is one from Dr. Matthews Vegetable Garden. Note the cannas paired with the raspberries; which are just now ripening. The vegetable garden fit into the overall garden design wonderfully and was most beautiful.

You'll be greeted by this wonderful sign as you walk to Dr. Matthews' front door. I believe the metal piece is made from garden and farm implements. I loved the whimsy in the garden! Mr. Fix-it and I are working on some projects for our garden which I'll share soon. Metal is great in the garden for the character as it rusts, and also for the great amount of things you can create with it by using a bit of imagination. Dr. Matthews' artwork was the best I've seen.

A shady walkway through the trees. All paths are hardscaped. The garden is quite comfortable to walk through. Everywhere you look there are plants and plant combinations. Nothing was out of place.

Here we have a nice combination of hostas and heucheras backed by some specimen shrubs. While it is most nice to have a sun area, here in the south, you are most smart to spend your time in the shade. As such, plantings heavy on trees and shrubs are, in my humble opinion, the best way to enjoy a garden. Dr. Matthews has a great mix of both as well as marginal areas.

Here is Mr. Fix-it and Dr. Matthews himself. They are discussing grafting fruit trees. Mr. Fix-it is secretly a very big gardener. His favorite fertilizer is 'Miracle Gro' and his favorite plant is tomatoes-as in he dumps the Miracle Gro on tomatoes and hopes for the best.:)

And finally, we conclude with this specimen tree. Dr. Matthews called it 'Variegata' Cornus (Dogwood-sorry I did not get the specific epithet). It looks like my Cornus kousa 'Wolf Eyes', though a different cultivar. Do you see how it literally glows?

To my local readers, I cannot possibly do justice to Dr. Matthews' garden in pictures so if you ever get the chance to see his garden, jump on it!

Tomorrow we will view a neighbor's garden.

in the garden....

Dr. John Matthews' Garden

From In the Garden

Here is another one of those gardens you just simply love. Dr. Matthews, the gardener, is a Montgomery County Master Gardener (MCMGA) and a beloved gardener and mentor to many within our county. He is also a retired Austin Peay State University horticulture professor so you can imagine the countless gardening souls he has touched in his life.

He recently opened his gardens to the MCMGA and I know many folks took him up on the visit. Mr. Fix-it and I were there standing tall and having fun. I must tell you Mr. Fix-it's thing is not gardening, but after some heavy persuasion on my part, he good naturedly agreed to come along. I think he had a grand time too.

Dr. Matthews has an orchard, a vegetable garden, a sunny perennial garden, shade gardens, lots of great whimsical artwork, brick paths, name tags on almost all of his plants, and a great assortment of super plants. He is plant collector of the highest caliber and a great designer to boot. Most of these pictures are of the perennial beds and don't need explanations from me. Enjoy.

Just look at those textures! Joy, do you see 'Golden Spirit' here?

How about those fabulous daylilies? Just look at the contrasts!

Here is one of my favorite shots. I just love the colors.

Dr. Matthews is experimenting with adding more ornamental grasses into his beds. They are drought tolerant and practically carefree-and beautiful to boot!

All paths through this VERY large home garden were made from brick. This is brick Dr. Matthews collected from his old homestead.

And here is the 'Gardener Extraordinare' himself! He's busy explaining something to Mr. Fix-it and I. I think I could follow him around all day every day just to learn what ever little bit of knowledge he'd like to share.

One last shot on our way out. Here is his house, surrounded by plants that include conifers, shrubs, deciduous trees, and perennials. All collector plants. The entire garden is such a treat!

in the garden....