FINDING INSPIRATION

If you are like me, you love looking at other gardens to get ideas for your own garden.  Whether magazines, blogs or gardening books, you always see something and think "I want that in my yard!"


I grew up in a city (Rockville, MD) with parents who grew up in bigger cities (South Bronx and Washington DC.)  There was not a lot of gardening or landscape design in our neighborhood.  We had a small yard that we mowed when needed.  It wasn't until I met my future mother-in-law that I learned you could have a beautiful yard.  She had shade trees and flowering shrubs and annuals.  She also had a lawn service that came regularly and sprayed something that prevented dogs and children from walking in the grass for several days.  Hmmm.

I did learn a lot from her, but I honed my skills after becoming a master gardener,  I learned about Integrated Pest Management. Bottom line, you really don't have to kill all the bugs.  Mother Nature does a lot of the work if you don't poison the good bugs.  I learned about lawn care.  See my post about lawns, there are lots of details.  You don't have to poison everything to have a nice (enough) lawn.  I don't aspire to a weed free,  bug free existence.   When my mother in law passed away, we  inherited her arsenal of chemicals from her garden.  OMG.  They sat in my shed for several years until I saw an article in the paper for a hazardous material drop off in our city.


Living in the Washington DC/ Baltimore/ Virginia area, we are near some of the most beautiful gardens in the world.  Within a few hours we have Mt Vernon, Monticello, Longwood, Winterthur, Oatlands, and the National Arboretum.

I have made trips to these gardens for inspiration, along with just being in a beautiful, peaceful setting.


Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson:

Mt Vernon, home of George Washington:

Longwood Gardens, Pennsylvania:

Winterthur, Delaware:

Homes of fellow Master Gardeners in Maryland:


Mary's garden

Harriet's garden

Joan's garden

Master Gardener Demonstration Gardens:

 FREDERICK COUNTY MASTER GARDENER'S DEMO GARDEN




Native path

Vegetable garden

Private Gardens:

Public FREE  Gardens:

BALTIMORE'S  DRUID HILL

BALTIMORE'S

CYLBURN ARBORETUM

BROOKSIDE GARDENS, MONTGOMERY COUNTY MARYLAND:

SUMMER

SAME VIEW IN SPRING

BUTTERFLY EXHIBIT

Oatlands, Leesburg, Virginia:

Today is the last day of winter 2014.  It's been a tough one.  Good riddance.

frozen frog

ahhhh, our wood stove

FRAGRANCE GARDEN

At Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, MD,  there is a fragrance garden that incorporates many different plants.  The one thing they have in common is their wonderful smell.  Some emit a fragrance, some you have to touch .  I have been going to Brookside Gardens since the late 1970s.  It is FREE. It is  BEAUTIFUL.  Please go if you have the opportunity.











In my home garden (different from my farm garden,)  we have stone steps leading up to our front door.  When my husband planned these around 12 years ago,  I talked him into making planters for me.  I have planted lots of perennials in them, and every year I also put in some annuals.  The biggest criteria for choosing plants comes down to fragrance.

 When I come home, my hand automatically reaches out to touch all the plants

Rosemary

pineapple sage

  I know this isn't much to look at, but if you rub a leaf between your fingers, it smells just like pineapple.  In late summer, beautiful red flowers appear.

basil

dianthus - also called pinks

Dianthus is a tender perennial.  Sometimes is survives the winter, sometimes not.  I've had them last up to 5 years.  They smell like carnations.

lavender

sweet alyssum - an annual

lavender in flower

sweet woodruff - incredible smell, very sweet.

lemon balm - smells like lemon when you rub a leaf.  A little aggressive, but easy to pull out.  Also flowers later.

more lavender

Because so many of the plants are green,  I add other plants for color, these usually have little or no scent.

sedum - succulent plant that needs very little water

prickly pear

  A native. Will have pretty yellow flowers later in the summer.  Always wear gloves, this plant has tiny spines that HURT!  Also happy in a drought.

Evening Primrose

Knock out rose bush.

Ugly right now.  I dead headed all the blooms, more will follow.  Nice scent, but not really strong.  Since I hate using chemicals,  I let the bugs alone.  But you can see, more leaves and flowers are coming.

To top everything off,  I use cocoa shell mulch in the garden.  Smells like chocolate.  I don't know if this mulch is readily available, but we live about 80 miles away from Hershey, Pa, home to a large chocolate factory.



On my deck, I have a couple of planters.  This year for the first time, I planted Jasmine.  Smells great.  I am not always on top of watering containers.  Hope it isn't too needy.  This is a southern plant, I will assume it is an annual.   Also, mountain mint is new to me this year.  Very tall, leaves smell great when rubbed.  Every year I put in lots of herbs for cooking or just because they are pretty and smell good.

jasmine

mountain mint

oregano - smells like pizza :)

thyme

  My wonderful Mother in law, Maurine died  in 1999.  Her favorite color for flowers was yellow.  I know it is silly, but I always have some kind of yellow flower planted every year.

This year it is a marigold.  Portulaca is another favorite and every once in a while I find yellow petunias.