Garden Visits - what inspires you!

In May 2010, twice I visited the gardens of Peter George in Central Massachusetts, Northeastern USA.  I start with Peter's garden as I find it such an inspiration; the various elements of the garden resonating with my own style and interests in gardening.  It is a garden unfettered by obligatory plant selections and contrivances of rock gardening convention, but one that clearly reflects the personal passion of its owner. And yet that said, it is also a garden filled with great plants and visually stunning vignettes.

The large property is classic New England, situated in a small historic town, the yard mostly flat, with an acre or two of open lawn areas, the rest of the acreage wooded and lined with informal gray stone walls so often seen in these parts. Peter's efforts is an excellent example of creating a memorable rock garden without having access to natural rock outcrops or ledge, and without spending a small fortune on labor and imported rock; it's a rock garden that seems to have sprung effortlessly on its own accord among the more conventional surroundings.

There is a calming natural appearance to the garden, achieved by adept use and placement of beautiful lichen-covered granite rocks, the boulders weathered and soft-edged, capturing the classic boulder-strewn fellfields of northern New England mountains.  Personally, I prefer this softened rock appearance, it is visually comfortable and inviting, as compared to some of the more jagged uplifted-ledge-imitations that I have seen constructed.

Now, let's get to the garden and the plants.

Peter George has three rock garden areas, the largest or most prominent being a flat area not far from the house, with lots of beautiful granite boulders and mild elevation change.  Many choice cushion plants inhabit this garden.

1    general view - impressive mat of Erigeron scopulinus in the center.
2-3  more views of the primary rock garden
4-5  lots of Iberis taurica, a beautiful Iberis that I was unfamiliar with, covered with flowers in shades of palest lavender.  Returning two weeks later for a second visit, the Iberis mounds were looking as good as ever.
6    Gentiana acaulis
7    colorful combination of yellow delosperma, pink Thymus, and red sempervivums.
8    closer view of Erigeron scopulinus mat, creeping up and over lichen-covered rocks
9    Lewsisis tweedyi
10  general view

Peter has two other rockery areas, one is a smaller mounded bed hosting lots of dryland plants and western favorites such as Eriogonum and Penstemon; the bed situated in full sun.  The third area surrounds part of his house directly, between the house and driveway, getting much more shade than the other areas.  This is an "older" garden, one in which Peter has been rebuilding and replanting to good effect.

1    succulents!  Sempervivum are among Peters favorite plants, and they are used effectively through much of the rockery areas. 
      Here, S. ciliosum, with an Opuntia and red Lewisia cotyledon.
2    Phlox speciosus in perfect flower.
3-5  Sempervivum species and cultivars
6    a silver saxifraga cushion, very natural between the lichen-encrusted boulders
7    Orostachys, Talinum, and Sedum are also represented; here a chameleon view of an Orostachys.
8-9  more sempervivums
10  a western American sedum species in a trough, Sedum divergens?

This is a garden where you can walk gingerly among the firmly seated rocks and boulders, then squat down to accustom one's view to the smaller plants at hand, and suddenly find small treasures you hadn't noticed while walking around.

1    Just going over, I've never seen such a well-flowered Arenaria tetraquetra.
2    Also past flowering, but still attractive in seed, Degenia velebita
3    tight cushion of Draba bruniifolia in seed
4    furry cushion of Draba polytricha in seed
5    extraordinary mat of Eriogonum douglasii, although Peter tells me it has never flowered :'(
6    Eriogonum species, flowering modestly
7    twiggy domed mound of Eriogonum thymoides, never seen one this large in the East
8    wide-mouth flowers of Penstemon hallii, outstanding.
9    Androsace muscoidea budded
10  Asperula gussonii

More plants and vignettes in the Peter George gardens.

1    Androsace - beautiful plant, maybe Peter can tell us the name, I missed recording it.
2    Anemone in bloom
3    Campanula chamissonis in bloom, beautifully positioned
4    close-up of Erigeron scopulinus, foliage looks like a pygmy Globularia
5    Pulsatilla campanella
6    Pulsatilla campanella seed heads
7    Androsace among rock field
8    pink Androsace
9    Artemisia caucasica
10  Calyptridium umbellatum (now Cistanthe umbellata), a favorite Portulacaceae of mine

Peter's older part of the garden is a shaded rockery between the driveway and house, a good home for many shade-tolerant plants and wildflowers.  As can happen in many gardens, promiscuous columbines (Aquilegia) hybridize willy-nilly, and can sometimes degenerate into a genetic soup of ugly forms and muddied colors.  While columbine hybridization has certainly happened in Peter's garden, it has done so in a brilliant harmonious rainbow of pastel colors and forms... I like them all very much.

1    general view of shady riock garden
2-3  the beautiful soft salmon pink and yellow Aquilegia barnebyi, one of the best western American species, growing in the sunny rockery.
4-7  various hybrid columbines
8    tall Dodecatheon - medium pink
9    Dodecatheon - palest lavender, with Corydalis lutea in background
10  Jeffersonia diphylla - in seed, the plant comfortably positioned between rocks

In this last batch, a miscellany of more special plants in the Peter George garden

1    Arisaema sikokianum, variegated form, popping out of the shady rockery
2    Gentiana acaulis and Astragalus angustifolius cushion
3    a personal favorite, western American Clematis scottii in a beautiful blue form
4    pink microphlox cushion
5    Phlox subulata 'Sneewichen'
6    Pulmonaria cultivar
7    shaded rockery scene with pink Heuchera
8    silvery Dianthus cultivars in bud
9    a parting view of Peter's mounded rockery in full sun, with dryland plants
10  Coluteocarpus vesicaria, a fine rock mustard noted for the inflated pods

In the excitement of exploring Peter's garden, I failed to get a photo of Peter himself, but I hope to remedy that situation soon.  Let me close by saying that Peter is most enthusiastic about his plants and gardens, infectiously so, generously sharing knowledge and experience of all sorts, and always eager to share his plants.  His sincere passion for rock gardening and rock garden plants speaks through his garden design choices; a most memorable garden that I'll have the pleasure of seeing through the seasons.

Cliff, those troughs are mighty impressive!  Any close up shots of what's growing in them?

Stunning imagery Cliff!  The Meconopsis and orchid colonies are spectacular, as are the Allium and Phlomis masses.  I like the positive/negative composition on the Ness Rose.  In the red and blue color combo, is that Corydalis elata/omeiana and Phygelius?

Cliff, if you're ok with the idea, I'd like to move your postings on the Ness Garden to the Garden Visits thread, what do you think?

The Ness Garden topic started by Cliff Booker has been merged with this topic; Re: Garden Visits - what inspires you!
Portions of responses from Hoy (Trond) and Skulski (Lori) are reproduced here, sorry about them being out of sequence, I'll have to hone my Moderator skills at reassmbling portions of one topic into another.

Message by Hoy (Trond):
Cliff, when I look at the picture of Ness Garden and then look out of my window I get a bad conscience! Anybody willing to give a hand? I can keep the food!

Message by Skulski (Lori):
I love those first 2 troughs, particularly... The first is wonderfully craggy, and they seem so nicely aged, with all the lichen and moss on the sides.  (Ugghh, I must redo my own pitiful efforts!  :'()

Following up with the garden of Peter George in Central Massachusetts, Northeastern USA, I get a chance to see and photograph Peter's garden when we team up to drive out to the western edge of the Massachusetts to attend Berkshire Chapter NARGS meetings. In a recent visit, several species of Orostachys were making a weird and wonderful show.  What's not to like about these fascinating hardy succulents, of similar effect in spring and summer as Sempervivum, but with more airy and effuse rosettes of subtle earth tones.  But it is the otherworldly flower spires in autumn, with bumble bees seemingly glued to them, that really set these plants apart.

1-2  Orostachys aggregata - long slightly sinuous spikes of white flowers flushing to rose once fertilized.

3      O. fimbriata - bright colored rosettes in sunset shades, and long flower spike with orange-tipped spikey cauline leaves
                          along the stem. Peter tells me this species is a biennial and should seed around to perpetuate itself.

4-8  O. iwarenge - a familiar plant but a total pleasure in the garden, small rounded glaucous leaves make a forest of little
                          creamy yellow rocket-like flower spikes in autumn, these peppered with dark anthers, holding irresistible
                          fascination for bees.

9-10 O. iwarenge - for comparison, two views of the silvery olive rosettes in mid August... for some reason they remind me of
                          swarming ant colonies.

Skulski wrote:

I find it very inspiring to see the wonders that alpine enthusiasts are growing here!  From the garden of an extremely fine local alpine gardener, here is a fabulous specimen (though not the only one!) of Callianthemum anemonoides:

There's too many flower buds on that clump for the flowers to open, maybe some of the flowers should be snipped off ;D
Fantastic specimen.  I grew this plant back in the 1980s, it had 1 flower... woohooOOOO.

Hoy wrote:

The plants are very fine, more like gems and jewelry than plants! I don't think I ever should manage to grow anything like that.

I agree Trond.  And for most North Americans, such miraculous domes of impeccably well-flowered alpines are as far away as the UK plant shows themselves, because few gardeners here have greenhouses, let alone alpine houses, and there are no plant shows to aspire to.  Sure, local NARGS chapters might have a "plant show" at their meetings, but they're really just informal "show and tell" sessions.  For most North American rock gardeners, it's all about growing great plants in the ground and in troughs too, but outside and fully exposed to the elements; it is fair to say few will ever grow a pristine-domed impossibly dense-flowered Dionysia in their life time, it's just not in our vocabulary here, such visions remain floral eye-candy.

What inspires me is seeing plants in gardens that expand and surprise one's expectation.  I meant to follow up on this thread with several other garden visits, but the gardening season itself outpaced my intentions, so some of these will be posted in the gardening off-months.  One local garden astounded me, as it does anyone who visits, is the garden and nursery of Jan Sacks and Marty Schafer, well known Iris hybridizers; let me share a peak into the visit. I have always thought of Primula sieboldii as shade plants, and they seem reliable enough in such woodland situations, but Jan and Marty grow them in full sun, where they formed amazing broad swathes of flowering perfection.  Not only that, they're hybridizing this group of primula, and what I was seeing were their own seedling offspring, many unnamed, but some have been introduced brandishing fun names like "Smooch" and "Rock Candy".  Some varieties were growing in masses a meter wide in each direction, a sight to remember, an inspiration that is achievable.

Spiegel wrote:

Wonderful photos, Mark.  I'm wondering how Primula sieboldii would do in my developing water garden.  I could put it above the boggy areas but nothing in this garden gets totally dried out (except for a few spots this summer), and there's quite a bit of sun.  Primula japonica is trying to naturalize itself in the grass.  I love to get new ideas of things to try there.

From the photos you showed of your new water garden feature, I think Primula sieboldii would do just fine planted slightly upslope from the wetter boggy area, and should do well in sun.  In Jan & Marty's garden, they use a fairly generous layer of bark mulch, so I suggest doing the same.