What is an English Garden?

While there is certainly such a thing as a formal English garden, when most people hear that term they think of lush curvy beds overflowing with fragrant flowers and dotted with evergreens and shrubs, winding paths, big shade trees, and benches tucked here and there.   To me an English garden looks like someone went out and threw a huge bunch of seeds in the air and let them grow where they may.

The very best part of an English garden?  When you pack in lots of plants there is less room for weeds. 

The Herb Garden and more about 'ditch lilies"...

My friend Mighty Mom wants to know why I made a remark about professional landscapers using "ditch lilies."   Hemerocallis fulva,  a species daylily native to Europe,  was introduced into the United States in the late 19th century as an ornamental and escaped into natural and disturbed areas throughout the United States.  When you say "daylily", people envision this orange daylily or the ubiquitous yellow Stella d'Oro.

 While I like ditch lilies and have them on my property, to use them in a professional setting, such as around office buildings,  is irresponsible.  Within three years those daylilies will need to be divided.  Unlike hybrid daylilies, the fulva will send out underground "shoots."  To say they are hard to dig and divide is an understatement.   A pickup truck with a winch would be my preferred method of removal.   Leave behind a teeny piece and you have a new daylily.  In addition, the surrounding area, which probably has landscape fabric, will be invaded by the daylilies.  Buh, bye nice landscape.  And, if you need more reasons, the foliage tends to look "ratty" after the bloom period is over.  

Also, many places on the web call them tiger lilies.  They are not tiger lilies, but a true hemeroccallis (daylily).  A tiger lily grows from a bulb.

The Herb Garden

What's going on in the herb garden?  Aside from the weeds, the herb garden is very busy.  The garden is round with two circle paths connected by intersecting paths, like spokes on a wheel.  That super tall stuff (over 5 feet) is tarragon. 

(Don't forget to enlarge the pictures so you can see my weed piles in all their glory.  I make piles and hubby runs around and picks them up.  Works for me!!)

Tons of oregano ...

 Let's go in...

(and yes, that is an old hunk of concrete and bicycle wheels in the center.  There is also an old Teflon fry pan hiding in the lemon balm.  Did you know Teflon turns bright blue when you stick it outside for awhile?)

 Mallow, cone flower, St. Johns wort, chives, mint, sage, lemon balm, lavender, lambs ear, daylilies, and iris all compete for room with the tarragon (the tarragon is winning.)  This year we'll be digging out abut 90% of the tarragon.   Not to fear - it will be back.  We do this about every three years. 

I plant my basil, cilantro, parsley, and fennel in the cutting and veggie garden areas since they need more water.

The lavender is ready to harvest. Some will be made into simple lavender wands, which I'll show you how to make), and the rest will be dried to be used for simple sachets. 

 I brought some to put in a deep lavender colored fluted vase...

and some for the kitchen windowsill, too...

 Time to head out and get some work done.

 Have a wonderful day...

A word about comments, a clarification about Oriental Lilies, and the "lowly" Petunia in the scented garden...

About Comments

 Many of you may have stumbled upon my other blog, Adrienne's Corner, which is conservative politics.  When I started this blog (I call it my girlie blog), I was struck by the difference in what was considered "proper."  Political bloggers do not consider it de rigueur to comment on posts.  I plow through about 500 posts per day and read most of them on my Google reader.  Time does not always permit me to log on to each individual blog and comment. 

When a blog is read on a RSS feed, such as Google Reader, a service such as Feedburner will give the blog owner the number of people that are "reading" their blog.  I don't use Feedburner, but I do have a statcounter that tells me who actually logs on to my blog.

Guess what?  That's perfectly sufficient for this gal.  While I like comments, I hereby declare it "ok" not to leave a comment on this blog.  I'm busy and I'm sure you're busy.  Now if you have additional information, a question, or a great link to share, that's different.  Or... if you're really, really driven to tell me how cool I am, have at it!  But if you're behind on your day (I'm still in my robe and it's 2:33 pm - really!) enjoy the post and get on with your day. 

About those Oriental Lilies and an apology...

Since I have been gardening since I was old enough to stand up (thanks, Mom), I sometimes take things entirely for granted.  I just assume things, and you know what they say about that word assume.  Anyhoo, an Oriental lily as well as an Asiatic lily are bulbs.  A daylily (which is not always orange or yellow) has roots.  We'll talk about daylilies and all the wonderful varieties next week.  In the meantime the lilies you see pictured on my site are daylilies.

Petunias in the scented garden...

 I love petunias.  I've already planted all my pots and the primary flower is always petunias.  The colors are magnificent and wonderfully scented. I just ran outside (in my robe) with the wind blowing in a rain storm to try and take some pictures of my newly planted petunias.  Not such a great idea.

So here's two of the only little itty-bitty plants that had a bloom:

Some random pictures I was able to capture in the wind and impending rain...

I love the color of this impatien:

My purple and white iris are always the first to open:

The window box ledge my hubby put up for me a few days ago.  That's his office window that faces out on the new "lower patio" area which is still being worked on.  Two brackets, a few slabs of old wood, and some plastic pots from Big Lots that got the "aging" treatment.  In just weeks the flowers will be cascading over the sides of the pots.  Also in a few weeks the Rosa Rugosa will be smashing into the shelf just as the Siberian Iris are already doing.  I'll deal with that little problem when the time comes.

Got one of these laying about?

They make great hanging planters.  I put plastic pots in each basket and stuffed Spanish moss in to hide the pots.  By the middle of summer you'll hardly be able to see the baskets.

 

If like Susan you have been unable to find Evening Scented Stock seeds, I found an online source - Mama's Garden House has them.  There are also many sources on ebay. 

More Scented Garden

After the lilacs are through blooming, the Oriental lilies will take over providing delightful scent in my garden.  One of the biggest confusions I encounter is the difference between Asiatic and Oriental lilies. You can throw daylilies into the mix to really mystify folks.  Daylilies (which I farm), are not even a member of the family "lilium" and we'll leave them out today. 

 Oriental vs Asiatic

While there are many ways to tell the difference, the simplest is the direction of the blooms.  Asiatic lilies tend to have an upward facing bloom.  Oriental lilies, which have the heavily scented blooms, face sideways or slightly down.

Asiatic Lilies

Oriental Lilies

Everyone's favorite Stargazer.  This one is from my garden last year.  

"Stargazer"

For scented flowers the Oriental is the one you want to add to your garden...

The Scented Garden

This week we're going to explore how to have a wonderfully scented garden.

My garden is planted in such a way that I have non-stop wonderful smells all summer.  Right now the lilacs are blooming and we all know how wonderful they smell.   All my lilacs were starts that were dug up from empty fields (with permission).  I have about 150 bushes spread over 3 acres of gardens.  Our remaining 2 acres is grass fields.  

Lilacs by the tool shed...

Lilacs bordering the veggie garden which will be planted this week (rain permitting)...

Lilacs bordering the cutting garden which will be planted this week also...

Lilacs tucked here and there...

On the east lawn...

Back of the border in the area we call the "back yard"...

My favorites are the white.  They seem to have a stronger smell.  Tomorrow I'll tell you where all my white lilacs came from and why they mean so much to me.

What should you do first...

 Over the next week I'll be suggesting different plants to ensure your garden smell delicious for the entire summer.

The first thing you need to get is three or four packages of Evening Scented Stock seeds.  The first time I planted these was about 8 years ago.  It is an insignificant little plant with tiny flowers.  I planted the seeds here and there among my snapdragons and petunias and forgot all about them.  Upon returning home one night my hubby and I were assailed with the most heavenly scent by our back deck.  It smelled very much like Jasmine.  You guessed it!  The smell was coming from those slender little stalks covered in tiny little blooms.  When the sun goes down they release their scent.  Wonderful!

This year I'm going to throw some seeds in my pots along with my usual white alyssum and see how that works.  

The seeds can sometimes be hard to find.  Lilly Miller seeds usually has them.  I found mine this year at Fred Meyer.

All 45 shrubs are planted plus two evergreen.  Tomorrow I have 5 more pots to plant and manure to haul to the veggie garden.  If weather permits I'll be putting in my tomatoes, eggplant, onion sets, and start planting the gladiolas and seeds in the cutting garden.   In just a few more weeks the "heavy lifting" will be done.  Whew!!


See you tomorrow...

Here's to getting your week off to a happy start.  I dare you not to laugh...double dare!