Blog

Gardeners and their Gardens

I was just a child when my sister spent a year in France. Ever since, I have dreamed of traveling there to soak up all of the places she told me about. Unfortunately, an extended trip to France simply isn’t in the cards for me right now. Instead, I learned about another way to experience a bit of France here at home. Driving through the Meadowbrook Park community in Prairie Village, Kansas, it’s easy to imagine that you have been magically transported into the middle of France. Many of the homes are architecturally inspired by traditional French design and some are set off by classic French gardens. One of those classic French landscapes was recently completed by Dan Nelson, Senior Designer for Embassy Landscape Group in collaboration with designers at Lorax Design Group and a pair of enthusiastic homeowners. 

I have become very ambivalent about deer.  On one hand, I look out my kitchen window and see this:

Rather than a place to relax and unwind, the idealized suburban landscape of perfectly manicured turf, neatly edged walkways and precisely pruned shrubs can easily become another back-breaking responsibility. There are ways however, to tweak a design that reduce the workload without sacrificing the beauty.

My hydrangeas are beginning to blossom. This spring’s cooler, rainy weather has given my Annabelles a boost I haven’t seen from them in years. This year, their flower heads are massive and so purely white that they gleam in the sunlight and shimmer in the moonlight. Their foliage is deep, forest green and not one leaf is wilted. At this rate, I’ll be able to enjoy them all summer long, at least until the rains stop and I have to remember to water them daily. As soon as I forget a day or two, then the downhill battle to save them begins.

I recently learned, thanks to a very erudite neighbor, that I do NOT have a rock garden in my backyard – I have a rockery. According to her, rock gardens are expansive grounds found in parks or botanic gardens. An historic home may have one, but only if the area it encompasses is quite large. Family homes in traditional neighborhoods like ours have rockeries. Doing a bit of research, I found that my formidable neighbor was, once again, correct, at least for those gardeners of British heritage. Given their history with rock gardens and rockeries though, I think that the British deserve the right to assign names. 

June 20th is 

WORLD BEE DAY

This year’s theme, "Bee inspired by nature to nourish us all", says it all. Without the work that these little fellows do, our lives would be radically changed. 

After three rounds of harsh weather conditions – frost, hail, torrential rain storms –  the early spring beds in our area are, to put it bluntly, toast. My lively pink hyacinths, which had greeted guests with their happy color and welcoming, spicy fragrance, now look like this (image) With their unexpected demise, I guess it’s time to start planning and preparing summer beds!

We were in Phoenix a week ago, spending time at the world-renowned Desert Botanical Garden. The desert plants were in bloom, giving an entirely different feeling to what is usually an austere sight. While we strolled the paths, hummingbirds soared the skies above us, occasionally swooping down to stop and have a sip of nectar from a wildflower and then zooming away. Even though I logically knew I was much further south In Phoenix than at home and that the timing of seasons is slightly different, seeing so many hummingbirds in late March surprised me.