Four Outstanding Gardens

As soon as you approach Beth's front door, you know this must be the home of a very creative gardener. Visiting Beth's garden on June 30 as part of Monroe County Garden Club's 2013 tour, we discovered a lovely retreat where an in-ground swimming pool once stood. The perennial borders were ablaze with color, reflecting Beth's unique style ...

 

Beth believes 'time began in a garden' and the time she spends there is 'a daily reminder of God's beauty in creation'. Such beauty ...

We were drawn to the pond and its variety of fish ... 

One of the joys of garden tours is gleaning ideas to copy. H. H. decided he must add some 'unusual' fish to our pond, and I decided I MUST HAVE  a floating garden ...

Small Floating Garden

Beth's colorful potting shed is a bright destination.

The next garden on our tour revealed another sanctuary -- this one created by Susan who aptly calls it her 'Garden of Eden.' Note the hand-painted rain barrel at the back of the front flower bed. The rain barrel is part of the "Retain the Rain" art contest sponsored by the Pocono Arts Council and Monroe County Conservation District. About 20 rain barrels are on display in the boroughs. What a great way to educate the public on the importance of rain water conservation! There is a rain-barrel-art scavenger hunt coming up, and I marked the date on my calendar, as I would like to see all the barrels and post about them.

Rain barrel art in the herbaceous border.

 Susan's garden features vegetable boxes, ponds, waterfalls, an herb garden, a rose garden, and more.

Octagon-shaped raised bed in the center of the garden.

 The garden is surrounded by a 6' high white privacy fence -- a perfect background for so much color ...

One of the many water features in this garden.

In my favorite corner of this garden, a very elegant serpentine weeping cherry shades a small pond ...

 Raised boxes house some healthy looking vegetables ...

 I left feeling envious of the raised trough that is deep enough to allow for vegetables that require different root lengths, and high enough to save the gardener's aching back ...

Susan's "VetTrug"

A third garden we visited contains a beautiful perennial border that is mainly in the shade. Sue W. was motivated to create this garden after a sever ice storm. She expanded the planting area each year and is rightfully very proud of her accomplishment ...

Sue's lilies are stunning ...

I need more lilies in my garden!

 I do not have much success with astilbe, so I was impressed with Sue's red astilbe plants ...

Love the Japanese mounding grass that adds brightness to the shade grass. I would consider this grass for my garden as it is very slow growing, taking 10 years to mature according to our guide, and stays low to the ground ...

The fourth garden we toured had another stunning water feature. Kelli's pond is very natural looking ...

I admired Kelli's water forget-me-not and she gave me a piece to take home. This plant can be invasive, but she says it is easy to pull out, and I plan to cut it back after it flowers each year.

Water forget-me-not.

 Kelli's garden is a reflection of her childhood, her travels, and her family. It is a beautiful, private oasis.

If I had to choose a favorite bloom in this garden it would be her double dark red coneflower ...

Echinacea 'Southern Bell'

Although these gardens are only a few miles south of my home, I was amazed to see so many more blooms than I have, including Kelli's butterfly bush. I don't expect mine to bloom for several more weeks ...

Buddleia davidii

Before leaving Kelli's garden, we lingered again by her beautiful pond ...

We wished we could have visited more gardens on the tour, but time was very limited, as our grandson was anxious to leave for Gettysburg.  We were away for four days celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. Our grandson loves the Civil War reenactments.

Union soldier grandson at Gettysburg, PA

On our return, my own garden was peaking ...

My cottage garden today.

... my next posting.

Happy Gardening!!

Pamela x

~~ I love reading your comments. I hope you leave one so I’ll know you visited!

I look forward to visiting your blog in return.