Today we’re visiting Pam Alvord’s garden in Greensboro, North Carolina.
I have loved gardening from an early age. I was certainly just an amateur, but I appreciated and gleaned ideas from neighbors’ gardens and yards. My love for flower gardening reaches deep in my soul. I originally started gardening in our home in the West, but with my early life and husband’s career we were transferred to many states with diverse climates: California, Utah, Ohio, Florida, and North Carolina. With each move I have had the privilege to learn, explore, and gain knowledge about plants and flowers in different zones and growing conditions. By no means am I an expert, but following my passion has meant that I am filled with love and respect for the horticultural world. My love is for a great English or country garden filled with flowers with bright colors. In our travels I’ve had the pleasure to see and explore many great gardens in other countries. Here in North Carolina where we currently live, I have learned to appreciate the humidity, cicadas, and warm temps as I’ve developed our own country garden filled with bee balm, zinnias, dahlias, daisies, hydrangeas, phlox, and so much more. Our garden is a haven for pollinators and birds, and is always a work in progress.
A huge stand of scarlet bee balm (
Monarda didyma, Zones 4–10).
A very happy bumblebee, appreciating the effort Pam has made to make her garden into a haven for all kinds of life.
I love photos that make us look at a familiar plant differently. Here the developing flower spike of a hosta is unexpectedly beautiful.
A perfect dahlia flower.
Another wonderful dahlia. Perfect to enjoy in the garden or cut in a vase.
A shady spot in the garden with hostas in bloom.
A bright red male cardinal enjoying the bounty of the garden.
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Comments
You certainly have a lush and and beautiful garden, Pam, as well as a real gift for photography. I'm not sure how many guesses it would have taken me to identify the bloom stalk of the hosta. Your picture made me appreciate it in a whole new way. Your dahlias are gorgeous and in NC, maybe you don't have to go to the trouble of digging them out to protect them from winter damage.
Pam, your flowers and photos are perfect! How do you keep the slugs away from those juicy plants? We love cardinals
Pam, the creamy white dahlia took my breath away. I agree with an earlier comment that your photography is spectacular. Camera/lens information?
I hope the new owners of each garden you had to leave appreciated the gift they'd acquired and learned enough to take care of it.
Wow! It's so inspiring to see what a bed of mature Scarlet Bee Balm looks like! I just planted some last year around my hummingbird feeders.
I look longingly at Dahlias in the garden catalogs but I'm in zone 6b...sigh. Your look as great as the ones in the catalogs!
Beautiful pictures! That pale dahlia, can't tell if it is a soft yellow or white, but it's gorgeous. And the close-up of the hosta bloom makes me so anxious to get out and assess the damage from our unusual snowmageddon here outside of Seattle.
Pam, you are indeed a skilled photographer, and I love the way you position your subjects. Beautiful gardens, and so promising to us who are hanging on almost 2/3's through winter, waiting....
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