Hi GPODers!

In case you missed it yesterday, this week we’re on a five-day, virtual Bitterroot Secret Garden Tour™ courtesy of the Tour’s president, Kielian DeWitt. Yesterday we visited the expansive garden of Gordon Nichols, and today we’re visiting the smaller, but equally as enchanting garden of Betsy Merrell.

Betsy grew up in Bakersfield, California, avoiding all aspects of gardening to the best of her ability. It was hot, where invasive grasses, goat-head sticker vines (Tribulus terrestris) and tumbleweeds thrived and could spring up in a garden overnight. But both her mother and grandmother found great pleasure in growing flowers, trees and vegetables and transformed their surroundings into shady havens of rest and pleasure. Family gatherings always took place at one or the other’s homes because of the beautiful surroundings. As she grew up, Betsy learned to appreciate eating sweet strawberries as she made her way up their driveway after school, and there were fresh vegetables on the table most any time of year. As she started planting her own gardens in Bakersfield, she learned to create the shade and coolness brought by ground covers, screening trees and shrubs and bringing in good soil and mulch to hold moisture.

When she found herself in Montana 30 years ago, ready to create flowerbeds, it was a shock to be unable to identify even one plant that grew here. She began to pay attention to friends’ gardens and looked to see what she liked and didn’t like, taking starts and cuttings from anyone who offered. Many “gifts” turned out to be hearty spreaders and filled a garden (too) quickly but Rudbeckia and Echinacea were her first brilliant successes. She says there will always be room for those two in her gardens. In her small yard, she finds she prefers polite spreaders who fill a space slowly with lots of color.

As for annuals, she used to think planting them was “cheating,” that one had to be savvy enough to plant things that would bloom in succession throughout the season without the addition of instant color. Humbug! Annuals add brilliance and character while waiting for the seasonal plantings to slowly come into their time. The annuals now have high place when she plans her spring planting.

Since retiring five years ago, she found she wanted to create the sense of peace she remembered in her grandmother’s tiny yard. Betsy would find it hard to label her style of gardening in her own small yard but beauty and color are foremost, clean borders with a wild mix of color, texture and height, a little food dotted here and there, and a place where birds and insects can stop in for rest and a drink.

The front corner garden contains heuchera, dianthus, Double Play® gold spirea (Spiraea japonica ‘Yan’, Zones 3–9) and variegated Ivory Halo® dogwood (Cornus alba ‘Bailhalo’, Zones 3–7).

Another delightful garden that I’m already itching to see more of! Alas, we’re onto the next stunning garden from the 2024 Bitterroot Secret Garden Tour tomorrow!

Have a garden you’d like to share?

Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!

To submit, send 5-10 photos to gpod@taunton.com along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.

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