
Today we’re in chilly Zone 4b, visiting Susan Warde’s Minnesota garden.
Before my husband and I bought our current home in 1981, we’d pass it on neighborhood walks. Gazing at the sunny front yard, I’d say to myself, “Now if I lived there, I’d put an edging of marigolds up the front walk.” And so I did, with some irises transplanted from our former residence. Three years later I had a low stone wall built along the front sidewalk and the driveway; I dug up a 2-foot-wide border and planted it with annuals and more irises. The garden grew from those narrow strips and now encompasses all of the backyard and most of the side and front.
At first I’d buy or beg any plant that caught my fancy. If it was showy, I’d pop it in. After a while, I began to plan and refine and use a more limited palette, and eventually I eliminated annuals altogether. The front has a bit of a cottage-garden look and features perennials in pinks and yellows, deepening as the season progresses to golds and fuchsias. The back garden (begun in 1998) looks more like a woodland, with flagstone paths winding among ferns, hostas, and spring-flowering Minnesota natives. A side garden, developed between 2009 and 2019, now connects the front and back.
The loss of two full-grown deciduous trees and a couple of towering evergreens, and the growth over the years of once-small saplings, have made the distinction between the “sunny” front and the “shady” back less clear. Both, however, still retain much of their original character. All the gardens are home to numerous ferns, representing more than two dozen species. A dozen birdbaths provide the shimmer of water and encourage visits by wildlife.
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Comments
Get lost on Earth ! One can do some real deep thinking and meditation and feel like there's a second world on this Earth --- and there is . Get lost and enjoy life ...
Your gardens are lovely!!! So peaceful and inviting!!! I have tried a North Wind maple and loved it so much. It died one winter but seeing yours makes me think of trying again. I could try a different spot. Thank you for sharing the beautiful spaces you’ve created!!
Beautiful and inspiring. I love the long gently curved beds and lawn in the side garden. The Korean Maples are amazing, and I love your style overall. Well done!
Excellent job Susan. A true work of art, so peacefull.
Susan - thank you for sharing the lovely wide views of your garden, your gardening story, and names of plants that work well in your zone.
Oh, my, I love that climbing hydrangea.
Simply... Wow!!! I love every curve, every plant combination and the entire 'feel' of your beautiful gardens!
This is a magnificent garden - I could wander there for hours and always find something new to see.
Oh my favorite kind of garden! I just love it!
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