Garden Photo of the Day

Gwenn’s garden in New Jersey (9 photos)

Lacecap hydrangea, Fallopia japonica 'Variegata', yellow flowers in background are sundrops (Oenothera). Found these chairs in the trash and painted them a sunny yellow.

Today’s photos are from Gwenn Mulligan. She says, “I’m a Master Gardener who has lived in Wyckoff, New Jersey, for 24 years. When we moved in, our yard was the eyesore of the neighborhood.

Early spring garden with primroses.

“As I struggled to figure what to do with this mess of a yard, I took many classes at the Bronx Botanical Gardens and then became a Master Gardener through Rutgers’ Cooperative Extension Program. Now I provide landscaping ideas to others in my area.

Flowering quince in watering can, euonymus in background.

“My garden is always evolving. My favorite quote is, ‘If I stop gardening, I must be dead’. We have lost many plants over the years due to ‘right plant, wrong location’ and many more due to weather-related issues. We had over 14 large oak trees when we first moved in and have lost most of them due to hurricanes (famous and not-so-famous), turning our once-shady garden into semi-shade or sun.”

Beautiful, Gwenn! Send more photos!

‘Avondale’ redbud.

As you can see, the GPOD is BACK!! Thanks so much, everyone, for sticking around and for all of the wonderful emails. I’ll keep fine-tuning and improving the posts as I learn the new system. Now, go outside and take some photos of your awesome gardens! Email them to me at [email protected].

Celandine poppy in foreground, creeping Jenny, perennial geranium, ‘Annabelle’ hydrangea
‘Annabelle’ hydrangea, green-twig dogwood, hosta, and river birch in background.
Lambs’ ears, spirea, lacecap hydrangea, dark burgundy shrub is ‘Diablo’ ninebark.
Rose campion against wood fence, an old favorite that my mom used to grow.
18-inch-tall lilies and a hot pink carpet rose that doesn’t behave anything like a carpet!

View Comments

Comments

  1. perenniallycrazy 06/03/2014

    Wow! Double treat for us today. A gardener's work is never done as the garden continues to evolve. I've love what you've done to yours! Thanks for sharing Gwenn.

  2. User avater
    meander_michaele 06/03/2014

    What a wonderful transformation your once upon a time "eyesore" yard has experienced during your 24 years of ownership. It has become a beautiful garden with so many stunning plants to delight the eye. I am agog over the impressive size of the hosta in picture 6...I'm guessing that it is Sum and Substance, Whatever...it is a beauty! Was there any particular feature of the 'Avondale' redbud that had you select it over any of the other varieties? I have not heard of it before but it's certainly abundant with its flowers and has a lovely shape.

    1. perenniallycrazy 06/04/2014

      Happy to see your profile picture again... have a great day!

  3. Chefin1950 06/04/2014

    Thank you Qwenn for naming the Celandine poppy and the Rose campion, both of which have "planted themselves" in my garden. As no one else in my neighborhood has them, I was at a bit of a loss as to what they were.

  4. GardenGrl1 06/04/2014

    The colors on the primrose are stunning! Do you get fruit from your Quince tree?

    You have a beautiful garden!

    Am I the only one who misses the, "thumbs up", button? Well, anyway, 2 thumbs up from me, Gwenn!

  5. snooth 06/04/2014

    Beautiful! Thank you for the return of the photo emails; enjoy them with my morning
    coffee.

  6. thevioletfern 06/04/2014

    Yay! The world is right again. Beautiful gardens Gwenn! Makes my day. I love the rabbit in the Primroses.

  7. greengenes 06/04/2014

    Good morning! Its so good to see all the gardens again and to meet other gardeners as well. I sure did miss everyone!
    Your garden is delightful, Gwenn! Its always so amazing how much things grow in the springtime. Iam glad to see the early picture with the primroses and then the later pictures with the hydrangea and hosta. It looks great. Now since you lost the oak trees a whole new world of sun loving plants are opened up to drool over! Nice job!
    I like the saying you shared with us. So true! I hope when I die that it is in the garden! But iam hoping for a few more years of true delight! Happy gardening this season, Gwenn.

  8. Yoksnurbob 06/04/2014

    It's nice to see GPOD back. There's always something to learn from seeing others' gardens. But I do miss the ability to put the photos full screen as in the past and better get the details close up.

  9. MissKimmy 06/04/2014

    Hey everyone!! Have really missed the GPOD!! The children have too!! The children will really enjoy the photo with the bunny and all the other beautiful pictures today! Thank you Gwenn!

    Gosh, I miss pulling that "favorite" picture up "full screen" for the kiddos - but I'm working on how to pull up those favorite pictures from months ago - like the famous daylily with the little frog - that picture was from way back in January I believe! They still ask for it!!

    Anyway - hope everyone has a great day - and thank you Michelle for keeping this great blog going - it really is such fun!!

  10. MichelleGervais 06/04/2014

    Hey guys--we're hoping to add the enlarge feature sometime in the future, but in the meantime, I know on my computer (PC), if I right-click on the photo and click "view image," the image will pop up in a new tab. Then I can hit Control and the + sign to enlarge it. Tedious, I know, but doable, if there are some details you really want to see.

    1. perenniallycrazy 06/04/2014

      Hi Michelle. Tried this on my desktop but it doesn't allow for those options. Will be patient and wait for the changes. Have a great day!

  11. GrannyMay 06/04/2014

    Nice to be back! Gwen, I love your quote! And your determination to keep going no matter what mother nature throws your way. The results are beautiful!

  12. wittyone 06/04/2014

    Like others I have missed the GPOD. Not too sure about disqus though and can't seem to enlarge via Michelle's instructions using my Mac.

    Gwenni, the primroses are beautiful. I think I have some of the same ones but yours look to be in lots of sun and the ones I have divided and moved to sunnier spots seem to not be too happy. The rose campion is such a vibrant color. At one time I had a good many going in one of my beds but let them fade out for some reason--- I may just need to start up a new patch of those somewhere. They are just too pretty to not have around.

  13. Vezpasia 06/04/2014

    I too have missed the lovely garden photos, so happy that you are back. After such a horrendous winter, ice storm and more, we are really enjoying our lovely spring weather. As iI live just north of Toronto ON, I'm sure many of you will empathize with me. One small thing I cannot see all the photos on my iPad as the arrows to move between photos are not working, is this just me or has anyone else had the same issue? Works fine on my Mac computer. Keep the lovely pictures coming, i will be taking more of my garden as it catches up with the season!

    1. perenniallycrazy 06/04/2014

      The photos are overly stretched on my iPad and I am unable to view them. This is also the case for the main page top photo. Noticed the problem last week.

  14. user-7006981 06/04/2014

    I love the Lacecap hydrangea, really enjoy seeing other peoples gardens..New to this blog.

  15. bob8778 06/04/2014

    Now we know why New Jersey is The Garden State!

  16. PamWittenberg 06/04/2014

    Beautiful pics! The flowering quince in the watering can is delicious and the lacecap hydrangea with chairs in the background is positively dreamy.
    (I was worried that GPOD was gone, or Michelle was gone, or, or, or...so glad the gardens and pictures and comments are back in my Inbox. I like the new look and navigation much easier to use than the old version.)

  17. Aarchman07030 06/04/2014

    Beautiful garden Gwenn--lush and healthy and full of beautiful variety and color.

    I'm sooo glad to have the GPOD back--thanks to everyone at FG for all the work.

    (For those new to the >control +/-< commands for zooming in and out, you can hit >control 0< (that's a zero, not the letter O...) to restore your environment back to where you started. )

  18. user-7006981 06/04/2014

    no you are not...I like the thumbs up and multiple pictures of the same garden ...: ((... And where is the picture of the pretty Editor??? Has she left??

  19. Wife_Mother_Gardener 06/05/2014

    Lovely gardens, Gwen! That bunny with the primroses is a favorite. :) Thanks for sharing.

  20. janetsfolly 06/05/2014

    Wow, Gwenn! Every shot has such beauty! You have many of the same plants I have or want so it's really fun to see the different ways you've used them. Now I have something new to add to my wish list, 'Avondale' redbud! What a stunner! Would love more pics, please!

  21. Taz31904 06/05/2014

    beautiful, beautiful garden!

Log in or create an account to post a comment.

Related Articles

The Latest