Today’s photos are from Joyce Laubach. She says, “I’m so excited to share my garden photos from our home in Wayne, Pennsylvania, in Zone 5. Our house sits on a 3/4-acre interior lot in a very naturalized wooded setting. Especially from spring through fall, the foliage creates the sense we are in our own secluded forest nook. These photos were taken last spring. We definitely took some garden hits over the last brutal winter, and the bloom progression has been slower this Spring. But fortunately, things are starting to look lovely again.
“One hazard of our setting is that it is a deer haven, so over time, I have concentrated on deer-resistant plants. Most of whatever hosta you see in these photos has been removed, along with most of my daylilies. The battle was just too difficult, and when even Liquid Fence stopped being effective, I knew I was losing the battle.
“Fortunately, there are many plants that are both shade loving and deer resistant that have flourished. I also concentrate on natives as much as possible. One big exception – there is a large stand of bamboo on our north side that we’ve managed to control, and we enjoy the screening it provides.
“As viewed in these photos, we have native dogwood and redbud. The airy pink shrubs are ‘Corsage’ azaleas. Ferns abound. The one fern close-up shows ostrich fern in full frond, with the fiddleheads of cinnamon fern beginning to unfurl (and if you look really closely, you might spot Jasmine and her tiger from Aladdin – a found remnant showing this was a long ago play spot for my now-grown kids!).
“There are multiple stone pathways and the occasional sculpture and natural tree branch for interest along the way, with a profusion of pulmonaria, hellebores, sweet woodruff, bigleaf hardy geranium, a few primroses, Arum Italica, epimediums, and euphorbias. Hope you enjoy the view!”
What a lush, cool, welcoming woodland garden, Joyce. Beautiful. Send more photos!
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Comments
What a great garden and wonderful site. Sorry about your deer problems. I can't even begin to imagine combatting or accommodating those hungry wanderers.
This is the first email I've gotten about the GPOD, but I guess I have missed some. I'll have to go back when I have time!
Now, let's see how this works.....
I would love to create a garden that remotely resembles your garden. If only plants and supplies weren't so pricey.
Glad you like it. Do you have many gardening friends? I know that I have acquired some prized plants via swaps. Anything that's over-abundant is a candidate for gifting or swapping. Pus, I have been rewarded for nurturing many plants by their proliferation, enabling me to divide and spread. For example, my Pulmonaria investment started with 3 small plants, and since they were very "happy" in my garden, they flourished, enabling me to spread divisions throughout the garden. Doing it this way takes time, so a gardener needs patience. But don't get discouraged.
Yay! My first GPOD in,like, forever! Not sure about this new disqus thing, though... Anyway, if this actually posts this time, Beautiful garden, Joyce! Love the little bench and all your special touches. Sorry the deer have forced you to recreate your garden, but judging from these photos, the result will be equally soothing and lovely. Thanks for sharing you special place :-).
OK, the new format is a winner! Easier viewing of photos and easy to post. Good work, Michelle!
Now, a question for Joyce: what is the arrow shaped leaf in photo 8?
I don't see Michelle's name anywhere and truly hope she is still managing the photos. Her personal touch makes such a difference.
Beautiful! I too would like to know the name of the Arrow shaped leaf in picture 8. A friend of mine has some that he will be giving me soon! Shared plants are the best plants!
Lovely garden! Hardy Cranesbill or Geraniums are fragrant and the deer will not like. also, Brunneras have fuzzy foliage which deer dislike and could replace some of your hosta.
Joyce, how lucky you are to have a private and secluded oasis! (inspite of your deer problems).
Tim, congrats on your garden feature on the latest FG issue! Thanks for sharing all your secrets.
Antonio, please check GPOD and FG website on your iPad. The main photos are overstretched and not viewable. It's been this way since before the weekend. On a related note, I hope that you can reinstate the enlarge feature for the photos. The garden details do matter.
Michelle, spoken to some of the other avid GPODers. We miss your posts. We'll all return - don't worry! I agree with Anne M.- what happened to your photo and byline?
PS To all other GPODers who are wondering how to return....
You will need to reopen a new account. You can try Disqus as most have done. The old accounts appeared to have been wiped.
If you are also hoping to receive morning e-mails to your inbox, you will need to re-enroll on the main page.
Hope you to chat with all of you again soon!
What a wonderful ambiance your garden gives off, Joyce....so serene and yet very interesting. I love so many of your plant choices. And, I'm wondering why the heck I have never seen that wonderful Arum Italica offered for purchase in my area. I believe that is the arrow shaped plant several have asked about.
Tim, I am so glad to see you again because I wanted to add my congrats for the wonderful article you had authorship of in the most recent FG issue. It was so informative and enjoyable to read.
Michaela-I like this feature of being able to reply to one post! Thanks for the congrats. It's so exciting. Arum Italicum is such an interesting plant because it is summer dormant. A great winter accent and lush in spring and fall, but it does reseed and is hard to remove when established. Wonderful for dry shade. I love it.
I too like the "reply to" feature... Thank you for Arum info.
Yes, this is an interesting feature and so far, I give it a thumbs up. I felt so bad that I couldn't communicate with you after I had read (and reread) your article. I even did a facebook search for you but I'm not real savvy on the ins and outs of more sophisticated facebook techniques
Thanks for the extra info on the Arum Italicum. It's so gorgeous that I would make the sacrifice not to have it to look at in the summer but the vigorous reseeding does give me pause.
Goodmorning Joyce ~ I certainly enjoyed all of your garden views. The long shaded garden is very lush and inviting looking. Lovely job. The plant in photo 8, for anyone interested is Arum, it is quite beautiful AND very invasive so beware!
Tim V. - I really enjoyed your article in FG this month. Your front garden is outstanding!
Glad you have returned Michelle (although I didn't see your name). I'm still pondering over Disqus however.
Thank you for the name of the Arum... A friend wants to give me some of his... I have watched his little patch for a few years & it is indeed spreading but not so bad that it can't be contained... I think I will give it a try & just keep it in check.
Re: the Arum...it so happens that it is very well behaved in my garden. And it makes a wonderful statement, so is worth the risk, in my opinion.
Meelianthus, Thanks for the compliment. I was sharing on another post that we had to cut down the tree that created the shade canopy for the shady side of the front yard, but I guess a garden is always a changing work of art!
Here I am! Yes, we are BACK! There still may be a few growing pains, but fingers crossed that they'll be minor. I am still managing the blog, and I will see what I can do to get my face back up there, as old and outdated as this photo is.... ;-) Thanks, everyone, for your patience and kind emails. And do keep the suggestions coming. Part of the reason we switched over to the new platform is so that we can be flexible and improve more quickly in the future.
Have missed you!!!
So happy to see you again Sunshine!
Visiting each garden online was a lovely part of my morning routine, and I was having withdrawal pains thinking those days were gone! So glad you'll be back, Michelle.
Hello, Everyone! I missed this site so much! Joyce, thank you so much for sharing your beautiful gardens. I have only recently been introduced to Pulmonaria, I had no idea the flowers were THAT beautiful!
Woohoo - we're back and I didn't have to log in over and over and over again. Glad you're still with us too Michelle!!
Beautiful garden pictures - so sorry you had to remove the hostas and daylilies - hope you got to put them in a safer place.
One suggestion MIchelle, in addition to the "Related articles" I truely miss the GPOD index list for when I miss a day or two, can we get that back?
I like to see up close pictures with information written under the pictures.
Wow! So good to read everyone again and Iam glad Michelle that you are still with it all! I do like the the new format! Change is good!
Well Joyce, what a lovely place you have created. Too bad about the deer though. But it sounds like you are on your way to exploring new plants! There are a few out there that seem to work! I so enjoyed seeing the ferns in their "new" greens. The colors are so beautiful. I don't know how many shades of green there are. Have a great spring in the gardens!
You've done a great job in PA and FL with such diversity in knowing plants of such different regions of the USA!
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