Today’s photos are from Marsha Fogarty. She says, “I live in Normal, Illinois, in the central part of the state. I’ve been in this 1948 house since 1995, and gardening since 1985. I’m an architect by training, but I’ve also worked in a greenhouse/garden center for two seasons, and worked for a landscaper (doing mostly garden maintenance) for several years as a second job.
“I love flowering perennial plants, especially the lily form. I do most of the work in the garden myself, though my husband is the groundsman, mowing and edging and sometimes trimming shrubs, but we don’t often agree on that last part. We hired a landscape contractor last year to add some ledgestone steps, which led to some other reworking.
“These photos are now “before” pictures, as we lost the big locust tree in the middle of the yard in November. I’m still waiting for the stump to be ground out, hoping that happens while the ground is still frozen. The tree was truly the center of the garden, governing the light and moisture conditions, and even the shape of the beds. So it’s all up for grabs now.
“I also removed a large yew that I thought was out of scale, and I’m regretting that. I’ve already rearranged some things, and we’ll see what happens in the coming year when the garden is in full sun. The front of the house is in mostly sun, so I have a large supply of plants to use.”
Beautiful combos, and what a lovely dry streambed! Wow, Marsha, that will be a huge adjustment without the locust, but just think of all the plants you can try now! I can’t wait to see what you do. Be sure to give us updates. Thanks for sharing!
——Winter is the perfect time to take a photographic stroll through the photos you took in your garden this year……and then send some in to me at [email protected]!
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Comments
Marsha, I"m up a little earlier than usual and I am so glad I am to stroll your beautiful garden. Your color combination and textures are amazing. Your Hakonechios macro is one I have been trying to combine with my H. Halcyon. Yours makes me want to try again. I also enjoyed your Daylilies especially the ones with the Coleus. You have done yourself proud. I look forward to seeing more.
all beautiful and HEALTHY! my favorite , too, is the photo of the forest grass. something about those fresh greens/yellows that perk me up. good luck with the transition from the high canopy of the locust into a brave new world.
It is all so beautifully done! It will be fun to see how it transitions with the change in lighting. I love the dry stream bed. Gardens created based on necessity are really the best!
Wow! Marsha, you made me fall inlove with daylilies all over again! Your combinations are great and I really am reminded of spring when looking at all the different colors if green! You do a great job at texturing and there isn't a leaf out of place! We can sure tell someone loves to garden there! Love the idea of the dry stream bed by your back door. I cant wait to see it in the summer! Please keep sending pics for us to see! Spring is just around the corner! WooHoo!!!
Oh, its too bad you lost the locust tree! What nice muted shade that must of provided. What I do on old stumps around our place is I put a huge pot of flowering plants on it or a pot of carex grass and it looks pretty nice. But its something you have to keep watered. Just an idea for you. I have seen also where people would chainsaw carve a design in the stump. Or make it into a chair...hm... okay okay iam going to go get my tea! Happy gardening, Marsha
Hi, Marsha, sincerest condolences on the loss of your garden stalwart, the locust tree. Your very attractive dry stream bed reveals you to be a master of the lemonade out of lemons situation so the additional sun will offer opportunities. I don't know how tall the remaining stump is but the other day I was on Pinterst and happened to type in its search bar, "old tree stumps". I have a modest one I have been mulling over whether to get fun and creative with. Oh, my, some awesome pictures popped up. I'm drawn to some with the gnome or hobbit house look...possibilities, possibilities!
Your plant combinations are wonderful and your "stream" of the
Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola' is perfection. I have to admit I am surprised is does so well in IL...I wasn't expecting that.
What a relaxing looking garden, lush but serene. I guess I can't get the adjectives right, but I love it! I wouldn't think of hosta and daylilies together. Were both on the edge of their sun needs? It is a pity about the tree, but it will give you a wonderful opportunity to get those creative juices rolling again.
Marsha,,,, it is just lovely!,,,, and my favorite,, shade!,,,, then I read about the loss of your tree,, and I too am so sorry for your loss,,,,I too lost a focal ' shade ' tree, and it does throw things for a loop,,,, but, from the artistry I see in your yard, you will be able to work it out,,,,,
Your lillies are beautiful!,, Love the Krossa Regal with the lavender lily,,, all your hosta look so very healthy!,, and of course the hakonechloa is just fabulous!
Lovely dry bed too,,, as are your ferns!
Again,, good luck this coming season,,, I know how frustsrated and saddened you must be,,,, gardening is everchanging.
Let's see. A dry stream bed with great rocks, mixed with lots of my favorite plants, in a garden with not a single leaf out of place. What's not to love?
Great textures and colors and everything so tidy. All the plants look very healthy. Just a guess but the water problem could be run off from the garage roof, there's no gutter, and I'd get those branches off the roof, they're obviously from an overhanging tree that needs removal. I like the top photo on the right, rings my bells, and that sunny glade to the upper right makes the property look like it goes on forever. A very nice garden, Marsha, thank you for sharing.
Marsha,
I simply must use day lilies more after seeing yours. While I seem to be able to keep deer off hostas with spraying I have trouble staying ahead of their munching the lilies. Yours are lovely and in great combinations! I too love them with the pebbles. Thank you for naming them ! That coleus is perfect. Beautiful garden !
Hi Marsha. You've inspired me to get cracking in my garden this year, thanks.
You have a fabulous color sense! And the textures!!! It was a shame about the locust, but with your vision, I am sure something beautiful will come of it. I can't wait to see more.
It is all beautiful! I love the dry stream bed and well-manicured gardens. I'm jealous over the Hakonechloa grass too!! Are you in Zone 6? In my Zone 4 garden it gets about half that size by the end of the season. Don't let the loss of the tree get you down. Opportunities will arise.
After viewing your gorgeous gardens, I am officially longing for spring. I enjoy so many if your garden beds, it would take a book to comment on them all. Suffice to say, you're a master at designing and color combinations. Thank you for an intermittent dose of summer!
After viewing your gorgeous gardens, I am officially longing for spring. I enjoy so many of your garden beds, it would take a book to comment on them all. Suffice to say, you're a master at designing and color combinations. Thank you for an intermittent dose of summer!
wonderful garden! I agree with all the other commenters. I really need to look at perennials more for my garden, I spend too much too lusting after shrubs but your garden reminds me that there is so much out there beyond the shrub world. I also am envious of your Hakonechios macro, I live in Canada (zone 5 here probably 4 in the US) and it does grow but very slowly. It may be years before I see a clump like that but worth the wait for sure. I look forward to see what you do without your big shade tree, I'm sure it will be wonderful. Love the dry stream bed too. Thanks for the super pictures and captions.
Wow! All the comments are so kind. And I love that so many of you are early birds! This is kinda like being on the garden walk - what's more fun than talking to gardeners about your garden.
Yes, my garden is in zone 5. The Hakone grass is one of the plants I moved here from my garden in Chicago, so the clump has been many years in the making, and I've added to it over time. It was struggling right at the drip line of the locust tree, but when the redbud grew enough to provide some shade, it took off. It really can't tolerate much sun, but it doesn't demand a lot of watering. Time will tell if the redbud will be enough with the locust gone. I might be building a lot of arbors!
I'll respond again this evening - thanks, this has been a good experience!
Marsha, so sorry that you lost your locust tree, devastating in a mature garden. By now, you are probably full of ideas to make the most of the increased light. Your architectural background is evident in your wonderful garden design - taking advantage of the shade, the slope and the microclimate. Beautiful combinations of lovely daylilies and hostas! Also the gorgeous dry riverbed, the flowing Hakonechloa macra, the ferns and low groundcovers! Would love to see photos of the lilies and irises in bloom as well. Thank you!
Hi Marsha,
Sorry about the locust tree. I'm sure you will retain more of your plants then you might think especially if you are willing to water more often. I just did a light study and have found out that my 'sunny border' is down from 4 hours of sun to less than 2. The reverse problem. Would some fast growing deciduous shrubs help shade your hostas? It seems most plants love morning sun and the shade loving ones dislike afternoon sun. When do your hostas get sunlight?
Marsha, could you please recommend some day lilies that can still flower heavily in some shade? I still have some spots with 4 hours of sun that I would like to have some color. Thanks.
Outstanding, loved the curves and the dry creek bed. Everything looks so healthy and fresh. Enjoyed it even more on this very frigid snowy winter morning.
Oh, these photos are fabulous! I LOVE your combinations AND photo compositions. Your garden is tour worthy; the photos should grace a calendar!
Love the Paper Butterfly Daylily... is that your fave... if not, which one is?
Also love the top right photo especially. Also, could you tell us about the structure in the back? Great focal point!
Looking forward to seeing more photos and seeing what you do with your new area of change! Thank you!
Love the Dayliles and the Hosta combo. They all look so healthy and robust. Beautiful design with the sweeping beds and the slight slope. Hope all goes well in the transition from shade to sun.
If anyone is up the the challenge of switching from a shade to a sun garden, it's you Marsha! Your gardens are absolutely beautiful, and I think you may have actually enticed me into adding a daylily or 3 to my gardens. Yours are amazing... I'm drooling over your Hakonechloa, for the life of me I can't keep them alive.
i can't grow it at home either, Sheila , but it seems to thrive in clients gardens. maybe i take more care with it when i'm paid to!
Marsha, these BEFORE photos sure look amazing already so like everyone else, I look forward to the AFTER photos. I surely appreciate how long it took you to grow your Japanese Forest Grass (Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola') - they are surely worth the wait! How do you keep your garden slug free?
Your daylilies are totally amazing. Perhaps it's time for you to hook up with Nancy from Wisconsin?
https://www.finegardening.com/item/29008/nancys-daylilies-in-wisconsinlots-of-daylilies
Have a great day everyone!
All so beautiful! And I now know what to pair with my Hosta 'Krossa Regal' which are sitting, lonesome, behind a rhodo. I very much like the dry stream bed which I also have a place for. Good luck with the transition to more sun. I'm sure whatever you do will be fabulous. Thanks for supplying so many identifications.
Michelle, I think we need a calendar for next year that features photos from GPOD!
Hi Marsha, and thanks for the inspiring tour of your gorgeous work with plants and arrangement and shape and flow---everything! That dry stream bed is one of the most attractive I've ever seen and I am already thinking about one for my yard. We have sort of a little standing river in our back yard when the snows melt all at once or when we have heavy rain, which is often in Iowa, and I'm thinking your idea might help AND be beautiful, too. Did you put any type of weed barrier under the stones, etc.?
Marsha, your garden is fabulous! Everything is so huge and well groomed. Your daylilies are divine. What spectacular color! Thank you for including the variety names.
Thanks again for the kind encouragement! I'll try to answer the questions that have popped up in the thread: I've found daylilies are quite shade tolerant, some varieties more than others of course. I've had to move things around to get the best performance. It seems almost nothing is my garden is where I intended it to be! The plant picks its spot! The best bloomers in light shade have been 'Lullaby Baby'and 'Lilting Lavendar'. As the locust tree declined, it lost more and more of the canopy, so some areas were already pretty open. My neighbor to the west (our gardens meet in the middle) has a large Norway maple in her yard, so I have afternoon shade from that.
Yes, 'Paper Butterfly' is one of my favorites. It wasn't super vigorous among the tree roots (there are 3 plants there), so we'll see what happens.
Thanks also for the sympathy for the loss of our "garden stalwart" - it truly was that! And thank you for the ideas for tree stumps. You've given me a lot to think about. I've received many compliments on my tidiness -full disclosure: I snap most of my photos right after I've tidied up a spot! My entire garden is not generally spit spot clean all at once!
My garden is not slug free at all. I try to use hosta with thick leaves, so it takes the slugs longer to chew through them. The hummingbirds around here love the blooms on 'Krossa Regal' which is one of the most slug resistant. However, I use a lot of hosta 'Francee', 'Royal Standard', and 'Lancefolia', but they all bloom so nicely and put up fresh foliage after blooming. I just try not to look too closely at them when they're holey.
Marsha I love your garden. It is beautiful everywhere I look :). The grass path wandering around the house is so inviting, I love the feel it gives. I too love all the green foliage and you have so tastefully added just enough color along the way. Beautiful! You have me thinking again as I create my yard here in Nevada. Thanks :)
Marsha,I forgot to ask yesterday (who knows if you'll see this today!) but it looks (3rd pic down on left)like you have vinca under the trees, but I also see clear space between the vinca and the daylilies. My vinca is overrunning everything in it's path including some azaleas, and I think the neighboring county lines are on its agenda. Do you just keep ripping it out? It looks like there is a nicely defined line there!Thanks!
quinquek: I edge the vinca bed several times during the season to maintain the edge. I try to do it first before Easter - just before it blooms. It's not a terrifically large circle, so it doesn't take much time. I rake the vines toward the edge, and then I use a half-moon edger. I used to put off mulching until after the locust dropped all of its flowers, and I would trim with hedge shears before mulching. Then it would be time for the daylilies to bloom, so they'd be tidied up nicely, just in time.
Thanks, Marsha! Last year in desperation I ran over as much as I could get to with the lawnmower. I'm sure it will rebound with twice it's normal enthusiasm. I'll try your approach.
Thank You for sharing not only the photos of your beautiful gardens, but the specific cultivar names! This will help me select new plants to try in my own gardens.
Marsha,
I'm late to the party but had to comment on your beautiful gardens. As a fellow midwest gardener we use many of the same plants. My favorite photo is with Exalted Ruler and the coleus; I will have to place coleus beside some of my daylilies if I can match the colors like you have. Further, I agree with your attitude of looking past the slug holes in some of the leaves.
Thanks for sharing your garden. Good luck with reworking the now more sunny bed.
CJgardens, the color if Exalted Ruler is not nearly so pink really. I've tried year after year to capture the color in a photo with no success. The color is best described as old rose, and the throat is a deep tangerine. It looks amazing with the blue spring foliage of the hosta and is one of the earliest bloomers. Another clump sale trophy fromHornbaker's!
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