My name is Sandi Marriott, and I have been gardening for about 30 years. I live in northern Vermont, Zone 4B. The soil is sandy, but over the years I have amended with compost and shredded maple leaves, so it’s much better. I have mostly perennials in my main garden but reserve a space for annuals such as zinnias and cosmos. I have found that getting my hands dirty has been great therapy during the pandemic.
Pasque flower (Pulsatilla vulgaris, Zones 4–8), an early bloomer, has showy seed heads that persist for months after the flowers fade.
Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum, Zones 4–9) is a shade-loving plant that can live for 25 years! This wildflower is native to the woodlands of much of eastern North America.
Viola (Viola × wittrockiana, cool-season annual) and forget-me-nots (Myosotis sylvatica, Zones 3–8) both self-seed throughout the garden. Their colors and bloom season complement each other perfectly.
Creeping phlox (Phlox subulata, Zones 3–9) provides color early and requires little care.
Big sheets of creeping phlox in bloom flank Japanese spirea (Spirea japonica, Zones 3–8), which is showing off with new, bright golden yellow leaves.
Dwarf crested iris (Iris cristata, Zones 3–8) and lamium (Lamium maculatum, Zone 3–8) are both easy early bloomers. The silver-patterned lamium leaves remain attractive after blooming ends.
In the shade garden, carpets of creeping phlox bloom with lungwort (Pulmonaria officinalis, Zones 3–8). The big blue chairs are a peaceful place to relax and listen to the birds.
This close-up of the creeping phlox flowers highlights the interesting patterns on each tiny bloom that covers the plants in the spring.
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Comments
Love the Jack in the Pulpit. As a child I played in woods that were full of them. Not sure I've ever seen a Pasque flower. Your photo of them is wonderful. The lighting shows them off perfectly.
Serene and beautiful. Great pics as well. Its all great but the violas and forget me not is a really pretty pic of spring.
It is all gorgeous but that Pasque flower is out of this world.
You've created a wonderful woodland garden- what a gorgeous place to sit, in those chairs, with the flowers and the woodland all around!
Those huge mats of phlox are lovely and make such an inviting scene with the views towards water (?) and the blue chairs. What a beautiful setting you have created!
What a fabulous garden. Especially loved the Pasque flower photo - looks like a painting. Thanks for sharing your lovely space.
Ohhhhh so lovely!!! I know nothing about that Pasque flower and now I'm lusting over it!!! And, I too had a lovely bed of "Jack-in the-Pulpit" (it's actually just popping up everywhere) and one morning I took my tour around the garden beds and every leaf had been eaten by some critter! The stems just stood there empty! Nothing else was touched! Now go figure!
So serene!
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