Hi GPODers!

For those unfamiliar, a few times this year I did “GPOD Vignettes.” These were compilation-style posts that featured a handful of short submissions (only a photo or two). Back in June, in the very first GPOD Vignette (check it out here), I featured a striking ‘Lemon Zest’ hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Lemon Zest’, Zones 4–7) submitted by an anonymous contributor. A few weeks ago, I was thrilled to get another email from that anonymous contributor. Steve Schmidt in Atlanta, Georgia not only revealed his identity, but also shared many more photos from his sensational garden.

My name is Steve Schmidt in Atlanta. I am the “mystery submitter” who sent the hydrangea “Lemon Zest” photo last June. I’m retired and trying to get a handle on gardening in these changing times – climate change and trying to be more ’native’. My backyard is roughly a quarter of an acre which is the floodplain for a stream which borders the back of the lot. The residence sits atop a very steep slope – 27 steps from the floodplain to the subbasement level – hence 2 more stories of height to get to the street level. The front of the residence faces south – hot with dry clay. Lots of shade in front, however, on residence side of the public sidewalk. (Power lines prevent anything truly shady between the sidewalk and street in the verge.) The back is pretty much all heavy shade (tall trees in floodplain and on the hillside above) except for a triangle-shaped area at the NE corner. When acquired the back was full of kudzu, privet, ivy, and cherry laurel.

I’ve pretty well tamed the non-native invasives in back (except for ivy on the steep slope and the kudzu which can creep over the stream). I’ve come around to concentrating on autumn to spring interest (accumulating berry plants for autumn, native azaleas for spring, yet to flesh out mid-winter ideas) as summertime with the humidity, gnats and mosquitoes can be a challenge to doing much work despite the shade providing relief from the hot sun! Initially I was planting what I liked, but have come around to planting native plants that I like (with some non-natives interspersed) and doing more research – plant habits vary widely depending on conditions. Paths in back are mostly laid out and set. My focus currently is on planting shrubs to create corridors and ‘rooms.’ In front of the residence my current approach is to have lots of color, almost all in pots, from spring to autumn for all the folks who walk by.

Strawberry bush (Euonymus americanus, Zones 6–9), which appeared on its own. I’ll let most things grow that appear on their own so that I can identify before deciding to keep or remove.

I noticed this year for the first time the flowers on the ‘Shoal Creek’ chaste tree (Vitex agnus-castus ‘Shoal Creek’, Zones 6–9) left seeds – apparently appreciated by cardinals.

Turning to the front yard: I’ve almost finished transitioning most of the tropicals I brought up from south Florida to go inside. Also, as we dip into the 30s I’ve taken cuttings from the annuals I wish to grow again. The following pictures are from the front in the last few weeks as annuals have reached their maximum growth for this year.

Thank you so much for sharing this farewell to summer, Steve! It was so great to learn more about you and your beautiful garden. I hope we get to see more updates in the future 🙂

And a reminder to everyone that you can start anywhere when submitting to Garden Photo of the Day. Though the directions below say to submit 5-10 photos, I will certainly except less and keep them on file until I have enough to compile another GPOD Vignette. Whether you have one photo to share or 20, please consider sending them over to gpod@taunton.com and your garden can be featured on the blog this winter.

Have a garden you’d like to share?

Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!

To submit, send 5-10 photos to gpod@taunton.com along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.

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