In mid-May, when the days are warm, the air is fragrant, and the phlox subulata (above) is in bloom, I like to spend a little quality-time outdoors. Would you like to see what’s shaking in the gardens here? Join me.
Now, because it’s such a sparkling day, I think we should sip a little something during our walk.
I hope you like Prosecco.
Check out the cork. Obviously this is a very cheerful brand of Prosecco.
Cheers!
Now click your heels three times, and…
SWOOSH! We are standing in the front yard. As you can see, the lawn has greened up, and the trees are leafing out. The house, in case you’re wondering, was built in 1826. Click here for an inside view.
Behind the house is the boxwood garden. Would you believe this plot was an asphalt parking lot when we purchased the property? I dug up the black top and designed a boxwood garden there in just a few short hours!
Okay, I’m kidding. The job took several months to complete.
Want to acquire lots of boxwood without breaking the bank? Then do what I did, and propagate the shrub from simple stem cuttings. Click here for details.
Roses, planted in the boxwood-edged beds, are just beginning to leaf out. Hopefully they’ll bloom in time for the first Garden Conservancy “Open Day” here (click for details).
Probably the roses will refuse to bloom. They are vengeful plants.
More Processco for you?
At the north end of the boxwood garden, and growing through a bed of pachysandra, are some almost-finished ‘Purple Flag’ tulips and one enormous Dicentra spectabilis.
Unlike roses, Dicentra takes life in stride. I love the jewel-like flowers that give the plant its common name: “Bleeding Hearts.”
Continuing north, we encounter a gentle path that leads to a trio of white pines. Shall we ascend the steps? Try not to spill your Prosecco.
The view through the pines. Let’s head west, towards the urns and statue.
Oh. If you look to the left, you’ll have a bird’s-eye view of the boxwood garden.
And if you look to the right, you’ll see some monster-size arborvitae. These evergreens were only 5 feet tall when I planted them about 10 years ago. Today, their stature exceeds 15 feet.
Behind the arborvitae is the hemlock-edged pool garden. As you can see, the life guards are on duty now.
Say “hello” to this lecherous Satyr…
And this scantilly-clad “Summer”…
And the industrious (and scantilly-clad) Ms. Autumn. I’ve yet to find a statue that represents Winter. I’m not sure than one even exists.
To the left of the pool is the Kitchen Garden. There isn’t much to see here, because most of the beds have not been planted yet. And yes, some of the beds are in need of minor repair. So let’s skip this garden until a later date, okay?
Between the pool and kitchen gardens is the Woodland Garden. The entrance is marked by an old, rusty arbor.
At the foot the arbor are some delightful blue “forget-me-nots.” Fortunately, these winter-sown plants are immune to deer and rabbits.
And speaking of deer — they’ve been eating my hostas even before the leaves open. They’ve also eaten some of my “deer-proof” woodland plants, including Brunnera ‘Jack Frost.’ Or maybe the resident rabbits and woodchucks are to blame.
What’s that you say?
Why don’t I purchase a rifle and shoot the deer, rabbits, and woodchucks?
Well, you’re not the first visitor to suggest such a tactic. But I’m a pacifist when it comes to woodland creatures. To me, plants are not “precious.” They’re just…plants.
Back to the woodland subjects:
Shake hands with these ferns…
And these almost-finished Virginia Bluebells…
And this trio of Jacob’s Ladder (Polemonium pulcherrimum) that is just now opening its dazzing blue stars.
Also in bloom is this patch of Sweet Woodruff, which I may or may not turn into “May Wine”…
And this Solomon’s Seal, which goes by the rather unfortunate botanical name Polygonatum cyrtonema. I love the plant’s variegated foliage, and its dangling white bells that appear in May.
Here’s a terrible photograph of the woodland’s small, informal pond…
That always attracts small, informal frogs.
I think we should exit the Woodland now. The Serpentine Garden awaits! I designed this winding oasis on the site of a very steep hill. Click here to read the garden’s scandalous back-story.
Spilling blue and pink over the Serpentine’s field-stone walls in May is Phlox subulata. I do nothing whatsoever for the plants.
Here’s our view from the other direction.
Well. You’re probably tired by now. So let’s refill our champagne flutes, and sit on a bench in the Serpentine. Besides, I’d like to hear about your own planted place. What’s blooming for you?
Love kitchens and gardens? Get my email updates.
And if you’re hungry, check out these seasonal recipes:
Linguine with Ramps and Asiago
Glazed Rhubarb Galette
Poached Salmon and Veggies
Peter and Shelagh says
A beautiful property. You must employ a small army of maintenance people…
Cari Donaldson says
You’re doing garden tours again this year? Swoon. My son and I visited your beautiful gardens, what? two years ago? We’re both excited to come see them this summer.
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Cari – Yes, I remember your visit! Hope to see you again.
Judy says
Kevin, you seem like a dear long friend the way you write. I feel like I am strolling right along side of you drinking the champagne and taking in the beauty. I live in Wisconsin and we are about the same as you, zone five. I went to Elkhorn W is large flea market today and bought an old bike. I will be painting it all white and filling the baskets with loads of flowers, mostly red ones and ivy. Hope it looks good. I love my gardens and enjoy everything about your site. Spring is such an exciting time of the year. Thanks for your sharing.
Aimee Jackson says
Gorgeous, and you made me laugh, so it felt like a real tour. Now I need to buy a bottle of prosecco, don a fab sunhat, and enjoy again properly. 🙂
Cheryl Ruscansky says
An awful spring has left me with just a few spears of edible aparagus and half as many strawberry flowers as last year. Even my tulips and peonies are on strike until the weather warms..But, on the up side, my herbs are doing fantastic! Lots of parsley and cilantro and chives.
Beverly, zone 6, eastern PA says
We’ve had all day rain squalls with high winds, a miserable gardening day. The delicate looking blossoms are hanging on to their stems despite Mother Nature’s harsh treatment. Blooming for me now are: Yellow Baptisia, Pink Primula, Variegated Solomon’s Seal, Bearsfoot Hellebore, Lily of the Valley, Pink Dicentra and White Dicentra, White Dogwood, Lunaria, Ajuga, Basket of Gold (Aurinia), Bearded Irises in many colors, 5 shades of Azaleas, several Rhododendrons, Columbines in pink, purple and mauve, Holly shrubs, Snowball Viburnum (non-fragrant, more’s the pity), Brunnera, Candytuft, Donkey Tail Spurge (Euphorbia), Blue Eyed Grass, Black Parrot Tulips, Viola tricolor, late daffodils, Montana Cornflower, Sweet Woodruff, Oxeye Daisies, Chives and almost open, culinary Sage and Blue Boy Cornflowers.
BUT THERE IS A GROUNDHOG LIVING UNDER THE SHED !
We’ll be using the Havaheart Trap shortly and relocating him.
Durf says
Looks beautiful! I’ve got a bumper crop of lilacs this year. Everything else had budded out early and then died in the two late snowstorms we got. Lilies-of-the-valley are blooming and my iris are about to pop.
DebbyMc says
The deer eat my hostas at my NYS summer home. I call that bed the Deer Salad Bar. Some years there are no leaves left at all, just very tall stems. Which look kind of outer spacey. Other years (fewer, tho) they leave the plants completely alone and just eat grass.
Moyra Bunger says
A wonderful deer deterrent can be made with eggs: mix up six eggs and pour into a two gallon watering can, then fill up with water and stir it around to mix. Sprinkle foliage with mixture. You only need do it a few times a season…it works like magic!
gail says
Oh! That subulata! And I love the new(?) ferns. Thank you for another wonderful walk with you, Kevin.
Shirley B. says
Just stunning Kevin!
Mary in Iowa says
Exquisitely beautiful, as always. Surprisingly, you seem to be quite a bit later than we are here, even though we’re both zone 5. V.Bluebells, tulips, daffodils, dogwood, brunnera have already gone by. Blooming now: early peonies, Siberian and tall irises, roses, dame’s rocket, forget-me-nots, violas, chives, tall alliums, coral bells, columbines, azalea, geraniums, dianthus, white and pink dicentra and polemonium are nearly finished, and campanulas, astilbes, many different varieties of peonies, and annual, self sown poppies, bachelor’s button and larkspur are budded and ready to add to the beauty. Often, in the middle of the current project of moving nearly 12,000 pounds of compost to a newly built bin across the yard, I stop to placate my complaining body and just stand and gaze at all of Nature’s wonder. There are hundreds of lovely worms in the compost, and a number of robins have become my new very best friends as they hang around waiting for me to cater their dinner. Beauty abounds in so many forms.
Tressa says
Are the plants in the woodland garden native to your area? Also do you have a quick method for breaking down wood chips? The phlox is gorgeous! Thanks for the tour.
Mary in Iowa says
I’ve seen the “Winter” statue, Kevin, but not in concrete. Check the Elements of Home site. I saw all four seasons there, but in “fiberstone”, which is much lighter weight than concrete. If mold is in existence for that medium, it’s more than likely also availble for concrete merchants. She’s not scantily clad, but pulling her garments around her. Brrrrr.
Hortensia says
Kevin, Thank you for the tour, it is beautiful! Especially to experience it on a rainy South FL morning.
Christine Pop says
So lovely Kevin! Now I’ll be a little late for work because I couldn’t resist the “stroll” through your beautiful gardens. Have a wonderful day
Carol Samsel says
Your gardens are looking well. Here in Missouri we are a bit ahead of you in weather…well at least we were until last week when Mother Nature went back to sleep and almost winter weather returned 🙁 Thank my Lucky Stars I didn’t listen to my friends and put out my Sweet Potato Slips yet. They are happily vining all over the sunny office . ♥
Terri says
Kevin, Thank you for the tour, it brightened my morning. Down here in Delaware, the month so far has been very wet and on the cool side. We have gotten 4 1/2 inches of rain so this month and more on the way for Saturday. As for the garden, not much in the way of sun to warm the
ground. So far the only vegetables I’ve planted in the garden are the cool weather crops such as peas, cabbage, cauliflower. I have planted a few tomato and pepper plants and they seem to be doing ok. I did pick my first strawberry over the weekend. Maybe June will bring warmer temperatures and I can finish planting the rest of the garden. I did notice that I have some blueberries on the plants this year. The plants are only two years old.
Thank you again for the tour.
Terri
Dee Lansing says
So so lucky very and peaceful…..thank you
Nancy says
Beautiful, what an amazing sparkling fun walk through the garden. Thanks Kevin it’s always a great treat.
Bette says
I am new to your newsletter and have fallen in love with your home, property and outstanding writing skill! I often go back into the archives to read articles. I have quite a number of rabbits that are devouring my lovely plants so I am now seeking out new plants that are not as desirable to them. I am going to pick my neighbors rhubarb in a few days and transplant a few plants into my garden (with their permission of course). I am so excited that in a few years I will have my own crop! I chop them up and freeze them for use all winter. Thanks for your recent recipe using rhubarb. Be well and please continue to share all your great accomplishments.
Donna says
Kevin:
Spray the hostas with milk – works surprisingly well to repel deer.
Gail L says
Lovely, lovely gardens! My property is mostly wooded and growing things can be difficult. I have carefully planted in the few sunny places. Box woods are my favorite shrubs and I am so enamoured of your boxwood garden. I am going to try to propagate mine and to a mini boxwood garden . Thanks for writing about your garden wisdom and all the great tips.
Mary says
Thank you for the tour! I am especially glad when experienced gardeners show wide shots of their beds and grounds, along with the close-ups of gorgeous blooms. The larger views help me with inspiration for design and proportion and plant combinations, and your gardens and grounds are wonderful. That wall of phlox!!!
Patricia Yerian says
Kevin
I am almost swooning at the beauty of your garden. Your writing always amuses me and makes me feel as though we are personal friends. Such gorgeous flowers, plants, and landscaping! Perhaps someday I will see it in person.
Cecile says
hi Kevin,
yes there are garden statues dedicated to winter.
I googled in Dutch and so many searchresults… enjoy https://www.google.nl/search?q=tuinbeeld+winter&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-ab&gfe_rd=cr&ei=AKI8V9uJGs35-gaU3pW4DQ
Vonda Gunnells says
You remind me of myself in that I refuse to injure the sweet little things that come and visit my garden for a snack. And the three dogs that roam the property seem to have an agreement to look the other way unless I’m out there and then they pretend to be the protectors of our little slice of the universe. We are way down in TN and have had a great spring so far. Love, love, love your humor and have been trying several recipes!
Sheri says
Beautiful…..as always. Your not that far behind me on the North-West Coast. I gave my roses a good compost boost and they are blooming like bonker-bonkers. I have also read “Chicken Soup For the Soul” (Can’t remember which one) that Roses like horse manure compost. I haven’t tried it yet but the story was very sweet! Good luck on your kitchen garden, it’s a lot of work but so worth the effort! Cheers!
Karen says
had the soup along with a french bread garlic pizza. wow it was really good. going to have it again real soon.
Samantha Gray says
Your garden is pure inspiration, Kevin! Here on Long Island it’s been cool and rainy. Tulips were gorgeous this year, then decimated by the downpours. My Immortality iris FINALLY likes where it is now (moved it twice before after no results several springs in a row) and decided to bloom – and what blooms! Five on each stalk.The antique iris from my grandmothers’ gardens bloom anywhere and everywhere and are wonderful – especially my fav from childhood with the lavender standards and velvety maroon falls and a fragrance of vanilla and orange blossoms.It was bred in the 1920s but I don’t know it’s name. Any help would be appreciated. No wisteria thus far. Wah! But a sparrow has taken up residence in the vines over the front door, so what we lack in colour is made up by lively song. Lost most of my tea roses this winter. You are so right! too fussy. now I’ll plant a more hardy type. Your phlox is magnificent – thanks for giving me hope for mine!
badger gardener says
Lovely. So glad to have a chance to catch up with your garden. For some reason my bleeding heart did not return this year. I have no idea why. It didn’t seem to be chomped by rabbits. Maybe I didn’t see it get trampled in the fall by kids running where they shouldn’t be.
This spring is coming along nicely but it has been a bit of a struggle to keep up because I am finally, finally getting around to doing something with the living room , dining room , and hallway. I’m embarrassed to say it has been years since I discovered that behind thick paintable wallpaper and wainscoting we discovered we had cheap panelling walls. It just became too big a project and we had too little funds to take care of it. But we finally had a contractor tear it all out and install drywall. Hooray! Now I have some more wallpaper to painstakingly get off 2 more walls and then at long last I can paint and tear out the carpet and take care of the hardwood floors below. I am so looking forward to it. My parents are visiting and taking my kids on a small vacation in a few weeks and I am going to take a few days off to really make some progress.
Cathy Nichols says
I’m a bit under the weather and your tour through your beautiful garden cheered me right up! Thanks Kevin!
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi badger gardener – Good luck with your home-improvement project(s). Faux paneling was as fashionable as maxi skirts and bell bottom jeans in the 1970s. Ugh to all. Well, bell bottoms were kinda cool.
Carol Bailey says
Kevin, I have ants in my lawn, do you know what I can use to kill the ants but not the grass. Also I have winter sown forget-me-nots a couple of years now and they do not germ any thoughts on this
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Carol Bailey – Not sure why your forget-me-nots didn’t germinate. I planted the variety Myosotis sylvatica compacta ‘Victoria Blue’ last January, and after the seeds endured months of below-freezing temps, they sprouted without a hitch. Can’t answer your ant question — sorry!
Jen says
Here in SW Ontario, it has been an off and on again Spring. With so many cool, overcast days though, we had a long and lovely season of bulb flowers. I picked my first bouquet of daffodils on Mar. 19 and enjoyed the last vases of grape hyacinth, tulips and daffs + hellebores just last week (May 15). The redbud trees and the magnolias were also in bloom for weeks. This almost TWO month long display is so special because most years a hot spell occurs and ‘poof’…they are gone. Right now, brunnera, lungwort,dicentra and Solomon’s Seal are looking wonderful and peonies are budding. Oh, I just ADORE Spring!
Jody Mandel says
Dear Kevin,
Your garden gets more beautiful every year.
Nothing can replace time for a garden’s development.
I am learning that in my own garden. It really is wonderful this year!
Thank you for sharing all this with us.
Sorry about the hostas….
Julie R says
Kevin, thanks for sharing your beautiful gardens with us. I so enjoyed strolling through your gardens with you. You inspire me to get busy in my own gardens.
I have both perennial and annual gardens, along with potted plants. Yesterday, I went to the garden center near by and got plants for my annual flower garden and planted them. This year I got variety of three different plants to go in that garden. Their is a rose bush and another small shrub type plant in the middle of that garden. And I will have the other plants that were just purchased yesterday, surrounding them. It is going to have Begonias in the back row, which are the tallest, then Verbena in the middle row, which are the middle height, and Sun Dance Mix in the front row, which are the shortest of the three. It should look nice once it fills in. As for potted plants, so far I got impatience to go on my shaded front porch, and for by the garage. I plan on getting a few more different varieties of plants for more pots to put on my back patio, but still have to get those.
This morning I saw that a squirrel had already dug into one of my potted impatience plants, leaving one of the plants laying on its’ side with dirt all of over the porch. Have had this same problem for a few years. I love animals, but I just don’t want them wrecking my plants. I see that you have had troubles with animals eating your hostas, that is too bad. I have hostas, but have never had troubles with any animal eating them. I read that hot pepper flakes sprinkled on the plants are supposed to keep pesky animals away. I’m thinking about trying it. Maybe that would work for your hostas also. Happy gardening everyone. = )
Sharon says
Hi Kevin. So love taking a stroll in your gardens with you. It is so peaceful and beautiful.. The phlox is awesome. I use Cayenne pepper on my plants & in my bird seed to keep the critters out. Has worked so far. The squirrels eat it & run for the bird baths. I have used ant cups for the ants but a few years ago the raccoons chewed & stole them.. I still use them & they work well. No raccoons as of yet this Spring. Lost a few rose bushes this year (1 was over 50 years old). They leafed out early in March & April & then we got hit with hard frosts. Same with butterfly bushes. Those are coming back on the ground roots. Keep sending pictures of your gardens & all your great hints & recipes. Can’t wait for my blackberries to ripen so I can make your Buckle again.
Michelle says
Thank you for the wine and the garden stroll, both were lovely!
Andrew says
Hi Kevin -Love your site! I am thinking about putting in an arborvitae privacy screen and unfortunately I share my yard with a hungry family of deer. How do you protect them from them?