Last updated on January 18th, 2015
IN EARLY SUMMER, when the weather turns hot and humid, I like to spend my outdoor time in the cool, shady Woodland Garden. Would you like to see what I see when I walk the gracefully-curved paths there? Join me on a little tour:
The entrance to the woodland is marked by a rose arbor.
The arbor is covered with fragrant, pink Rosa ‘New Dawn.’
Go ahead. I’ll wait while you inhale the intoxicating air.
I should probably mention that my Woodland was not always a garden. When we purchased the property, it was a garbage dump.
Passing beneath the arbor, we are greeted by Hosta ‘Blue Angel.’ I love the plant’s huge, heavily-textured leaves, but apparently the deer do not.
Opposite ‘Blue Angel’ is a big sweep of ferns. Ferns, too, are immune to deer.
As we follow the path, we find a long, curved, hosta-edged border. Say “hello” to the drop-dead gorgeous ‘Paul’s Glory’…
And this plain, green variety that the deer will eventually eat…
And I say “let ’em have it,” because I honestly don’t care for plain green hostas…
And my beloved ‘Wide Brim’, which I have also seen advertised as “Broad Band”…
And this white-edged green subject whose name I can’t recall.
In the center of the garden is a large wooden table. Shall we climb atop in order to achieve a better view of the garden’s layout?
Our view of the garden, facing east.
The garden, facing west.
You might be wondering about the white bits that are scattered on plants and paths.
These are the cast-off blossoms of the Catalpa speciosa tree that resides just beyond the fish pond. The white petals are frilled, and splashed with maroon. I love them, even if they do make a mess in late June.
What’s that you say?
Yes, dear. You may climb down from the table now. Let me assist you.
And here is the fish pond. Please have a seat in one of the chairs that overlooks the pond. Meanwhile, I’ll run down down the hill, into the house, and into the kitchen to fetch us something cool and refreshing to drink.
Was that fast enough for you? The drink is a strawberry daiquiri. There’s one for you, and one for me.
Cheers!
Of course, there are more plants to see, so let’s sip and stroll, okay?
Variegated plants bring a sense of light to the dense shade of the Woodland. Pictured above is Brunnera ‘Jack Frost.’ This deer-proof perennial practically glows in the dark. And in spring, it covers itself with dainty blue flowers.
Glowing too are the ghost ferns (Athyrium ‘Ghost’) that reside in this small bed sweet woodruff.
Lamium ‘Silver Beacon’ is indeed a beacon in the dark, although mine seems to be very slow to grow. And something has been nibbling the leaves.
A recent introduction to my Woodland is the lamium above, a gift from reader Dennis R. I don’t know the varietal name, but it seems a far more vigorous groundcover than L. ‘Silver Beacon.’
As good as flowers is Coleus ‘Salmon Pink’ I planted this betwixt and between the numerous ferns in the garden.
Coleus, by the way, has always been deer-proof in my Woodland. I take cuttings from the plants in late summer, and then enjoy them as houseplants all winter long.
And that reminds me. I promised to show you closeups of the ferns, which, besides hostas, make up for the bulk of the garden’s greenery.
Here’s the lacy-leaved New York fern, or Thelypteris noveboracensis.
And the broad-leaved ‘Sensitive’ fern, or Onoclea sensibilis. Why it is referred to as “sensitive,” I haven’t a clue. But I always mind my manners when confronting the plant.
Then there is the ‘Royal’ fern, Osmunda regalis. According to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, the generic name Osmunda is of Saxon origin and was one of the titles of the pagan deity Thor.
Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s little tour. Shall we return to our chairs and our drinks beside the fish pond?
Honestly, one of my favorite summer activities is to sit and sip in the shade of the Woodland. I’m so glad that you were able to join me.
Don’t miss anything at A Garden for the House…sign up for Kevin’s weekly email updates.
Would you like to see the Woodland (and other gardens I’ve created) during other seasons? Then you must join me on the following virtual tours:
A Late-Spring Garden Tour
A Late-April Garden Tour
Autumn Garden Tour
Elisabeth Teunissen says
i so enjoy your website, thanks, elisabeth teunissen
Deb says
Thank you Kevin for the tour. May I ask, how many acres of land do you have? In the pictures it looks like a well-cared for Estate 🙂 It is very relaxing and grounding place with plenty of love to spend the time to meditate.
Carol Durusau says
We had Catalpa trees when I was a child in Louisiana. There is a particular butterfly that lays eggs on them and hatches a big ugly caterpillar that looks kind of like the one in Alice in Wonderland. The caterpillar is prized by fishermen to use for bait. That’s why we had them in our yard, but I enjoyed the flowers. Thanks for reminding me.
Heather O'Shaughnessy says
This would be my favourite place in the heat of summer…I’m not one for sitting in the sun and I love the smells of woodland gardens. Do you have any oxalis in your woodland garden?
Margaret Roach says
The unidentified Lamium cousin: Lamiastrum galeobdolon ‘Variegatum,’ which I regret ever having started growing (but did 25 years ago). Oy vey, a weedy thing (but very pretty!) once it gets hold. A plant I hate to love/love to hate (however that goes).
Allison K says
I so enjoy your tours! Like Carol, I have very fond childhood memories of catalpa trees; I am overjoyed whenever I stumble upon one, especially in the spring/early summer when in bloom.
I’ve only recently started appreciating hostas–I used to think they were incredibly boring, but am realizing there are tons of different varieties. The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum’s “Hosta Glade” has an amazing collection of hundreds of hostas….who knew?!
Janet Hatcher says
I love you & your gardens and my hubby knows it! We will join you with a Bloody Mary-after I hang out a load of sheets on the line:) Planted a Northern Catalpa in last year’s drought and it’s looking great! Zone 3 here.
Karen Clifford says
Swoon…not sure if I’m more intoxicated by the tour or the drink.
Either way, I’d like another (at your convenience) and in the meanwhile will entertain my self by watching your dancing koi.
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Margaret – Thanks for the warning. I had my suspicions about that beautiful lamium. It has been growing with the gusto of a steroid-injected bodybuilder.
Deb – Just under 4 acres here. Most of the land is forest.
Carol, Allison, and Janet – So glad you know the Catalpa tree! It is too little planted, I think.
Heather – I love oxalis. Maybe I’ll use it to replace the uber-aggressive lamium!
Karen – You are welcome to linger beside the fish pond for as long as you like. Meanwhile, I’ll prepare an entire pitcher of Strawberry Daiquiris.
Carol H. says
The rose arbor is such an inviting way to enter and I loved the virtual stroll through your woodland garden! There are so many wonderful places just to sit and watch the world go by. It’s very peaceful there. Nice touch with the colorful strawberry Margaritas! Do you have any bird feeders?
Sue T says
Mmmm … Catalpas, so beautiful! And what a wonderful grouping of goodies beneath! Thanks for the daquiri, too!
Marie Glasse Tapp says
Watch out for the lamium Variegatum, it can be/is a thug when it gets going. Pretty, but oh my it does like to travel.
‘Always look forward to your Sunday newsletter, thanks so much. Marie GT
Chuck says
Years ago I learned the term, “third place”, referring to a place other than home and workplace. This 3rd place was to be a place of sanctuary, relaxation, renewal. Libraries and botanical gardens have always been my 3rd Place(s). Kevin, you have so many places that are ideal: music room, rose garden, kitchen, herb garden, next to that window with all the plants n Violets, the hearth with warm fires in winter, and now this woodland. It is way cool how you’ve created all of this over time with hard work, finances, and vision. Yours is an authentic, rich life. Kudos!
Leigh Deering says
Thank you so much! I want to plant a small section of woodland here at Odiyan and I have thinking about hosta. Your wonderful tour has given me the inspiration to get going on that project!
Elizabeth says
I had such a good time visiting you garden. Enjoyed the layout and seeing the Salmon Pink Coleus. I grew one inside long ago.
Tricia B. says
We don’t have deer (yet) in our town, but we have rabbits, who also have a fondness for the plain green hosta–which has grown happily for years in my yard, until Peter and Co. came along–as well as a white-bordered one. A blue-green one, however, has escaped their rabbitty teeth so far. Yesterday I had to cage the white-edged and the plain green plants.
Sue Wein says
Hi Kevin,
Some garden gossip for you:
The Lamium that you got from Dennis R. was given to him by Margaret..it’s in my garden now, too, via Dennis. I guess it’s invasive in different ways!!! Thanks for today’s shady tour..lovely!
Gail says
I always enjoy a walk in your gardens with you, Kevin. I always stop to smell roses! Ahhh, the sweet Woodland Garden!
Beverly, zone 6 eastern PA says
The Sensitive Fern is also known as the Bead Fern because of its brown, beady stalk appearing later in the season. The stalk persists through snows and can be used decoratively in arrangements. My mother and I both have attractive colonies of Bead Ferns which to me resemble an open hand, in contrast to other “fringier” ferns. These colonies began when my non-gardening sister put in a new patio and refused to rescue the tiny Bead Fern next to her outdoor faucet. I saved it and multiplied it 100-fold.
I see others have helped you identify the notorious Lamiastrum galeobdolon. We call it Yellow Archangel. It is most useful below limbed-up, ancient spruces where almost nothing else will grow. It is contained primarily by mowing. My good ratter-of-a-dog runs through it constantly and still it thrives. In winter, it smashes down, but rarely goes invisible. In spring it wakes up early, blooms a nice yellow on 12-15″ stalks, lays over and takes off. Rich, moist soil makes it travel fastest. Shady, dry soil, like that under the spruces, will help to contain it, but it’s not guaranteed. A sunken pot is not the answer because of its long, lateral tendrils that root where they touch. A hanging basket may be a ***temporary*** answer. If it’s any consolation, Yellow Archangel is easy to pull out when it’s in the wrong place.
Give us another plant to ID, see if we can be stumped !!!!!
Casey says
What resides in your pond?
Joy says
Lamium, covered in little pink flowers ‘volunteered’ between the stones beneath the patio table last year. It’s spread this year. You’ve inspired me to move some of it to the pond edge. Thanks, Kevin! I love host, too. Do you know Blue Mouse Ear? One of my favorites!
Kevin says
Kevin, as always thanks for the respite of a late Sunday morning for me in California. This post of yours is a keeper as we are working on a woodland garden as well. I am hoping to incorporate it with a white blooming garden as our garden will be off the master…your posts are always inspiring, delicious or interesting and I have come to look forward to them! Thanks for sharing!
Alyce says
Do you have help weeding all those lovely flower and woodland beds?
Paula says
Kevin, I have an area that would be fantastic for a woodland garden. Years ago we had stones put down across the back of our yard, behind the white pine trees. It is shady most of the day. Woodland plants would be right at home there. The problem is that the stone path is in the drainage pattern of our section of the subdivision. In the years since the top of the stones were laid flush with the soil, the soil around the stones has eroded so much that the stones look like they were just laid on top of the dirt. Is there ANYTHING I can do about that or anything I can plant that would help hold the soil in place?
Gay Ayyagari says
As a kid walking home from school in a small Indiana town, I had to pass under a catalpa tree and hating it because the big fat catapillars dropped from the trees. I walked out into the street to avoid them!
shirley murphy says
Thank you Kevin for a beautiful walk in your garden, I could feel the coolness from the shade and then the drink certainly topped it off. you are a wonderful host, please invite me again…I will bring the blueberry yogurt pie…
Margaret says
I have a hosta that looks like the one you said you had forgotten it’s name. Mine is “Barbara Ann”. Green leaves with white edges. There is a new hosta “Trifecta” that has 3 colors on each leaf. I try to get a new hosta every year and I’m loving the Trifecta.
Debby says
Gorgeous and inspiring!
Tina says
Oh, dear. I agree with Margaret that your Lamium is indeed Lamiastrum – which was a pretty little plant when we moved in 30+ years ago. I have spent 29+ years trying to eliminate (or murder) that thug. The only thing worse in my garden is Petasites japonica which was advertised at a plant swap as “spreads nicely”. They both “spread:”, but far from nicely!
Tara says
I’ve been spending the day planting in my “woodland garden inspired by your woodland garden” too 🙂 It’s definitely the coolest place in my yard to be on a hot steamy day! I only come inside for an intermittent freeze pop but the daiquiri sure does look good!
Brad says
Kevin – can you tell me more about “taking the Coleus in for the winter” Do you dig it up and put it in a container and take in? Tell me more – I love them and like the idea of extending the enjoyment and beauty they bring.
cleo jordan says
Oh Kevin! pull OUT that yellow flowering Lamium…………NOW!!! I love it and planted it in the woodland as a ground cover, how sorry am I, I does not come out easily as it sends tendrils underground so as I watched it spread in 4 years it took me 3 to rid my garden of it and it kills anything in its wake. There are other, sweeter, less invasive lamiums….SHE is not one of them.
I love your woodland garden. My favourite Hosta is Dolly Parton, what a show!!
keep up the good work, the benefits to us are wonderful.
Sheri says
Beautiful and inspiring! Thanks for sharing!
LINDA says
Kevin, Thank you so much for the tour! Now I know what I will do with the western side of my garden. I have two pine trees, one fern, lots of weeds and pine needles. Plus my neighbor has pine trees too. Oh, I also have one of the four blue spruces in that corner too. I don’t have acres like you, but I have enough to keep me busy. I am so excited about the ferns and the hostas! And yes, even in the city of Boise, we do have deer ! Any ideas you would want to throw my way, please do! Woodland Garden here I come!
Thank you so much Kevin for all you share! Boise, Idaho zone 6
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Brad – I take cuttings from the coleus, and root them in pots of good soil. The cuttings form roots practically overnight. I’ll do a feature on the procedure in late August.
Ed P says
Thanks for the tour, Kevin. Wonderful site, wonderful Garden wonderfully inspiring.
Kate Wilson says
So beautiful to see! Thank you for sharing!!
Elaine REynolds says
Very very beautiful!
marilynn shea says
Kevin,
Just love your repartee’ while walking with your ‘facebook’ friend(s).!!
Garden’s are great, too !
Sarah says
It’s sensitive fern, because it is gone at the very first touch of frost. Honestly, I think it dies at about 34 degrees. Very ‘sensitive’!
Dee S says
I am relaxed just from the pics and the descriptions! Thanks so much!
Charlotte D says
I wonder if you realize how much pleasure you bring to people with your website and ‘walks’. I am reminded of how I found you right around the time I was undergoing cancer treatment and how wandering through your website kept my mind on happier subjects. You were also helpful in giving me some good advice when I made my first (disastrous!) attempt at vegetable gardening. Wish I could grow hostas like these but don’t have a spot of shade. Is there a similar plant that can stand up to at least a half day of sun?
Sandy says
Hey Kevin
I do enjoy your Sunday virtual ‘tours’!
For more inspiration for your Woodland garden you may like to visit ‘Carolyns Shade Gardens’.
You may already be aware of her magnificent plantings, which I’m so fortunate to be local and can actually visit and purchase new green ‘friends’.
Thanks for sharing your musings and beautiful ‘rooms’!
cynthia shultz says
Hi Kevin,
I have a fond memory of our tour of your garden last summer when it was so hot and the woodland garden was so refreshing. It’s great to walk thru it again on the website. beautiful. thanks, Cynthia
Paula B says
Hello Kevin,
Thank you for the wonderful tour. I had 2 questions for you.
1. Do you have a tutorial for the pond? We have a pond at our place and we now need to buy a new filter for it and we need to dig around the top and redo the stones as each summer the pond seems to cave in a little bit. During the spring we had a leak and we tried to find it by using a little bit of soapy water (prior to us putting the fish in the pond) and we hope we fixed it but do you have any tips at all?
2. the ground cover called sweet woodruff, is this the same plant that we have which makes these small little burs that i then have to pick off of all our cats and dogs since the burs cling to their fur? I don’t believe ours ever makes any flowers just burs and it’s getting very annoying. I was thinking about clearning out our section and adding a new shady ground cover.
thank you!
-Paula
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Beverly in PA – “Stump the Gardener” plant IDs — good idea!
Paula B – Koi and goldfish reside in the pond, and frogs overwinter there. I built the pond (with the help of a burly friend) before I created this website, so no tutorial. Plants seem to hold the soil (and consequently the stones) in place. Only the un-planted sides of the pond require minor stone adjustment every 2 years or so. Regarding Sweet Woodruff — no burs, only flowers.
Barbara says
Thank you, Kevin, for the lovely tour. You are a hard-working guy and so talented. I’m so happy I found your site through Pinterest. It is a favorite and an inspiration to me.
I wonder what critters you encounter in your woodland while sitting by your pond. What birds do you hear?
Annie B says
Lovely. Thank you for the wooded tour.
JamieK says
I dream when my woodlands become a garden and not so dense with underbrush that you can’t even walk through it during the spring and summer. Have you done any posts on how you went about creating such a beautiful space? I don’t even know where to begin on how to clean mine out. Thanks for sharing!
Marilyn Purdy says
The only thing better than sitting in my shade garden is sitting in your lovely woodland garden!
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi JamieK – That’s what my woodland was — a wild patch. You couldn’t enter without a machete and a can of bug spray. Whole story in this article: From Wild Patch to Woodland Garden.
Jean Carter says
I love your woodland garden. Can I steal some ideas from you?
shirley murphy says
Kevin, thank you so much for the beautiful tour,. On such a hot day I could feel the coolness from the shade plants, very relaxing and I did enjoy the drink…May I visit again and if so I will bring the blueberry yogurt pie…
Dana Hutchinson says
What a gorgeous tour. I so love what you do for your followers. It gives me a peace of mind and sanctuary all in one, thanks so much!
Shelby Snider says
Thanks for your great tour of your shade gardens! Everything looks great and so relaxing!!
Margaret de Cubas says
I so enjoy the way you write. It always makes me smile. Thanks!
Pat says
I so enjoy our walks…each one is so relaxing and enjoyable. Loved the daquiri, thank you.
It is wonderful to know I can join you any day and time and take a stroll.
Adieu,
Pat
Barbara says
I planted a woodland garden three years ago with over one hundred hostas. This year the voles found the hostas. I am losing three to four a night. Any suggestion? Barbara
Kate S. says
Hi, Kevin, thanks for the tour! I have sweet woodruff growing in our shade also. Do you know you can easily make May wine with sweet woodruff? (You probably do, but I’m going to share with you anyway.)
Take a bottle of white wine (the flavor will change with the sweet woodruff, so you needn’t spend a lot on the wine). Poke a couple to a few sprigs of sweet woodruff into the wine (still in the bottle… yes, it’s THAT easy!) and let it sit for at least 24 hours (chilling). Then pour and enjoy! The sweet woodruff gives the wine a unique flavor.
My understanding is that this May wine was served on May Day… before the virgins danced around the May pole… perhaps that’s one reason they danced so gaily!
I hope you enjoy this recipe. There is NOTHING easier… or more refreshing on May Day.
Peace,
Kate
Jean Weston says
Nice tour of your beautiful garden, thanks!
patrice says
Your garden is stunning Kevin. Thanks so much for sharing.
Linda A says
What a lovely way to spend a Sunday morning, reading your blog! Your gardens
are breath-taking.
Thanks, too, for the deer-proof plant tips. I’ll give them a try even if these
Oregon deer seem to break all the rules about what they’re not supposed to eat.
Mary in Iowa says
The Norse god bit made me laugh. Sister Mary Osmunda, 3rd grade, was my least favorite teacher in grade school. I got stuck with her again in 8th grade in another school! I planted Osmunda regalis in her honor. I did learn from her, but she was the least dynamic teacher ever. I’ve got Osmunda cinnamomea, and O. claytoniana on my list for this year.