All Is Gray... and GREEN!

Despite four days short of a month of rain, my faithful friends still wish to be outside with me! Guiness who used to hate the rain, now tolerates it rather well and McEwan, who is quite happy to be dripping actually had had enough yesterday when I found him sitting patiently by the Lodge door hoping and praying I would let him in so he could dry off. The gardens of June 2009 are quite lush, although somewhat flat from the pounding rains we have had. Anything not staked tends to provide a home for slugs, the great enemy of the passionate gardener.
The honeysuckle seems to hold up rather well much to the gratitude of the hummingbirds.

Can You Stay for a Spot of Tea

...or perhaps a glass of wine? Looks like just the perfect place to partake of such things! We make slow but steady progress on the garden area to the back left side of the Lodge. The rain has definitely given the plantings a big boost this year. This past Friday, in a torrential downpour, I completed the brick walkway so that we are now ready for the affectinately called "Humpty Hump" bridge to go in over the drybed. If it ever stops raining, I will paint it a dark, lucious red, kind of the color of .... cabernet sauvingnon... now that I think of it.

The Gardens of Blackwater Cove

Until the Lodge came along, I always played a game with Mother Nature as to what she would let me grow if I were not to prune her trees back to sharply. At Raymond Court, I loved the shaded yard given to me by the host of maples which grew abundantly in the side yard. But, that meant I was restricted plants that could tolerate or perhaps enjoy the shade like hosta, astilbe, daylilies, ferns and sedums. When we got the cottage, I was faced with the same plight. It is in the woods afterall, and we did not wish to change that. The front garden was a special challenge, as, when we bought, there was only "forest soil" a nutrient poor, combination of decomposed pine needles and sand that was hard pressed to hold any water. We fashioned stone walls to terrace off the embankment and brought in loads and loads of loam to backfill and create garden beds. Slowly, I learned which plants could live largely off just rainfall and tolerate the small amount of sunlight the garden was provided with each day. This photo shows that I am now in tune with this garden, though it has taken me years to achieve it. That is why Oak Hill is such a fun place to garden with its many areas of sun and shade, wet and dry, but tremendous soil everywhere!

Update on the Greenhouse

PHASE 2 of the greenhouse construction meant doing the extensions for the two pieces of the roof and hanging the windows for the sides. We used the glass that my Dad had held onto for years hoping to one day build his own greenhouse. It had come from either J.J. Newberry store shelving, or possibly when Dyer's tore down one of their greenhouses, I can't recall. The side windows once hung in the Bath City Hall and were rescued by Eric when he saw them ripping them out and tossing them in a dumpster! We also finished the peak of the back wall and the two lower portions of the front. We came home armed with measurements to either find or build the two front windows and the double french doors thereby closing it in. Since I am usually the one to do the progress photos, I asked Eric to take a turn. He got very artsy, taking photos of the inside as well as the outside. I moved the bistro table into the space so next visit I think a glass of wine is in order!

Buildings...not Babies!

I have realized that since Dad and I are happy to turn the childbearing over to you girls... that we are now obsessed with bringing buildings into the world! Welcome,
the newest Oak Hill

Lodge building...

the greenhouse!

Although we have a ways to go, we made amazing

strides on Memorial Day and, to my surprise even wrestled the glass top up a ladder and into position seven feet in the air! The greenhouse is 8 foot square with a two foot extension for a tool and pot storage area on the back. We are going to attempt to do the remainder of the roof also in glass and as of this writing, the base will either be white cedar shakes, fake Eldorado stone or fake brick... depending largely on cost. Stay tuned for updates!

The Hardest of Lessons

This is the Gerald & Alice Allen Garden at the Lodge. It was the first garden put in and it has already undergone several transformations. I am beginning to understand that the term, "The Trial and Error Gardens of Pam Allen", is not a bad name, and that in fact, most gardeners, save the unadventurous, should name their gardens the same. What is deemed to be "invasive" and what is not, is quite bewildering. My Bee Balm (Monarda) for example, or Feverfew which were both planted in this garden started out as well behaved fine specimens who are now vying for virtually every square inch of unplanted (or planted for that matter) soil that they can find. I am to deduce that they escape the label "invasive" simply because they are easy to pull up unlike some of their weed friends with tap roots half way to China! So, my dilemna becomes, how much of these renagade plants do I want? Is it wise to transplant them to yet another garden where they will torment me with their prolific nature, or do I (contrary to my nature) ... pull & discard?
I think this to be one of the great questions in gardening!

Daffodils Fading, Tulips Take Over

"To everything there is a season...", seems I've heard that somewhere before. Well, no sooner has the color of the daffodils faded from a brilliant, scorching sun yellow to the color of butter pats; than my tulips have pushed open their indescribable, molten red petals to show off their yellow throats. The gardens begin Stage 3 of their spring bloom. The crocuses, pussywillows and forsythia gave way to the daffodils who have now surrendered to the tulips... and the peonies are not far behind!