Gorgeous!

Wonderful! Bravo!

What's growing on the arches - is it clematis? I was just at Chalk Hill (in Northern CA) for a little seminar, and now I'm highly motivated to expand my collection (and to make sure I have the IDs right on my existing plants).

You have a great eye for design, whitegarden. It's really a lovely garden, or series of gardens.

So BEAUTIFUL!

Can I come and run barefoot?

sooey

Hi Whitegarden,
If people are interested, I am hoping to put together an "informal" garden tour in mid summer in the western suburbs of Boston, the Lexington area and a couple of nurseries.

Where do you live, and might you be interested?

It's just us ole New England garden buddies, not anything fancy!
Marie/Idabean

Thanks for all the kind words.

Diggin - there are several clematis in there. I replaced a number of the lost climbing roses with clematis last year after the vole devastation and am hoping that they make some progress toward covering the arches. The two obelisks each have two clematis on them. They are both white (of course) but one is a full double flower and the other is a single. I am afraid that I don't have mine properly marked. I am very guilty of doing that in my garden. I design as I find and on impulse rather than strict planning and I am afraid that my follow-up is not so great either!

Idabean - I am in Southborough, so a bit off the path for the Lexington area, but would be interested if people wanted to come this far. There is still lots to do here, but you are welcome. The only other problem is that my heavy wedding season is May and June so that makes things a bit complicated.

Looks wonderful!

Oh, sooey, I didn't mean to ignore you! Come run barefoot whenever you like. As long as I can tie a hose to you and get some watering done at the same time?

WG

Absolutely gorgeous!!

WOW! Just gorgeous! I would kill to have a barn like that on my property. Thank you for sharing your garden with us, WG.

:)
Dee

Hi digger!

Yes, the barn is very picturesque, unfortunately it is not very habitable and my business is starting to crowd up our house. So next year we are planning a renovation to the barn which will probably be more like a "tear down." I hope to salvage all I can and reuse the original boards and things, but it will probably look new and a bit more contemporary.

WG

Your pictures are beautiful and I love looking at the promise of a spring garden. I am certain that the archs will be dripping something beautiful before long.

Georgeous! I love the design, especially the arches. Do you have a two dementional plan that you can share? I would love to tour your garden.

No plan to share. The layout reflects the siting of the house and my favorite moments are really the result of site idiosyncracies, so the plan is of no use to anyone else. It has grown from our particular site which is why I think it works well. I also have a couple of other developments in the works like a "secret garden" which will be part of the barn renovation and a Japanese garden which will lead to a bridge and a woodland feature on the other side of our stream. That is the 20-year plan though and we are only on year 8!

Your gardens are just beautiful! I am so jealous of your large site, red barn, classic New England setting. Even though I can barely manage our 1/4 garden, I still covet & dream of having acreage.

I look forward to more pictures as the season progresses.

Thanks for the tour...

Tricia

Ohhh, Whitegarden! What gorgeous gardens! Mine is so small and chopped up, but I'm fairly new at gardening so I don't feel too bad. Lost losts of plants over the past couple of years. I live in Ashland, so close, but my garden is very far from yours! Just gorgeous.

It's so much fun, isn't it!

-Donna

Bravo! It looks to me like you successfully combined New England rustic with English formality. Just lovely. Any chance you remember the variety of white tulips you have?

Thanks,
Deanna

how lovely! What an inspiration!
How much land do you have?

Deanna, the tulips are white peony tulips, green parrots, and a white multiple bloom. I order from Van Englen every year.

Hipchick, we only have about 0.8 acre and a good part of that is the woodland you see behind the mini house. Non-wooded, including the house is probably about 0.4. I think the property looks much bigger since I put in the formal gardens. They seem to extend the site lines to the woods.

Donna, you have probably dirven by my house numerous times. I am on a VERY main road in Southborough.

Ahhhh.......I thought I was alone in this world! I too am currently working on new landscaping which is green and white around our new patio. Your's is wonderful! It's soooo appreciated in the dog days of summer and just glimmers at night. Do you have any Powis Castle Artemisia or variegated green and white Euonymous shrubs worked in? Love those two....Have you ever seen the Clematis Candida btw? What a stunner it is......flowers are brilliant white and about 6" across. I'm going to order from Brushwood online....had it in my last garden in Denver. Blooms in late spring, early summer. And Sweet Autumn Clematis? THAT would grow, lol!! Again, beautiful and love the layout too....Oh, we're next to our barn too. The paint is starting to flake off and after seeing yours, I just might let it.........snort.

jant, I have both the mounding artemesia and the larger leaf artemesia. They just don't show yet in the photos. As for Euonymous, I am just finishing removing any trace of it from my property. It is very invasive and not my favorite texture.

I have three types of white clematis in the main garden and a Sweet Autumn growing on a trellis on the back wall of my shop facing the driveway. This will be the year for it to fill in.

I will post photos of the clematis when they bloom and maybe you all could help me identify them.

WG

WG.......how long has your SA clematis been there? I grew this in Denver and it got so out of hand with our strong sun, I had to kill it the first year as it totally obscured the big arbor, lol. I now have 2 here and of course the growth is much slower. Wondering how long it takes to really take off....3 yrs maybe? In full sun.

I would say that I planted two of them in front of the trellis about three years ago. The location is part sun and I haven't seen much of a bloom yet. Also, it is in a location that I find easy to neglect. For example, I didn't cut it down at all the first spring and then was late doing it the second. This year I think I got it in time and it seems to be heading in the right direction, both literally and figuratively! We'll see what happens.

It looks like my clematis on the obelisks are Duchess of Edinburgh and Candida. I am not sure about the new ones I planted on the arches last year. I will have to wait to see a bloom.

Beautiful,
What a well balanced white garden you are really very talented. I would love to see a photo of the whole garden from above...any chance in talking Dh up on the roof of that wonderful barn? I will look forward to seeing more as the season progresses. kt

jant - SA clematis is a pest here on Cape Cod, too. Not sure how it will behave where you are. I was excited when I ordered it from White Flower Farm; later the same year I spotted it lining the back streets and cavorting in the vacant lots near me. I've been trying to eradicate it from my garden ever since, and I guess I will never be rid of it. It's certainly a great plant where it isn't invasive.

DD....it wasn't invasive in Denver. It just GREW like a monsta, lol..there was NO way you could walk through that arbor! I know it's a pest in warm areas like in the South but with cutting it to the ground each spring it normally controls it quite well....if you don't, I guess it could get out of hand. A bud of mine in RI has 2 vines that cover her pergola and no invasiveness after 4 yrs....just great growth. We'll see...the fragrance is what I love.

Thanks WG....that's about what I figured.

I noticed SA clematis along the roadside across the street and it took no time at all for it to jaywalk and join hands with my collection of bitter sweet, japanese honeysuckle, poison ivy,....but by far what has become very trouble some in a short period of time is Hairy Bittercress. DD-What grows on MV stays on MV...although I am still laughing at that one, I am now shocked at how quickly it has moved in and taken over...1/3rd of my front lawn this spring!!!! kt

Jant - the problem we have is that it reseeds too freely; I guess cutting it down in fall right after bloom would stop that from happening.

Katy - Hairy bittercress sounds like a monster - I'll have to look that one up because I've never heard of it.
OH MY GAWD - now I know the name of the plant that's invaded *every* one of my gardens. It looks so sweet and innocent, those adorable little flowers on those tiny wiry stems. Yikes. I have a 20 lb bag of corn gluten in the garage, I think it's time to start weekly applications in my gardens. Of course that would get rid of the self-sowing annuals and biennials as well ... what to do?

Thanks for the lead, I don't think I'd have gotten an ID on this pest without it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hairy Bittercress

runktrun, sorry but the barn is not sturdy enough to take any weight. I would hate to loose my DH. He finances the gardening! LOL!!!

As an aside, you guys should see the garden now. I took those photos on Tuesday and the difference is amazing less than a week later. It looks like a season has passed.

Next to bloom will be the tree peonies. I will share photos of those in a couple of weeks.

> It looks to me like you successfully combined New England rustic with English formality.

Great observation. The "sense of place" is unmistakably New England, and it certainly isn't easy to incorporate formal English elements into that kind of slightly rustic scene, but you've done a really good job.

I'm also looking forward to tree peony season, although with some dread this year. I noticed a wilted branch on one of mine this morning, signaling the deadly fungus that hit my plants just after they finished blooming last year. Someone had suggested a weak spray of hydrogen peroxide, and I may have to dig out the details and give that a try.

I moved one of 4 into a more open area last fall, and hope to move the rest this November. Meanwhile, the ones that are still in their old shady spot are loaded with buds, I was really dying to see them in bloom again. (Sob!)

I didn't know about a fungus, but now that I do, I will look out for it! Yes, my blooms were incredible last year and I have more than 30 buds this year on four plants! I can't wait!

WG

Hey, WG!

I recognize your out-buildings and your white theme. I used to live around the corner, so to speak, though we've moved to Northborough. (And, you and I were on a town open space committee together for a year or so). And, by the way, I googled your business recently and was blown away by your website. You have a stunningly impressive design ability. Thanks for sharing photos on this site.

SZ

Hey SZ! I had no idea you had moved. How are you? Email me through my web site and I can chat with you off this public board. I would love to know how you are doing!

WG (NV)

Whitegarden, your garden is lovely! Can you tell me what the bushes/trees and tulips are in your black/barn garden? Thank you, Ann OC in her very mini city garden.

The shrub is Prunus Cistena and the tulips are Queen of the Night and Black Parrot. The hyacinth are Woodstock.

Whitegarden, Thank you for the information. Can you publish your web page or is that against the rules of the forum? Ann OC

annoc, I'd rather not publish my web site address. Not a good idea to go that "public" on a message board. Sorry.

WG

I wondered if you had any updated photos of the garden this fall?

pm2

Hi Prairie. Thanks a bunch for reviving this post. My garden is not the neat and tidy place it was in June! I stopped photographing in July, so no good updated photos, although the garden did look great in late July/early August. Now it is overgrown and chaotic and covered under a nice bed of beautiful maple leaves. This weekend is fall clean-up, so, if photos seem appropriate, I will post some as the "before and after" so to speak!

whitegarden...is anyone's garden looking as good as it was in June? [g] Not mine!! That is so funny..I have taken very few photos in the last month or two also. lol Mine is looking awful from the drought and I am going to be happy to start all over again fresh next spring.

Would love to see your photos.
:-)

Thanks so much for posting! I have been looking for v. lg metal arches like you have- plse tell me where you found them and , when you have a chance, their height and width and depth !! Greatly appreciate it.

Best,
Mindy

Hi Prairie, I did find some arial shots from later in the summer with peonies and, I think, iris in bloom. I thought, once I finish my clean up, I will post a before and after pair. But it will have to wait until later in the month. We are crazy for the next couple of weeks!

Mindy, the arches are from Smith and Hawkin.

WG

This post was really a good idea, just beautiful! BTW, your page doesnt offer contact by email. Perhaps you would consider adding it or emailing me back thru my page. I also have a whitegarden and would enjoy discussing ideas. I have a garden photo album link to share also. Robin in NC formerly of Randolph, MA

Here is a link that might be useful: my page

Bumping!!!!!