Garden visits via Web
As promised last Thursday, here are more of the gardens I enjoy visiting on the Web. One’s in England, another’s in Italy, and the rest are in the United States.
There’s something especially enjoyable in reading about gardens in other countries and to realize that – although the terminology and spelling might be different – gardeners are doing much the same thing, no matter where they live.
Garden Hopping follows a middle-age woman – a self-described “would-be garden design and horticultural student” – as she wanders around Britain looking at plants. She especially likes cats and David Austin roses.
For any garden lover who might be planning to visit the British Isles, the Garden Hopper provides a list of the best places to see various plants (hellebores, for instance), and notes gardens not to be missed.
The photographs are so gorgeous, they make you want to hop a plane so you can see for yourself. If you’re a casual gardener who doesn’t talk about plants in Latin, visit just to scroll through the pictures.
Kerry’s Garden chronicles the day-to-day trials, tribulations, and successes of a Kentucky gardener -- from irises and rabbits to dill and deer. Current posts include putting up a weather station, Miss Kim lilac growing in a large pot, gooseberries, and a Harrison’s Yellow rosebush.
Anyone who loves old-fashioned plants will feel right at home with the Heirloom Gardener in Chatham, N.J. “My garden is on a sloped less-than-half an acre and includes a Cutting Garden, a Rose Garden, a Children’s Garden, and several mixed borders,” she writes.
Reflecting these interests are excellent pages about heirloom roses, gardening with children, vegetables and herbs, and fences, arbors, walls, and paths. It’s an eclectic mix of topics you won’t find elsewhere, all excellently done.
The Balcony Garden, from Sue Swift, a (probably British) teacher in Milan, Italy, is offered to “all would-be gardeners who don’t have a garden at hand.” She really packs her largish balcony with all kinds of plants! On one day she may be talking about pelargoniums (geraniums to Americans) and hollyhocks and on another, taking visitors along on a trip to Barcelona, Spain.
She’s currently conducting an experiment to see if covering the drainage hole in the bottom of a flower pot with pieces of old broken clay pots is bad advice or not. (It’s considered so in the US, but not in Britain, it seems.) I’ll keep returning to find out if her conclusions match those of US university research.
At a time of year when gardening takes up all my after-work hours, I find relaxation and entertainment in reading about others' gardens. Do recommend some of your own favorite garden blogs.
