Fernmountain

I just completed mulching my slope.

Last year, I tore out a huge mess of overgrown shrubs, honeysuckle and trash trees and prepped the area for creating the garden in view of my patio door.

I planted Vinca alba, Phlox divaricata, Thalia Narcissus, Squill, and ferns as the base. I have also planted rhododendron and blueberries. I have a Chesapeake Viburnum planted as well for it's sweet fragrance.

I sat down to read the garden section of the New York Times and found this article on the March Bank at Winterthur Gardens in Deleware. I have a long way to go before my vision is reached. The photo's in the article though are a good representation of my vision. I have done it before, in my horsehead garden posted by my profile.

I have spent my whole life planting the tiny bulb, Chionodoxa sardensis also known as Glory of the Snow in gardens. It does take years to get them to naturalize into large drifts. But, like Johnny apple seed I keep poking them in the ground everywhere I go. My clients ask "What are those little blue things?" When they discover what I have done. I once worked on an estate that had them in such abundance in the lawn that I felt I was in 'Blue OZ'.

I have tried to recreate that everywhere. The bulbs in the photo's were planted 100 years ago.

I was so proud of my little slope all mulched and tidy...until I saw these photographs of my dream gardens. The vinca survived last years drought and is blooming, but in tiny little clumps. It is all so baby new. Next year will be better. With perennials, the first year they sleep, second year they creep and the third year they leap. At least two more years and hundreds more bulbs to go.....

Gardening takes a lot of vision and patience. It is so worth it.