I think Spring is finally here…
The cool sounds of birds chirping…
Nests with eggs…
Thought it time to spruce up some pots and add some color…
Cool Finds Hydrangea ‘BoBo’… A show stopper.
Illicium ‘Florida Sunshine’. to brighten up any spot in the garden.
What’s in your Wagon?
Enjoy – Living the EntwinedLife!
Jayme B
Walking through my Zone 8 Garden, pondering the web we weave…
My wise friend Hilda always cautions with a kind voice, “Be careful what you wish for…”
Like most things in life, an action causes a ripple not to be reversed.
Native Americans honored the spider long before Charlotte’s Web was penned or became a delightful film with the memorable, sound of Julia Robert’s soothing voice. I’m certain a whole generation of children left their screens in search of a Charlotte of their own, heading outside to explore!
“So it was that Spider wove the first primordial alphabet, as she had woven the dream of the world that had become manifest. Spider’s dream of the physical world had comer to fruition millions of years before.”
“Spider’s body is made like the number eight, cons of two lobe-like parts connected at the waist, and eight legs. Spider is the symbol for the infinite possibilities of creation. Her eight legs represent the four winds of change and the four directions on the medicine wheel.”
“If Spider has dropped from her web into your cards today,” (I prefer getting into nature and then looking up the animals/insects I encounter), “she may be telling you to create, create, create!” … from Medicine Cards by Jamie Sams & David Carson
And so I shall!
Reminder: September 24 – 30, 2015 is Take A Child Outside Week…
Enjoy – living the EntwinedLive!
Jayme B
NC Certified Environmental Educator
One of them was a gem of a garden… the gentle breezes, the blowing table cloths,
Secret nooks captured views… the knowledge that someone envisioned a plot of land and worked it for their delight and fascination…
Meet Frank Harmon…
His fascination with design, building, art, everything green is astounding! It is comforting that he pulls along the roadside to do a quick watercolor of Native Places weaving a sense of time, sense of place and the importance of honoring these Native Places… then shares them.
With all that is happening in the world, I wish more people spent time seeking time to reflect and think in a garden.
Time yields perspective – thank you Frank for this lovely piece…
NATIVE PLACES
A COLLECTION OF THOUGHTS AND IMAGES BY FRANK HARMON
Gardening with Others
There’s been quite a ruckus in our town this summer about building a modern house in a historic garden district. Someone who lives across the street from the modern house sued the architect. The neighborhood is divided, pro and con, and nerves are getting pretty jangled, causing one opponent to say, “If this house is built, it will be the end of the Christmas Candlelight Tour!”
It’s time to sit in a garden.
A garden such as this one in Charlotte, North Carolina, planted by Elizabeth Lawrence over half a century ago. Lawrence grew several hundred plant species in a space about the size of a tennis court. She loved plants but her floral diversity was criticized. “I cannot bear for people to say (as they often do) that I am better at plant material than design. I cannot help it if I have to use my own well-designed garden as a laboratory, thereby ruining it as a garden,” she wrote. Yet visitors come from around the world to admire her garden.
Elizabeth Lawrence could have arranged her garden with plants that looked like her neighbors’. Instead, she spread a mosaic of flowers.
Read more about Elizabeth Lawrence .
Visit Frank at Native Places and Frank Harmon Architect, AIA.
Enjoy – living the EntwinedLife with Gratitude to know Frank!
Jayme B
NC Certified Environmental Educator
Garden Conservancy Regional Representative
JC Raulston Arboretum Volunteer
Entwined Garden it is a Cake—a sheet cake—large and cut into sections. The house designed by my engineer husband Phil is on an east west axis back to front and north to south. On the Solstices we have light streaming in across the floors… it is always a celebration!
Facing West
The gardens evolved as therapy for my soul in the long years of construction—I needed color against the red clay and sense of purpose—fluid swaths to soften the edges—frosting on the cake.
Entwined Garden South
It is there I always know where I am and what direction I am facing. Continue reading
I awoke early—it was Saturday—the second one in March, in anticipation of a spring-like day. With the weather report crisp and a “to do list” a mile long, a whole glorious day planned in the garden to quench the cabin fever of a relentless winter.
There was something in the air.
Still under warm covers, I opened my eyes to the world through my I-Pad. A Word Press notification introduced me to a wonderful story by a writer in Australia, Deb Hunt, a blog titled Snap Decision about gardening and loss of her Mum. Something I know all to well.
Next I perused GRATITUDE—which so inspired me. Gratitude from down under. Continue reading
On this wordless Wednesday enjoy the Allure of Allium—Pleasure of Purple.
Durham, North Carolina…—
Enjoy – living the EntwinedLife
Jayme B
NC Certified Environmental Educator
A small inclined suburban corner property— chocked full of ideas, a garden executed impeccably on a corner lot — creates a sanctuary for this charming do it yourself duo. Continue reading
The beauty of this suburban garden begins at street side where a path beckons you to enter and enjoy a preview of the abundant plantings that follow. The front garden is a delight of shrubs and perennials showcasing a spectacular thread-leaf Japanese maple. Upon entering the brick walkway at the arbor, you view a gently sloping garden with curved borders and pathways outlined with recycled concrete. Beds, with ever-shrinking lawn areas, are richly planted with perennials featuring a mix of native and specialty plants including tropicals, all in perfect harmony in both shade and sun. A number of the plants are rare and unusual, collected and propagated at the J.C. Raulston Arboretum. A small pond can be found along the network of twisting trails that lead through the woods to a community lake. Each area of this garden will elicit a sense of serendipity and discovery of plants, woods, and water.
Welcoming Vignettes – The Thompson Garden
Walt and I started designing this garden even before we designed and built the house over 25 years ago. Our style is Southern Informal, our goal was to design a garden utilizing the best characteristics of the slope of our land. Continue reading
Beautiful mature specimens and paths that wind into secret views—a passion for collecting plants—creating layered textures with antiques.
A garden that will make you feel like a kid again—exploring a secret magical place.
Welcome to the charming collector’s garden of Garden of Jean and Wayne Mitchell.
YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED to: Open Days
Saturday May 17 and Sunday May 18, 2014
Wayne is an avid golfer and enjoys relaxing with his wife and their family in the garden.
Meet my friend Jean Mitchell, the most gracious hostess. When not in her garden, Jean is a friendly welcoming face—volunteering at the J.C. Raulston Arboretum Bobby G. Wilder Visitor Center.
Gracious hostess Jean Mitchell.
Entwined Life: What do you call your garden?
Jean Mitchell: Long ago, neighborhood children named my acre and a half woodland garden, “My Fairy Garden in the Woods.”
How long have you been gardening at this location?
Since 1963.
What to you consider your gardening Style?
Informal Whimsical Woodland.
What kind of conditions do you garden in?
Rich woodland soil, but lots of roots and rocks. Very shady conditions. Hilly terrain.
Do you have any challenges in your garden?
Shade and large trees which make it difficult to dig holes because of numerous roots and rocks. Rabbits, voles and deer like to eat foliage.
What is the first thing you added, removed or changed in this garden?
Azalea beds were the original theme to the garden. Many of the original azaleas still remain and are now over 50 years old. The biggest change that occurred in the garden was the removal of many trees that were felled during Hurricane Fran in September 1996. This allowed an abundance of sunlight in many of the garden areas for the first time in the garden’s history, and reinvigorated our interest in gardening.
Do you collect plants and if so what?
Yes! I’m so lucky to be able to get many of my plants at JC Raulston Arboretum where I have volunteered since 1996. Native plants that like shade are my favorites.
What are favorite garden tools?
I love the mattock and shovel for my planting and gardening, and the rake for the leaves.
How much time do you spend working in your garden?
A couple of hours almost every day.
What is your mulch preference?
Ground up Autumn leaves.
Anything new added to your garden?
A Butterfly metal sculpture by Grace Cathey in Waynesville, NC.
What is your first memory in a garden?
Helping my mother plant flowers.
What is it that got you started gardening?
Each of my sons were given an azalea bed that they tended. Back then my passion was collecting antiques.
How many Gardens have you had?
Two—one on Ann Street in Cary and our present garden which we have now had for over 50 years!
Where do you go for inspiration?
Do you have a favorite Garden you’ve visited?
Chanticleer Gardens in Wayne, Pa and
Butchart Gardens near Victoria, British Columbia
Do you have a favorite Garden Book?
I enjoy all garden books!
Who is your Horticultural Hero? Or Garden mentor?
I have many, including my dear friends Mitzi Hole & Suzanne Edney.
Describe where you most often sit in your garden….
The blue bench on the backside of the house.
If money were no object what would you add or do differently?
Nothing! I’m happy and at peace with my garden the way it is.
Do you have ‘garden wisdom’ to share? Or anything you’d like to say about your garden?
My favorite expression is Dr. J.C. Raulston’s motto, “Plan and Plant for a better world.”
Or anything you’d like to say about your garden?
My garden is my peace and passion; a place where I don’t think of anything but my immediate surroundings.
Long ago, neighborhood children named my acre and a half woodland garden, “My Fairy Garden in the Woods.” An antique wrought Iron gate welcomes as you enter into native Sassafras, Bower and Hydrangea lined paths leading to a 3-tiered water fountain. Further on a white Victorian style gazebo beckons to sit a spell and listen. A magnificent Climbing Hydrangea scrambles to the top of a huge Tulip Poplar. Many collector shade plants line meandering paths that lead to a crooked Straight Creek. A glade of native fringe trees winds to the side. Many rare and unusual specimen trees, shrubs and perennials acquired from the J. C. Raulston Arboretum share beds with antiques cleverly placed along paths in this charming collector’s garden.
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