Special places in the landscape garden
“Let’s do something special over there”. That phrase always delights me. As a “landscape artist”, I love seeing and creating distinctive spots in the landscape garden. Today, I will share some of these with you.
When I told my mother, Jane B. Schulz, what I was writing about, she quoted a poem right off the top of her head. She said she had to memorize it in school as punishment for some wrongdoing. I loved it. Jane is into SHARING, click on her name and check her blog. Here’s the poem–
Flower in the crannied wall,
I pluck you out of the crannies,
I hold you here, root and all, in my hand,
Little flower -but if I could understand
What you are, root and all, and all in all,
I should know what God and man is.
–Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Anyway, somehow that poem reminded me of a picture I had taken of a secluded bird bath back in early March. Here it is—
I knew about where the bird bath had been but I couldn’t find it. I looked for a while and, there it was, stuck back in a hydrangea planting. I love it and I really enjoyed the floating blue flowers. I’ll bet the birds don’t have any trouble finding it
At another location, I walked around to the pool to see one of my favorites—It’s sort of like an outdoor dish garden with an ikebana flair. Ikebana design usually features three levels which represent heaven, man, and earth. Here we see a black pine that I have been pruning for years, a variegated juniper, and a really neat sedum with its yellow flower.. St. Francis seems to approve.
Walking around the corner from St. Francis, I found a beautiful break with raised beds, rock borders, and crape myrtles underplanted with “Endless Summer” hydrangeas
Oooooh, I remembered another one. I was having fun on a cloudy Saturday and the light was perfect for finding hidden treasures. Here’s a picture of a specimen contorted filbert hiding a small fountain and fish pond. I think I might do some pruning here next week. Dr. Harbin agreed
In one of the chapters of Requiem for a Redneck, I tell about Harce building a bridge in order to pay for his DUI. The bridge actually exists and the memory of poor Harce is always there. I think it is a masterpiece.
And in memory of Harce, a few years ago, I built this fountain in memorial. Patsy looked at it and told me that she had pictured a little girl pouring water from a pitcher, but I replied that “every garden needs a little redneck”. When the people from Atlanta Magazine came for a photo shoot, they featured it. Harce would have been proud.
And here’s a great story about hidden delights. Before the original house was added on to, there was a big hillside of ivy and weeds. Cleaning it up was quite a job with lopping shears and pruners. At the end of the first day of cleaning, I found a lamp post and said, “something special is going on here.” The picture below is what we found and polished.
I like it when you walk down a path and go around a corner and find a surprise. This part of the garden is special because the plants follow the light, going from ferns and lenten rose to nikko hydrangeas, and furnishing a view of the more light tolerant Annabelle hydrangeas just before the path goes around another corner.
I was running out of time when I rounded that last corner and found that I was not the only creature to find a special place in the garden. I call this picture the “organic cat feeder.”
I hope you got some good ideas, or at least enjoyed the tour. Is it any wonder that I love my job?
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I try to put up a new article every Sunday. Stay in touch. Share it with your friends.
If you live in or around the northwest Georgia area and would like to have a consultation with johntheplantman, you may contact John Schulz by email at wherdepony@bellsouth.net . Do not send pictures or attachments as they will be deleted.
As usual, I would just love for you click here to go to Amazon and purchase the ebook edition of my wonderful book, Requiem for a Redneck to go on your Kindle. I have also noticed that Amazon now has a free Kindle app for iphones and tablets. Is that cool or what?
or the print version:
http://www.amazon.com/Requiem-Redneck-John-P-Schulz/dp/0981825206/
Try “see inside the book” Harce’s picture is on the cover
johntheplantman--Gardening 
ITS ALWAYS A PLEASURE TO HAVE A NEW JOHN THE PLANTMAN ARTICLE TO READ EACH SUNDAY..I HAVE COME TO EXPECT IT AND MAY COMPLAIN IF YOU MISS ONE..MANY MOONS AGO YOU AND I WOULD SPEND TIME PUTTING TOGETHER DISH GARDENS..TINY LANDSCAPES OF ROCK BUILT INTO THE PLANTING..FOR YEARS I HAVE USED THAT SINCE I DIDNT HAVE TIME OR MONEY TO DO HY YARD BARELY GOT THEM MOWED MOST OF THE TIME..I HAVE CARRIED THESE CACTUS PLANTINGS WHEVER I MOVED TO FOR YEARS AND STILL ADD TO THEM..I HAVE THROUGH NECCESITY ADDED A TWIST…WHEN I MOVED TO DEEP SOUTH GA. I DISCOVERED NO ROCKS..IF YOU WANT ROCKS YOU BUY ROCKS IN SOME OF MY PLANTINGS I HAD THE ORIGINAL ROCKS THESE FROM JOHN THOSE FROM DAVID HIGHTOWER. AND I ALWAYS PICKED UP SOME ON MY TRAVELS THESE BECAME SPECIAL BECAUSE EACH TIME I LOOKED I REMEMBERED THOSE PEOPLE SO I BEGAN TO ASK MY FRIENDS TO PICK UP THREE SMALL STONE AND SEND THEM TO ME AS REMEMBRANCE ROCKS I NOW HAVE SEVERAL FROM ALL AROUND THE U.S….. I ENJOY THIS COLLECTION DOUBLY NOW..A SPECIAL CACTUS AND ROCKS FROM A SPECIAL FRIEND…THEY REMEMBER ME AND PICK THREE UP …I REMEMBER THEM WHEN I WATER THE PLANTS…FUNNY HOW THINGS GET STARTED….BILL
John, our sermon at church this morning was by a man who is “Minister of Memories” in the Methodist church at large. He got me to thinking how precious our memories are and how important it is to record them. You have done a beautiful job of retrieving special, almost forgotten, visual memories. I love this blog!