Friday, August 29, 2008

Kit and caboodles in her garden


I was visiting with my co-worker Johnny about my love of gardening one day when he suggested, "You need to come over and talk to my wife, Kit - she loves to garden too."


So last weekend I took him up on his offer and went over to their home to admire their garden. We had the best time! We talked gardening, and dirt, and mulch and seeds and everything garden - we were all in heaven! They have transformed their twin home landscape into a caleidoscope of colorful perennials and annuals.

The goal of our meeting was to exchange monarda as I'm an avid collector of all colors. I took home a cutting of Kit's lavender-colored variety and I gave her a chunk of my "Raspberry Wine". We were like two kids trading baseball cards - both giddy to get their coveted favorite player - or plant in our case.

Kit is a lot like me in that we had no formal training in gardening or have taken any special classes. We both developed this affinity for gardening by getting our hands in the dirt. We are on a constant mission to beautify our surroundings. She also told me one of her favorite places to shop was the Plant Ranch too! (See earlier post "Flat Sale"). Indeed, Kit and I were kindred spirits.

Kit had some interesting blooms in garden - some of which were completely new to me that I wanted to share with you, my blogger friends.

Kit raved about her Brazilian Verbena (Verbena bonariensis). Of course, when she said verbena I'm thinking about the trailing plant you see in containers but this was completely different. She said this plant grows in even the worst soil, takes little space in the garden and has an airy feel that doesn't thwart the growth of other plants. I caught a bee on a verbena cluster above. Kit is giving me seeds for next summer. Yes!

This was my favorite of the day - a Bush Morning Glory. I had never seen a ground cover plant quite like it. Kit planted these by seed in June and it was a prolific clump of beautiful blue blooms with yellow eyes. It was fabulous. That's going on my wish list. Love, love, loved it.


Scabiosa or pincushion flower. I'm trying this next year.

Loved the combination of profusion zinnias (which looked WAY different than mine), tickseed and balloon flower. Here's another photo below of the profusion zinnias.



I thought profusions were always small?! They did such a nice job with the rock edging too.


This dainty white flower delphinium "Summer Morning" was front and center in the back bed. (I thought it was nicotiana at first glance).

This perennial lobelia was next to the delphinium as well. I had tried this plant before but the bunnies got it ... (sigh).


This was the oddest looking plant - a "cleome" or spider flower - which Johnny said looked like giant jellyfish. It was huge but a very cool accent in the garden.

Here's a glance at how everything works together....



I hope you enjoyed a look at Johnny and Kit's garden. It was a Sunday afternoon well spent.

Happy Birthday Sasha!

11 comments:

garden girl said...

Hi Beth, Kit has a gorgeous garden, with lots of interesting and pretty plants. Thanks for sharing your visit. How nice that you traded monardas with each other!

Priscilla George said...

What wonderful plants Kit has. I have never seen or heard of that verbena either. I love the bush morning glory, I have seen a few around here. Maybe one day I will have a gardening buddy who I can trade with.

Susie said...

Hey Beth,

What beautiful blooms! Looks like you found yourself a new gardening friend. That's always great! Kit obviously has a green thumb.

You know I don't think it matters how many gardening books you read or how many gardening classes you've taken, you have to get your hands dirty to learn about gardening. That's the joy of it!

Anonymous said...

Beth, this is awesome! Thank you so much for sharing these pictures. Great camera work! It really was a wonderful afternoon...so glad we discovered our mutual love of gardening. I look forward to many more days of trading and talking gardens!

Beth said...

Garden Girl - I thought it was interesting too! I can't wait to see what the lavender monarda will look like next summer.

Vanillalotus - The Bush Morning Glory was soo cool. Finding people like Kit is fun because you get to learn about new plants that you wouldn't think or know to try.

Susie - I agree, you can read all you want but I think you learn more by trying it yourself. It's my therapy!

Kit - welcome to my blog! Glad you enjoyed our visit. My place next time?!

Neza S.G. said...

Hi Beth,
Thanks for sharing your plant discoveries and interests. I like the photographs.
Thanks a lot for commenting on my blog!

The Rock and Roll Gardener in Minnesota

Connie said...

Lovely garden! Thanks for sharing. How nice for you to have found a gardening friend. The only thing that tops gardening is sharing it with kindred spirits. I have a few of those friends and they are invaluable to me.

I have that same scabiosa, it is called "Fama", and I love the color! Those zinnias don't look like Profusions to me either. I grow Apricot Profusion every year... they are more single with a prominent center.

Beth said...

Neza - thanks for stopping by. I'm sure all of these would grow nicely in Minnesota too!

Hi Connie - thanks for the info on "Fama". I'm with you on the profusion - it's not your typical variety. Kit and I talked about it and maybe it was mismarked at the nursery. Whatever zinnia it is - it sure is pretty!

Lona said...

What beautiful flowers!It is so nice that you made a connection with a fellow gardener. I have never seen the ground morning glory either. The blue is gorgeous!

Susie said...

Hey Beth, I've given you an award. Come and check my blog.

Kerri said...

No wonder you were in heaven..that garden is gorgeous! Lucky you to exchange monarda cuttings and get some seeds of the verbena bonariensis. I love that stuff! It's on my wish list.
Kit has several flowers I'd like to try. That bush morning glory is gorgeous, and I keep meaning to plant cleome.
Those zinnias are amazing. What a color!
Thanks for sharing this lovely garden. Isn't it fun to find a kindred spirit? :)