Mary Washington House 2009

Thursday was the first meeting of the year for our group of volunteer gardeners at the Mary Washington House. It is such a pleasure to be a part of this group. Our meeting was mostly organizational and planning. We did, after some tasty snacks, make our way outside.

Things bloom earlier in this garden than in mine. Here, the crocus are already in bloom...





A hyacinth was also blooming...


The strawberries over in Mary's vegetable garden promise lots of sweet fruit in the future...



A tree peony rescued by H the Horticulturist who has worked her magic with it and it now has a happy home...


Some camera fun...I can't resist...


I'll end with this odd shot...lots of shadows for midday...in an area that will burst into bloom shortly...


We'll be back for another look in a month or so...

Mary Washington House Spring 2008

Today I made it to the Mary Washington House garden. My first visit of the season! Everyone was hard at work when I arrived and it was just great to see our group. There have been some changes since we (you and I) last took a look here.

For starters, a new fence is up thanks to some intrepid Boy Scouts. It looks most lovely behind all these yellow tulips, doesn't it?


Closer:


Those Boy Scouts hand cut each piece of wood which is really in the spirit of the time.

Last year, I missed the blooming of the tree peony. I am determined to see it this year.



This is a rescue by H the Horticulturist and some of the garden gang. It's doing amazingly; one would never know it was moved (I told you they are a talented bunch).

These black tulips against the white wall are pretty stunning.


Closer:



The redbud is striking as well:



You may remember the native columbine (some of these reside in my garden thanks to the MWH garden) from before. Look where this one has placed itself:



As we head out, it's hard not to notice the lilacs in bloom:



This was just a little taste of spring today. It will be a different garden when next we visit.

Mary Washington House Update

Okay, okay...I have not been the faithful correspondent I imagined I would be back in spring. But, you'll forgive me, right? I did get my hours but I didn't spend as much time in Mary's Garden this year as I would have liked. For those of you who might not know, the Mary Washington House is the home of George Washington's mother. I am part of a group of volunteers who work in Mary's garden. Here's a list of some of the previous posts on the MWH I've done.

Anyway, last post's fig reminded me that I had some pictures from early September to share. You'll see exactly what I mean in a minute.

It's always changing in the garden (like any garden) and I find things that I've seen over and over take on a new look. The crepe myrtle petals on the brick were just very striking that day.


Mary's vegetable garden (Isn't it lovely to look at?)


The zinnias were proudly waving and very eye-catching:


Sweet Autumn Clematis...note the posts in front:


Now you know....


Here's an upward view of figs at the Mary Washington House:


And, a not-so-great picture of a very tasty and sweet fig...yum!


Now you know why I want to wrap my tree this year (the one at the MWH doesn't have to be wrapped...)!

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After whining about our lack of rain, it is with delight that I inform you that it is raining!! Yes! Right now, in fact. Picture a big smile on my face....

This past weekend, DH and I attended Lilyhemmer in PA. It probably deserves its own post, so I'll just say it was so fun!

The weekend before, I attended the RADS Banquet in Richmond where Jamie Gossard was the guest speaker. Can you say Daylilies, Daylilies, Daylilies?? More on this later, too...maybe with the Lilyhemmer one.

Amazingly, I have a daylily blooming. It's BUTTERED POPCORN and this has been a fabulous rebloom it has gifted me with this month. Not a fancy daylily by today's modern standards, but a workhorse plant.


The veggies are done. The last tomato plant, Sungold, is now gone along with all the peppers. I might still squeeze a final harvest of basil. We'll see (I do love pesto...more on that....one of these days...over at Gotta Eat).



The roses have been blooming and putting on a nice display...even with no water...


My South Carolina Tea Olive continues to pour out fragrant blooms:


Here's my fig tree...which is from a cutting off of the one at the Mary Washington House. This fruit won't have time to ripen, sadly....I am counting on my neighbor down the street to help me wrap this tree for winter. I've not done this in the past and it basically dies down and then has to start all over again. She wrapped hers last year and has been eating lots of figs. I'm eager to give it a try (the wrapping...and the eating!).



This is a bit of what's going on around here....

Talent on Display

Is this not incredibly gorgeous???



For those you of that read along, you know that I belong to a group of volunteer gardeners. It is an interesting group of people who, besides being great gardeners, are full of surprises. This awesome chair is the original design and needlepoint of one of Mary's Gardeners. She created this! I should tell you and it will come as no shock to you that it was a People's Choice Award Winner at a needlepoint show at a major historic site . No kidding!

(Thanks, B for holding up the back of the chair!)

Our artist...she truly is...has many talents. Here's one of her paintings:


A woman of extraordinary talent, she had us over after gardening to a "little" lunch (you can imagine...think Texas and think big...and more importantly, think delicious!!) to see her garden, then arranged a rose garden tour of a nearby neighbor's garden...from there took us to her log cabin lake house to see her garden by the lake...and concluded with another tour of a neighbor at the lake's native plant garden. It was quite a day!

Thank you so much, F! Your gardens are wonderful...and so are you!

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As part of my ongoing effort to journal about Mary's Garden, here's what it looks like this week. If you missed my previous posts, you can check here. My goal is to do a better job this year in following the garden through its changes. If you don't recall, the Mary Washington House is the home of George Washington's mother. George bought this home for his mother and she spent, I believe, the last 17 years of her life here. I volunteer in the garden with a wonderful group of folks loosely called "Mary's Gardeners". We work under the direction of H. the Horticulturist.

One of the pleasures of the experience is that it is always a learning one. H. the Horticulturist showed us the following money plants, Lunaria annua (also called Honesty):


You'll note a white, pink and dark pink...all of which grow in Mary's Garden...and a multi colored one which grows in H. the Horticulturist's own garden.

Look closely in this photo and you'll see all three:


In this one, a bit closer of the darker ones, you'll also see Virginia Bluebells, Mertensia virginica:


Also in the garden are native Columbines, Aquilegia canadensis:


This lighter version has turned up:


A happy mix of things:


Mary's view this week...one of these days the yellow house will become a bit less of a focal point:


Mary's vegetable garden is coming along....on the side where the yellow tulips are will later be a long border of garlic chives:


The basket sports a different look this week:


First iris:


Some anemones are still going:


H. the Horticulturist also showed us that Rosemary will root in water:


And, lucky me... I ended up with flowers from Mary's Garden and H. the Horticulturist's:


Until next time!

The Mary Washington House

Last year, I thought I would blog more about my time at the Mary Washington House. I did cover it initially, however, I didn't follow it through the seasons as I had intended.

Maybe this year, I'll do a better job. Last Thursday, we were busy weeding and noting the changes. I'll show you some of what I saw.

Here we are at Mary's House:


The Quince is in full bloom:


Let's go around to the back, where most of our work is done:


Look here. The Carolina Jessamine is blooming:


This is what you see standing in the back garden looking toward the Mary Washington House:

That is, by the way, Mary Washington's sundial.

This basket is woven with (among other things) fig cuttings and is lovingly maintained by a dedicated volunteer Mary's Gardener (one of our group):


It will change throughout the seasons. Right in front is our only bread seed poppy. Lonely thing, isn't it! If you look off to the right, that's Mary's vegetable garden. A few things are growing, but it's still a bit early for our area. The soil is quite rich as it is amended with homemade compost.

We'll end with a shot of Mary's herb garden. It sits right outside the door to her kitchen which is a separate building from the main house.


We'll be back at work this Thursday under the guidance of our trusty horticulturist leader. If you have the opportunity and the time, volunteering is a wonderful thing. There's something for all interests...mine happens to be gardening and I feel fortunate to be part of this group.

Until next Thursday....