My Gardens in Late Spring
The gardens at my Bedford, New York farm are always so lush and green this time of year.
Here in the northeast, June is among the best times to walk through gardens and to see the beautiful trees, and the late spring and early summer flowers that are bursting with color. Over the last few months at home, I've been able to spend more time working in my gardens - watering the beds, grooming and pruning various young trees, mowing the expansive lawns, and weeding, weeding, weeding. There is so much to do every day, but the rewards of a well-tended garden are worth all the effort.
Enjoy these photos.
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- The Pin Oak Allee, Quercus palustris, looks fuller every week with its distinguishable lower, middle and upper branches – such a lovely stand of trees. This allee is one of the first I planted when I moved to this farm and it has done so very well over the years.
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- Here is a view looking up from the Pin Oak Allee.
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- Near the great Pin Oak Allee is the soccer field, or the Party Lawn – a great space for playing games and a favorite spot of my grandson, Truman, who loves playing soccer here when he visits. On the right, the weeping hornbeams, Carpinus betulus Pendula.
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- This is my large orchard planted with more than 200 trees – apple trees, plum trees, cherry trees, peach, pear, and quince trees. It’s only a few years old, but already it’s produced so many delicious fruits.
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- The pool is open. During this time, it hasn’t had much use yet, but I am looking forward to safe and enjoyable gatherings soon.
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- Surrounding the pool and inside the fence is this gorgeous hedge of purple columnar beech trees, Fagus sylvatica ‘Dawyck Purple’ – a splendid tree with deep-purple foliage that holds its color all season.
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- If you follow this blog regularly, you probably know what these are. Do you? These are called staddle stones. Antique structures originally used in the 17th and 18th centuries as support bases for granaries, hayricks, and game larders. They typically looked like giant stone mushrooms, but mine are square – a more rare and unique version. And “planted” at one end of the pool, they look as if they’ve always been there.
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- At one end of the Boxwood Allee is this beautiful weeping copper beech, Fagus sylvatica ‘Purpurea Pendular’, an irregular spreading tree with long, weeping branches that reach the ground.
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- This is a newer allee of linden trees, Tilia. Linden can grow from about 65 to 130 feet in height. It develops dense, pyramidal, or round-shaped, crowns and can live several hundred years. My first Linden Tree Allee is located near the stable along two sides of a carriage road leading to my stable barn and chicken coops.
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- We’re doing a lot of mowing at the farm. Here’s Pete mowing the paddock in front of my Winter House in the distance. He is using the ZD1211-60 zero turn riding mower. It has a 24.8 horsepower diesel engine and a wider mower deck than older models. It gets a lot of use this time of year.
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- The Boxwood Allee separates the north and south paddocks. At the end are two horse-chestnut trees – deciduous trees with dark green, coarse-textured foliage. The multitude of pink to bright scarlet blooms are eye-catching.
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- Here’s Phurba working hard in the vegetable garden. Our crops are growing nicely. In this area are the brassicas – a genus of plants in the mustard family. Members are informally known as cruciferous vegetables, cabbages, or mustard plants. They are also sometimes called cole crops. And in the foreground, one of my Multipurpose Gardening Totes available on my shop at Amazon. The crew loves these bags for collecting grass clippings and all the pulled weeds. So roomy, light and so, so durable, these bags are must-haves in the home and yard.
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- The garden behind my Summer House is always a favorite stop for visiting friends. The boxwood looks very lush and green. The lilies are not blooming here yet, but at the back of the garden is a handsome row of beautiful white allium.
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- The garden bed just outside my Winter House and carport is filled with bold green foliage and white flowers beneath two tall weeping katsura trees.
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- Among the plantings are two viburnums – one at each corner. They are filled with long, spreading branches and pure white blooms.
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- Nearby, lots of lush green hostas.
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- And these classic bleeding hearts – white heart-shaped flowers. Their tall stems emerge and produce dangling clusters of white blossoms in spring.
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- Here on the Terrace Parterre are the boxwood and barberry. The colors add a dramatic touch to the terrace. The big pot is one of two huge cast iron sugar kettles I keep as fire pits at the farm.
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- Behind my carport and my apple espaliers are these blooming ‘Miss Kim’ Korean lilac standards. This upright, compact lilac blooms later than others, extending the season with deep purple buds that reveal clusters of highly fragrant, lavender flowers.
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- Here is a closer look at the flowers. The ‘Miss Kim’ Lilac is one of the most fragrant of all Lilac bushes.
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- And of course, the beautiful alliums – I have so many alliums along the clematis pergola. Allium species are herbaceous perennials with flowers produced on scapes. They grow from solitary or clustered bulbs. This pergola goes through several transformations throughout the year, and every one is a show stopper.
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- Across from my winding pergola is the row of bald cypress, Taxodium distichum – a deciduous conifer native to swampy areas of southern North America.
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- The flower cutting garden is flourishing. Right now, there are so many irises, columbines, and lupines in full bloom. Lupines come in lovely shades of pink, purple, red, white, yellow, and even red. Lupines also make great companion plants, increasing the soil nitrogen for vegetables and other plants nearby.
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- And here’s a peek at the herbaceous peony bed just beginning to glisten with bright pink and white blooms – we see more and more opening every day. I’ll share photos of this garden when it’s in full bloom. I hope you are able to enjoy your gardens during this challenging time.
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
