My Summer House Garden
I hope you caught a glimpse of my recent Instagram post @MarthaStewart48 - the sunken garden behind my Summer House is bursting with spring growth.
I began this formal garden more than 15-years ago and have added many different kinds of plants, shrubs, and trees ever since. It is a kind of "room" walled by a tall hedge of boxwood. The focal point is the great old ginkgo tree at the back of the space that is original to the property. Over time, I've planted American and English boxwood, smaller ginkgo trees, smoke bushes, Siberian weeping pea shrubs, peonies, hostas, lilies, Leucojum, and so much more.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
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- This is the sunken garden behind my Summer House. When I first designed this garden, I called it my Boxwood Room. It measures 60 by 120 feet.
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- The garden’s main focal point is the mighty old ginkgo tree in the back of the space. This tree is about 250-years old. Although not as large as others I’ve seen, my tree is quite massive.
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- Most of the garden is surrounded by a tall American boxwood hedge. And because the Summer House faces a rather busy intersection, the wall of boxwood provides a good deal of privacy.
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- In this garden, I also have six weeping Siberian pea shrubs with cascading weeping branches that bear pinnately compound leaves. Soon, small yellow pea-like flowers will appear on these branches.
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- The garden beds are filled with Leucojum vernum – the spring snowflake, a perennial plant that grows between six to 10 inches in height and blooms heavily in early spring.
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- The plant produces green, linear leaves and white, bell-shaped flowers with a green edge and green dots. Don’t confuse them with Snowdrops – those bloom much earlier. The Snowflake is a much taller growing bulb which normally has more than one flower per stem.
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- Ipheion uniflorum, commonly called spring starflower, is native to Argentina and Uruguay and features grass-like foliage and solitary star-shaped flowers on six-inch tall stems. Flowers range in color from almost white to violet blue. Flowers have a mild spicy fragrance, and when bruised the foliage emits an oniony aroma.
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- Guinea Hen Flower, Checkered Lily, and Snake’s Head Fritillary are all names for this charming Fritillaria meleagris – an heirloom species dating back to 1575. It has pendant, bell-shaped, checkered and veined flowers that are either maroon or ivory-white with grass-like foliage intermittently spaced on its slender stems. I have many in my gardens.
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- Anemonella thalictroides is an easy-to-grow, deer-resistant, durable, but dainty looking plant. The genus name Anemonella roughly translates as ‘little anemone’ because its flowers are miniature copies of the windflower. These are a light pale pink.
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- Depending on its stage of development, the bloodroot herbaceous perennial plant is about three to 12 inches tall. It produces only basal leaves that are about three to five inches wide.
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- These double flowers of bloodroot are brilliant white atop single stems.
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- And here is one of the first peonies to bloom. Tree peonies are larger, woody relatives of the common herbaceous peony, growing up to five feet wide and tall in about 10-years. They are highly prized for the prolific blooms.
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- This trout lily is ‘Pagoda Dogtooth.’ It produces up to 10 clustered, 12-inch arching stems that bear yellow, nodding flowers with reflexed petals.
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- It is also known as yellow trout lily, fawn lily, yellow adder’s-tongue, or yellow dogtooth violet. This species of perennial, colony forming, spring ephemeral flower is native to North America. I have them in my gardens and growing wild in my woodland.
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- All the hostas are also growing quickly. Hostas are a perennial favorite among gardeners. Their lush green foliage varying in leaf shape, size and texture, and their easy care requirements make them ideal for many areas.
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- These hostas are so healthy. Hosta is a genus of plants commonly known as hostas, plantain lilies, and occasionally by the Japanese name, giboshi. They are native to northeast Asia and include hundreds of different cultivars.
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- And here is another hosta with shades of dark and light green.
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- This is the interesting foliage of the variegated Lily of the Valley. It is delicately striped in a creamy white that lightens shady gardens all season. The charming and richly fragrant plants have many bell-shaped flowers in late spring.
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- The Alliums will be blooming very soon. The Allium, also called Ornamental Onion, is one of the most interesting blooms in the spring and summer garden. With a spherical shape that holds its form throughout the season, it’s one of the longest lasting blooms from a bulb. They appear in a variety of colors, heights, and forms – all are highly attractive to pollinators and are very deer resistant.
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- Cotinus, also known as smoketree or smoke bush, is a genus of two species of flowering plants in the family Anacardiaceae, closely related to the sumacs. They are a great choice for massing or for hedges. The stunning dark red-purple foliage turns scarlet in autumn and has plume-like seed clusters, which appear after the flowers and give a long-lasting, smoky haze to branch tips.
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- And all the ginkgo trees are just beginning to show leaves. The leaves are unusually fan-shaped, up to three-inches long, with a petiole that is also up to three-inches long. This shape and the elongated petiole cause the foliage to flutter in the slightest breeze. Ginkgo leaves grow and deepen in color during summer, then turn a brilliant yellow in autumn.
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