GARDENERS MAKE GOOD NEIGHBORS
Neighbors who are gardeners often become good friends who share gardening secrets. Jane Wickham and Jo Sigler are two such gardening neighbors. Jane’s back border is also the back border of Jo’s property. Part of this property line is separated by a low stone wall. Many plants were discovered by one neighbor and shared with the other.
Jane’s garden is mostly situated on a south facing hill behind her house. This hill has been terraced so that a good part of Jane’s planting and weeding can be done without bending over. An advantage I can certainly appreciate.
Near the driveway two red climbing roses provide background color for a white bleeding heart and pink crane’s bill geranium. These geraniums (perennials) can be found in pots for sale at greenhouses this year. Just around the corner, bordered by a walk, Mexican primrose, (Oenothera speciosa) a lovely pink thing, catches the sunlight.
Also in this area phlox and pink lilies are budding. Earlier, hyacinths, and other spring bulbs were blooming there. Pinks (Dianthus of various varieties) add their accents of pink and scarlet. The ferny foliage of tansy adds a pleasant scent to this part of the garden.
Sedums in various shades of green and differing sizes are an important edging and ground cover on the terraces, spilling over the edge in a very pleasing display. At a lower level, tea roses are starting to bloom and the spent foliage of orange oriental poppies is almost ready to be removed. In pots at a lower level, Jane has two poinsettias which she has kept for two years. They are kept in an inside enclosure with south facing windows in the winter and have bloomed faithfully at Christmas time.
A sunny hillside (which is terraced) is backed by a stately hollyhock against the house. This is surrounded by money plant, (Luminaria). Snap peas and tomatoes grow on the far side of this hill and a variety of pinks and shrubs grow at the lower edge of the terrace.
Another terrace is shaded by tall trees and is home to foxgloves, European Wild Ginger, and a lovely small barberry with pink variegated leaves. At the wall that borders the Sigler property, snow-on-the-mountain thrives in the shade of a large walnut tree.
As a visitors are shown Jo Sigler’s garden, they pass a display of grasses of various forms and colors soaking up the sun.
Then their attention is drawn to a brilliant flash of red. Two goldfish are swimming in a small shaded pool surrounded by shade loving plants. The goldfish are named for two of the grandchildren. An unfortunate encounter with raccoons ended the lives of the predecessors of these fish. They overwinter in the pool even though it is only about a foot deep. A pleasant, soothing sound is provided by a bubbler. Jo says that the pool requires very little maintenance. She buys water lettuce from a supplier in Independence, Ohio to keep algae down.
A narrow, secluded, intimate nook provides space for a variety of white flowering, shade loving plants. Jo says they are particularly beautiful at night. Two of the many different kinds of white plants are turtlehead (Chelome) and obedience plant. Tall white coral bells (Huechera) remind one of the nursery song, “White coral bells beside a garden walk, Oh, don’t you wish that you could hear them ring? That will happen only when the fairies sing.”
The Sigler’s daughter, Sarah, married an Englishman and lives in that country. Jo always manages to visit famous gardens when she visits her. She particularly remembers Sissinghurst, Vida Sackville-West’s garden in Kent. The English say that a garden must always have three things: it should be enclosed, should have a path, and should have stone or brick as part of its design. Jo’s garden has all three of these .
Within the confines of the stone wall backing the Wickham property and the house is a delightful shady nook, not more than ten feet wide, but oh, the different plants that are there! Jo has planted ferns with Hawaiian blue eyes, monardas and other mints. Deep blue widow’s tears (Tradescantia) mingle with lynchis, and Japanese hairy toad lilies
Each flower of widow’s tears lasts only a day, thus its name! A comfortable bench provides a resting place.
In another shady comer is a garden of primroses, their flowers now spent but their foliage remains attractive all summer. Impatiens provide color in the summer.
Another patio faces west and is shaded by the largest hazelnut tree I have ever seen. Two years ago for the first time, it produced bushels of hazelnuts. Around the base of this tree is the wild newer garden. False Soloman’s seal, two kinds of wild ginger, trilliums and five different kinds of violets share space with sweet woodruff and laminiums
If visiting gardeners and learning about their gardening practices is work, then I think I am in heaven with work like this. I spent a very pleasant hour with both Jane and Jo. I would like readers to recommend other gardens whose owners are willing to share their secrets.
– Mary