August 2018 Garden Tour at Jackie’s

Anyone signing up for an August garden tour can expect a hit or miss prospect depending on weather conditions over late spring and summer combined with the nature of the chosen plant materials that compose one’s garden. This year has experienced an ncredible amount of rain, periods of extremely cool weather followed by sticky heat waves. So, one never knows the ultimate outcome!

This year, our August tour was somewhat bitter-sweet, knowing it was our last opportunity to visit an incredible home and garden of our friend Jackie who will be relocating to the west coast. Her home and gardens are the result of decades of artistic creativity of both she and husband Chris that revolve around sculptural ceramics both indoors and out.  The write-up for the tour indicates the setting:

“A Hillside Retreat”.  Although yours truly had been to the house a number of times and had been outside for the pruning program (see earlier blog post), I had never been up the hill to see the rest of the property.

Our meeting was on a hot, sticky evening–the kind that layers on your skin and feels like breathing in a steam room. We were glad there would be cooler air to escape to inside! We straggled out in groups, some followed Chris to hear him talk about the garden and others wandered on their own. The entry way to the house is particularly nice due to retaining beds and walls along the walk way that a packed full of large groupings of different perennials and ground covers. Many flowers had already gone by but years of putting in varied backbone shrub and trees do make all the difference to enjoy the layers of a garden even between times.  Here are a couple views from two levels looking toward an adjoining workshop/studio.

Above we see some dahlias and butterfly weed in pots. There’s a water feature nearby.

Of course, August means Rudbeckias, Russian Sage and late daylilies. I also noted a self-seeding annual that my father-in-law had pointed out to me as a favorite of his years ago which he called Balsam. It will shoot its seeds out. Not many of us still get to enjoy the old fashioned pleasure of hanging clothes out to dry in the sun and breezes. Having this row of daylilies to admire, no doubt adds to the enjoyment. The shrubs behind may be a type of willow.

The Smith’s have built garden supports and structures over the years. They are great for some welcome shade, to hang bird feeders and let favorite flowering or fruiting vines take hold. Apparently, I  (sadly)missed taking a picture of some of Jackie’s tile work on a pillar and a fountain in one area.  Over many years, people who love plants will find spaces to try out what has caught their fancy. You can see that this couple loves woody plants of all types!

By August, most of us have gardens that are getting rampant and sprawl-y over large spaces. Jackie and Chris start plants in a greenhouse and can get them in ground early, so by August they must have had a lot of picking already. I noted an unusually marked cherry tomato with dark blotches-don’t know the name. Golly, there were all kinds of vining squash going crazy into the surrounding areas. I believe on was Delicata as that was a featured vegetable dish later. There was also signs of asparagus in that same garden.

Hydrangeas seemed to do well in this yard and August is also the month for “Naked Ladies”- a lily.

We walked down by the far side of the house which had some large garden beds which included some huge hosta with someone standing next to a clump for size comparison.

Afterwards, we gathering indoors for a pasta feast prepared by Jackie with beverages (wine, lemonade, etc.), fruit salad, hor doevres and cake contributed by assistant hostesses.

We all had a great time socializing and it was another event chez Smith where many husbands attended!