A Fall Walk Around Tiger Way Gardens

A recent walk around Tiger Way Gardens had me finding lots of neat fall colors. Above is a monarch sipping from a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia). Funny thing about Mexican sunflowers, I've never grown them before and don't really know where this one came from amongst the zinnias. I almost pulled it out but due to lazy weeding, it bloomed before it was doomed. That was a good thing! Monarchs love tithonias.

The front corner garden is outstanding in its fall glory. This garden never fails to please me. Except for the dastardly weeds (which thankfully you probably can't see too well from this angle).

The Sheffies in the front foundation garden are putting on quite a show. Here they are paired with hyssop, spirea, and Japanese roof irises.

Another garden has a bunch of Sheffies. Here they are paired with daylilies, 'Autumn Joy' sedum, and tall yellow garden mums.

'At Last' rose is an AHmazing rose. It blooms and blooms, has a great rose scent, and does not get foliage diseases (at least in my garden this rainy summer).

My beloved glass mosaics are finally in their new home. I am very happy they survived the move, the subsequent storage, and then reinstallation. Considering these have been in the garden since 2009 that is fantastic!!

The koi pond with its surrounding pink garden is a highlight for me. All of the koi are active and eating well. We've not had a single issue with wildlife dining on the koi. Thank goodness!

Beautyberry (Callicarpa bodinieri 'Profusion') is beginning to color up. This is a rather large shrub that continues to grow, flower, and fruit even with multiple prunings during the growing season. I like it a lot.

The chickens got a new roof over their run to keep them dry this winter. This was a long time coming project but it is mostly finished for now.

Looking down the driveway along the south side of the orchard we see asters in the butterfly garden and lots of PG hydrangeas and grasses. The leaves are beginning to fall in earnest as well.

The beehives have had their mouseguards installed and I am in the process of hay baling the northwest side of the hives in order to block the cold north winds. I am most relieved to be mostly done with the bees until next spring.

Some of these PG hydrangeas are still showing new blooms but most have faded to the brown flowers they'll keep all winter. I love these as much for their winter interest as for their bloom in the summer.

On the back 40 Wildflower Hill is doing its stuff. The broomsedge has turned brown and the trees are coloring up. We don't seem to get much fall color in Tennessee, especially when it has been dry, but some trees color up nicely. The short red tree is a native dogwood. These almost always have a lovely red fall color.

The hickories in the foreground turn a russet color. I mowed a path down the hill and oftentimes this path beckons me to travel onwards.

This is simply one of my favorite sights on the property.

I mow the flat part of the crest of the hill and have planted numerous nut trees in this area.

More of the russet hickory trees. Our forest is predominately Oak/hickory hardwoods and I try hard to maintain it thusly.

Some golds mix in with the russets.

A dogwood and cedar stand mix well in this southern facing exposure.

Aronia arbutifolia 'Brilliantissima', aka red chokeberry, is coloring up. These berries will persist all winter long as long as the wildlife does not find them.

I finish back at the house in a foundation garden. This is one of four 'Black Dragon' (Cryptomeria japonica) and they are finally getting their beautiful shape. I purchased four of these as markdowns two years ago. 'Black Dragons' can be very expensive but are so beautiful I had been on the lookout for them. All four are planted along the foundation corners in the front of my home. They are actually growing fairly quickly and once mature will make lovely counterpoints to the house. Additionally, since they are evergreen they provide year round interest.....

in the garden......

I don't post as much as I used to, but I am fairly active on my Facebook page found here. I find it so much easier to be in the spur of the moment to post interesting things on FB with my smartphone rather than on the blog. So if you like Coach in the Garden and would like to keep up with the plant happenings in Tiger Way Gardens please check out and like my professional page...in the garden.

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

A Walk Around Tiger Way Gardens Part I

It's been such a long process for me to buy this land, move my garden, move my house, prepare the old house for sale, and get settled in that blogging has taken a backseat to all I do. The good news is the process is pretty much over. We sold our other two houses within the last month so that burden of caring for more than one house is now over. Moving the garden is now over too. Moving things out of the old house when you have a lifetime of 'stuff' there is also over. What is not over is still sorting out and organizing the house and gardens in our new home we call Tiger Way Gardens. That chore continues. Nonetheless I still garden and work diligently to get these gardens up to snuff. It is a neverending chore and I am not as young as I used to be so things move a lot slower than in years past. Despite this I have made some progress in some areas and I thought I'd be okay sharing them with you all. 

The above picture showcases carrot blooms in my frontyard vegetable garden. These blooms are a delight and look just like 'Annabelle' hydrangea blooms from the house. As a bonus the blooms and foliage attract beneficial insects such as bees and butterflies. I'll soon update you all on the vegetable garden. It is doing awesomely this year.

The front foundation gardens are filling in as well. These gardens have been a major struggle because of course most of the backfill of soil is next to the house. Think rocky clay subsoil. It is not a pretty picture. Ragweed and other grassy weeds have overrun the foundation gardens since we've lived here. I think I am finally getting a handle on the issue now. I've weeded, laid down cardboard, and mulched with hardwood chipped mulch to get these gardens on track. The foundation gardens are quite large and face west. I've used both evergreen and deciduous shrubs as well as a small tree or two and some perennials. Both the front and back foundation gardens are home to bird feeders and a multitude of hummers empty the hummingbird feeders daily. I enjoy sitting on my front porch and watching all of the action. This particular garden also sported a baby timber rattlesnake; which I found dead. Apparently one of the cats or dogs killed it and I was grateful for that! I am now careful when entering heavily planted garden areas to look for snakes. All of the plants you see above were moved from my old home.

The back foundation gardens are unique in that they face east and back up to the koi pond. The colorful shrub in front here is a Deutzia 'Chardonnay Pearls'. This is the very same shrub that was in my old garden and which was the Plant of the Month for May 2009! This deutzia is quite large and when I dug it up last summer I did not think it would survive but it has surprised me and come back quite well.

Right behind the above deutzia is a shrub I received from Proven Winners last spring. This is 'Little Quickfire' and it is an awesome shrub! This one and its twin came in small pots last spring. Despite being small it actually bloomed last year! This year there are more blooms and both this shrub and the twin are growing well. I love hydrangeas and this particular cultivar is smaller than the original Quickfire; which enables me the ability to plant it along my foundation without it overtaking the garden and the windows on the house. Hydrangeas are typically a multiseason interest shrub and Little Quickfire fits the bill. Once these blooms go by they'll turn a pinkish red and the dried blooms will stay on the shrub all winter even as the leaves fall off.

Next to the pond is a working table that holds some pots right now. These hypertufa pots I made are filled with Stepable sedums. If you haven't tried the Stepables give them a try. I received a few flats last spring and never got around to planting them. My original idea was to build a greenroof but I just never had the time where a green roof was a priority. Perhaps sometime in the future. So the Stepables lived in their flats all summer, winter, and spring and performed magnificently! I am most impressed with the combination of sedums and their toughness. To finally give them a home I put them in these hypertufa pots and am happy with the effect. Perhaps one day I'll get to that greenroof.

Some coneflowers in the 'Pink Garden' surrounding the koi pond. It is really easy to design a garden around color. Of course I also use textures and bloom times and forms to design a garden but goodness, the number of pink flowers that bloom throughout the year is vast. Once these coneflowers go by, the Surprise lilies, turtlehead, Joe Pye weed and asters will step in. There is always something going on in this garden.

You'll see this picture again just because I love it so much. These are lime green daylilies from my friend Angie of Angie's Gardens. They are a nice tall daylily that goes with anything.

The Red Garden is coming into its own as well. This particular garden is the one I use in my cover photo for my facebook page Coach in the Garden. That particular picture was taken last fall. I may need to update it soon. This garden is a corner raised garden in the frontyard and is visible from the house, driveway and actually the entire frontyard. It is a full sun garden and butterflies love it.

The corner of it is just waiting to burst into brilliant blooms. Here we have the textures of rudbeckia and tatarian asters along with a Japanese cedar and grasses and let's not forget the rounded heads of 'Annabelle' hydrangeas.

Another view of it shows the Red Drift roses and some 'Sunny Border Blue' veronica. Bumblebees love veronica! I took dozens of pictures of this plant trying to get a good one of a bumble or two with no luck. Just take my word for it that if you plant veronica the bees will come.

On the lower side of the raised Red Garden I moved five 'Limelight' hydrangeas here from my old garden. The blanket flowers are offspring from some plants I also received from Angie. Lamb's ear was a volunteer. The grass behind these plants is 'Adagio' and is actually located in the Red Garden raised above this lower garden. I'll have to showcase how this garden was made one day. It's a creative story of reuse of some things.

I'm going to finish with my little Pawpaw tree. You may remember I posted about them and tree shelters a few years ago. I kept the tree shelters on until last summer (about two years) then removed them. The pawpaw trees are doing so well! The three grafted varieties in the orchard must have grown a foot or more just this year. In fact, one of them actually bloomed! There are no fruit though. You'll see more of the orchard in Friday's walk around post....

in the garden..... 

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

Biltmore and Meeting Bloggers

BY SKEETER

Lets go back to Biltmore for a peek at some more things shining during Spring.

 The Water Gardens were cleaned out and ready for a new season.

 Koi fish of various sizes were happily swimming around.

 This was a super friendly fish. It kept coming up to us and the Saint even pet its head. Looking for a hand out no doubt.

 We spotted many tadpoles in the ponds.

 I found this bloom interesting but could not find a name. Anyone know what this could be? Maybe a Viburnum?  

 Peony

 This was the only Rose Bush blooming at the time. Soon, the Rose Gardens will be bursting with colors.

 Orchids were seen in the Orchid house.

 Not sure of this bloom but found the color intriguing.

 A beautiful White/Pink Azalea.

 The Saint and I were in awe of the many May-apple's seen throughout Biltmore as well as the mountains. The Saint flipped this bloom over for a better peek.

 We had a nice walk along the stream. 

 I spotted Peter Cottontail just about the same place I spotted one last year! I could not help but wonder if the same bunny.

 Last year while in the Farm, the Saint was holding and loving on a chicken. He was disappointed that the chickens had just been given some scratch and not interested in him. I got a kick out of all the chicken butts up in the air.

 Cornelia and Cedric together once again.

Animal lovers, my kind of people!

As animal lovers, we were happy to see so many people with their dogs enjoying Biltmore Gardens. 

 Last year we missed the car but not this year. 

Impressive to us antique car lovers.

 We enjoyed our visit to Biltmore and hated saying goodbye to such views.

We tried to explore Chimney Rock State Park but the weather would not cooperate with us, sigh. Oh well, just another reason to get us back to the North Carolina Mountains some day!

 As we headed out of town, we met up with Lynn and Chris for lunch in the nearby town of Hendersonville, NC. We were on the same bus as Lynn of The Dirt Diaries, last year during the fling. We chatted a bit here and there during the fling but when we met for lunch on this day, it was as if we had known each other for years! We had the best lunch and visit full of non-stop conversation at The Black Rose Pub in Historic Downtown. Our kind of place! I could not resist giving Lynn a Gnome after her posting of the Chelsea Flower Show. hee hee... 

We headed on down the road towards home. Since our route was taking us right through another bloggers town, we decided to stop by and say hey. I have been Blog chatting with Janet, The Queen of Seaford pretty much since the beginning of my Posting days! It was fun to see her home and gardens in person as I have been watching the progress through her blog since they broke ground. The Saint and I had so much in common with Janet and hubby Charles that our visit kept us there way longer then anticipated. After all, we still had almost 2 hours to drive and The Saint had to go to work the next day. Ha, Time flies when you are having fun.

 

2 days of our 3 day weekend were rainy but we enjoyed every minute of it. I mean come on, who wouldn't at BILTMORE AND MEETING BLOGGERS, In the Garden... 

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden