Tips – Seed Inventory

Seed Inventory at the end of the growing season is a super activity for a rainy or on a chilly day in the fall. If you’ve saved the seed packets from this year after planting, and you should, now is the time to plan for next years spring growing season. 

Your last years packets are a way for you to find the same seeds again next year. The nurseries start stocking seeds pretty early in the year because you can actually sow seeds indoors about six to eight weeks before planting. If you are at the nursery for fall shopping, check in with the owners or Managers of your favorite garden center for an ETA of their next spring arrivals. Everybody does this, so don’t think it strange that you are asking in Oct or November. Staff are used to these anticipatory questions. The reason is that in many smaller garden centers, early seed arrivals can come and in a couple weeks time they are all SOLD OUT. Of course they will restock in time for actually planting seeds outdoors, but if you are one of those gardeners who loves to “sow” indoors you will want to know when their first arrivals will be available, so it’s not at all a strange question. 

Now is a great time to make a list of what you will want for next spring, and seed packets are available online and by mail order catalog. Three of the largest seed companies are:

 Ferry Morse, Burpee and Botanical interests

You can use many homegrown ideas for containers for your seed sowing projects, but we have found a small and affordable one from Amazon.

We have given thought about conducting a “seed sowing clinic” next spring. Do let us know if this is something you would be interested in doing. Gardeners love to gather and share, and we all have “tips and trick’s” that we have gleaned over the years for successful seed planting. Sharing is part of the fun. 

Do stay tuned for additional posts on this blog about  “selection and seed sowing.”

“Contessa” says ….. it’s all good!

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NOTE:  Believe it…. This year we dropped a whole seed packet on a grate and they all fell through…..but ONE.  So we planted it anyway.  All by its lonesome. This is a photo from this week. That one (1) seed produced a vine. And on Wed this week we counted eight blooms climbing in our trellis.  Amazing that one seed the size of a mustard seed produced these lovely little Morning Glory flowers.

WOW ….nature is so amazing. 

THE GARDEN MUSEUM…..UK

An Evening of Gardens and Architecture Journalist Evan Davis will chair this event which explores the relationship between architects and landscape designers. How does an architect meet the right garden designer? Can a landscape architect influence the city of the future? Is there ever such a thing as a truly landscape-led project in the modern world? We’ll be exploring what each profession can give the other in a set of four short presentations celebrating successful partnerships, and then Evan will explore how to get the chemistry right in a partnership, and what architects and landscape designers can learn from each other. Presentations will be given by: Cooke Fawcett Architects and garden designer Dan Bristow Landscape designer Kim Wilkie and architect Ben Pentreath on their collaboration on a new sustainable “landscape-led” town in Faversham Landscape Architect Jo Gibbons of J & L Gibbons Garden designer Charlotte Harris of Harris Bugg Tues 4 October, 7pm £15 Standard, £10 Friends, £5 Young Fronds / Students £5 Livestream Book now A London house and garden by Cooke Fawcett Architects and Dan Bristow Speaking at our upcoming talk on gardens and architecture, collaborators Cooke Fawcett Architects and garden designer Dan Bristow will present their transformation of a Victorian terraced house in Tufnell Park (pictured above). At the heart of the project a new double height space is oriented to the garden. Tall rear windows framing a dramatic portrait view of lush greenery, terracing, and trees, inviting the garden into the house and making a strong visual connection through the building. Planting close to the façade of the building creates animation of light, shadow, and texture, making the garden feel like a true extension of the living space. Deciduous creepers take on an important environmental role providing shading to an outdoor seating area and to the west facing glazing. Book now Squash & Pumpkin Festival Celebrate squash and pumpkin season this autumn with the Garden Museum Learning team in collaboration with Incredible Edible Lambeth, Border Crossings and Rootz into Food Growing. There will be opportunities to watch cooking demos, tasting, seed sowing, a film screening and discussion. And take part in a pumpkin competition to win prizes! Sat 15 October, 1pm – 4pm Free entry, pre-booking required Book now New Talk! Lucian Freud’s Plant Portraits What is a plant portrait? How does it differ from a picture of a plant? About Two Plants (above), Freud said: “They are lots of little portraits of leaves, lots and lots of them, starting with them rather robust in the middle—greeny-blue and cream—and getting more yellow and broken”. Drawing from the research for his book Lucian Freud Herbarium (2019, Prestel) and inspired by the exhibition Lucian Freud: Plant Portraits which he guest curated, in this talk Giovanni Aloi will explore Freud’s ability to tease out the individual character of the plants he painted. Tues 18 October, 7pm 20 Standard, £15 Friends, £10 Students / Young Fronds £10 Livestream Book now Join our Garden Visits Committee Our Garden Visits Committee is seeking two new members – could it be you? The Garden Visits Committee is a group of energetic and passionate volunteers who organise the popular and successful series of garden visits which have been part of the Garden Museum’s events programme since 2011. Recent garden visits have been to the homes of designers such as Dan Pearson and Tom Stuart-Smith, and some of the finest country houses and gardens in the UK. Being a committee member is a fantastic way to support the Museum and contribute to fundraising to ensure its future. It is an excellent opportunity to develop a network of contacts within garden design and horticulture as well as meeting the owners and makers of some very interesting and beautiful gardens. Find out more Plant of the Week: Atlas poppy (Papaver rupifragumvar. atlanticum) By Matt Collins, Head Gardener A ‘rare colour’ — a ‘soft orange’, is how Beth Chatto described this brilliant southern poppy, which could have been ‘plant of the week’ many times over throughout spring and late summer. Back in May it flourished among the pink cranesbills and campanula (as in the below image); now in the approach of autumn its luminous orange brings warmth to the cooling days. This semi-double, sometimes single flowering perennial came to us a couple of years ago from London garden designer Jane Brockbank, who gifted an envelope of collected seed suggesting it might do well at the museum. Quite right: it has thrived. Thomas Rutter, then our horticultural trainee, had great success in raising a large number in 9cm pots; once brimming with glaucous green, hairy leaves, these found homes in and around the dry garden, forming robust clumps that have since withstood a summer of heatwaves and meagre rainfall with next to no sign of stress. Found wild in the harsh climate of southern Spain and Morocco, it is a plant that can prosper from the smallest crack in a wall or paving stone gap. I am a big fan of orange plants, all the better those feral spirited species like Pilosella aurantiaca (‘fox and cubs’), California poppy and Chinese globeflower (Trollius chinensis). It is a colour far too often dismissed, but one that, as an accent, ‘pops’ like no other, particularly when placed among silver leaf Mediterranean subshrubs like lavender, artemisia, teucrium. Permitted to self seed within this structural evergreen context, Papaver rupifragum var. atlanticum (‘atlanticum’ relating to its homeland range in the Atlas Mountains of North Africa) offers a fantastic ephemeral layer, repeat-flowering in three or four stints across the growing season — even more if diligently deadheaded. Its tissue paper petals are lifted surprisingly high on slender architectural stems, the many resulting seed heads easily gathered and resown, or siphoned into an envelope to be shared once again. Explore our gardens Object of the Week: ‘Rare Plants at the International Horticultural Exhibition, South Kensington’ This press clipping from Illustrated London News dated 9 June 1866 depicts a group of “rare plants” (the likes of which you might see at our upcoming Houseplant Festival!) which were displayed at the International Horticultural Exhibition that year, including: Anthurium magnificum, Cycas revoluta, Pandanus Veitchii, Phormium Tenax, Lilium auratum, Saracenia flava picta and Lily of the Valley. Book Houseplant Festival tickets Images: Victorian terrace in Tufnell Park images courtesy of Cooke Fawcett Architects; J & L Gibbons with Carmody Gorake © Sarah Blee, J & L Gibbons, High Weald rewilding; Two Plants, 1977-80 (oil on canvas) Freud, Lucian, Tate Modern © The Lucian Freud Archive, All Rights Reserved 2022 / Bridgeman Images; Garden Visit at Helmingham Hall © Beckie Egan Photography; Atlas poppy © Matt Collins Garden Museum 5 Lambeth Palace Road, London SE1 7LB gardenmuseum.org.uk

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Pruning….your window of opportunity

Pruning all bushes between now , and by the end of the first week in October, is your window of opportunity. We have been trimming bushes the whole month of September.

When you prune, you are giving a signal to the bush….that it has permission now to grow new branches and leaves, and in the case of Rose bushes, they usually give you a full robust blooming phase in October and even into November and December.  If there is no early frost, Roses can bloom even into December. It’s kind of a last “hurrah” before winter arrives. Pruning “now” gives all your bushes the whole month of October to show you their stuff. Growing can be strong during October. And this new growth will be nourishment for your bushes to protect them from the real chill of winter.

Sooo…, get busy in the next couple weeks to prune and trim your bushes. They are waiting for you to relieve them of their older growth, left by summers heat.

Contessa says…. You have our permission to prune and if you feel afraid, just get in contact with us and we’ll do the job for you. We are most Happy to help. You will be thrilled with the results. We are certain.

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Below are Rose Stem cuts. 

And in the case of all other bushes, cut back at least six (6) inches, and make the “diagonal”’ cut right before the next branch with leaves intact

“Contessa” says…., it’s all good!

Garden Bed Revamp on Wellington (REVISION #2) Tues – 9/27- 6:02 pm

BEFORE

It may not look like it needs work. But we are transforming a bed, to bare bones, for planting an assortment of new flowering perennials. Our homeowner has asked us to make the selections. Along with all her flowering planters it’s going to look fresher and very much like a true flowers garden. Minus all the Creeping Ivy and Vinca Vines. And we are resetting all the brick borders and laying newspaper on the bank, covering it with topsoil to prevent more weed from returning. And we will mulch well.

And the bed with the large bark chips we are taking them out, because she wants to make it a Pansy bed. So we need some new garden soil and an assortment of Pansies and finally a topper of fresh shredded hardwood bark mulch. This  bed is a tribute to her Mom who loved Pansies.and directly behind them us the yellow rose bush we planted during the summer, also for her Mom

And we are also going to help reset newly purchased stair and border lighting upon completion.

It’s probably about a 6 to 8 hour project. We’ll see. Stay tuned for a final completion video.

Todays we took a photo collection of areas needing our magic. 

(REVISED) – Fri – 9/23 – 6:15 pm

Today we finished clearing the bed of Ivy and Vinca vines. We dug up the three spider grasses. We transplanted the largest to the other bed where there were five in a row. We had a gap at the end of the row, so we planted it there to fill this gap. The other two were pretty straggly so we tossed.

Early in the summer we dug up four Day Lily’s and have transplanted them in a row….as the new bed border between our bed and the back side of the property.

We have leveled the bed, started creating a deep outer  edge along the side, and next we will reset a few of the uneven bricks on the side near the gravel/stone slab path. We have gone to the nursery and purchased 7 bags of top soil to amend the beds as they are mostly VA clay. Not great for planting. And we will add some organic gardening soil as well. We also purchased eight (8) bags of mulch with the assistance of  our student helper. And while there….we both took all the large chip mulch out of the sloped bed. It’s rough, too large and hard to plant in, so it was best to dispose of it. Now, we can plant the Pansy bed that our homeowner so wants.

The wind at 25 mph today with a shady yard was a bit of a challenge. All in all it was a super beautiful day. And we feel like when we return next Tuesday we will be able to accomplish quite a lot.

So far, we have six (6) hours in this project. It’s still a work in progress, but it’s definitely coming along.

“Contessa”’ says…..,it’s all good.

(REVISION #2) – Tues – 9/27 – 6:02 pm 

The following photos and Video are part of todays Revision  #2. We cut bank the Vinca Vine up at the top of the sloped bed. We then placed thick newspaper down on the slope and covered them with seven (7) bags of Top Soil. We then added four (4) bags of Bumper Crop Garden Soil to the lower bed where the Pansies are going to be planted. We purchase ten (10) – one (1) quart containers of Pansies, our clients Mom’s favorite. And we arranged new Perennial plants in the large “cleared” bed awaiting our clients approval. We made the pick and she loves what we selected.  She has asked us to purchase two more of the Shasta Daisy plants.

Thursday we will plant all the new plants and finally we have purchased six (6), three (3) cu ft bags of hardwood shredded bark mulch and will lay it all to complete the look.

The new  perennial plants are:

1 – Echinacea Wicked (burgundy)

1 – Guara, Rose Jane

1 – Laucenthemium,  White Lion

1 – Perovskila, Denim n Lace

in addition our client has four planters that we made for her mid-summer. We will plant the White Mum in the new bed. The other plants are annuals and our first frost will take them, but they have done well and her urge to have flowers this summer was fulfilled.  So nice switching to perennials to give her plants that last and plants that will show themselves again next spring. It’s fun and she can even add a couple more things in the spring.  We think there will be room.

IN PROCESS

Please do stay tuned for our final completion video.

Beverley Drive….Early Fall Cleanup

Contessa’s completes fall clean up for every one of our clients. But this year, we are offering early fall cleanup. It’s just necessary because we have had such a dry summer and a slightly early fall. Leaves and debris, branches and limbs are falling from the trees and our lawns are bone dry. We rake your whole yard removing the spent grass that’s been laying there after the lawnmowers have come round. Frankly that dead grass just mats down your grass growth. Raking it brings new life to your grass and if it’s watered during our early fall, in just a few days it green’s up. It’s so exciting to see.

Today we worked 2.5 hours at this property tending the beds and the grass. We are about half way to completion. And we worked one hour on the patio cleaning up all the leaves. Two tress, one in the front and one in the back are so prolific. They are huge and dropping a ton of leaves this year because of our drought. They are Pin Oaks.

This property is an end unit and has come a long way. We’ve transformed the beds and planted all new bushes. It’s been a work in progress but it’s looking better and better each year.

We are pleased to be this clients gardener. It’s great work,  a very congenial relationship and we think our client is very happy. We are here to help. Our pleasure. Please stay tuned for a final completion video.

“Contessa” says…it’s all good.

Beverley Drive/Wellington Corner

Our property here has a slight slope on the side if the house bed outside the white fence. Many invasive weeds travel from the top of the slope jumping  from the weedy are just outside the adjacent building laundry room bed. We’ve requested help with this area so many times. That bed by the laundry room is infested. It’s been allowed to just grow randomly. This causes weeds to grow and climb/jump into the bed we are working on today. At least three times  a year we pull all the weeds and lay fresh mulch.  And because of the slope…. we created two rock stop-gaps to help keep the mulch from eroding down this area. The mulch is very important because it does help to keep some weeds at bay.

Our homeowner is slightly frustrated  in trying to persuade our community to provide a permanent solution. We do our best to help keep it looking as good as possible.

I’m sure a few of you have experienced this. We do live in a very woodland area. And frankly this does make our community a very unique and beautiful place to live. But that intersection between the two buildings has needed a “fix” for a long time. Our new GM even came to look at it. But so far no big solution. Priorities. We are patient and hopeful.

We still have Rose of Sharon about ten (10) ft tall to remove inside the fence. We are hopeful to get this  accomplished yet this week. Stay tuned .

it was a mild and comfortable morning for working. We enjoyed thus  accomplished task. Feels good to complete this work

“Contessa” says….. it’s all good

UK, The Garden Museum….sharing

THE GARDEN MUSEUM New Talk! Darryl Moore: Gardening in a Changing World Faced with the challenges of the climate crisis and increasing biodiversity loss, we are at a crucial crossroads in our engagement with the rest of the natural world. In an event to mark the launch of Darryl Moore’s new book Gardening in a Changing World, he will be part of a conversation with Nigel Dunnett and Arit Anderson, discussing our past and present relationships with plants, and how we need to rethink our attitudes to them. This challenging and important conversation will be essential for anyone interested in making plants and gardens part of the solution to the current and future challenges we face, in a rapidly changing world. Tues 11 October, 7pm £15 Standard, £10 Friends, £5 Young Fronds / Students £5 Livestream Book now Gravetye Manor: A Week in the Wild Garden By Caroline Cathcart, Horticultural Trainee As part of her Horticultural Traineeship at the Garden Museum, Caroline has the opportunity to work with experienced gardeners across the UK. This traineeship has been generously funded by The National Gardens Scheme and the Museum’s Friends Group in Leicestershire and Rutland. Her first placement recently took her to Gravetye Manor in Sussex, the former home of William Robinson: “The reputation of the place precedes itself, but nothing could have prepared me for the beauty that assaulted my senses when I stepped out of Gravetye Manor into the garden. I found myself flanked on all sides by flowers, spilling out of the mixed borders onto the paths in a voluptuous swell, their vigour unchecked by the lingering drought.Burgeoning with more flowers than I could count, the borders give a stunning impact, but their most precious treasures were not discoverable at first glance. It was only upon close inspection, while I waited nervously to meet Tom Coward, the head gardener, that they offered themselves up to me. First, the dahlias; the most beautiful was Dahlia merckii, a delicate little thing with tiny lilac flowers held on tall, wiry stems. This diminutive species found its opposite in the giant ‘Emory Paul’, with its ruffled deep pink flowers as big as my head. I was lucky to arrive just as it had unfurled to its most perfect bloom – the following day it had begun to wither…” Keep reading

A Discourse on Spaces Inspired by our Sowing Roots project which explored the gardening cultures brought to the UK by Londoners of Caribbean heritage, we have invited horticulturist, writer and artist Edward Adonteng to curate this series of talks, A Discourse on Spaces. What is the importance of space to humanity? How do the spaces that we inhabit define us? What happens to these spaces when different worlds collide? In London, intersections and cultural exchange place the city in an ever-evolving state of hybridity. No two streets are quite the same. This reflective series, influenced by the contributions of the Sowing Roots exhibition, will explore gentrification, immortality, conflict, heritage, sustainability and the movement amongst peoples through a plethora of stories, conversations and perspectives. Explore the programme How to Grow the Flowers: Seed Sowing Ahead of their book launch on 27 September, organic flower growers Wolves Lane Flower Company share an exclusive extract from How to Grow the Flowers: A sustainable approach to enjoying flowers through the seasons. Here are Marianne and Camila’s seed sowing tips to set yourself up for growing successful cut flowers: “A brown speck burgeoning into a fully fledged plant in one short season is miraculous, and the rush of success addictive. Once you’ve mastered a few easy varieties and been able to cut armfuls of sweet peas or calendula, it’s easy to be totally seduced by the seed catalogues and order everything like a kid let loose in a sweet shop. Growing from seed is a thrifty way of filling your plot but not if you buy more seeds than you have room for or time to nurture. Be selective and remember, there will be future seasons to try new, alluring varieties…” Keep reading Plant of the Week: Viola hederacea By Matt Collins, Head Gardener A key feature of the planting within the museum courtyard is the creation of pocket plant communities: three or more species that in partnership form distinct zones within the overall scheme. It’s a rather brilliant ploy by designer Dan Pearson, establishing zoning within such a contained little garden, so that you walk a series of overlapping yet contrasting spaces when circling the central planting. In one area, a loose grouping of poet’s laurel (Danne racemosa), velvety Persicaria virginianaand dark Asarum europaeum; towards the gardener’s shed, canna lily, Geranium ‘White Ness’ and the autumn fern, Dryopteris erythrosora. Invariably, the underplants (here, asarum and geranium) are abundant and spreading by habit, and are encouraged to drift freely below the taller species, knitting plants together. But of all the courtyard underplants, probably my favourite is the Australian violet, Viola hederacea. It’s the plant I get asked most often to identify (until our giant dahlia flowers in December), and the one I’m frequently, politely, asked to lift a little section of, “just quickly, while nobody’s looking?”. Planted in swathes, to commune with the thornless bramble shrubs (Rubus lineatus), perennial actaea and disporum, and spilling out over the walkways, its near perpetual flowers are a subtle, welcome presence until capped by the cold: tiny scented blooms like purple ink on a sugar cube. Explore our gardens Benton Iris ‘Strathmore’ This peachy iris variety bred by Cedric Morris at Benton End was named after The Queen Mother’s home Strathmore. Images: Dry garden by Olivier Filippi, image (c) Olivier Filippi; Gravetye Manor photo by Caroline Cathcart; Wolves Lane Flower Company seed sowing (c) Aloha Bonser-Shaw; Viola Hederacea (c) Matt Collins, Iris ‘Strathmore (c) Claire Dawson

Garden Museum 5 Lambeth Palace Road, London SE1 7LB gardenmuseum.org.uk

Planting Bulbs…..for Spring Growth

It occurred to us today that we have not mentioned planting bulbs for next spring blooms. They are available now at the nurseries. Frankly, because our winters are more mild than years gone by, we think it’s safe to plant as late as Nov 15. But….. selections dwindle as fall moves along, so we recommend you buy early.

We are going on a buying trip to Merrifield Garden Center  on Oct 4th, so if you need any do let us know now. We are taking orders.  Please give us a cal. We are happy to pick them out for you

Planting:  Dig your holes deep enough and make sure you add some fresh soil to the dig. And be sure to water. We highly recommend you sprinkle the mound with “blood meal.”  It’s a miracle worker that keeps the squirrels from digging them up. It’s lway worth purchasing.

Note:  As you are planting your bulbs, pause and look up to the sky and the heavens. Our Savior God is watching over you, our earth and your bulbs. Think about the promise of new growth. Growth in you…and in the beautiful flowers that will emerge come April/May. It’s a miracle to be sure. And it encourages us to know that the process of “new growth”  and “blessings”  continue to grow in our earth and in us every day. How wonderful and encouraging.

Blessings from “Contessa

Fall Bookings…Available For October

Happy Saturday…….

Today we wanted to give a shout out to everyone that this is an excellent time to book your “fall” Contessa Signature Bed  Clean Up. We are taking bookings now. Please give us a call. We want to make sure you all are on our calendar.  

If you are a current client and someone you know can use our service….. we will appreciate all referrals of business. Thank you. And if you refer a booking to us, we will give you a $25 credit on your next ”Contessa Service.”

Once the weather breaks, leaves will start to fall and we believe we are on the cusp, it starts to happen quickly. The garden centers start rolling things out for fall (Pansies, Mums and especially bulbs) and if you haven’t completed your garden prep work you can miss out on some “first of fall” plants.  Do think about booking NOW. We don’t want anyone to have to wait a couple weeks until we can serve you. Thus us a very busy season for us. We are currently booked through the end of September.

We have two of our ongoing clients completed already and we have them ready for fall planting. Then in November we will visit them again and do a final sweep and mulch all their beds.  Bravo! 

Have a wonderful…..weekend!

”CONTESSA”

Valley Drive….Phase 2….inside the Courtyard (REVISED) Fri – 9/16 – 7:06 pm

We have been working with this client about two months. No work had been completed in five years. We’ve completed a total cleanup of the perimeter of the property, removed tons of plant life that was mostly green and we have created new perennial flowers beds. 

Today we started a total clean up of the inner part of this courtyard. English Boxwoods enclose this courtyard. They were in desperate need of inner trimming. Tons of dead growth. A cleanup today will encourage lots of unew healthy growth. Our goal is to bring them back to box style as they should be. Simple neglect can be fixed. It’s simply about careful trimming, tidying the soil in the beds and watering.
Tomorrow we are back to continue with this project. Our time will be spent finishing the bushes on the left side of the property and then tilling the soil and tidying the right side which is now full of new perennial plantings.  It’s coming along. We are delighted to continue and this client, gives us a free reign to take care of his property. We complete the work, keep track of our hours and bill every ten hours.
One of our newest payment enhancements is using VENMO. Clients seem to love it. Very hassle free.  And for us it totally works.

We trust you will stay tuned to this project as we post additional work progress

“Contessa” says…..it’s all good!

REVISED – Fri – 9/16 – 7:06 pm 

Today we completed Phase 3. The flowers bed.
It has bloomed very nicely all summer. Everything has grown. And today we first used our new “leaf blower” to clean the bed of all debris. Then we hand tilled – on hands and knees all the soil in the bed. Propping up each plant as needed with existing soil and cutting back any dead growth as needed. The newly transplanted Coneflowers in particular needed cutting back. They have seen their best days. And now the new Pink Muhly Grasses show up much better. We then added the quantity of 80 lbs of new rich organic soil in and around every plant in this flower bed. We even put new soil around all the Pencil Boxwoods. Our client has mentioned on a few occasions that he did not see the need.  Well we convinced him that for new things to grow well… it’s very important. Thus us the first client who could not see the need. If I’m to cultivate and care for this Garden….. it is a necessity. First off,  it helps protect the plants for the winter, 2nd it gives the whole bed a fresh and tidy look and third it’s organic material. There is Compost and Maneur and Fertilizer and organic waste in this $11.04 bag of soil. And we spread two bags. $22.08 in total. A very small investment….but he will see the end result. Things will begin to grow like mad, and they will “green…up” (chlorophyll) and this will become very evident. He gave in… in the end. A new gardener who is learning process. We understand.

And so tonight we send you our todays work video until late fall….or if he may decides to plant more things.  He is looking into adding some bulbs.  Purple Delphiniums in particular was one he likes. He will select…I will plant.
And he mentioned that once the summer flowers completely die back that he wants to add some “winter blooming” flowers. We talked about White Camellias, perhaps some Lily of the Valley or some Lenten Roses.

We will wait to hear from him.  He also has a great selection of English Boxwoods, so a few small “ball shaped” Boxwoods might be nice for fill in.  He dies not like to see soil or mulch. Hex wants very full and lush beds. The budget is flexible so we will browse at the nursery the first week in October when we go out with another client. I’m certain we can find some new things to plant.

It’s fun to create a look and it’s also fun forus to do the work. We are pleased to work for this new client….. our first season with him. We’ve both enjoyed the process and we think he’s pretty content with our collaborations. Fun!!

AFTER

Once again “Contessa” says…..it’s all good: