A Rose Garden

"Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind,

And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind."

                                                    William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream

I dwell in possibility. 

Emily Dickinson

It's the afternoon following Valentine's Day and I thought I would keep romance in the air 

by showing you a lovely rose garden.

Visitors to this country property pass through an arbor that divides the public front yard 

from the more private fenced backyard.

On the left, at a back corner of the house, is a small fountain and shade garden. Encircling the fountain is an attractive array of hostas and other shade loving perennials.

To the left of the fountain is a large Ligularia. I am not certain of the exact cultivar, but I will give you reference to a plant that has the same dramatic black stems:

Ligularia 'The Rocket': Ligularia like moist conditions. Sun and somewhat dry soil can cause the leaves to wilt as you see in my photograph above. You can attempt to compensate for somewhat dryer conditions by insuring your Ligularia has some afternoon shade. 'The Rocket' forms a large clump of jagged edged leaves. Purplish-black stems and yellow flowers appear mid-summer. As with hostas, slugs can be an issue for this plant. Ligularia is one perennial that is quite happy in clay. Height: 120-180 cm (47-70 inches), Spread: 80-90 cm (31-35 inches). USDA Zones: 4-9.

Another interesting plant in this area of the garden is this Bugbane, Cimicifuga. When I bought a Cimicifuga for my own garden last spring, I found that there were a number of similar cultivars with the main distinction being price. Below is a reference to the one I purchased. It has the same deep purply-black foliage.

Cimicifuga ramosa 'James Compton': has deep purplish black ferny foliage and fragrant bottlebrush-shaped white flowers in late summer. It likes rich, moist soil and part to full shade. Height: 120-150 cm (47-60 inches), Spread: 60-75 cm (23-29 inches). USDA Zones: 4-8.

Horse Gentian or White Feverwort, Triosteum pinnatifidum is a rare plant is a native to the woods of China and Japan. It has lobed leaves and unspectacular flowers that produce interesting clusters of white berries in summer. It likes rich, well-drained soil and part shade. Height: 60-90 cm (24-36 inches), Spread: 22-30 cm (9-12 inches) USDA Zones: 6-9a

A pathway leads away from the corner of the house into a little rose garden. 

Lush green foliage makes the perfect backdrop for 

this traditional garden sculpture.

This is a fairly new garden, but it already has great promise.

A Visit to Andre´ Eve's Rose Garden in France

 
Photograph by Annemarie Gendre-Peter

It is always a bit thrilling to connect with readers in far away places. 

Recently, Annemarie Gendre-Peter who lives near the grand palace of Versailles in France emailed me pictures of the visit that she, and her little Corgi dog named Nancy, made one summer not to long ago, to the garden of renowned French rose breeder Andre´ Eve.

Nurseryman, landscape designer and rose expert extraordinaire; Andre´ Eve is less well known here in North America, and so I asked Annemarie if I might share her pictures of his garden.

Photograph by Annemarie Gendre-Peter

Andre´Eve lives in a modest terraced house in the town of Pithiviers, fifty miles southwest of Paris. A narrow passageway leads between the old stone houses to M. Eve's rose garden where he has amassed an remarkable collection of over 500 roses, many of them rare and historic cultivars.

The garden is not open to the public, and so for Annemarie, receiving an invitation to visit was a great honour. She wrote to me that:

 "Andre´ Eve is an interesting man. I think he is not keen on being famous (although he is). He is happy with his work and likes people who share his passion for gardening and roses. As an example, I found a very nice rose in his garden (Sheherazade) he had never sold. It is a just trial variety of rose, he said. I told him I would be delighted to plant this rose in my garden. Two years later, he sent me the rose through one of his colleagues I know. I was very touched."

Nancy whose full kennel name is 'Dragonjoy Empress in Black'. Nancy was born in Bologna, Italy out of true Welsh Corgis. Annemarie also has a second Corgi named Shu-Shu.

This is Nancy. Annemarie also wrote to me that:

"Both Andre´ Eve and his wife love dogs and cats. They are both older now and it is not possible for them to keep a dog of their own, but Mme. Eve brought water for Nancy and both enjoyed her very much."

And now, here are AnneMarie's own pictures of Andre´ Eve's rose garden:

Photograph by Annemarie Gendre-Peter

Photograph by Annemarie Gendre-Peter

Photograph by Annemarie Gendre-Peter

A little clay figure sits in a shaded alcove in the garden's stone walls.

Photograph by Annemarie Gendre-Peter

Photograph by Annemarie Gendre-Peter

Photograph by Annemarie Gendre-Peter

Photograph by Annemarie Gendre-Peter

Photograph by Annemarie Gendre-Peter

Photograph by Annemarie Gendre-Peter

Photograph by Annemarie Gendre-Peter

Photograph by Annemarie Gendre-Peter

Photograph by Annemarie Gendre-Peter

Photograph by Annemarie Gendre-Peter

Photograph by Annemarie Gendre-Peter

Photograph by Annemarie Gendre-Peter

  Now in his eighties, Andre´ Eve still cares for the garden himself. 

Here's wishing to be over eighty and still gardening so happily!

Nancy photographed by Annemarie Gendre-Peter

Many thanks to Annemarie for allowing me to share her pictures of Andre´ Eve's garden.

More Information and Links:

Read a magazine article (PDF format) on the garden of Andre´ Eve. The picture to the left is from the magazine article.

See roses at the Andre´ Eve Nursery.

Read an article from Fairfield Country Living.

Watch a video in French.

A Romantic Country Garden

Today I have a romantic country garden to share with you.

This is a very rough plan of the garden. There are two quite spectacular views and a little courtyard garden at the front of the house I that I want to highlight in this post. 

A few of the pictures you may have seen before. Today I place them back in the context of the overall garden.

The back of the house looks out past two large topiaries to an open field and the valley beyond (as you can see in the next image).

And to the left of the house a series of pathways and steps take you to a terrace that overlooks a wooded ravine.

This would be a nice spot for a summer meal don't you think?

At the front of the house there is a flagstone courtyard filled with romantic pink roses. A set of stone steps leads you down and into the little courtyard.

At the top of the stone staircase there is a large bunch of Spotted Bellflower, Campanula punctata (Be warned: Clumps can spread vigorously!) and soft, feathery wands of blue Catmint, Nepeta.

Campanula punctata shining in the late afternoon sun. (Be warned: Clumps can spread vigorously!)

This image of the garden is a personal favourite.

The courtyard looking in the direction of the ravine.

Looking back the other way toward the large shed.

A little path leads you past the shed to the little glade that you may remember as part of my post on object placement.

The Fairy Rose, Polyantha, 'The Fairy'. Height: 60-90 cm. Spread 60-120 cm.  

Sadly it has no fragrance.

White Asiatic Lilies

I am going to make an educated guess that these are two varieties of Campanula carpatica, a short lived perennial that forms low, cushion shaped mounds of lavender or white flowers. Full sun. Height: 20-25 cm, Spread 20-30 cm.  Zones 2-9.

Special pieces of artwork can be found throughout the garden.

And so ends our tour.