Garden visits via Web
As promised last Thursday, here are more of the gardens I enjoy visiting on the Web. One鈥檚 in England, another鈥檚 in Italy, and the rest are in the United States.
There鈥檚 something especially enjoyable in reading about gardens in other countries and to realize that 鈥� although the terminology and spelling might be different 鈥� gardeners are doing much the same thing, no matter where they live.
follows a middle-age woman 鈥� a self-described 鈥渨ould-be garden design and horticultural student鈥� 鈥� as she wanders around Britain looking at plants. She especially likes cats and David Austin roses.
For any garden lover who might be planning to visit the British Isles, the Garden Hopper provides a list of the best places to see various plants (hellebores, for instance), and notes gardens not to be missed.
The photographs are so gorgeous, they make you want to hop a plane so you can see for yourself. If you鈥檙e a casual gardener who doesn鈥檛 talk about plants in Latin, visit just to scroll through the pictures.
chronicles the day-to-day trials, tribulations, and successes of a Kentucky gardener -- from irises and rabbits to dill and deer. Current posts include putting up a weather station, Miss Kim lilac growing in a large pot, gooseberries, and a Harrison鈥檚 Yellow rosebush.
Anyone who loves old-fashioned plants will feel right at home with the in Chatham, N.J. 鈥淢y garden is on a sloped less-than-half an acre and includes a Cutting Garden, a Rose Garden, a Children鈥檚 Garden, and several mixed borders,鈥� she writes.
Reflecting these interests are excellent pages about heirloom roses, gardening with children, vegetables and herbs, and fences, arbors, walls, and paths. It鈥檚 an eclectic mix of topics you won鈥檛 find elsewhere, all excellently done.
The , from Sue Swift, a (probably British) teacher in Milan, Italy, is offered to 鈥渁ll would-be gardeners who don鈥檛 have a garden at hand.鈥� She really packs her largish balcony with all kinds of plants! On one day she may be talking about pelargoniums (geraniums to Americans) and hollyhocks and on another, taking visitors along on a trip to Barcelona, Spain.
She鈥檚 currently conducting an experiment to see if covering the drainage hole in the bottom of a flower pot with pieces of old broken clay pots is bad advice or not. (It鈥檚 considered so in the US, but not in Britain, it seems.) I鈥檒l keep returning to find out if her conclusions match those of US university research.
At a time of year when gardening takes up all my after-work hours, I find relaxation and entertainment in reading about others' gardens. Do recommend some of your own favorite garden blogs.
