Kerole's Place

2 May '09 3:22 pm

are very, very cool. Wonderful lime green at that. Yum.

2 May '09 5:19 pm

Found the pic. It was a shrub about 1.2m high by 1.5m, nicely rounded, with flowers shooting out in all directions like fireworks. What made it special was the various stages of 'whitening up' of the flowers. A gorgeous plant, and quite unique... and I've looked for info in my books, but so far found nothing. Unusual is the long thin flower spikes and the varied angles at which they are carried.

2 May '09 9:21 pm

Needless to say, we have tons of hebes here in NZ. There are several white ones but I think one of the most popular is 'Wiri Mist'. I may have room for one as long as it doesn't get too big. Hebes have a tendency to go leggy and scraggly.

9 May '09 3:17 pm

It is cold and blustery and the remaining flowers in the white gardens won't last much longer so I'm making the most of it before Winter really hits.

24 May '09 2:25 pm

I think my spam filter is tossing out too much and yet way too much junk gets through anyhow. I was just looking at some wonderful white Caladiums on flickr that might also interest you. She was saying that she doesn't think most pests find them tasty, though wind can beat them up. Here is a connector to the page.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3398/3555264246_ac063ce185_b.jpg

Your last group of photos is stunning. Your white garden is the size of a public park! (And it looks very well mowed.) Looking at the scale you're working with I wonder if you've considered white Oleander? It is as common as dandelions in the hotter parts of California but I always think it is impressive for the volume of clean white flowers it delivers, and I've seen them pruned to be hedge like. (They grow to fast to make a good formal hedge.)

25 May '09 11:51 am

Each of the White Gardens are a good size - enough space for plenty of options but not so big that they get away on you too much! They are poorly incorporated into the overall garden scheme at the moment - sorta just plonked in the great expanse of gently sloping lawn. Once the house renovations and landscaping has been done (a year or two away), I will be able to link these floating lawn islands to other garden areas with paths and steps etc. But for the moment I just try to make them as appealing as possible, and use the opportunity to test drive plant combos and new hybrids etc.

I like the Caladiums but they look suspiciously like an indoor plant - would they cope with the odd frost we have here Question

I would definately like to increase the white variegated plants in these gardens. My Fire and Ice hostas are my first attempt at this.

Oleanders are a popular choice here in NZ too, but unfortunately they are very poisonous to horses and cattle. Although I don't let the stock run all over the property, we have the odd break out (I'm still trying to fix the pock marks in the lawn) and the risk is too great for an accidental munching. I love the idea of a hedge though and had already planned to run one along the 50m of fence at the bottom of the lawn. You can see this marked out by a line of shrubby weeds in the background of the last photo. I thought Portwine Magnolias might do the trick. They're deep shiny green, trimable, and the flowers are unobtrusive but smell lovely. I would like the lawn to end in a nice straight line of formal, squared evergreen hedge. There would also be a set of formal Victorian gates and steps in the hedge that would take you through to the tow path to the pond...

Crickey, sorry about the novel. Gardeners and their dreams can go on a bit Embarassed

25 May '09 5:46 pm

..I'd really love to see a drawing/plan/sketch/and-or/map of your garden. You obviously are gardening and landscaping on a scale like Moosey and Jack that is much greater than what I deal with. Far from apologizing for your novel length entry I'd just like to get the big picture - but the photos helped a lot as did hearing about your plans. You know I had the same thought about how toxic Oleander is and the fact that you have large herbivores around that you're pretty keen on. I just have a feeling that there must be a way to include Oleander in a way that makes you forget how common it is and allows you to appreciate its good qualities. So anytime you're ready to continue the 'novel' I'm sure I wouldn't be the only one interested.

25 May '09 6:37 pm

Ah the joy of Moosey's is that we don't just share pics, but also dreams for our gardens. And we love to hear your dreams and to watch them grow, Kerole! Here is one more, last, definitive argument in favour of swamp cypresses. Yesterday I was there again, looking at the tree from close-up in less dramatic light. Believe me: it is one of the great glories of autumn in my garden, besides the fact that I love it at all other seasons as well!

29 May '09 7:00 pm

Jack you win. I will plant a swamp cypress. And I will do my damnedest (sp?) to see past the dead pine tree thing. Laughing

Here's some photos I took from the verandah a couple of nights ago. The palm fronds make the place look decidedly tropical but I can assure you the temperature was well into single digits (Celcius). Pretty though.

3 Jun '09 9:11 am

The temperatures here have been steadily dropping as Winter gets a toe hold. This morning I awoke to a fantastic frost. Today will be lovely and warm and sunny but first the sun has to drag itself above the trees. It is bracing. Actually that's too polite. It is brass monkeys. Exclamation

Kerole's Place

The green pom pom mums

Regents Park spiky white

White Hebe

Yet more white stuff.

Kerole, I wonder how I missed this post?

Oleanders

I'm surprised Jack hasn't beat me to it but...

Dreams...

Alright, alright...

Brrr...