Fay’s Small Garden in Tennessee

Happy Monday GPODers!

If she hadn’t said otherwise in her email, I would assume that Fay Shrock has an expansive property to grow the abundance of beautiful plant varieties that she sent over in her submission. From beautiful spring bulbs to fabulous fall foliage, and even great woodies that provide staying structure during the winter months—no one could consider Fay’s garden limited or think her yard is lacking for any seasonal interest.

I garden in Knoxville, Tennessee in my small yard. I have planted things in this yard since 1998. One of my favorite garden sayings is: A landscape can be completed in a weekend, but a garden takes a lifetime! I don’t do any formal landscaping and my yard, although small, is not fun to mow because you have to mow around all my plants! Here are some of my beloved plants.

Let’s start with the plants I call iconic. These are large and make an impact in the yard.

Castor beans (Ricinus communis, Zones 9–11 or as an annual) always give some drama.

My bottlebrush buckeye (Aesculus parviflora, Zones 5–9) never disappoints (this is planted in an almost full clay area so that keeps it in check from spreading so much).

Old fashioned crinum lilies (Crinum asiaticum, Zones 7–10) put on a show.

Let’s now move on to some of my favorite other plants white Asiatic lilies. This one is ‘Casa Blanca’ (Lilium ‘Casa Blanca’, Zones 4–9), so fragrant, I adore white flowers.

My favorite daffodil is ‘Thalia’ (Narcissus ‘Thalia’, Zones 3–8), and here she is with ‘Lady Jane’ tulips (Tulipa clusiana ‘Lady Jane’, Zones 3–7). This tulip closes up when it’s not in sun, I think it looks like little lipstick tubes when closed.

Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis, Zones 2–8), which the hummingbirds adore. This picture is a little past full bloom. The red color on this plant is dynamite!

My daylily collection. Perfect plant for a beginning gardener and most of these were purchased locally and in the late 1990’s–still going strong.

I like to experiment with seeds. I tell all my friends: Just plant it, and see what happens. An unusual nigella from seed. –Looks like ‘Delft Blue’ (Nigella papillosa ‘Delft Blue’, annual)

Seeds are such a great way to experiment and grow things “just because you can!” Which explains my broomcorn (Sorghum bicolor, annual) I grew one year.

A recent addition bought this spring from a local native plant rescue. This plant has been so unfussy and brilliant in the back yard. Swamp sunflower (Helianthus angustifolius, Zones 6–9)

Over the years I have lost three huge old trees. I appreciate my pink dogwood holding strong. Here she is in winter.

Speaking of loss–another plant that succumbed to wilt. My beautiful false indigo ‘Cherries Jubilee’ (Baptisia ‘Cherries Jubilee’, Zones 4–9) is no more. She had a great life and lived for 14 years.

Here is a bonus photo: walking around the garden this fall I noticed the ‘Campfire’ coleus (Coleus ‘Campfire’, annual) leaves turn all different shades of colors. I have five of these plants in different places in the yard and the variety of colors as they go dormant was fascinating.

Thank you for sharing all of your interesting and eye-catching plants with us, Fay! Your garden may be small, but its clear that your planting possibilities are endless.

What are some of your favorite plants you grew this year? Let us know in the comments, or follow the directions below to submit your photos.

 

Have a garden you’d like to share?

Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!

To submit, send 5-10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.

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