Fairy tale garden
My daughter calls this our fairy tale garden. A true romantic, she adores the pink ‘Belinda’s Dream’ roses mingling with purple Mexican snapdragon vine against a castle-like (in her eyes) birdhouse.
I love that she calls it that.
More pinks on the other, non-fairy tale side of the garden: Echinacea purpurea, with a heavy dusting of pollen and a few trapped cottonwood seeds.
Purple coneflower looks pretty with ‘Powis Castle’ artemisia and bulbine.
In the container pond, the first ‘Helvola’ water lilies have opened.
They’re usually this late because the pond gets so much shade now that the trees are larger. I like the juxtaposition of the ‘Bright Edge’ yucca, a dryland plant, with the water garden. The water lilies are overexposed in this image, but their yellow echoes the yucca’s stripes.
All material © 2006-2008 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
I can see why your daughter named it that, it is very lovely. I am after a dovecote in my own garden, although with 5 cats I will pass on the doves and just enjoy the structure.
The pool looks nice too, I have done something similar in an old french bath.
Zoë
I haven’t had doves in my dovecote-style birdhouse either. Only sparrows. Thanks for visiting, Zoe. I wish I was in cool England, touring grand old gardens as you’re doing. What fun! —Pam
Your garden is looking exceptional today, a walk around with a cup of coffee and then a book on the porch… ideal!
That does sound relaxing, but it’s too hot here for the porch today. Maybe a book on the couch with the A/C running. 😉 —Pam
I think the bird-house turret just adds to the fairy-like quality of the garden. Looks like a fairy time-share.
Only sparrow live there. No fairies that I’ve noticed, but we keep looking. —Pam
I love the Mexican snapdragon plant. That is so pretty. I have never seen one before. The whole setting is fairytale like(-: Your waterlilies are gorgeous! Do you put something in the water to keep the mosquitos away? I have a problem with a container with just waterlilies in it. I love Echinacea too. I tried the new varieties and only one survived. Not sure why. Maybe our winter weather was to much for them. They never came back after the winter. I tried them three years in a row. Nothing again this year. I give up.(-:
Yes, I put goldfish in the water to eat the mosquito larvae. If your container pond is too small for fish, you can use mosquito dunks, which prevent the larvae from molting into adult mosquitoes. The dunks look like brown donuts and float on the surface, and they’re considered safe to have around pets, fish, and children.
I’ve tried four of the new Echinaceas, and they all died too. The old-fashioned ones have proved the hardiest. —Pam
Thanks for stopping by my blog. You mention your climate is similar to ours as far as the two springs, but I think the difference of maybe 15 degrees in summer, as well as your humidity, make your climate more amenable to wider range of plant varieties than we can grow. I’ve also noticed that other bloggers from Austin always have beautiful gardens and lots of green in summer compared to our more scorched environment. You have gorgeous plants. If I could stand a little more humidity, I think I could live there!
Aiyana
You are quite right, Aiyana, and I didn’t mean to imply that Austin shares your desert climate. We have lots of humidity in the summer, and we do get some rainfall in the occasional summer thunderstorm. Plus we have a reliable (so far) source of water with our lakes, and most Austinites irrigate to keep their gardens green. What Austin and Phoenix share, however, is a climate in which summer is a brutal season for plants and gardeners, while spring and fall are when the garden bursts into bloom and new growth. Winter is pretty darn good too.
Despite summer’s heat, Austin is a wonderful place to garden. We can grow a very satisfying range of plants, from the desert plants to semi-tropicals, and from prairie plants to those common in the southeast. You might find it’s worth it, even with the humidity. 😉 —Pam
I know you’re not fond of pastels in the garden, but the pink & purple combo looks cool & refreshing, like an English garden. Maybe looking at it will help you feel a bit cooler now that the furnace is on in Austin.
There’s always an exception to color preferences, and I actually love the color of ‘Belinda’s Dream.’ It’s not normally so pale a pink, but it has been very hot lately, and the color has washed out a bit. I love the way the roses mingle with the snapdragon vine. —Pam
That color combination really is enchanting — no wonder your daughter thinks of it as a fairy tale garden. That bird house is exceptionally cute. 🙂
Thanks, Nancy! —Pam
Your Belinda does look like a Midsummer dream, Pam… maybe my Belinda will do better next year but not this June! Since she went to bed late [didn’t find one to plant at the proper time] and is having so much trouble dealing with the hot nights and insects, she reminds me more of an exhausted menopausal woman than of an enchanted fairy.
On the other hand – our bird house has a family of happy wrens in it.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
If only it were midsummer, Annie. I’m ready to have it half over, thanks to this unseasonable heat. I hope your Belinda comes back in the fall, and I bet she will. That’s one tough rose, though it looks so ruffly and dainty. —Pam
Pam-You would never know that the temperatures have been close to 100. They look as fresh as though they were growing in England. Just how do you do it?
Jenny
Not just close to 100 but actually in the triple digits again today. Ugh. The flowers look fresh in the morning, but by afternoon some of them are wilted, particularly the coneflowers. I’ve had to water an extra time or two, which I don’t normally have to do this early in summer. —Pam
My helvola still has tiny leaves and no sign of a bud. And how do you control the pond scum?
Have you fertilized your water lily, Laxpat? I push a fertilizer tab into the pot once a month through the growing season. And as for pond scum, I do get greenish water when temps first warm up, usually in March or April, but by replenishing my submerged plants, which clean the water, keeping goldfish, which eat algae, and waiting until the water lily helps to shade the water, I don’t have a problem with it. Is that what you mean by pond scum? —Pam
Out of the mouths of babes. Your garden does look like a fairy land.
Maybe just that section, Lisa. But I’m glad it pleases her. —Pam
Is that really your garden? Just kidding but it is a shot I had not seen before. There is always a new way to look at a garden, especially through the eyes of another for a really different view. Lovely. I’ll bet your daughter will have a pink and blue garden when she has one of her own. I know, not your favorite colors.
Ha! Yes, it is, and despite my well-professed love of hot colors, this is actually one of my favorite vignettes. The Mexican snapdragon vine is purple, not blue, in real life, and it looks lovely with the big, pink roses. I guess I’m a bit of a romantic too. —Pam
Pam, you already know that the pictures of the Belinda’s Dream and the birdhouse are my favorites. I love seeing them! There is something enchanting about them. Your purple coneflowers look so much more pink than mine do. I love the color!
I’d have to stay inside with those temps too.
I wish I knew the name of those hot-pink purple coneflowers, Robin. They are very bright indeed. —Pam
Pam,
You are right. That is what I mean by pond scum. I fertilized initially but hadn’t done anything recently. I did not know about submerged plants. Will have to get some. I have some fish from the aquatic nursery. They look like mousy guppies but I havn’t seen them lately. I’m definitely in the learning curve here. Thanks for the help.
You definitely want the submerged plants, Laxpat. They’re essential for keeping your water clean. I use anacharis, but I understand it is banned in some states because it has escaped into the wild and caused problems. Go to a local pond nursery or look online, and I’m sure you’ll find a variety of submerged plants you can use. The fish do munch on them, so I have to replace mine about every 6 months, but the bundles of anacharis are inexpensive.
I just thought of something else. If your water lily is several years old and you’ve never divided it, you should do that next fall. Just lift it out of the water, slide it out of the pot, and use a little saw or a hatchet to cut it in two. Repot in heavy clay, not loose garden soil, and put a layer of gravel on top. Your water lily will do better for being divided, and you’ll have another one to share with a friend. —Pam
I can see as well why your daughter calls this your fairy tale garden Pam. It’s absolutely dreamy.
Especially on a sultry, hot day like today. Thanks, Chey. —Pam
Beautiful picture of the fairy garden. I can just imagine at dusk a few fairies peaking out here and there to see if it is cool enough and quiet enough for them to come out for the night. Funny that we both have cottonseed fluff all over at this time of year. They are like nature’s lint and it’s everywhere.
Nature’s lint—yes, it is. I love cottonwoods nevertheless. Their big leaves clapping in the slightest breeze always seems so happy to me. —Pam
Beautiful photos, Pam. You certainly have a gifted eye.
Thanks, Joey. —Pam