Garden Inspiration: White Garden Vignettes

1.  Jenny's White Garden at Fearrington Village.
Pittsboro, North Carolina. March 2012

2.  Duke Gardens, Duke University.
Durham, North Carolina. July 2011

3.  Duke Gardens. July 2011

4.  Central Park, New York City. June 2011

5.  Musée des Impressionismes, Giverny, France. May 2009.

6.  In a Paris, France park. April 2011

Sprinkles, masses or entire gardens—the use of white flowers can be a huge success or a total fail. These six inspirations were gathered on visits to gardens at home and abroad.

1. Jenny's White Garden at Fearrington Village changes with the seasons. Since this is located only five minutes from my home, I've seen the changes. In early spring, the white blooms are primarily daffodils and other spring bulbs.
2. I've seen the Page-Rollins White Garden at Duke Gardens only in the heat of July where it was splendid in the 90+°F heat of the summer sun. There are succulents, perennials and annuals as well as foliage plants. I've not located a list of their plantings as this section of the garden is very new.
3. The yucca container in the center was surrounded by sweet alyssum, a plant that I grow from seed that overwintered here in my zone7b garden during our mild winter of 2011.
4. White hydrangeas and large, blue hostas provided a cool vignette in the shade on a hot June day in Central Park, New York City.
5. For more information on the black and white flower garden, see my story about the Musée des Impressionismes in Giverny, France.
6. Walking through a random park in Paris, France, I photographed these white tulips underplanted with white forget-me-nots.

For my own garden, I've started a small vignette using phlox 'David', Japanese iris 'Mount Fuji', sweet alyssum and snapdragon 'La Bella' white. A nandina 'Alba' is the only shrub. I've sown seeds for white moon vine to climb the fence behind this grouping. Outside the fence, three large oakleaf hollies provide the dark green backdrop.  I'm looking forward to seeing the results.

I love fragrance and there are some white flowers that do not disappoint! The sweet alyssum smells like honey. Ginger, gardenia, jasmine and sweet bay magnolia are other fragrant plants in my garden.

With hot summers, the idea of enjoying the garden in evenings with cool temperatures is hugely appealing. White flowers can add sparkling magic to a garden in the evening. Added fragrance and good paths for meandering in the dark enhance the experience.

Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel. All company or product or patented names mentioned are registered trademarks, copyrights, or patents owned by those respective companies or persons.

Blogging Friends

Helen, Freda and Carolyn Gail

Carolyn Choi from Sweet Home and Garden Chicago, Helen Yoest from Gardening with Confidence™ and I had a wonderful lunch together. We met at a local restaurant and took our time visiting and chatting.

It was wonderful to meet Carolyn as well as see Helen again.

Speaking of Helen, if you are going to the North Carolina State Fair in Raleigh, October 14-24, be sure to visit the garden exhibits. Take special note of the Raleigh Garden Club's exhibit where Helen, and other members of the garden club, have supposedly worked their magic with moss!

After lunch, Helen and her children had to head home, so I took Carolyn to Duke Gardens in Durham. A very pleasant day for our outing! She certainly impressed me with her knowledge of ornamental trees—and speaking Korean to a family that we encountered in the gardens!

So much fun!

Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel.

Ten Gardens to Visit in the NC Triangle

For a great gardener's getaway, visit the Triangle area of North Carolina. The cities of Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill are home to spectacular public and private gardens. It is so easy to fill up a weekend—or a week—with gardens!

Even if you aren't a gardener, there's nothing more pleasant than strolling the many gardens to just enjoy nature and being outdoors. When the sun shines and weather is fine, locals go to the free public gardens at three major universities — North Carolina State University, Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

See private gardens that are open for only a few days each year or by appointment. Plant collectors will enjoy visiting the all the gardens, especially the gardens associated with nationally known nurseries. When the weather is chilly, warm up inside a huge butterfly conservatory that is filled with exotic tropicals.

With ten gardens, all located less than one hour from Raleigh—how many will you see?

Raleigh Gardens

JC Raulston Arboretum at NC State University
If you want to see the perfect plants to grow in the southeast, start at Raulston. In addition to the plant trials and huge perennial border, there is a fabulous Lath House, a butterfly garden, a Japanese Garden, a Xeric Garden and so much more. Every Sunday at 2:00 PM, March-October, you can take a free, guided tour. Admission free.

Juniper Level Botanic Garden
This garden is a must see—but is open only eight weekends a year during the open house days for Tony Avent's Plant Delights Nursery. Group tours can be arranged by calling ahead "WAY in advance." Although admission is free to visit the gardens, you'll have a difficult time leaving the nursery without taking home a plant or two or three...

Rose Gardens of the Raleigh Little Theatre
If you can sneak into this "almost secret" garden between weddings and events, you'll be treated to 56 varieties of roses in the 60 beds at the Rose Gardens. Accredited by the All American Rose Society, the gardens include "hybrid teas, floribundas, grandifloras, miniatures and antiques." Admission free.

Durham Gardens

NC Museum of Life and Science
Not a garden per se, the NC Museum of Life and Science has a glorious butterfly conservatory. The Magic Wings Butterfly House® is home to over 100 species set in a tropical garden. Outdoors, there are wildlife habitats, a rain garden, wetlands and too many children's activities to mention. This is definitely the place to go if you are bringing your children along, but you don't have to be a kid to enjoy the museum. Admission fee.

Sarah P. Duke Gardens at Duke University
Known for one of the best spring color displays in the terraced gardens, there is so much more to the famous Duke Gardens throughout the year. Set among 55-acres, locals stroll the paths through the Asiatic Gardens and the Garden of Native Plants. Admission free.

Chapel Hill Area Gardens

Coker Arboretum at UNC Chapel Hill
Quietly tucked away on the campus of UNC, Coker Arboretum is the perfect place to picnic and stroll the paths to view native plants and special hybrids. A mix of evergreens, dogwoods, azaleas and the famous wisteria arbor serve as garden walls that separate this garden from the hubbub of campus and town activity. Admission free.

North Carolina Botanical Garden at UNC Chapel Hill
To see North Carolina natives, visit the Botanical Garden in Chapel Hill. Native wildflowers, trees and grasses are in both natural settings and display gardens to enthrall and educate gardeners and visitors. There are also acres of hiking trails adjacent to the gardens. Admission free.

Fearrington Village and Gardens
Just ten minutes south of Chapel Hill, Fearrington Village and Gardens are reminiscent of an English country village. Set in the rolling countryside with Belted Galloway cows grazing the pastures, the gardens are perfect for a stroll after lunch or coffee at one of the restaurants. A home and garden decorating shop is filled with garden items while the grounds include folk art sculptures from local artists. Admission to the gardens is free.

Montrose Gardens
Wander the streets of Historic Hillsborough and stop in at Montrose Gardens of 19th Century origin. The Garden Conservancy is planning for the future of these gardens, that may be toured on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings by appointment, so call ahead. There is a fee to tour the gardens.

Niche Gardens
The nationally known mail-order nursery, Niche Gardens, is also open to the public. Native plants are the specialty of this nursery, open seven days a week from spring and fall. On Saturday mornings, visitors can take a free garden walk or groups can schedule an in-depth paid guided garden tour.

More information about the gardens can be found at www.visitnc.com Gardens & Arboretums. If you are interested in visiting the Triangle, download the free itinerary Love our Triangle of Gardens: 3-day itinerary for the Raleigh area, written by Freda Cameron. The itinerary also includes suggestions for restaurants and lodging, many with a garden theme.

Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel. All company or product or patented names mentioned are registered trademarks/copyrights/patents owned by those respective companies or persons.

Winter Is Not Always Snow and Ice

Sunshine and blue skies brighten many cold, winter days from the Piedmont to the Coast of North Carolina. Sparkling crystals of frosty mornings melt with the first beams of sunlight. Snowfall and ice are rare events. Some years, we have no white precipitation. Most years, we'll have a light dusting of snow that disappears quickly. Once in awhile, we'll get a deep snow.

Evergreens, both native and ornamental, provide evidence of year-round life in the gardens, parks and woodlands. We watch the bare, graceful branches of maples and willows for the first buds that indicate spring is coming. Camellias and hellebores bloom. Holly berries provide rich color.

Ducks and swans still swim on ponds while herons, egrets and ospreys continue fishing without barriers of ice. Songbirds sip and splash in the shallow, rocky edges of streams.

While we can have days of rain, our winter months are interspersed with sunny days that lure us outside to break the doldrums of cabin fever. Get up, bundle up and go for a walk.


Photo taken by Freda Cameron at Sarah P. Duke Gardens, Durham, NC in January 2009

Native Azaleas

Rhododendron canescens (Mountain Azalea, Piedmont Azalea) is a pink-flowering native. Some are white with a pink blush while others have dark pink blooms. USDA zones 6-10; part shade, full shade to full sun with moist soil.

Rhododendron austrinum (Flame Azalea) is a flashy orange-flowering native. USDA zones 6-10; part sun to shade in moist soil.






All azaleas were photographed on April 26, 2009 by Freda Cameron at Sarah P. Duke Gardens on the campus of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. There is no admission fee to visit these 55-acre public gardens in the Triangle area of Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill.

Have No Sphere? Grow Alliums

I've admired alliums for years, but have deliberated on how to use them in the garden. There are different colors, heights and bloom sizes. One allium, appropriately named 'Globe Master' has blooms that are ten inches across!

A cottage gardener friend successfully inspired me with her plantings of alliums and irises. Last fall, I planted allium aflatunense 'Purple Sensation' (zones 4-10) with iris x hollandica 'Rosario' (zones 4-9) in several groupings around my garden. This is the first bloom season and I must say that I've totally fallen for this combination of Dutch irises with alliums! Of course, my plantings need a few more years to mature and fill in the space that I've allotted, but I'm already convinced that I must have more alliums.

I have planted several groupings outside the fence since both the Dutch iris and alliums are deer resistant. I have sown annual seeds along the areas with the intention of hiding the fading foliage of these bulbs when the annuals bloom later.

'Purple Sensation' is a wonderful purple (see smaller photo of same allium that was taken in dim light versus the bright sunlight in the photo with the iris) with blooms that are four inches across.

Inside the cottage garden, I have planted the irises and alliums with my Knock Out® Roses. To hide the bulb foliage when it begins to fade, I had the idea that a mass planting of hardy geranium 'Rozanne' (perennial) would do the trick.

Well, the rabbits feasted on the geraniums over the winter, so I have only three tiny little plants left out of nine. The plants are tiny (they were large last year) because the rabbits ate them down to the ground. What I don't understand is why the rabbits haven't touched my geranium 'Brookside' that are planted along another path in the cottage garden. Of course, the rabbits know that 'Rozanne' is more expensive than 'Brookside' and they have exquisite taste when it comes to plants.

On our Sunday walk through Sarah P. Duke Gardens, there were even more alliums and combinations to inspire me. I'll be watching the performance of my 'Purple Sensation' and start putting together a wish list for planting additional alliums this fall.



Story and photos by Freda Cameron