Hopalong Hollow....

Hopalong Hollow, where the Blueberries grow sweet, and the moss feels soft beneath your feet.

Monday, May 23, 2016

Potager, a favorite type of garden Part 1

Potager
        Because, in my  enthusiasm and optimism, I have 7 separate and distinct gardens here in the Hollow, I thought it would be nice to journal each one of them. In video ( coming later) and in posting, I will endeavor to share my accomplishments and failures along the way. You may have your own advice to add, or maybe, I can encourage those of my fellow travelers for whom gardening is a delight and a hobby, to partake in my version of  cottage gardening: Hopalong Hollowscaping.
    The first garden I want to share is my favorite type, a Potager, also known as a Kitchen Garden. The distinct advantage of this type of garden is that you aren't limited to any one type of plant, because ALL plants are welcome here! Animals too.

 Especially little songbirds....
in this rose bush!
Roses and catmint can grow alongside fruit trees and vines, tomatoes and Hollyhocks. A potager can be quite small, or enormous. You can grow in raised beds, pots, trellis and directly into the good earth. The style can be formal or informal.

We are very informal.
     Our Potager follows an odd path, it was designed to run along our porch and the side of the house. It has grown from a tiny 5'x5' patch, to a meandering and interesting  42'x 15' space.
 Things are  in  disarray as I've still much work to do here in this section.
In the little clay pots, I'm planting perennial seeds for my flower gardens. These are seeds that don't do well for me when sown directly into the soil.
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Therefore, I'm growing them in the pots first and will transplant them when the time is right.
In the long strip of soil behind this, I am planting a "cutting garden", by sowing easy to grow annuals like Zinnia, Salvia and Gomphrena. It is great to have an experimental growing space in your Potager. This is how I acquired nearly all of my Lambs-ear and Shasta Daisy plants.
 I am SO proud of this strip of 2 year old Lavender! It is bursting with buds!

 I have learned a good deal about Lavender after killing them off for so many years. The proper soil and location is key, but there is also a little trick that will improve your chances of having good Lavender. When you plant those first year plants and they have grown about 7"-8" tall, take your scissors and CUT that plant down to about 5".  Be careful not to cut  into the wood, you are just giving the plant a nice haircut and preventing it from making blooms. If you see a little flower bud coming up, Snip it off! I know this is painful to do, but keeping it trimmed down the first year will give you a beautifully shaped, compact and healthy plant.
 A row of strawberries are growing alongside the Lavender plants.
James built a second bee haven for the Potager. I am hoping to attract the Carpenter bees into laying their eggs in the chunk of log in which I've drilled larger holes.The Carpenter bees have been very naughty on this side of the house,boring into the siding.  I'll let you know if this is successful. If you haven't built an insect haven yet, give it a try this year.
 Mounted to the wall is some cattle fencing, which makes for a great trellis. This year it will support Cucumbers and morning glories. In the bed with the bee haven is: Catmint, short Butterfly bushes  and Black-eyed Susan.

Herbs are planted in the large pots; this prevents the free-range chickens from digging into them .
These pots run along a walkway,
with little pink primrose and ajuga growing at the base of the pots and tall daylillies behind the pots.
You can be  creative in a Potager because anything goes!
  Below is the tomato trellis ( actually an antique windmill) and the ground surrounding it is being prepared for strawberries.
Speaking of Chickens digging in the garden...
 Demelza's adopted family is doing wonderfully!
Although they are still more Silver than Lavender, we love them all.
And here is a brief howdy-do from those orphaned December ducklings I raised...
All grown up and enjoying life in the Hollow.
I'll be back with more on the Potager, when it is finished.

26 comments:

  1. Jeri!!! I was in a little piece of heaven looking at all the wonderful pictures!! So lovely with a lot of devoted work! (happy work) The charming ducks peeking out and around the greens are truly joyously adorable! What a priceless picture!! And the lavender chicks are so intriguing!! Adopted all so well!! :-D
    Now this little trick with the lavender plants is something I shall surely try!!
    Thanks for sharing! ~ Many blessings, joy and love, Linnie Lou

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    1. Linnie, I was lucky to have my camera on hand at the very moment the ducks poked their heads out of the roses!

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  2. This is just beautiful. I love how the flowers scoot between the rocks and spill from pots. What personality it has.

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    1. Lady, one thing for sure, these gardens have personality!

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  3. JERI LANDERS, how are ya darlin'......

    I AM SO happy to meander down your "potager chemin" for it is a lovely and peaceful journey. I wish we could have a potager, but we ran out of space with all of our building! I am however, very pleased with how my boxwood hedges have grown so maturely. But one thing I'd want that I absolutely can't have in the first ring suburb of the city are GEESE, DUCKS, A DONKEY! However, some neighbors down the street have a chicken coop and sing the praises of fresh eggs every morning!

    Your lavender chicks are getting so big! And when they get big, wow, they are going to sparkle in lavender. Enjoy each precious day dearest Jeri, I AM! Anita

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    1. I love tidy Boxwood hedges, and have a very small section in another garden. I'm certain they absolutely suit your home, very French. If the neighbors can have a chicken coop, can you not have 2 ducks? Each day I search for a speck of Lavender on those chicks, but alas, I have to really use my imagination. If the light hits them just right, I can catch a hint of it.

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  4. It's looking wonderful at the Hollow, Jeri. I wish I had the sun to grow lavender. I guess that's a wish for every gardener to have what they don't. So I'll enjoy seeing yours as it blooms. The chicks and the ducklings are certainly thriving due to your mothering and of course Delmelza. Enjoy your days in the garden. ♥

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    1. Martha, I have struggled with Lavender for years in our humidity, but we do have plenty of sunshine. We all have a plant we desire and can't seem to grow; FOXGLOVE is supposed to be easy. but not for me... it just dies before my very eyes. Last year I bought a few of the new variety and alas! I have pale yellow foxgloves in a shade garden for the first time!

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  5. Dear Jeri ~ Another wonderful post!!! What I want to know is, how on earth do you take care of all of this, do your crafting, write and illustrate books and go to shows? You are amazing!

    Love your sweet new chicks.

    Happy living there at the Hollow ~ Love & hugs ~ FlowerLady

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    1. Lorraine, Well, it isn't easy. I do all the gardening by myself, which is fine... it's my hobby, not James's. As far as the artwork, needlework and writing... when I'm not in the garden, I'm in the studio working away. We've knocked our show schedule down to about 10-12 shows a year, so that helps. I guess the answer is, I never stop working... it is my life.

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  6. I always enjoy your gardening posts! You seem to surprise me each time with something unexpected or interesting in your garden. I will have to try your idea to grow perennial seeds in pots. I never have much success just sowing them in the ground, either.

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    1. Cathy, I just gave up on sowing perennials in the earth, I never see hide nor hair of them after that! So this is an experiment to see if the seeds are even germinating. So far, a few of the pots have some life forms in them.... hope they aren't weeds!

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  7. Jeri, it looks so beautiful. I've had trouble with carpenter bees too. Your soil looks good and loamy. I will have to go trim the new lavender I've planted at the city house. So glad Demelza took those babies. Glad the ducklings are grazing your potager garden. Can't wait to see the rest.

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    1. Donna, Our soil is CLAY and needs lots of amending, I use peat and donkey doo. Those carpenter bees can be so destructive, but I won't kill bees, so I am hoping this log will divert them. A few were poking around the holes this morning, crossing fingers and hoping I don't exacerbate the problem by attracting even more C bees!

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  8. Jeri, the garden is lovely. Your roses are so healthy looking. Boy, I am envious. Roses just wont grow for me. I love the lavender, and what a surprise, year 2 is a reward for your hard work.
    Happy digging in the soil, Deborah Rogers Mercy

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    1. See Deborah, you were right when you said my Lavenders weren't dying! I've read that at 3 years they really become a masterpiece. Keep trying on the roses, it took me a few years to get them going, now they are in every garden. Next time you are here, I will give you a cutting from this fabulous rambler that is growing over the shop roof.

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  9. Good evening Jeri,
    How I wish I could stroll down the garden path with you.. I would love to hold the wee chicks and can only imagine how wonderful the garden scent is.
    You have such an array of plants.. Your roses are just beautiful! And your lavender is growing up so nicely. I wish I could find a songbird's nest in my rose bushes.
    I finally built a willow fence around my stone planter.. Fred and Ethel kept sharpening there teeth on everything.. Snapped off all the new buds on my newly planted rose bush.. They have yet to touch the lemon balm.. How funny.
    Thank you so much for taking me along the path.
    fondly,
    Penny

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    1. Penny, I would love to put a baby chick in your hand, they are so soft. This little group is very people-friendly, as I am training them every day to eat from my hand. It is sort of a mixed blessing, as they start following me around the yard all day for a hand out! It seems that Fred and Ethel are determined to despise your Lemon Balm, silly little buns. I wonder if they would eat a mint? It's easy to grow and Catmint is beautiful,so if they don't eat it, you would still have a marvelous bunch of plants... And it would look fantastic with your roses!

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  10. Dear Jeri-I love potagers too. Your gardens are exceptional-it's evident you put so much love into them! I will still follow your blog from my art blog. I couldn't do without seeing what you're up to. much love, Debra

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    1. Debra, I just knew you were a Potager kinda gal! I will still visit your art blog, I AM GLAD you are not closing it.

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  11. Dear Jeri, this tour of your potager garden has been such a treat! I am amazed at all that you have going on, in addition to your beautiful art.
    The lavender tip is a good one, the growing lavender chicks are adorable and the ducklings surely do seem to be enjoying themselves.
    Hoping your invitation to the carpenter bees will have the response you wish for.
    You've got a piece of paradise in your Hollow. xo

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    1. Frances, I will be planting some dwarf fruit trees, under-planted with pumpkins and gourds,in another section of this Potager. There is still quite a large space I haven't photographed yet. Everyone here in the Hollow seems content... we agree it is our own little paradise. Now if those bees would just take the hint....

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  12. Jeri,
    Your gardens are places full of dreams and smiles. The ducks are so white they look like brides.

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  13. May, They really are a pristine white, just beautiful creatures. They love this garden because it's the garden I placed them in as wee ducklings.

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  14. Jeri,
    I just knew I had to pop over to your blog today...check in with you get inspired!
    Life has been busy and sometimes you lose track of special blogs.
    Ahhh, good to rest my eyes in your garden--again!
    Stacey

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    1. Stacey, so good to see you again! I know you've been busy in your own wonderful garden.

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