Making Arrangments

I love being able to bring the garden from the outside to the inside for all of our guests to enjoy! Flower arranging is one of the many garden related duties that I find to be most joyous!

Almost all of our arrangements are made from the abundance of beautiful supplies we have on property. In late summer/early fall I begin to collect things that dry well for those late fall/early winter arrangements such as grass plumes, corn tassels, seed heads and pods and flowering plants that dry well, such as Sedum and Sunflowers.

When Winter comes I begin to cut the evergreens, boxwood, pine and holly. All this is done with the intent to bring the outside experience and offerings inside for all to enjoy while resting and relaxing with in the sanctuary of our beautiful dwellings.

Above: A late winter arrangement made of cut flowers from an outside source

(Occasionally during the bleakest months of winter we supplement from outside sources to liven things up!!!)

Below: An early spring arrangement made of Helleborus, Daffodils and Crocus

Mid summer arrangement consisting of Artimesia, echanacia, bee balm, liatris and hyssop

All of the tables in our dining room are adorned with a silver mint julep cup filled with whatever bounty the property is offering at the time! Above is a bouquet of African Blue Basil. This is one of my favorite basils' EVER! It has an amazing subtle flavor that goes with anything. On the table it lends a striking color contrast to the white linens and fills the room with a fabulous aroma! During the growing season I try to always have these dining room arrangements consist of something edible. Some of my favorites are lemon and tangerine marigolds, pineapple sage, bronze fennel, African blue basil, oregano in it flowering state and hyssop, just to name a few!

Above: An arrangement combining Bronze Fennel, Annabelle Hydrangea, Hemerocallis 'Happy Returns' and Abelia

Below: This beauty is comprised of Hemerocallis 'Happy returns', Bronze Fennel and Viburnum 'Korean spice'

Above/Below: This is one of my favorite color combinations! This one is made of Purple Liatris, White Echinacea and flowering Abelia.

Above: Blue and white Hydrangea mixed with Abelia and Bee Balm is a stunning and long lasting combo!

Below: Mixing white Snowball Viburnums with blue Hydrangea really gives this small arrangement a large impact and a little more depth.

For a Wine dinner held at the Inn this past summer I decided to get creative and bring the vegetable garden inside to the diners in more than one fashion! While working in the veg garden I always admire the beauty of lettuce in all stages of its life cycle. From tiny baby greens, fresh with new life, to the stage of bolting, where they begin to rise up and flower to spread their seed. They always turn my head and inspire awe. I decided to make these bolting lettuces the star of the show!

Above: A beautiful loose leaf lettuce in a small vase adds a new twist to your standard flower arrangement!

Below: Lettuces Crisp Mint and A red Oak Leaf nest together perfectly in this low square vase, ready to inspire many a conversation!

Above: A perfect Romaine head that is a tad to bitter for a salad in the heat of the summer, makes a striking center piece for the evening!

Below: A perfect headed Lettuce 'Tennis Ball', ONLY 3'X4' Makes a cute little table top piece

Above: Late Summer brings on our amazing crop of sunflowers! So beautiful and so easy to make an outstanding arrangement with them for weeks on end !

Above:This large beauty is made up of Joe Pye weed, Green and Pink Hydrangea and Queen Anne's Lace

Below: A sweet little bouquet of spray roses for the dining room tables made last winter around Valentines Day when it was cold and grey! The sight of all those sweet little pink rose buds seems to immediately inspire thoughts of good old fashioned romance!

Below: An early spring bundle of Daffodils, Viburnum and spray roses is a good example of mixing fresh cut from the farm with a hint of supplementation!

Below: A beautiful bunch of Tulips cut fresh from the farm mixed with viburnum and Helleborus!

No matter what the season, there is always a steady supply of magical ingredients ready to be brought together to inspire the inside with the profusion of nature found outside!

Contained

Container gardens will always have a special place in my heart! One of my favorite things to do is to create a garden where there was not one before! With the use of pots, planters, window boxes, hanging baskets or pretty much any kind of container one desires, this can be done in a heart beat! Using this technique a garden can be instantly created and any space can be completely transformed. At the Goodstone there are gardens a plenty so I use containers to add a bit of interest or to bring a garden to an area that is lacking in flora, such as the pool deck, the Hayloft balcony or the newly renovated spa area down by the barns!

Above: Rose Bud Impatiens in a classic concrete trough planter add just the right touch to the already gorgeous pool facade

Above/Below: A Pink Knock Out Rose coupled with variegated sweet potato vine instantly dress up this otherwise not so interesting drive way area.

Above/Below: Hanging baskets planted with Sedum, million bells petunias, blue plumbago and chartreuse sweet potato vine instantly brought life to the barn/spa area after renovations were complete

Below: A Yellow Million Bells Petunia fit right into this old sink next to the spa door adding a sense of whimsy and softening the entrance.

Below: Pots of Pink Petunias add a splash of color to the little white spring house on the farm

Above/Below: A simple Terra cotta pot adds interest to the pool gardens and fits perfectly on an existing stump!

And that brings us to 600 Cameron St. in Old Town Alexandria

The owner of the Goodstone Inn also owns this great spot in Old Town known as Cameron Street or Executive Suites. (if anyone needs office space in old town this place is great!) I began working on this site last year and it's now a great point of interest in the community! By simply hanging window boxes, 7 of them, and positioning large pots in between we turned a space with no previous space for a garden into a lush and magical street garden!

I chose black iron window boxes with copper inserts to match the existing elements on the street. All parking meters and trash facilities are black iron and the gutters on this building are copper, making the fixtures feel as if they have always been there.

Above: Black and chartreuse sweet potato vine mixed with a small variety of coleus and dark pink rose bud impatiens take over this window paying no mind to their 48" x 8" container!

Choosing the pots for this site was probably the most difficult part. I knew they needed to be big but I didn't want them to compete or clash with the brick. In a collaborated effort we decided to go with these simply rimmed plain concrete pots. I think they are perfect!

The Boxwood 'Green Tower' stands in as the "bones" of the "garden" adding height and structure in comparison with the wild and naturally flowing window boxes.

Last year I used a lot of Basil in the window boxes that got the most sun and the neighbors loved to walk by and collect a bit for their dinners. I received so many compliments on the Basil that I made sure to put plenty more in this summer!

The compliments didn't stop at the Basil! Everyone who passes by way of 600 Cameron St. can't help but to notice this beautiful street garden! The Sweet Potato Vine trails down to the sidewalk, the sweet allysum perfumes the air and the abundance of soft, flowery greenery takes center stage softening this large building full of hard lines and rectangles.

I am proud to say that most recently it has been noticed in a most honorable fashion! 600 Cameron St. has been awarded the Beautification Award and will be officially granted this award by the Mayor in early October! Quite an honor indeed! Oh and did I mention?? It's the first commercial property to have ever received the award!

Thanks and congrats to all involved in this amazing project!!!!

This just goes to show that with a little imagination and a few plants a garden can be grown anywhere! Even if it has to be contained!

Happy Fall Planting !!

The Carriage House Court Yard

The Carriage House Court Yard

200?

The Carriage House Court Yard

May 2009

The Carriage House Court Yard

July 2009

This carriage house turned Inn is the heart of the Goodstone. The beautifully restored building houses 4 luxurious suites, a main "living room" where guests are received and tea is held every day at 3pm, the dining room and kitchen where the chefs turn our local bounty into an amazing adventure for the palate and finally our office~the brains of the operation. Although much is happening in this building at any point in time, it always appears to be serene.

The Carriage House Court Yard has had many looks through out the years. This spring we changed the water feature from a fountain to a pond. I was itching all spring to redo the gardens in the Court Yard but I didn't want to disrupt the Tulips so I had to wait !

These Korean boxwood had been looking sad for about a year and I felt they had over grown their spot. I have a vision of the court yard being a lush and fragrant English style tea garden. So this spring I ordered some new bones and waited for the perfect time to give the court yard a make over!

Diggs Loves the pond too!

The existing structure of the court yard garden is great! The shape is fun to work with, it's protected from the elements and from deer and it has a lot of natural charm! There are large clematis that are gorgeous all year around and a mature Crepe Myrtle in each corner that lend structure and shade. I love the bare shape of them in the winter too!

Finally the perfect day came! It was a rainy morning late in June and all the plant material was in so we went for it !

Out with the old!

Don't worry the old bushes were put to good use in empty other spots!

Above: Armando, my right arm, removes the old shrubs. The cool, rainy weather insured that we would have success in our planting and transplanting ventures.

Once our palette is clear, we lay out the plants and prep the area for planting. I use Espoma Greensand and Plant Tone when installing new plantings. A shovel full of each is worked into the soil before the hole is dug to make sure that the soil is fully amended. The Planting begins and it usually goes pretty fast!

Before we even realized it the transformation had occurred! Instantly the court yard had an entirely different feel! Out came 12 large Korean Boxwood and in went 8 Green Mountain Boxwood, 4 White Knock Out Roses, 4 Vardar valley Boxwood and 12 Sweet Box. All of the echinacea, primrose, ajuga, thyme and tulip bulbs were existing from last year's make over and were just rearranged to fit the new bones! I say bones because they are the structure of the garden. The bones are what is left to look at in the winter when all of the vegetation has vanished!

This is the first phase of the transformation from grass and stone court yard to lush and fragrant English style tea garden! The boxwood, knock out roses and sweet box delineate the boundaries of this garden and stay a beautiful dark evergreen all year around to create a lush feel even in the debt of winter.

Above: 6 Sweet Box ~Sarcocca confusa and 2 Buxus 'Green Mountain' line the path to the Stallion Suite

Above: White Knock Out Rose bedded with White Echinacea, Pink evening primrose

The evergreen shrubs anchor the stone work and create another dimension to the space.

After the change in vegetation the benches looked out of place to me and it took me a while to figure out why!

Finally I realized that they needed a make over too! Douglas our wonderfully handy maintenance man stained the benches and I gave them a little rearrange and viola' we have a whole new court yard !

The red grass plumes and the furthest crepe myrtle branches lend a small amount of badly needed shade to our little pond!

I love these glazed terra cotta bowl ponds. I came across this one at my sister Morgan's nursery, Gardens of Delight and I knew immediately that it was perfect for our Court Yard. This little pond houses 4 gold fish, 4 black snails, 3 tad poles, water lettuce, water hyacinth, anarchis and a Texas gold medal water lily that blooms yellow and smells amazing!

I love ponds, I feel they add the sense of a whole other living world to a space as opposed to a fountain which is just an eternal trickle.

Hopefully by spring we will be starting on the next phase!

The Garden is never finished !