DESIGNING A SMALL BUT ELEGANT FLOWERING AROMA GARDEN

Designing a Small but Elegant Flowering Aroma Garden    By Doreen Bradley Satter

I grew up surrounded by flowers and beautiful gardens in our country-feeling acre of land near Portland, Oregon. My mother was an avid horticulturist, specializing in camellias. She loved all plants and created a marvelous garden.

We had a huge greenhouse containing her favorite specimen camellias and a smaller conservatory where my mother taught me the art of rooting, grafting and propagating plants at the early age of four. The conservatory was a magical place for me. It was there that the love of gardening and growing things became deeply rooted in my soul.

I have recently moved and I have just finished planting yet another flower garden. Designing a new garden is one of my favorite things to do and this will be my thirteenth one. Maybe there have been others. I’ve lost track.

Previously, all of my gardens have been quite large with many varieties of plants, flowers, garden structures, ponds, fountains, ‘garden rooms’ and many other things. This time I welcome a small but elegant flowering, scented garden. I have the ideal location for this garden just outside my kitchen window where I can enjoy it while indoors as well as when I am outside.

One of my favorite flowers has always been the rose. My new garden is full of roses, daisies, nicotiana, lavender and peonies. I also have included several flowering vines that will climb on arches and trellises throughout the garden. A winding path weaves throughout the plantings.

A few favorite climbing plants I have included are climbing roses, jasmine, clematis, trumpet vine, honeysuckle, and passion vine.  All will bloom profusely and produce wonderful fragrances as I wander through the garden.

Because this garden includes many plants at the lighter end of the spectrum (whites, light pinks and yellows) it will also be a night garden, that will glow in the moonlight.  The scented plants will produce a heady aroma at night, giving the garden visitor an even more pleasurable experience.

Of course, no garden is complete without a bird bath and a cozy area to sit and reflect and marvel at the beauty of nature.

THE GARDEN IS GROWING…HERE ARE SOME NEW PICTURES!

THE HIDDEN GARDEN…

My last entry was on Feb. 2011, three months ago.  Here in the Willamette Valley in Oregon, it seems Spring has come and gone several times with a few nice days here and there and many rainy days in between. My garden has been delayed for weeks, but  I finally was able to get the area tilled just two weeks ago on May 2.  Since then, I have spent almost every free moment working on the garden. Today,  I will plant a couple of decorative planters with trailing petunias and I can call my garden officially done!

Of course all gardeners know that a garden is really NEVER finished!  There are always plants to add, or a new climbing vine or stepping stone or mulch or bark or a decorative rock or two…the list is endless…and then there’s the maintenance.  Watering, pulling weeds, edging beds. Fortunately my garden is small, only about 700 square feet so not too much for me to handle.

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Picture this entry arbor, the climbing structures and the privacy screen covered with climbing pink and white roses and pink, white and purple clematis.  The Hidden Garden is an English Cottage Garden with roses, peonies, clematis, jasmine, lilac, honeysuckle, passion vine, and an assortment of old-fashioned perennials such as larkspur, columbine, phlox, dianthus, daisies, lavender, delphinium, foxglove, nicotiana, heather and many other old favorites.

I still have to finish spreading bark in the back corner and then placing my stepping stone paths. The entire Hidden Garden is enclosed with privacy screening.  There are many trellises and climbing structures that will soon be covered with  flowering vines.  Two large arched ‘garden houses’  flank each side;  the one to the left encloses a little bistro set where I can sit and have my morning coffee or do my writing or painting.  The ‘garden house’ on the right side has a comfortable chaise lounge for shady afternoon naps!

As soon as plants begin to grow and climb, I will truly have a peaceful, Hidden Garden.

WELCOME TO THE HIDDEN GARDEN…

MY GARDEN IS IN THE PLANNING STAGE…

Today I started designing plans for my new garden.  The garden will be behind my studio/living space, surrounded by trellises laden with flowering scented vines.  One enters the garden through an archway of climbing roses along a winding gravel path leading to several special areas of plantings.  Each space will have specially-chosen fragrant plantings in shades of white, pinks, purples and blues.

The center of my hidden garden will feature a rock garden surrounded by a circular rose bed.  I plan to include a  tiny sitting area where I will paint or write or read or dream….

Some of my favorite climbing plants along the trellised walls will include climbing roses, jasmine, clematis, trumpet vine, honeysuckle, and passion vine and a few special  flowers in the garden will be daisies, nicotiana, lavender and peonies.

Perhaps my hidden garden will look a bit like this picture.  That’s what I am imagining….Let’s see what will happen…