The Garden Page

I love gardening and my guess is that if you are here on this page, you do too!
My "Dreaming of Summer" CD was inspired by fond memories of summers gone by and my love of gardening. Much of the music I compose first comes to me while I am weeding, mulching and planting. I often practice piano mentally while outdoors, so if you see me out there and it looks like I am playing hookie...think twice! :)
-Robin

As hard as it was leaving my established NJ garden behind, starting from scratch in rural PA was an exciting undertaking. Below are photos of the gardens (always in progress!) around our Pennyslvania home. Enjoy...and questions always welcome!

The hill behind our house was impossible to mow, so we created a few "tiers" by cutting into it. This photo was taken July 2005.

These mulched areas were soon to be flower beds filled with native plants and low maintenance flowers. The areas covered with hay were planted with grass to create grass walkways.

Daylilies, shasta daisys and purple salvia bloom nicely together on the hillside now

Top tier outside my office: allium, butterfly bush (foreground), rose arbor, white lupines

Yellow baptista

Penstemon

"Widows Tears"

Here I am on a hot July day, preparing the beds for fall planting. Below are photos of the daffodils and tulips that emerged the following Spring

Stargazer lilies are one of my favorite types of lily. They have a beautiful fragrance

My mother-in-law's daylily bed in NJ was overgrown so she asked me to thin it for her. I took some roots home and now have about 50 of these on the hill. The bloom in June.

Giant Alliums and "Edith Wolford" irises bloom nicely together on the top tier each Spring

This is called "Broomstick Bush". After it blooms, it keeps a nice upright habit and is all green

Closeup of blooms on "Broomstick Bush"

I picked up this little mermaid on Cape Cod . She seems comfortable with the creeping thyme and coreopsis!

Here is the rose arbor I received on Mother's Day 2006.

Pink climbing roses....they bloom after the Red Knockout roses complete their blooms on the same arbor

Stella d'oro day lilies

Pink "Lollipop" lilies

Asiatic Lilies

Specimen day lily

"Red Volunteer" day lily

Purple lupines and allium

Butterfly bush and shasta daisys

Coreopsis

Our August sunflowers grow 8-12 feet!

White Phlox "David" and purple garden phlox

Phlox "Bright Eyes"

Planted this pink coreopsis in my southern bed and it bloomed until frost

Liatris

My neighbor gave me these cuttings and they bloomed the following year (2008). Orange "Butterfly Weed". Monarch butterflies like to lay their eggs on them