Over the horrible rainy and cold weather last week when I was forced inside , and especially while I was chaperoning 15 teenagers at my daughter Erin’s end of school party, I killed lots of time going from website to website, blog to linked blog ,enjoying gardens from a ll over the country and a few in Canada and England too.I thoroughly enjoy seeing how excited people are with the success of their gardens.
Photos always accompany the stories, and some are amazing in their clarity, detail and lighting, and some (like my own) very amateur and pedestrian. Sometimes the writing is top notch, sometimes not, but I find all the stories endearing because of the love we gardeners and garden bloggers all share for our gardens and our plants.
What I quite frankly do not like, in even the tinniest way, are plant snobs. One website I visited this weekend infuriated me in such a way that I felt inclined to post nasty comments, or even better try to spam his site. He goes by the name Renegade Gardener and honestly, his opinions are full of self-important egotistical hogwash. (He is not alone in his poorly thought out comments , I just was angered at his conviction and nastiness ).
We all want to be better gardeners. I define that as being someone who seeks to better the land space around them, in a way that suits them, causing as little damage to the world at large as possible, and who is always seeking better and more efficient ways to grow the plants they love.
See that, the plants THEY love, not the plants YOU love. This guy basically slammed anyone who dared to grow a daylily, or aspired to have a beautiful hedge of arbovitae, or basically anyone who wanted to garden with common plants.
I do not know how to type the “raspberry” sound or I would give it to him. I enjoy a daylily, and love a deep green hedge of arbs as a background to a flower border. There are a plethora of plants I do not care for at all……structural plants like agave and yucca make me wince, hostas bore me because , like many foliage plants , I fail to grasp the pleasure of minute variations of detail in a leave. I am a flower chick.
BUT I can tell you how fully I appreciate a garden lovingly planted and tended with them, or any other plant for that matter. The list of stuff I grow here would be an embarrassment to type so I won’t, but suffice it to say, I grow an overused plant ( or 20 ) and totally without apology. On the flip side i have collections of certain plants that you will hardly ever see anywhere else.
There are many “rare” and or “must have” plants for “serious” gardeners you will never ever see here. Among them :
Spring ephemerals (too small, bloom time waaayyy too short),
Plants that push my hardiness zone (here that is a just setting up a date with failure and disappointment )
Large foliage plants like Rodgersia or Castor bean or elephant ears, I have even banned canna ( I get the willies thinking about the rain forest and or jungles, and it is so windy here the leaves tatter so I would not use them even if I loved them , OCD you know)….but as an exception I have ‘sum and substance’ hosta which is huge and grown for foliage, and I like it and that is that.
But YOU can grow them all you want, lots of them. I will tell you how lovely they look in your yard and probably take lots of pictures.
The whole point of any gardening is to take a space and transform it into something you enjoy, so if you want an acre of daylilys….have at it! Ignore anyone who tells you your efforts are not good enough, or your taste too simple. Or cheerfully point out their inadequacies and harp on their trend- following- keep up with the joneses- mentality, you’ll feel better.
Moss Phlox: ubiquitous, boring
Bridal Wreath Spirea : Nauseatingly common
Whats wrong with this picture? : apparantly the arborvitae is unnacceptable
Daylilys: Not only orange, but the roadside ditch variety too! BAH!
Guess I need to re-do the whole garden………. lmao, not a chance!
I agree!! Bravo and well said.
I’m so tired of hearing how “dreadful” annuals are and you should NEVER plant them. Excuse me? This is MY garden. I will plant what I want. garden for myself. If someone else enjoys it-wonderful . If not–keep your (lofty)opinions to yourself.
I think your garden is wonderful!!
TYVM! glad to hear I am not alone and that others put their own personal happiness above impressing others, I’ll bet we are the quiet (polite) majority!
Hahaha – I love this post! I think your garden with the arborvitae border is spectacular. pttthhhhhbbbbbbb (I don’t know if this is really how to spell raspberries but close enough. Hopefully Mr Garden Critic isn’t also the Spell Police)
thank you, I personally love arborvitae as a backdrop, guess I am “simple” lol. Just realized you were back to posting… I must go catch up!
and I tried to comment on your blog but was having a hard time…you are dead on about the snow cover, well insulated means blooms on old and new wood= lots and lots of blooms. Fussy things aren
‘t they? Plant hydrangea paniculata (various cltrs inc limelight and a couple of new pinks I forget the names of) they are very reliable up here in the norht country!