Your Home, Garden and Travel

Japanese Garden Huntington Library, Art Gallery and Botanical Gardens Pasadena, California

The opening scene in a WWII war movie was filmed in this Japanese Garden. In the movie, the setting is Japan and the bridge is painted red. At the time that I took this photo in January 2010, I didn't make the connection. While watching this movie again today, I immediately recognized the garden. An all-star cast includes Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, Hal Holbrook, Glenn Ford, James Coburn, Robert Wagner and Charlton Heston—and other popular actors at the time. Can you guess the movie?

The Huntington Library, Art Gallery and Botanical Gardens is a great place to visit while in the Los Angeles area. Located in Pasadena, California, it is worth a day trip to explore the collections, indoors and out. In addition to the Japanese Garden, other themed gardens include: Australian, Camellia, Children's, Chinese, Desert, Herb, Rose, Shakespearean and the Rose Hills Foundation Conservatory for Botanical Science. If you are fan of bonsai, there is an impressive display!

The Japanese Garden is one of the most beautiful that I've ever seen and I was there in winter. I'm sure it is even more spectacular when the apricot, cherry, peach and plum trees are in bloom.

Japanese Garden January 10, 2010

Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel. All company or product or patented names mentioned are registered trademarks, copyrights, or patents owned by those respective companies or persons.

Crepe myrtle 'White Chocolate' in August 2010

A scorching summer doesn't deter the blooms of crepe myrtle, a "go-to" tree for southern gardeners. There are three varieties of crepe (crape) myrtle in my garden, but 'White Chocolate' is my favorite for mixing with perennials.

I stumbled upon this unusual variety in 2006. This year, the blooms are fabulous and have been going strong for a month.

'White Chocolate' is a cultivar selected by Dr. Michael Dirr, University of Georgia, Athens. Rated for zones 7-9, this is a moderate grower to 8 feet high and wide.

Although 'White Chocolate' is a difficult crepe myrtle cultivar to find, it is listed with Monrovia. (Their website allows you to search for garden centers in your area that carry their brand.)

Once established, this tree is drought-tolerant. It is also deer resistant. Japanese Beetles will chew on any crepe myrtle, but the damage is less as the trees grow larger.

The dark burgundy foliage of 'White Chocolate' is especially beautiful when it first emerges in the spring. As the season progresses, it is more bronze-burgundy, but never fades in the strong sunlight. The autumn color is brilliant and in winter, the bark is interesting. The summer blooms are white, but the burgundy and pink tones make it a good color to use with pink or blue blooms of perennials such as agastache, nepeta, echinops and caryopteris.

I shape 'White Chocolate' like a shrub instead of a tree, but pruning must be done with careful consideration—as with all crepe myrtles, you take responsibility when you grow one of these lovely trees, so please don't commit crepe murder!

Crepe myrtle 'White Chocolate' behind agastache 'Salmon & Pink'

Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel. Deer and rabbit resistance varies based upon the animal population and availability of food. All company or product or patented names mentioned are registered trademarks, copyrights, or patents owned by those respective companies or persons.

I love to eat blazing star leaves.

Here I am, nibbling on the blazing star (liatris ligulistylis) while posing for my photo. This wildflower, blazing star, is a favorite nectar flower for Monarch butterflies. I think the leaves are yummy.

I live in Cameron's deer resistant garden. I'm so cute and I hide out beneath the amsonia, monarda and agastache that is planted so thickly, Cameron can't run me out. There's always a place for me to hide.

There's another perennial that I love to eat so much. It was blooming all summer, but now, linaria 'Canon J. Went' is nothing but stubs. Those pretty little pink snapdragon-shaped blooms are all gone. I have such a voracious appetite that I finished off the entire plant in three nights!

Cameron caught me munching on a coneflower leaf. She asked me not to do that anymore or she'll spray bunny repellent on all the coneflower leaves. That stuff really tastes yucky, so I'm going to have to be really sneaky and just eat the coneflower leaves that she won't notice. She has so many rudbeckia 'Goldsturm' that I'm able to eat those leaves without making her mad.

Although I live out in the deer resistant garden where there are a lot of plants that I don't eat (agastache, salvia, milkweed, joe pye weed, ironweed, amsonia, monarda, perennial heliotrope and coreopsis—to name a few), I do sneak into the cottage garden to see if I can reach the garden phlox.

I trampled some sedum tips the other day. That didn't go over very well with the gardener. Cameron had just planted those tips and I walked all over them so that I could eat a perennial that she calls "wine cups." It had been planted in the cottage garden, right beside the path. She moved it a few weeks ago to hide it from me. I thought it was a game of hide-and-seek. I found it behind those sedum tips and I just had to eat it again. I won the game!

I would really like to be a pet. Cameron and Charm walk through the garden every morning. I try to follow along, but they pretend to chase me off. I've managed to go up and sniff Cameron's shoes, but she isn't amused by my cuteness. She says I'm a wild animal and people shouldn't touch me.

I'm so cute, but I've been told that people shouldn't touch me.

Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel. Deer and rabbit resistance varies based upon the animal population and availability of food.

A Black Swallowtail caterpillar (cat) munches on bronze fennel to prepare for the great metamorphosis.

The opening act for the magic trick. Notice the attachment to the stem and the shape of the cat.

Ta-da! Chrysalis (two) on clumping bamboo.

The best count of Black Swallowtail Butterfly caterpillars has been around 20. Today, there are at least nine chrysalis on the neighboring clumping bamboo or on the bronze fennel itself. Soon, there will be lots of butterflies!

Each photo above is of a different cat. Caterpillar, chrysalis, butterfly—all stages of metamorphosis in the garden this week.

Please take a look at Randy Emmitt's website for great educational photos and identification of the Black Swallowtail Butterfly. Although I have many BST cats, I seem to always photograph the similar Pipevine, "dark form" of Eastern Tiger or the Spicebush Swallowtail Butterflies—but, I never see those cats!

Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel. All company or product or patented names mentioned are registered trademarks, copyrights, or patents owned by those respective companies or persons.

Deciding which photo of Monet's Garden to use for the Gardening Gone Wild Photo Contest for August 2010 was difficult. A view of Monet's house, as well as the mix of flowers, reminds me of the Impressionist's paintings.

The photo was taken on a cloudy day in May 2009 in the Clos Normand (walled garden) section of Monet's Garden in Giverny, France.

Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel. All company or product or patented names mentioned are registered trademarks, copyrights, or patents owned by those respective companies or persons.

Agastache for August color. There are at least six varieties in this photo and multiples of those.

The hottest summer on record may also end up as one of the most colorful. The drought-tolerant agastache, the primary perennials in my garden are turning out a stellar performance! Recent rains revived the garden, making this the most colorful August yet for the deer resistant garden, established in 2007.

Labeled as agastache 'Black Adder' but it looks a lot like 'Purple Haze' which I also grow. Zones 6-9.

Agastache 'Heatwave' lives up to its name. (background includes purple fountain grass and foliage of perennial blue flax). Zones 5-10.

Agastache 'Salmon & Pink' is my oldest variety that started out in the cottage garden in 2005. It rules the deer resistant garden. Zones 6-10.

Agastache 'Blue Fortune' held on to its color better this year. Could it be that it liked the supplemental watering? Or, has it matured? Zones 5-9.

Agastache 'Summer Love' plants provided by Terra Nova Nurseries, Inc. Zones 6-9.

Agastache 'Cotton Candy' has been in bloom since April. Plants provided by Terra Nova Nurseries, Inc. Zones 6-9.

In other areas of the garden, I grow 'Golden Jubilee', 'Navajo Sunset', 'Summer Sky', 'Heather Queen', 'Purple Pygmy', 'Summer Glow' and 'Coronado'. I may have even forgotten at least one! Deer, rabbit and disease resistant and drought tolerant. Loved by butterflies, bees and hummingbirds—It doesn't get any better in the heat of summer in full sun.

Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel. Deer and rabbit resistance varies based upon the animal population and availability of food. All company or product or patented names mentioned are registered trademarks, copyrights, or patents owned by those respective companies or persons.

Joe Pye Weed 'Little Joe' (eupatorium dubium)

Fluttering and floating—the garden is full of life with butterflies. It's a delightful experience to walk through a garden and be brushed on the cheek by soft wings. Although I'm using swallowtails for my photos, there are many more varieties in the garden.

For a butterfly garden, success is guaranteed if you include agastache, cosmos, joe pye weed, milkweed, butterfly bushes, lantana, salvia and zinnias. There are many other nectar and host plants for butterflies, but these are the favorites in my garden.

Agastache 'Blue Fortune' is a favorite, attracting many butterflies as well as Gold Finches and bees.

Agastache 'Cotton Candy' is proving to be as popular as 'Blue Fortune' with me and the butterflies!

Agastache 'Heat Wave', with tubular blooms is also loved by hummingbirds.

Bog sage (salvia uliginosa) is great for moist areas in the garden, but can handle drought. Another hummingbird favorite, too.

Butterfly bush 'Honeycomb' (buddleia) is one of twenty in my garden. 'Adonis Blue', 'Pink Delight' and 'Royal Red' buddleia are also wonderful.

Comos sulphureus, an annual grown from seeds. I also grow cosmos bipinnatus in pink, white and deep rose.

Lantana, an unknown pink-yellow variety that is a perennial in my zone 7b garden. I also grow the orange-gold 'Miss Huff'.

Benary's Giant Zinnia in salmon. Easy to grow from seed. I have many different colors of zinnias and the salmon looks great with lime green blooms.

My bronze butterfly marks a patch of pink swamp milkweed, joe pye weed and ironweed. Milkweed is the host plant for Monarch butterflies.

Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel. Deer and rabbit resistance varies based upon the animal population and availability of food. All company or product or patented names mentioned are registered trademarks, copyrights, or patents owned by those respective companies or persons.

Coreopsis Big Bang™ 'Redshift' and salvia farinacea 'Victoria Blue'

Blue and yellow blooms partner well for a delightful color combination, especially in the heat of the summer. Finding the right shades can be a challenge. Many yellow flowers look gold and many blue flowers look purple. This section of my garden was another makeover in the fall of 2009. I rearranged plants and added a few new ones.

Coreopsis Big Bang™ 'Redshift' begins blooming in July

At the "core" of my yellow, blue and burgundy garden area is Coreopsis Big Bang™ 'Redshift'. I adore this tall, hardy coreopsis. It begins blooming in midsummer for my zone 7b garden, but it doesn't stop until after a few frosts.

'Redshift' starts out a lovely butter yellow with a burgundy eye. As the weather cools in autumn, the burgundy slowly bleeds into the yellow for a peach-yellow to burgundy bloom. I like the shifting colors, but the fresh yellow blooms are at their loveliest right now.

I purchased gallon pots of this coreopsis in 2009 to skip ahead to a mature mass planting. Sometimes, I have no patience! I bought all that the nursery had at the time (four pots), but there are so many blooms, I ignored the "plant in odd numbers" rule. I planted all four in a square that looks like one big mass of yellow when in bloom.

Grow this coreopsis in zones 4-8 in full sun and well-drained soil. My plants are easily 36" high. This coreopsis almost resented the supplemental water that I provided during the worst of the dry heatwave this summer. Tough perennial! There has been no deer or bunny browsing.

I really wanted to use salvia guaranitica 'Black & Blue' as a companion. I grow so many clumps of this salvia and had planned to transplant, but they emerged so late (almost June), that I lost patience (and hope), purchasing salvia 'Victoria Blue' instead. I have now marked a large clump of 'Black & Blue' to divide in the cottage garden to transplant in spring 2011.

I also added a salvia guaranitica 'Omaha Gold' behind the coreopsis. That one has variegated foliage and dark blue blooms, but it isn't large enough at this point to be noticeable. I bought only one 'Omaha Gold' until I see if it overwinters.

Salvia farinacea 'Victoria Blue'

Back to 'Victoria Blue'. I will never be without this salvia again! Although it may not overwinter here since it is rated for zones 7b-11, I have a good source from a greenhouse grower where I can buy it in large flats at a great price. It took this salvia awhile (June) to start blooming since I purchased small plants.

Although the deer and rabbits haven't eaten any of the blooms, some gardeners report that it may be munched when food is scarce.

'Victoria Blue' is a great height (18 inches) to use in front of taller perennials. My advice is to plant the salvia close together, about 6-8 inches apart for the best look. They don't seem to mind, and the results are far better than the recommended spacing of 12 inches.

If you are inclined to add burgundy to the color scheme, I'm using purple fountain grass and gaillardia 'Burgundy'. The gaillardia is unfortunately planted in the shade of the coreopsis! I am going to have to do some rearranging to get more blooms on the gaillardia. The fountain grass, an annual here, is a fabulous companion. I used just one to try the look and have decided that it is "the" best to go with the coreopsis and salvia, given the midsummer peak blooms that last well into fall.

Note the purple fountain grass on the left side to add a touch of burgundy. The volunteer orange cosmos has been pulled after seeing it in this photo!

Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel. Deer and rabbit resistance varies based upon the animal population and availability of food. All company or product or patented names mentioned are registered trademarks, copyrights, or patents owned by those respective companies or persons.

Taking photos of the garden every month allows me to see what I want to change or keep the same for the next growing season. This is just one of several sections of the deer resistant garden that underwent a complete overhaul during the autumn months of September through November 2009. I did my best to photograph at the same angle each time, but there are some hits and misses in the exact position!

I like cottage gardens and wildflower meadows, so I'm combining the two styles for my own look to suit the conditions.

The garden is planted in a somewhat random layout, but I add groupings on a diagonal because of the approach when walking around the outside of the garden. I use primarily cool colors, though I'm gradually adding a bit of yellow and white to see how it works.

During the summer, the area receives twelve hours of sun, so only plants that are drought-tolerant can handle the heat. All plants must be deer resistant since it is not fenced.

My goal for keeping the garden in color is to use self-sowing spring annuals to fill in the gaps until the perennials blooms. Once the spring annuals are gone, I'm using zinnias and annual grasses as fillers.

By comparing this view at different times through the spring and summer, I am making a list of plant additions, subtractions or placement for my fall tasks.

Nov 1, 2009 Old plants were removed to make room for a new plan. Edging and a French drain were added in the winter.

June 15, 2010 The camera's diagonal angle perspective for this sequence is shown with the black arrow. There are other viewing angles for this garden, but this gives the longest look across the blooms from the top of the garden down the slope.

May 1, 2010 Perennial blue flax (left) and agastache 'Cotton Candy' (right) provide color while much of the garden is still foliage

June 1, 2010 Larkspur and bachelor's buttons in multiple colors were easy to grow from seeds sown in November 2009.

July 1, 2010 Monarda, coneflowers and agastache are the primary perennials for a summer peak bloom. The larkspur and cornflowers were pulled as they faded, but a few were left to self-sow.

August 1, 2010 The 'Raspberry Wine' monarda fades and Benary's Wine Zinnias begin to bloom to keep the wine color. Purple fountain grass plumes are starting.

This has been a difficult year for the garden—a wet winter, a hot and dry April, as well as the hottest summer on record. Still, I am comfortable with the overall success for a first year of blooms.

There is a mass planting of Russian sage, not yet tall enough to make a statement from this camera angle. The zinnias are sparse right now, just beginning to bloom, having been delayed by the lack of rain until recently.

Hidden below the agastache blooms are many young coneflower seedlings that will break up all the spires in 2011. I'm using seeds, when possible, to economize on the cost of mass plantings. Although the color scheme is primarily blue-toned pinks, the white coneflowers and gold rudbeckia are being used sparingly until I decide if I want to add more of those colors.

With a path at the bottom of this garden and the meadow grass at the top, there are other views of this same area that won't fit into one post. Also, by selecting photos taken on the first day of each month, there were blooms missed in this particular photo sequence.

Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel. Deer and rabbit resistance varies based upon the animal population and availability of food. All company or product or patented names mentioned are registered trademarks, copyrights, or patents owned by those respective companies or persons.