Your Home, Garden and Travel

A mix of salvia greggii and salvia nemorosa  in the cottage garden, viewed across the blooms, but there are many companions surrounding these sages.

I'm not a collector of plants, but one look across my garden in spring, a visitor might think that I have a sage in every color. My favorite variety is salvia greggii and there are many reasons why I love this plant.

When I began my research into deer resistant plants, salvia topped the list. The first salvia greggii planted in my garden is the beautiful 'Navajo Bright Red' (difficult to find). A grouping of five is still flourishing and delivering masses of blooms in spring and fall. During the heat of the summer, the blooms are sparse, but the foliage of the plant, evergreen in my zone 7b garden provides year-round satisfaction—characteristics of all greggii varieties.

Maintenance is similar to butterfly bushes (buddleia). I cut back and shape salvia greggii in late winter, removing the dead wood and to keep the plant flexible and full of foliage to produce the blooms.

The plants are tough as long as they aren't overwatered or stand in wet soil. Drought-tolerant, deer and rabbit resistent, the results of using the sages for gardening in full sun is rewarding.

I now grow salvia greggii in the cottage garden, the deer resistant garden and in containers—in planned vignettes, randomly mixed and literally contained. For the versatility and low-maintenance, salvias are among my perennial favorites.

Is there a downside? Yes—salvia greggii is very difficult to photograph! My photos are rather dark because I had to wait for evening or cloudy days to capture the colors and shapes of the blooms!

Salvia greggii 'Navajo Bright Red' began in full sun and is now partially shaded by a mature weeping willow. Companions, monarda 'Jacob Cline' and crocosmia 'Lucifer'. April 2012.

Salvia greggii 'Texas Wedding' is a creamy white. Planted at the edge of a path in front of roses, a potted hosta (shaded), daylilies and saliva farinacea 'Victoria Blue' (yet to bloom) are companions. April 2012.

Salvia greggii 'Diane' (dark purple in front of burgundy loropetalum) surrounded by other sun-loving companions in the cottage garden. April 2012.

Salvia greggii 'Autumn Sage' and 'Dark Dancer' randomly mixed across the deer resistant meadow garden. April 2012.

I purchased this salvia last week, but when I got home, there was no ID tag! The color is a creamy white with pale peach tones and dark stems. Planted with salvia officinalis 'Purpurascens' and thyme. April 2012.

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.

Flowers spilling out of a container add instant charm to a garden. However, I'm not the best model of how to tend containers that require trimming, watering and feeding. Over the last several years, I've opted toward a more permanent solution by using drought-tolerant, water-wise perennials. With this approach, it takes a bit longer for the container to mature. Patience, but little work is required once my containers are planted.

While shopping at Big Bloomers Flower Farm in Sanford, North Carolina, I fell for a sweet planter that was too French for me to pass up. I purchased the planter (it was on sale for 30% off). I chose a variegated lavender, lavendula x intermedia 'Silver Edge' that should mature at twenty-four inches high in bloom—what I consider the right scale for this planter.

The lavender is just a sprig right now, but I have visions of purple blooms at the end of the wands. Being a water-wise plant, I won't have to fuss over the container to keep it looking good. The fragrant foliage is a wonderful thing to brush with my fingers when I go onto the front porch. Although I am planting the lavender in a container, it is deer and rabbit resistant should you choose to plant it in a sunny, dry space in your garden.

Rated for zones 6-9 (according to the tag), 'Silver Edge' is well-suited for my zone 7b garden. I will let it over-winter on the covered porch to keep the container from freezing and thawing during winter rains.

Given that birds, especially Carolina Wrens love to nest in my planters, I added gravel to the top of the soil. Wanting a dash of color, I spray painted ordinary crushed gravel with purple—to coordinate with the future lavender blooms. Sure enough, I saw the Wren checking out the container this morning! She rejected the lavender pot as a nesting site when she realized the rock was a deterrent.


I put the gravel in a square plastic pot with holes in the bottom. I shook out the excess dirt, then sprayed the gravel. I kept shaking and spraying to cover throughly. I let the paint dry, but kept shaking the container several times while I was out gardening. This kept the gravel pieces from sticking together.


For now, I have to use my imagination for the future of this container. I'm pretty happy with the dream!

The pale green color and the design (a season on each side) reminded me of France, so I had to plant a lavender in this pot! I will rotate the pot as the seasons change for this perennial.

Gravel, spray painted purple for a splash of color, deters the birds from nesting and squirrels from digging.

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.

Verbena tenuisecta 'Imagination' blooms spring, summer, fall until...

It's supposed to be an annual, but I'm not convinced!  Verbena tenuisecta 'Imagination' bloomed from early spring 2011 and there were still blooms around in December in some pockets of my garden.

Rated as an annual by most sources, every plant returned, making this verbena as hardy as any zone 7b perennial that I grow. It must take a seriously cold winter to kill it off. Thinking that 'Imagination' was a tender annual, I allowed it to self-sow.

Wait—there's more! I sowed seeds again in fall 2011. Maybe too many seeds! While it is lovely, meandering around tall plants and over short plants, it could easily takeover the garden. That said, it's easy to pull out. The color is a soft-purple, making it compatible with every color in my garden.

Don't worry about watering or babying this 'annual' as it is a tough plant for full sun to partial shade. Never drooping or complaining, it blooms continuously for three seasons.  Deer, rabbits, voles and even a groundhog passed on this plant.

If you don't know what to plant as a meandering ground cover, just use this 'Imagination' verbena.

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.

Is the line to visit the Louvre or Musée d'Orsay too long? Are the crowds at the Eiffel Tour overwhelming? Instead of paying and spending time waiting, there are free museums in Paris where you can walk right in and enjoy a bit of elbow space and quiet as you get up close to the exhibits.

Except for special exhibits and the archaeologic crypt and catacombs, there is no admission fee to see the permanent collections in the municipal museums in Paris. While residents of Paris are well aware of this benefit, most visitors are focused on the "must see" famous sites.

The courtyard garden inside Le Petit Palais.

Le Petit Palais is a charming palace on a human scale. Located directly across Avenue Winston Churchill from Le Grand Palais, the smaller palace is filled with sculpture, paintings and relics. While you won't find the Mona Lisa, the galleries include representative examples over the ages: Paris 1900, Seventeenth-Nineteenth Centuries, Renaissance, Eastern and Western Christian, Ancient Greeks and Romans as well as Graphics, Photographic Collections, Books (including Oscar Wilde) and Manuscripts.

Le Petit Palais was built for the 1900 World's Fair. There are four wings to this trapezium structure that surround a central garden. The architecture and decoration make the Palais worth a short visit, even if you have no interest in the art collections. If you've been walking down the Avenue des Champs d'Élysées and are heading toward the Louvre or Invalides, the garden is a pleasant place to take a break.

There is a café for beverages and snacks, but with all the wonderful foods available in Paris, go somewhere else for a complete meal. The museum is closed on Monday and holidays, but it is open other days from 10:00 am until 6:00 pm, with last admittance at 5:00 pm.

In the garden.

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.

The garden was created in 1857 by scientist Gustave Thuret. Photo: 3 April 2012; Cap d'Antibes, France. The third time is a charm. Well, the garden is charming and on my third trip to Cap d'Antibes, I finally visited Le Jardin Botanique de la Villa Thuret. This is not a "oh my, look at all those colorful flowers" kind of place. This garden, created in 1857 by scientist Gustave Thuret, is a collection of exotic Mediterranean trees and shrubs. The garden will intrigue those with a keen interest in botany or offer tranquility to those simply looking for a lush place to stroll.  There are "2500 individuals belonging to 1600 wild species and 145 botanical families." Every year, another 200 new species are introduced in this five acre garden. Newly-introduced plants are tested for their ability to adapt to the volcanic soil and local climate conditions. The new plants are watered for two years and only during extremely dry summers. Dead plant matter is left to drop and add humus to the soil. There's no mulching or mowing as wildflowers dot through clover and grass. Only the gravel paths are maintained to allow visitor access.  Only the main paths are well-maintained. The garden is "natural" without mowing, mulching and pruning. Dead leaves and wood are allowed to drop to add organic matter to the soil. Wildflowers dot the natural, grassy areas. A lovely peony. Being an American and accustomed to "staying on the path" I didn't venture into the grassy meadows to read the labels on the shrubs and flowers, such as peonies, agapanthus, clivia and crocosmia—nor all the plants that I can't identify! Given that we were the only visitors and everyone else had clipboards with eyes focused intensely on the plants, I had no clue as to the proper protocol. We weren't even sure if we were supposed to pay an admission fee. We walked into the open gates and saw no ticket stand. Since no one chased us down and demanded Euros, we assume that there was no charge.  For a lovely, sunny day, a leisurely stroll through the gardens was worth the trip to Cap d'Antibes. To find Jardin Thuret from the town of Antibes, we headed west along the promenade at Ponteil. We crossed Boulevard James Wylie to follow  Boulevard du Cap to Chemin Raymond. There is also an Enviro-bus that makes a circuit through the area for 1 Euro. The garden is closed on Saturday, Sunday and some holidays. Verify through the website. Crocosmia blooms beneath a grove of bamboo. 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.

After a long, leisurely and fabulous Saturday lunch at Plage Keller "Le Cesar" restaurant on La Garoupe Beach, my husband and I strolled along Boulevard Gardiole Bacon. This quiet street on the peninsula, Cap d'Antibes, is lined with villas—more accurately walled gardens that obscure the villas from view. Many of the villas are Provençal style, a common design in this area of France, and quite large and luxurious. Others are Spanish Mediterranean and then there are the modern architectural styles of white boxes. I prefer the traditional styles.

I love garden gates. Even the driveways have gates, and some of those are inspiring. Come along on a stroll down that boulevard as we walked back to Antibes, a distance of about four kilometers, depending upon how many  detours we make to snap photos along the way. You see, we justify all the eating by walking!

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.