A Mini Versailles

My mom thought she was coming to visit the gardens of Versailles. Little did she realize she was here to create the gardens of Versailles. In miniature form. Chez moi.  

She is a Master Gardener (although she says she lost confidence since living in South Carolina where the soil in her area is so poor not even the weeds will grow).  

But my mom is a pro.

Oh and the misleading title?  Admit it!  If the title was “Pictures of my Garden” you never would have clicked over, would you have? You would have thought it was way too boring. Are you all ready to flee the premises because I was misleading. Do you hate me now? Do you?

Okay, but now that you’re here …

Under her tutelage and hard labor, my garden was transformed from a patch of weeds into a green wonder. You have no idea how much help I needed.

Well, actually I can show you. Take a look:

This overgrown patch (which is not the worst of it) has both a hydrangea and a bergenia, both of which need tons of room. So we moved the bergenia (also called “elephant’s ears”) in front there and separated it into about 8 different plants all over the garden. Now they can bloom and be free!

I didn’t even know I had a hydrangea in the garden already because it was hiding behind the bergenia, but here it is – the lighter green plant.

It has room to breathe.

We also got my other hydrangea in the ground since it was fading fast. To my dismay I discovered that my soil is not acidic enough to keep the hydrangeas my favorite shade of blue. They will become pink with time. (sob).

But it’s happier in the ground.

We planted some coral bells in different shades so that this …

(my mom will not thank me for showing her black socks and sandals – she is quite fashionable, but in gardening, comfort rules)

… is now this.

See the wasteland around the prunus tree?

Et voila! Coral bells (also called heuchera) brought over from underneath the apricot tree, and that beautiful pine bark to add cosmetic value.

The other window in front of our house 

becomes this when we plant the pink-leaved phormium plant, some of the bergenias and a wild fuschia plant, also moved from underneath the crowded apricot tree.

Gorgeous huh? If you can see in the right corner, the vine that we planted is starting to take over so that our whole house will be covered with climbing leaves that turn burgundy in the Fall.  I’m now thinking of spreading pine bark indoors since it looks so nice.

One of the kids left a two-headed dragon on the front stoop

so in a fit of whimsy, my mother put a dinosaur on the other side, like the Chinese lions that guard the king’s palace.

On the side of the house, we took the unhappy irises and put them in place of a lavender plant that had died.

In the back, we transformed another weed bed into a prettier area with a formerly potted green and purple plant, a sorrel brought over from Grenoble that was getting chewed in its previous location, more relocated irises and a decorative sage.  All this will one day fill out and beautify the base of the kiwi plant on the right there (if it can ever manage to take off and climb up that trellis).

If you can see it, this patch underneath the clothes line was supposed to contain lavender, but then I decided I didn’t want to get stung every time I flapped a sheet. So we put two more yellow decorative sage plants and thyme and mint. That will perfume the clothes and repel the weeds.  Did you know weeds don’t like herbs?

The pièce de résistance is my black bamboo.

The roots formed a girdle around the base of the plant like thisso they needed to be cut and pulled out so the plant can thrive.

Although bamboo can probably thrive anywhere.

If you plant bamboo, make sure it’s in a contained area. The roots don’t grow super deep, but bamboo is incredibly pervasive and will take over your whole garden. This cement hole had been used to store vegetables by the previous owner and was the perfect size to put a patch of bamboo without worry that it will spread.

Can you see the transformation? Not yet?  Well just wait.

Our gardener Olivier, told us that every garden should have something that appeals to the five senses.

And now we do.

Sound

(the wind rustling through the bamboo leaves)

Sight

(a perfect tea rose – this one is called Charles de Gaulle and is the only purple one I have ever seen)

Taste

(sweet grapes from the vine hanging off the swing set)

Scent

(lavender, my favorite scent of all time, except perhaps citrus or that of brownies in the oven)

Touch

(the textured dark brown of the pine bark)

And whimsy.

Always whimsy.

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