Dreams Are Made From Gardens Like This

The Jan Harvey Garden

In the year 2004 Jan Harvey's garden was featured in the annual food Pantry Garden tour. Years later now, the Garden tour is sponsored by the same organization, but with the new name - Stepping Stones. I was unable to attend at that time. In the mean time I had driven by and saw the possibilities of this garden's realities / fantasies for my own home . I had seen similar gardens in the Better Homes and Gardens magazine, and had hopes of what could lay behind the gate. It was my nature to dream of having such a example dream of a garden in my own yard. If the opportunity came , I could do similar since I had a small side yard like this on the south of my house where it receives sun most of the time except in the front where the roses would be.

In the mean time I was dying to see inside this garden to see, if I had similar ideas/ fantasies as the reality of hers. I was almost sure it was so. There was no way, I would miss seeing what was beyond that gate.
{ No I never went to the fence and peeked in. Wish I had thought of that. But then there are limits. lol}

Those photos that I saw of similar gardens gave me something to desire. It was a soothing to my soul. I have always thought that surely this garden is like those photos and I was right.

The owner of the garden offered explanations of the plants with Numbered locations corresponding to the additional pamphlet they gave us at the registration entrance. I regret not checking the name tag of one of the hosts there, who was exceptionally accommodating to our questions.

Click the pictures for the enlarged images, otherwise you really miss out. The small photos do no justice to the garden's merits. Most of these are not edited. To do so I would have to darken. I am sorry the light colors do get washed out. It's my camera and my abilities, which you will see are not so good.




The beginning with anticipation

Seen and unseen the walk contains Malva, Talictrum, Allium, Penstemon, Lysimachia, Filipendula, Astilbe, Lupine, Anemone, Alematis [maybe Clematis] , Tanacetum.

Which will lead to this circular bed ..........

Looking back to the entrance I am now being followed by a couple, which limited my dalliance over each awesome find. The garden walk was as it should be, a narrow path and I couldn't side step to allow them to pass.

A gorgeous lavender Clematis, with Pink and white. The daisies are perfect. On the opposite side I see she has the coveted Josephine. [I welcomed the opportunity to see it up front.]


Ahh, Poppies, foxglove, campanula, Lobelia, Lilies, I was so glad to see them. Imagine the Lilies evening fragrance.

All the colors and romance of a greeting card. All that's missing are teacups and saucers. Possibilities of a few well done crystal totems I probably would have inserted here.


Just love that coral pink color with the blue. One can never have too many poppies as far as I am concerned.

In this case, one has to stick with thin plants, with the other combinations. This works out just fine. This was the year to see all versions of the Creeping jenny in nearly all the gardens.

I didn't get to ask if her foxgloves and some other plants reseed themselves. I love them in the summer time. I may just have to have that lily.

Isn't this to die for, it almost makes me get into the Victorian mode. I certainly would swing into a Jane Austin mood. It takes a little work to keep those Hydrangeas blue. Unless they are the Nicky variety. [ Hope I have the name right] There is a similar one near the exit area,

You have to click this one to go ' ahh' gaga over those blue Hydrangeas! In addition to the great blue of the Hydrangea, there are touches of the yellows in their greenish tints and a bit of coral tinted pinks. Here seen and unseen are alchemilla mollis, Cornus below the steps are yellow barberry shrub, two and species of Carex, two species of Thalictrum, two species of Aruncus [ goats beard], Astilboides, and Korean Angelica.

These were exactly the color and plant combinations I had hoped to see and those I love. It lived up to my expectations and more.

So here now, we have arrived to the circular bed, just where I said we would. In the tour I went past here through an arbor down to the Hostas and other more shaded plants. Some areas are a little romantic and worthy of my little tour here, but sorry, this where I end it today, since I was mainly showing what I liked of her examples for my side garden, if I ever were blessed with the opportunity of creating something of my dreams made from this garden.



Now I see having a little shade there in the front of my house is not so bad.

You might get a glimpse of a photo or two later, when I do a post on the fencing ideas that I liked about her garden.

If you didn't click, you missed out. Really.

just me jo

More on the Harvey property in the Garden tour

More about 2011 Stepping stones Garden tour.

This is the one special garden I have been waiting to see. Here it says she has some rare Hostas. She admits to collecting. I think there is a special breed of Hosta gardners who do that and even more so raise their hostas from seed. I would think you have to be a dedicated hosta gardner to do that. I can't wait to see the native flowers she said was there when they moved in.

Lets see if the street view embed. works.



View Larger Map

If not how about trying this link.
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=514+oak+parks+circle&hl=en&ll=44.859211,-91.923026&spn=0.000622,0.001357&sll=44.858966,-91.923185&sspn=0.006295,0.006295&layer=c&cbp=13,198.11,,0,6.97&cbll=44.859232,-91.922953&t=h&z=19&iwloc=A&panoid=Tpc78imHG9fBxKBTLpPHJw

.................Harvey's rare Hosta plant, which she plans to name Milky Way, is believed to be an offshoot of the spilled milk hosta. Once it is registered, Harvey will name the hosta and also can choose to sell divisions of the plant or create a tissue culture from it and make it available to other hosta growers...............

...............In addition to the Milky Way hosta, another unique hosta in Harvey's garden is the Sadie Hybben Harvey, a plant Harvey named for her late dog and for Menomonie photographer Pete Hybben, who helps her in the garden.

Harvey tries to recycle as much as possible in her garden, using leaves and pine needles for mulch............

I am sure to enjoy it. I can't wait to see ponds and the use of rocks. It could rain. Which could be good news.

There has been curernt articles in the papers and an appearance on the local news.
Links about the tour:
http://chippewa.com/dunnconnect/variety/article_f34b429c-a424-11e0-bb65-001cc4c03286.html

http://steppingstonesdc.org/2011GardenTour.pdf

Last year and this years local Garden Tour

Click on my pics today to see some of last years garden tour - I don't get a chance to share them often enough

And later I will tell you just what kind of Flower Beds I will see this Saturday on the annual Garden tour that I just might share here?


I have been very excited about going to the annual garden tour this weekend. The money is money used for the local food pantry, so it's for a good cause as well as our enjoyment. I went last year and after that, I have posted a few pictures. I took many, and the little I have shown are merely a snow flake in a blizzard.
I have kept my pictures on the camera disk despite the little room I had remaining for this summer pictures of my own garden.

With the tour coming up,I have been worrying these last few days about lack of space on my card in my digital camera. I am going to have to hurry and figure out what I am going to do. I want to protect some of them. A few years ago my computer burned out, and I had no opportunity to save my pictures off the hard drive. So I was thinking of finding a program of some sort something like photo like photo bucket. Or even entering them all into Picasa where all those from our blogs are stored. But no matter, it's not your problem. I'll figure it out.

As I was glancing through the different garden photos the topic for this blog post came to me. The types of the various gardens seemed be running similar.

Last year there seemed to be a lot of gardens with raised planted spaces.
As you see here in her back yard it's raised due to a buried waste system. Their garden disguises it well. Her little hill curves around nearly half the back yard.



In this case she raised the bed next to the shady woods, which she also landscaped.
It's so much easier to see the detail. I wonder if the deer can reach them. Would they jump up there to reach them, probably not.

It's gorgeous anyway with the added rock and moss. In the photo above it is much lower than the previous raised bed we just saw. But still she couldn't resist more rocks and moss.


Another clever gardner made good use of space. What I like about this plan besides the arrangement of plants on the slope; is the fact that the door gives an exit under that Deck.

This is the same slope but further down. I love the Pink roses and surprise of unusual plants.

They may seem a little busy with so much but, If I remember right I think this was also a Memory garden.

Again instead of the box store type preformed rock like building material she has used real rocks which gives her a wall, and a ledge with lots of personality. I especially like those fuzzy white like plants. Kind of like angel feathers.

Well that was last year and it did include some pretty Hostas and falls and ponds.


Now this year I get to anticipate some thing other than raised beds. Okay flat ground, well not in Wisconsin. Not all through the garden. This year there will be some sunken garden spots and ponds and water falls and lots of Rockery.

So we will be looking down rather than up.
And Hostas galore, one can never have too many Hostas.



More tips,tricks and ideas are always nice. I am glad I saw this picture from last year, it reminds me to make some wire cages for my phlox.




So now, I had better leave you and get some disk clearing done. As well as a few other things, if I am going to be off playing garden lady Saturday.