Saturday, July 18, 2009

I Get to Visit an Idaho Blogger's Garden

This time it was Nat's garden from Gardening in Boise, Idaho.

Just look at all that shade! And we needed it as the temp has been over the 100 degree mark for a few days now.




The pergola is a recent addition. She's planted a grape vine and a climbing hydrangea on it.




The large trees help limit the amount of water needed by her garden and lawn; so great in our dry area.


She has surrounded her patch of lawn with a variety of great garden plants including this kniphofia. I didn't realize they came in this lovely color.


















She's not been content to rely on established trees though, and has planted a redbud, quaking aspen and golden chain tree. (I wish homeowners in our area thought so highly of trees).




There were plenty of attractive details and areas of interest.


























Jordan, her co-gardening husband, has put their shed to good use by growing some veggies on the roof.




I loved her heather. I need some!


Can you believe today was the first time I've eaten a borage blossom? Well, it was. And I liked it. I need to grow this again.


I love these stepping stones Jordan made.






























And of course I had to meet the "girls"; Fern, Iris and Daisy. I can't believe they're so grown up and just one month older than ours.


And their dog Songo, she's smart as a whip. I couldn't believe all the tricks she knows.


What did I learn? Plenty. (I love that.)

1. Straight vinegar or boiling water really help eliminate weeds. (Nat doesn't use any insecticide in her garden.)
2. If a hosta is planted next to a bleeding heart the hosta will disguise the tattiness of the bleeding heart as it grows.
3. I need heathers.
4. I need borage.
5. I even got a tip on a new fish for my aquarium.
6. Squirting a small stream of water from a water bottle will help train chickens to stay out of flower beds.

I haven't even mentioned her raised beds in which she's growing tomatoes, cucumbers and purple green beans. She also has potatoes growing in potato bags and squash is growing in hanging baskets from the new pergola. Obviously she's not afraid to experiment. My kind of gardener.

Thanks for a great morning Nat! It was a lot of fun.

15 comments:

Rosemary said...

thanks for sharing the tour

Janet, The Queen of Seaford said...

Love the veggies on the roof of the shed! How clever to put them up there to catch the sun. The borage bloom is sure pretty. Those stepping stones are a hoot! Looks like you had a nice tour and a great visit.

Bangchik and Kakdah said...

Lovely garden.. it really is lively and thriving.
I have to say this, the second photo is exquisite with the shadows shooting down diagonally..

~ bangchik

Heather said...

Nat- your garden is lovely! I really wish I had been able to be there. My daughter, Maecy, slept for 16 hours and appears to be feeling better. I really thought she had food poisoning. She still may have but being home and lots of rest made her feel human again. I hope to see your garden soon!

Heather said...

Victoria- I am such a dork..... I knew I was writing on your blog and I still wrote to Nat. Oh, where is my head this morning? I am so glad you had a nice time. She has a great looking garden and I am sorry I missed it!

Idahogardener said...

Oh thanks so much for posting that right away! I am so sorry I was out of town for the gathering. Boo hoo. I promise to get over to Nat's for a private tour as soon as I can.

Still love love love your garden Victoria, I will be posting about it this week.

MA

Unknown said...

Nat has beautiful gardens. I love the borage. It is such a gorgeous blue and so delicate looking!
And the dog looks like my last two. They are smart as can be and soooooo funny!
Victoria, I missed your drawing. I haven't been on much but have looked for your posts and UH DUH I forgot to change it to your new name so see how many I missed? I know you said to change it but dum dum here thought you just changed the title and it would still come up. NOT! Nothing like needing it spelled out for me! Well, I'll catch up on all of it! Guess it's best I missed your drawing - I wouldn't have time to read the book if I won because I'll be too busy reading all of your posts I missed. LOL

Randy Emmitt said...

Looks like a great time visiting. The garden looks lovely too! Those trees in the back corner must give a lot of shade. Funny you have had the heat, here in NC today we had to get more blankets when we woke up it was so cold with the windows open.

Katie said...

Garden tours are always so much fun. Thanks for sharing!

Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said...

She does have a really pretty garden! It looks so shady and cool, perfect for a hot day to sit and relax.

Anonymous said...

What a great treat! I love touring other people's gardens. Wow, she's got some great shade there! I so miss that from our garden where we had to remove two shade trees that covered our whole back yard. They were killed over a couple of two hard winters. Sniff. Looks like you had a wonderful time. Loved her tomatoes on the roof too! What creativity! BTW, Did I tell you that I changed the name of my blog? You'll have to change your reader to www.gardeningwithmissdaisy.com. I'm now a dot com. I hope to see you there.

Unknown said...

It was a lot of fun! Thank you so much for visiting. I really enjoyed having you there. I love the photos you took, my garden has never looked better!

Unknown said...

Oh, by the way! I love, love, love the new banner at the top of your blog! Such beautiful pictures!

Pat said...

Wood metal and stone...sure makes this garden sharp looking. The borage(what ever the heck that is) is a great looking blue flower.

Dirt Princess said...

This gives me hope for my shade areas! Neat gal!