Huntsville Spring Garden Tour

This garden featured an array of hydrangea types, including "Annabelle" and
Oakleaf (behind the statue) as well as mophead and lacecaps (macrophylla).

On Saturday, we drove to Huntsville to attend the Spring Garden Tour, a self-guided tour of five private gardens in the historic district. It was a very hot day but all of the gardens were shaded and they were all within walking distance of each other. I did not think it was too bad hot even though Michael was sweating bullets. We ran into gardening friends Cyndia and Steve, who took us to a terrific place for lunch. They also took us to another fantastic garden that was not on the tour. I will post photos of it soon. It was a good day!

The gardens were small and many of them were designed by Bill Nance, a noted landscape designer who died two years ago. As hot as it was, one thing that I noticed was how calming and cooling the gardens were. Lush green lawns were bordered by boxwoods, hydrangeas, ferns, hostas and other shade-loving plants. The tour was a great way for homeowners to get ideas for landscaping small spaces.

The same garden viewed from an elevated porch. The open lawn area makes the garden feel much larger. Notice the mixture of stonework and brickwork for the pathways.

Another garden featured a container planting with a plant I don't see that often - Plumeria.

This courtyard garden has clipped boxwoods and ligustrum standards under a Japanese maple.

 

I loved this ivy-covered shed behind the residence. Actually I am not sure if this
belonged to them or the neighbors. I thought it was cool.

This garden had lots of various elevations and steps which always appeals to me.

A serene front garden.

A small Japanese maple, underplanted with liriope, enhanced by a perfect placement of a statue.

A bird bath by Birmingham artist Frank Fleming.

A beautiful potted ivy.

A small gazebo surrounded by lush plantings.

I love the pop of color of the coleus in the urn.

"Annabelle" hydrangeas along the fence in a side garden. The light green leaves hanging in the foreground are from a Sweet Bay magnolia. There were several beautiful specimens of that tree in this garden.

The side garden.

An ivy-covered wall and a bench.

 

A unique bench

This garden was not on the tour but we walked past it along the way. Isn't it charming?

Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy