|
 |
The Garden
| |
| Welcome to the
garden images album page. This is the entry point to a
collection of photographs showing the garden and its evolution,
organized on a seasonal and annual basis. Clicking on this
Garden Photographs hyperlink will open the image collection in a new window. The same JAlbum script as used for the
Plants Photographs is used to manage and display the garden images. |
| |
  The vast majority of the plants featured here flourish outdoors in a wide variety of situations ranging from deciduous woodland to deep sand beds in full sun. Little artificial protection is afforded outdoors, the exception being the sand beds in which the central Asian Allium, Corydalis, Oncocyclus irises and some of the more sensitive Juno irises grow. These beds are covered with raised 8' x 4' sheets of twin-wall polycarbonate for the months of June thro' August. The two greenhouses are used only for raising bulbs from seed prior to introduction into the garden, and for growing certain species, particularly Cyclamen, which are 'tender' and unlikely to succeed outdoors. Exton is in USDA zone 6b, winter minimum temperatures can reach -5F (-20C), summer maximum is over 100F (38C). Humidity is very low from late fall to late spring/early summer but often reaches 100% in July and August, accompanying temperatures in the 90-100F (32-38C) range. The combination of heat and humidity makes long term success with many traditional high 'alpine' plants problematical, if not impossible. Much of the winter can pass without snow cover, approximately 24" being the total depth of snow falling in a normal winter. However, we have had up to 66" and down to less than 3". Ice storms can be as frequent as snow storms, but weather systems come and go very quickly.
 Thus, the number of days with abundant sunshine is great, on average 4 or 5 days a week and, consequently, the conditions are excellent for growing 'in character' plants and bulbs, in particular. Four well defined seasons is the norm, fall colors are spectacular and the growing season for plants outdoors is very long, generally from late February through late October (and into December for some crocus species). The garden, at somewhat over 1.5 acres in area, is situated just below the ridge-line on the northern side of the Great Valley that heads west from Philadelphia, and is thus sheltered from the worst of the prevailing winds. It is around 700 feet above sea level, and 300 feet above the valley floor, making air drainage excellent. The soil is moderately acid and is superbly drained; in many places the ground is very rocky, with several exposed large boulders; a few pockets tend towards pure sand.
 The entire garden is traversed by a 40 degree slope which corresponds to the woodland edge; the slope is some 400 feet in length and around 100ft deep. The top of the garden is 75 feet above the house, and like most of 'the hill', is native deciduous woodland, mainly comprised of American beech, a number of oak and hickory species, maples, sassafras and tulip trees. Dogwoods ( Cornus florida ) are also native and abundant, other natives include  Rhododendron periclymenoides, Arisaema triphyllum and Chimaphila maculata. Although the soil is generally sandy, moisture retention is good and, in a wet winter, seepage can be seen in a number of places on and at the base of the slope. The fact that all the land to the north of the garden is at least 100 feet higher mitigates against rapid drying out. With the exception of the raised beds, no attempt has been made to modify any of the soil.
Some supplemental water is given, generally via an overnight soaking from a sprinkler, every 7-10 days when conditions demand. The summers of 1999, 2001 and 2002 were very dry and hot, but more recent ones have been less problematical. As can be seen in a number of the photographs, leaf fall is something to behold (picture top left), and leaf mold is never in short supply! |
|
| |
|
