When I acquired Iten's Acres, there was some beauty already up near the house. It actually was rather picturesque to drive up the driveway toward the abode. You would swing around the ancient maple, and there, right in front of you, up a small hill, was the home. Not postcardish, but picturesque--especially after I removed the ugly old shed/garage in front of the place. There are several trees at the end of the driveway, a couple of hickory trees just to your right (buffet in the winter for squirrels, wild turkeys, and deer). If you arrive in spring--I didn't; I came in August--there is a beautiful red crab apple to the left of the house situated at the front of an old rock garden. Behind the crab apple in the rock garden, you would find two huge bleeding hearts. When I arrived in August, the rock garden had a plethora of beautiful ferns, a few gigantic hosta, and some pink ladies.
There is also a lovely pine tree right behind the rock garden. And there is a rose bush in front of the house and one in back. Unfortunately, the roses have only bloomed once in my six years here--dark reds. On the other side of the house is a small privacy fence with a collection of large blackberry bushes--three or four--close by. Can anybody say "cobbler"? (The only thing directly behind the house is a cowbell on the patio. I always know when my granddaughter Evie has arrived by the clanging of the bell. I haven't been able to find any more cowbell seeds though.)
Having taken ownership in August, I had no idea how stunning the crab apple was, and I had no idea the bleeding hearts even existed. And I also did not know the mystery of the pink ladies. You can't imagine how thrilled I was to see the bleeding hearts come up my first spring. They are enormous and lush! The mystery of the pink ladies? (They look like dainty pink day lilies--but that's not the mystery.) The mystery is that their foliage comes up in the spring--a gorgeous green. Then, the foliage dies away. And in late July or early August, presto! the flowers come up and bloom. Not knowing the mystery that first spring, you can imagine my consternation when the foliage started to die. I watered and watered and watered, and they still "died." I in my ignorance was heartbroken. And then in August as I was circling the house, pink beauties everywhere! Amazing! If only all mysteries could end so majestically. From "death" came glorious beauty--sounds theological, eh?
Naturally, having a serious case of floral discontent, I have added to the beauty around the house. One of the first things I tried was to put a large container garden right in front of the rock garden. I, also, planted a couple forsythia that I had brought up from Mom's. The forsythia are doing wonderfully; the container garden has been moved to the front patio. In its place is a real garden. I call it the Rainbow Garden. Why? When I decided to transform it, I gave all the flowers to an artist friend of mine and asked her to arrange the colors for me into a "rainbow." Wow! Did she ever! The focus of the bed are, of course, iris. whites, lilacs, peach, tangerine, blue, purple, yellow, ocher, pink, red, striped. It is a marvelous panorama of colors--a rainbow. But the iris are not all! In the middle of the bed and rapidly spreading everywhere are blue balloon flowers. They are, in a sense, an accidental bonus. When I was moving the container garden, the pot that had the balloon flower in it wouldn't budge when I tried to pick it up. Here, the roots of the plant had gone through the bottom of the planter and settled in. I surrendered to its "wishes" and left it there. I had no idea what a spreader it was. Six years ago--one blue balloon flower. Last summer--at least fifty blooms a day for weeks, and it's still spreading. (And every year I dig up a few and move them elsewhere.)
But that's not all! Also in this rainbow are a number of lilies, triteleia, star of David, tulips, bee balm, hollyhock, two large clumps of sunflowers, phlox, gladiola, a giant coneflower, larkspur, cosmos,and morning glory from seed, and this year, God threw in some smooth ruella--a beautiful blue trumpet-like wild flower. I guess He thought I needed a little more blue in the back corner. No complaints, trust me! And this is the bed that Mom can see from her observation post in her bedroom. She gets to enjoy it from mid-March to frost, from yellow forsythia and purple crocus to the red hollyhocks of September. No, it's not a coincidence that the beauty of that bed is by Mom's window seat.
(A tip: Don't pull things up if you're not sure what they are. I was tempted this spring to pull up the ruella and the coneflower because I thought they might be weeds. I waited--thankfully. Just in case they weren't weeds. Patience is a good thing, you know. It's amazing how God can turn "weeds" into gorgeous flowers if you just keep your hands off and let Him work.)
As mentioned before, I think, I have a few container gardens around the house. There is a small one in the parking area, one by the fence, two on the front patio, and one on the back patio. Every year I put calla lilies in the one in the parking area; it on its own brings back every year some morning glories and love-in-the-midst from seed. The bed by the fence has some morning glory for climbing the structure and some bright eyes and marigold. The two on the front patio are in the sun so I fill them with the appropriate annuals: marigold, snapdragon, petunia, dahlia, bright eyes, dianthus, salvia, floss flowers, lantana, geranium, garzania. (Yep, there are lots of pots.) The back container garden is in the shade so I fill them with the appropriate annuals: impatiens, allysum. lobelia, coleus. They all do well. Since they're close to the house, it takes a good frost to end their blooming. From mid-May I can take Mom out on either patio, and she has lots of "bouquets" to enjoy.
In addition, I planted a rhododendron near the back of the house on one side and a rose of Sharon on the other side. The rhododendron is lovely; the rose of Sharon has not yet bloomed. I also added some grape hyacinth, snowdrops, cyclamen, and lily-of-the valley under the pine tree. Also, on each side of the pine are a number of phlox, and at the back of the rock garden I snuck in a hydrangea. On the other side of the house, is a snowball bush that has not bloomed yet. Along the back of the house is a row of lilies--white, purple, red. Someday, I may put gutters on the house. Out here in the country I don't really need them, but if I put them up, I can put a couple of long flower beds on both sides of the house--one in the sun, one in the shade. My imagination is running wild as I type.
So, that's the area right next to the homestead. I'll give you the history of the other areas circling the house at a later date. But you can visit anytime and just sit with Mom on the patio awhile and enjoy the loveliness that is right at "your fingertips." You don't have to walk far--or walk at all--on Iten's Acres to enjoy its beauty.
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