Comments on: Field Trip: Montrose Gardens

By: Dee/reddirtramblings

Dee/reddirtramblings — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:51:55 +0000

I agree, Susan, it was one of my faves for the same reasons. What a nice post. I especially loved the beginning.~~Dee

Thanks, Dee. I miss the days of paper order forms and the sometimes weeks long build up of anticipation until the ‘babies’ arrived.

By: James Golden

James Golden — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 23:21:17 +0000

There is a great book of letters – A Year in Our Gardens – between Nancy Goodwin and Allen Lacy published years back. I learned a lot about Montrose in that book, and about Nancy and Allen. Especially memorable for me was the struggle of Nancy and her crew to eradicate the invasive Japanese Stilt Grass. Thanks for the report on your visit. I hope to get there some day.

James–I read that book, a must read for gardeners. On another note, Lacy’s ‘The Garden in Autumn’ had a profound impact on the way I now design gardens. Thanks for the visit.

By: Lynn

Lynn — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 22:15:53 +0000

Thank you so much for this beautiful post, Susan. I was disappointed that I had to leave early and miss Montrose, but your words and images surely captured its essence. Much appreciated. Lynn

You were certainly there is spirit. I’m happy you feel the essence was captured here. Go one day if you can–plan on way more than 45 minutes too!

By: Alice Joyce

Alice Joyce — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:30:37 +0000

BTW…
I’m sure I must have already waxed poetic somewhere in cyberspace about fair Montrose: LIke cream that rises to the surface, on my life-list of U.S. garden visits.
Alice

Even with the bad pun to follow, Alice, I was in Wonderland.

By: Alice Joyce

Alice Joyce — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:27:00 +0000

Hey Susan,
Congrats & good luck on Blotanical nomination for NJ!

Hey Alice–Yours multi-noms are well deserved. Good luck–break a trowel!

By: kari lønning

kari lønning — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:21:42 +0000

I didn’t realize until looking at your photos how drawn I am to the purples and chartreuse colors in the garden. One of my favorite summer combinations is the Black Knight liriope and the ground-cover lysimachia, but in the fall garden the color combinations seems to glow. The leaf size and textural contrasts… oh, a lovely garden.

They were lovely, rich and scrumptious like a molten chocolate cake. Hopefully they’ll inspire a new basket!

By: M A Newcomer

M A Newcomer — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:42:35 +0000

Wow! of all those photos, the most striking is the one of the two stark & simply buildings. Lovely.

I liked the almost Shaker quality of many of the outbuildings. An incredible counterpoint to the lush overripe quality of the gardens don’t you think?

By: James A-S

James A-S — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:23:30 +0000

This GWA sounds extraordinarily jolly. Good pictures as well. I am enjoying all the various posts.
Do you think that the collective noun for a convocation of Bloggers should be a ‘chattering’, a ‘boogle’ (borrowed from weasels), a ‘Twittering’ or a ‘hosting’ ?
Or something else altogether…

Hmmm. ‘A Chattering’ sounds like a horror film. Maybe a flock, block or toot perhaps? There was some discussion today about a singular Tweeter who makes money and spams as being a Tweetwalker…

By: Annie in Austin

Annie in Austin — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:15:52 +0000

Seeing this lovely place in person seems to have been emotionally satisfying as well as horticulturally pleasing! The tweets, photos and posts from the GWA meeting have been wonderful to read, Susan – thanks for writing about it.

Reading Allen Lacy’s columns and books led me to Nancy Goodwin and Tony Avent in the early 1990′s- and in spite of having a zone 5 garden in IL, to buying plants from both Plant Delights and Montrose. I’ve got the final 1993 Spring Montrose catalog in my hand right now, imagining what an expensive order I could make from my present Zone 8B!

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

If the truth is told, Allen Lacey and Fred McGourty were my early garden literature heros right after Russell Page and Henry Mitchell. Allen Lacy’s books led me also to Nancy Goodwin. Sympatico!

By: Seasonal Wisdom

Seasonal Wisdom — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 17:53:08 +0000

Susan: You have captured this garden’s simple beauty, and your pictures bring back memories of our too-short tour on a day when I probably shouldn’t have been walking around on a drizzly day.

Thanks for sharing your experiences in such a lovely and informative manner. Warm regards, Teresa O’Connor

Thank you Theresa, I really appreciate your praise. Montrose is a special place that I’ve always wanted to visit and it was as magical as I expected.