We live on 82 acres in the rocky hills of Ohio, on the very edge of Appalachia. It’s the prettiest spot we’ve ever found, and each season is another beauty. Our house faces downslope, towards the woods, to the warm South . The back of the house snuggles 5’ into the land that slopes up to the North which is open meadow and pasture. We garden as we choose, but keep most of our domain pretty rough. We like the wildlife, and our property is surrounded by several hundred more acres used only for hunting or hiking. Hawks nest here, so do Owls that call in the winter, and Bald Eagles have been seen in open fields just next door.

I’m retired and disabled, my husband works from home as a contract systems analyst. Our 4 daughters are grown and gone – 1 to London, England, 1 to Mi, not too far away, 1 to MN and 1 to CA – so our life has gotten quiet. I retired from teaching high school French and G/T. I’ve also worked as a Rehab Tech Info Mgr. Now I garden, knit, read, enjoy the kids and their families as I can, and make a little extra $$ making clothes for Italian Greyhounds. I love animals, and we have a couple of horses, a donkey, a trio of busy Cairn Terriers, an Italian Greyhound, and a few cats. Outside we have lots of deer, groundhogs, rabbits, etc. which make gardening extra fun.

Gardening. I plan, germinate, transplant,grow, buy; my husband tills, digs, plants, mulches, weeds. I like flowers; he prefers edibles. It’s all organic. We beat the groundhogs to plenty of vegetables and fruits this year. They are the big problem. They are very happy here near us; they raise families…drives the dogs nuts.

Our zone is 5 something. Some Z6 things do well, some supposedly tougher things don’t. We have microclimates. The soil is clay/loam over stone, acidic, fertile. Most that we garden is part to full shade.

Gardens I am working on:
Fairy, meaning small, fancifully named, delightful and intriguing, sometimes miniature plants under a boxelder beside a shed, with the main Perennials bed to the South and a big Elderberry to the North.
A Family garden, where plants remind me of loved ones here or gone. My father’s bit has Daylilies ‘Wally’ and "Whiz Bang’ and my mother’s spot is all blue flowers like her eyes and awaits Daylily ‘Dot Dot’. Next to those two, go our plants, DL ‘Barbie Doll’ and Durio’s ‘Phil’. A white flower section is there, too, with Lilacs behind, has Bridal Wreath like the ones Gene planted for his Marian 60-some years ago. The darkest blue Hyacinth ‘Marie’ for one granddaughter and little DL ‘June Bug’ for our littlest. And so on.
A Daylily patch with 100+ cultivars, pretty, cheap ones, a few very old varieties.
An Iris Garden.
The Perennials bed in front of the Fairy garden, with the yard east of the house in front of that. Lilies, Foxglove, Bugbane, Belamcanda, Columbines and so on and some native plants. We like natives.
The woodland Garden under the huge old Oak. It was part of why we sited the house here, way back in down a quarter mile lane. Hellebores, Ivy, Toad Lilies, Epimediums, Pulmonaria, Heuchera, etc.
And all edging everything, around buildings, trees, road: Hollyhocks, Amsonia, Elfworts, Sweet Peas, Clematis, Lily of the Valley, Hosta, Veronicastrum.

Of course much of these are fairly new, some struggle, weeds defeat us, so it never looks like the pictures, unless you sit just there, and squint a little…

It’s all getting away from me. Must organize. Must colonize myfolia.

Hello all!