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the 2011 garden in photos: a year of extremes

by margaret
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frog on buddha's lap

WHAT TO SAY ABOUT A YEAR that never really relented weather-wise? Well, maybe this: I’m exhausted, as is the garden. But even with insane precipitation and freakishly timed fall snowstorms followed by a too-warm early winter, I found lots of things to love among the many losses. Some highlights, and lowlights, in a giant new slideshow to close out the 2011 garden year.

Click on the first thumbnail to start the slides, then toggle from image to image using the arrow buttons on your keyboard (or the arrows beside each caption).

One last thought before you browse, however: Your visits to A Way to Garden were among the brightest spots of my year here, of course. Thanks for creating a garden community here with me since 2008, and my best to each of you, and to your gardens, in 2012.

my-tundra-2
Ah, life on the tundra. That’s how 2010 ended, and 2011 began. This is a view of my back yard as it looked for months. The pointy thing in the middle? A big Indonesian bust of Buddha, in hiding.
garden cartoon on snowy winter
iced-conifers
Please release me let me go! That’s all I could think when ice glazed everything again in March.
house-collage
In the midst of the deep-freeze, I did manage to publish my first book in many years, “And I Shall Have Some Peace There,” my dropout story about finally leaving the city rat race for a rural life. A collage artist, Mel Kolstad, sent me this amazing depiction of my new life in miniature to mark the occasion.
baked-beans-in-bowl
A reunion with Martha Stewart, on her TV show, was another wintertime bright spot, and I talked about the book — and showed her how to make my heirloom baked beans.
vbadwinter
But even with those bright spots, the weather was the main story, as it would prove to be all year.
eranthis-hyemalis-march-11-2011
In between storms, the first winter aconite, or Eranthis hyemalis, poked up on March 11 (a dump of snow would cover it a day or two later).
caulophyllum-thalictroides
We finally got going for real in April, and by mid- to late month, all manner of magical things were happening (like the emerging purple stems of this blue cohosh, or Caulophyllum thalictroides, a woodland perennial).
2011-corylopsis-spicata
I have never seen more profuse bloom on flowering trees and shrubs, including my giant old winter hazel, Corylopsis spicata, now more than 20 feet across…
kerria-japonica-picta-2011
…or on the shade-tolerant Kerria japonica ‘Picta,’ a real eruption of raucous gold this last year.
small-gate-on-pipe
I cleaned out the barn and found some trash-to-treasure candidates, and a friend helped turn them into some new garden gates.
salvaged-garden-gate-3
Another such upcycled rusty old thing, which now marks the entry to the vegetable garden, hung between two recycled columns.
lilacs-and-apples-closer
As I said: never have I seen such bloom. The old apples (white cloud in distance) and the lilacs and all of it.
fallen-kousa-dogwood-branch
But I should have known it would be a tricky year loaded with losses when a big branch of a kousa dogwood near the house was taken out by wind while in full bloom.
queue-1
Many vegetable-garden losses were attributed to the craftiest woodchucks ever. I spent much of the spring through fall in a homicidal frenzy.
clematis-roguchi-with-bee
There were some great plants to admire — ones that are fairly recent additions and just coming into their own, like Clematis ‘Roguchi’ (it blooms on and on)…
philadelphus-coronarius-aureus-2011
…and a gold-leaf mockorange, or Philadelphus coronarius ‘Aureus.’ Sweet fragrance, and great leaves.
coleus-spitfire
I tried some new annuals (though still within my “old” palette of orange, orange, orange), including the fantastic Coleus ‘Spitfire.’ Will get this one again.
papaya-petunia
I so wanted this orange petunia called ‘Papaya’ to be a winner, but in a super-wet year like this one, it looked like a total wreck, a big pot of wet dish rags, most of the season. I may try again and site it in a pot under the porch overhang or something.
peaches-to-freeze
Speaking of the color orange, I learned to freeze peaches…
orange-mushrooms
…and met the best fungus ever, a 2-foot-wide glowing outcrop of jack o’ lantern mushrooms, I believe. Wow.
colocasia-esculenta-mojito
New favorite elephant ears: Colocasia esculenta ‘Mojito.’ Astonishing.
full-bloom-eucomis-bicolor
A friend gave me a pot of pineapple lily, Eucomis bicolor, and I enjoyed it all summer, and now it’s stashed in the cellar to rest.
eucomis-bicolor-spotted-leaves
Even before its flowers happened, the Eucomis leaves were fabulous.
jacko-and-margaret
Jack the Demon Cat (now a total Mama’s boy) and I marked our 10th anniversary together on September 11 — the day he walked into my life in 2001.
flocked-frog-2
The frogs performed their usual antics: playing dressup in bits of velvety pond weed (a flocked frog!)…
you-can-lean-on-me-frog
…showing tender affection to one another (when they aren’t fighting violently over territory)…
frog-hidden-in-oxalis-pot
…hiding out in pots like this Oxalis vulcanicola (a favorite annual of mine)…
frog-huddle
…huddling in heaps of up to six frogs in the branches of a dwarf white pine, a couple of feet above ground-level…
frog-piggyback
…and then, of course, having nonstop sex. The little guy (a bullfrog) was not put off by the size difference between him and the female who caught his eye at poolside…
wood-frog-porn
…and the wood frogs (the earliest to mate here) were unabashed in their public displays of affection.
moth-of-all-moths
Nature was never more vivid than in this wettest of years. How have I never seen a giant Cecropia moth (the size of my hand) before?
giant-leopard-moth-caterpillar
The garden is a window into the greater world, and I am grateful to be surrounded by every miraculous bit of it.
hickory-tussock-moth-caterpillar-on-canna
Or the hickory tussock moth caterpillar? Prompted by their visits, I finally got a proper guidebook and am positively fascinated by moths and their caterpillars now.
hardwork
The animals all liked the plentiful water, but as a gardener I’d say it was pretty disappointing sometimes, to have things pounded to the ground over and again.
weather
Then the forecast for frost came extra-early, before mid-September…
dawn-rainbow
…but as if it knew I needed a lift, the heavens provided some spectacular moments, too.
cannas-with-snow
Not one but two late-October snowstorms (perhaps 3 inches in the first, and more than 18 two days later in the second) pounded the place. I have never had snow on my Cannas before.
front-yard-october-storm
The front yard in the aftermath of Storm 2. That’s a 15-foot dogwood splayed open at the far left.
carting-away-damaged-branches
Once it melted a week or so later, there were truckloads of bodies to remove, more than a dozen shrubs and three trees. I expect other things will show their damage come spring.
frost-on-perennials
But except for that freakish event, the fall was mostly unnaturally warm. In November we started to have serious frost for a moment or two, but it never really stuck around for long.
winterberries
Nature seems to know I can only take so much, so it rewarded me for my pain with the heaviest crop of winterberry holly fruit ever…
pears
…and wall-to-wall carpeting of pears (too bad they’re wild, not tasty…but the animals and birds like them).
from-on-buddhas-lap
One quiet day between extreme meteorological events, I saw this little green frog sitting in the moss-covered lap of another Buddha statue. There is an expression that says when you are afraid, put your head in the lap of the Buddha — and I guess this little guy had read that somewhere. On New Year’s Eve I awoke to 45 degrees F and mud as if it’s April, so I have to say I’m glad to bid farewell to the wildest weather year ever. Have mercy, 2012!
  1. Pat says:

    I just finished reading And I Shall Have Some Peace There and loved seeing the frogs, Jack the cat, your garden and you. Thanks for sharing your gardening year in images. Looking forward to more in 2012.

    Reply
  2. cindy says:

    Am currently enjoying reading “And I shall have some peace”. I love your wit and brutally honest account of finding your way. I, too, am mid fifties, an avid gardener, and currently assessing what it is I am here on earth to do. With that, I thought i would check out your blog. Thank you for the beautiful photos of your world!

    Reply
  3. Jen says:

    Thanks for sharing your photos- I love looking at them. The spring shot with the apple trees and lilacs is SO pretty! Let’s hope 2012 is a nicer weather year for all of us!

    Reply
  4. Kathy Lintz says:

    Margaret…Beautiful slideshow! I have to do that for my gardens and I never do.I have really enjoyed your newsletter. Gardening gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling. I live in Michigan in the coastal town of Ludington…..I had some challenges with all the wind. I also have very sandy soil which I have been working on for 9 years.Happy New Year.

    Reply
    1. Margaret says:

      Thanks, Cindy, for the heads-up that you are reading the book, and the kind words.

      Kathy, so nice to hear from you. Gardening gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling, too. :)

      Reply
  5. Heather @ what's blooming this week says:

    It’s been a while since I visited and I’m glad I did – looking at your pictures made me want to come back for more, which I will.
    Happy New Year

    Reply
  6. Pam says:

    Thank you, Margaret….beautiful and inspirational! Warm in southcentral PA, as well. Planted bulbs yesterday in warm, wet soil. The freeze starts tomorrow, finally.

    Reply
  7. Doris says:

    Thanks for the pictures Margaret-I love the garden gates and peaches YUM! oh and a gorgeous, velvety-soft Cecropia! All the Best to you and your gardens in the new year.

    Reply
  8. Trixie says:

    I discovered awaytogarden-com.ptn3h8t4-liquidwebsites.com in mid-2011 by way of yougrowgirl.com and am so glad I did. I love all the slideshows and posts. They give me tons of inspiration and the photos are just so gorgeous. I look forward to visiting this site on a very regular basis in 2012!

    Reply
  11. Burndett Andres says:

    THANK YOU, Margaret. Your website and comments/info/observations are soooo very interesting and helpful. I really love it “here.”

    Reply
  13. Christine S says:

    Thank you for your beautiful blog. I loved the photos of your garden in 2011. What drama, from the weather to the froggies. Blessings and peace in 2012!

    Reply
  14. Ann says:

    Margaret — what a fabulous slideshow — cheers me on my pending escape from zone 5b (Sharon, CT) to 8b (Portland, OR) and my new garden.

    Reply
  15. Tim Sellin says:

    What a great set of photos! I enjoy peeking in from time to time to see what you have to say, but this time… you nearly let the pictures do all the talking (according to my simple math your pictures spoke about 44,000 words)!

    Here’s hoping 2012 is a little better to all of us,

    Tim in Portland

    Reply
  16. Marnie Andrews says:

    Margaret,

    I am so grateful for your posts. I don’t always get to read them, but when I do, I am rewarded with the humor, beauty, and great information you post.

    2011 was a year of my husband’s recurrence of cancer, almost a full year of treatment. I had to let go of much, including many of my garden duties. It forgave me, as it tends to do and still gives pleasure even in the face of my neglect.

    But your posts give inspiration and encouragement for the next season of growth. Thank you.

    Reply
  17. Maryanne says:

    Hi Margaret,
    Loved the slide show. Here in Florida we are still gardening. I love seeing all the beautiful plants you grow. When I lived in N.Y I loved growing clematis. It is such a beautiful vine. Here in Fl. Gardening is a bit different, but I still enjoy it. Happy New Year to you. Keep the photos coming.thanks

    Reply

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