Fran’s Island Garden – FineGardening

Happy Monday GPODers!

Hope you all had some fabulous spring weather this weekend and got a chance to enjoy some time outside. If not, today’s garden will be a nice retreat from the hustle and bustle you’re dealing with. We’re starting the week off on a high note with a little taste of island life! Today’s submission comes from Fran on Martha’s Vineyard:

My name is Fran and I can say I believe I have been gardening all of my life. I grew up on a fruit and vegetable farm in central PA. I have always had flower beds and sometimes vegetable beds. I have been gardening for the past 20 plus years on Martha’s Vineyard an island of Massachusetts. I read GPOD first thing in the morning! I have submitted to GPOD in the past (check out Fran’s past submissions: Gardening on Martha’s Vineyard and Jewels of Fall in Fran’s Garden). I have three large flower bed areas and shrubs in other areas.

Turkeys and deer are frequent visitors to my gardens. My neighbor says the deer are a big presence when we are away from home. In a few days we will be traveling and I am prepared to have no hostas when we return. I spray the azaleas year round to control the deer browsing. I have happily found many plants to enjoy that deer do not like. My favorites are ferns, spireas, columbines, brunneras and others. I also use lots of hydrangeas which the deer do not bother too much. As you can see, I use the chartreuse color frequently giving the design brightness mostly year around.

I’m sure this is too much information. (Never too much information, Fran! I think I can speak for everyone when I say it’s great to hear all the ins and outs and ups and downs of everyone’s gardens!) I enjoy so much the passion of other gardeners in the submissions and find inspiration every day from GPOD!

Ajuga (commonly known as bugleweed (Ajuga reptans, Zones 4-8)) is a great ground cover, a bit invasive but not hard to control. (Like Fran says, Ajuga is an invasive that, given the right care, is so beautiful it could be worth the effort of keeping in its place. If you’re looking for alternatives to problematic ground covers, check out this super helpful article: 27 Better Ground Covers for Shade to Replace Problematic Plants)

Easy to see why Fran keeps Ajuga in her garden. Aside from it being beautiful on its own, the purple flowers make a perfect compliment to these incredible ‘Winky Double Red-White’ columbine (Aquilegia vulgaris ‘Winky Double Red-White’, Zones 3-8).

The stunning multi-colored flowers continue with a cluster of Percy Wiseman rhododendron (Rhododendron yakushimanum ‘Percy Wiseman’, Zones 5-9).

Another gorgeous columbine, this one in a lovely shade of purple with the more common bloom shape.

Some of Fran’s infamous garden visitors! Three turkeys stroll through the garden, also enjoying Fran’s plantings of hostas, ferns, and little pops of glowing Brigadoon St John’s Wort (Hypericum calycinum ‘Brigadoon’, Zones 5-9).

Wow—with all this lush plant life, you’d never guess this garden has a deer problem. Fran really shows what is possible when you work with the challenges your climate and conditions give you, rather than struggle and fight against them.

Thank you for sharing your fabulous garden with us again, Fran. I’m sure we would all love to see an update when other plants are blooming later in the season!

Have a garden you’d like to share?

Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!

To submit, send 5-10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.

Have a mobile phone? Tag your photos on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter with #FineGardening!

Do you receive the GPOD by email yet? Sign up here.