Georgia Garden Gazing

A glorious day for gazing at gardens on Skidaway Island!  This garden tour featured beautiful gardens that were seen in their prime viewing mode today.  We hopped on an open golf cart and sailed away under the BLUE skies of Skidaway Island.  The temperature reached over 90, but the air was dry, the breeze softly cooling.  Many years ago my New Canaan garden was on a garden tour and I will never forget the last minute pressure to make everything look JUST SO.  Ready for their close ups today:

An enchanting garden on a small lot with a reverence for nature.  The gardener in this home proclaims a profound respect for Doug Tallamy. His book,  “Bringing Nature Home” should inform gardeners of all kinds, and it was a joy to see the ideas brought into practice – especially in this place where the rich ecosystem is so important to the health of the Island.

This next garden was designed by well known landscape architect Thomas Angell who is known for his swells and ingenious use of systems for water retention and directing water in low coastal areas like ours.  I love this parking area/path which serves to drain water and minimize water run off in big rain events.

One of the gardens we toured recalls Italian gardens visited by the owners.  I did forget for a moment that I was in the Georgian low country.  The best views on Skidaway can be of the Eastern and Western marshes, and this pool area was sited to take full enjoyment of that view.

Every pot in this garden was filled with healthy plants with great color combinations. My favorite garden visited today was full of what I call garden soul.  Here is a garden tended by owners who put their heart and soul into their space.  I get goose bumps when I visit a special spot like this. I especially felt a kindred spirit when I recognized a statue, the same as the one I left behind in my Ct garden.  We called him Oliver and he traveled with us through 3 gardens.  Why didn’t he come with us to Georgia?  I thought he wouldn’t fit in with the coastal landscape.  Look how wrong I was!  I am sad I left him behind. Along the sides of the property were garden niches.  Not large enough to be called rooms, but individual spaces with a sculptural or garden ornament featured.  The only drawback that I could see was the large lagoon abutting their back yard – filled with alligators!   That is not a log floating – it is an alligator! That wouldn’t do with my sweet cavalier King Charles Spaniels in the garden!

I could really belabor this post and show you every photo I took, but I know most blog readers like it short and concise and sweet.   Just two more I’d like to share:

Garden tours always bring me back to my  garden where I  reassess what I have done to tame Nature.  I am satisfied at present.  I no longer have a large garden as I once did, but I am still very satisfied to be able to take a walk in the garden, collect some blooms, and bring a few stems indoors for a bouquet to enjoy!

Happy spring from Georgia!

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