Nil, nada, nothing!

This is the only garden in Columbia, North Carolina! Seriously. I walked around one evening and half a day and this is all that I could find. There are a number of small homes in town and a number of small businesses, but apparently no one has time, energy, or perhaps interest to create anything else that approaches the status of "garden" - and you know I ain't too picky! This was a fountain just off the downtown warf that was planted in red annuals [name escapes me at the moment], but which was in poor health.

Gardens in Edenton

If Albemarle Plantation was a dearth of gardens, Edenton is an ample sufficiency! Nearly every yard has a little spot tucked in next to a fence, or a porch, or down the driveway. If I had felt comfortable tramping thru lots of backyards I could have filled an album. Since I was not happy with that behavior, I'll show you some and tell you about others.

Since this is initially an English colony town, there are many formal plantings. The most interesting (and easiest to photograph) was the Cupola House. This is a 1780's house being restored, but someone has taken pretty good care of the gardens - both front and back. From the front it's a series of fenced in sections. The first one is mostly lawn with planting around the edges at the fence - mostly boxwood and crepe myrtles. I'm sure there are azaleas mixed in, too. The second one is a formal garden of triangles and squares, planted in a typical English manner of annuals and perennials. It's a bit over-grown, but clearly someone is taking care of it while the building is undergoing a face lift.

In the back is a mixture of formal and informal. Can you see the lovely arbor on the far side? It is nearly hidden under the vine that lives there. As much as the formal is not my cup of tea, this has a nice feel. I think the crepe myrtles help soften the formal feel. They have not done crepe murder here, so the trees are soft and vase-shaped. They have also trimmed many of the boxwood as cones, instead of balls as we normally see in Virginia. I wonder if they are creating "conifers"? Whatever the reason, I liked the result.

A block or two away I found this pretty fence row (right). It was a planting that appears to separate two properties. The white picket fence ran the full length from house to house, but about half way there was this planting that juts out at 90 degrees and is filled on both sides with exuberant perennials. There is a yucca near the sidewalk and then something fluffy and white that I did not know. The border on this side is hosta with blooming flowers behind it. The trees to the right are actually behind the fence on the "near" property. This is the type of planting I saw lots of places nestled up against whatever was available. There are many Queen Anne style homes with big porches and the hexagonal pavilions on the corners, so there were lots of spots to tuck a little planting.

But my favorite planting was along the street by a bed and breakfast. This is clearly a work of love. The street side of this raised bed is granite blocks that look like those used in the foundation of the building. The ends and inside of the bed are brick. It it about four feet wide [but unlike my new bed, can be worked from both sides!] and runs the entire length of the side of the building. There were three sections, and the plants seemed to vary according to light. Garland would have loved the section that was all white blooms - impatiens, white Gerbera daisies, baby's breath, and several things that I did not recognize. A second section had hosta, lavendar angelonia, heliotrope [ah, the smell!] and a gorgeous coleus. The final third was the sunniest and had multicolored flowers including daisies, more Gerberas, black-eyed susans, and more hosta. I find it interesting that there are hostas planted lots of places that are very sunny.

The "mound" of green about midway in the photo is actually a small arbor over the B&B sign that is covered with the fall blooming clematis that is just starting to bloom. The whole effect was lovely. I kept hoping the gardener would come out of the house so I could ask about the planting, but I finally had to move on to keep from loitering.

Overall, this is a lovely little town. Lots of old buildings from the 1700's, 1800's, and some interesting one from the early 1900's. It's a great place to dawdle.

Albemarle Plantation

As gardens go Albemarle Plantation was a disappointment. It was all so "groomed" - every blade of Bermuda grass [you already know my feelings on that] cut to 3/4-inch, and native grasses everywhere, with a crepe myrtle every 27 feet to break it up. It was pleasant to look at, but no imagination anywhere, and apparently no "personal" gardens at any of the homes.

The setting, tho, was another story. This is water cypress territory. Along all the swampy edges one could see cypress knees and here and there an intrepid tree growing out of the water like a triumphant king of some lost civilization of trees. The cattails were beautiful and often filled with birds. Mitchell saw two deer early one morning, and we saw a raccoon one afternoon. There were plenty of shore and sea birds, too, of course.

In Hertford I did not not many gardens accessible to us along the main streets, but the tea room did have a pretty little one. On a cooler day one could have eaten breakfast of lunch at a little table "out back" in a pretty setting.

Let's hope for more in Edenton - it's not named for the garden, but one can hope.

PS: About that mystery plant from Eastville Inn. I found another quite like it in Manteo. Beverly - the shop owner - said it was an "old rose" with a heavenly scent. I forgot to ask what color it bloomed, so am not sure it was exactly the same variety as the mystery plant, but it did have similar crinkly leaves and similar - altho smaller - hips.

Elizabethan Gardens - Manteo, NC

Had a fun adventure today - all by myself - at the Elizabethan Gardens. The Garden Club of North Carolina built this garden some years ago to commemorate the English women who came to the New World and brought with them their love of gardens. As I expected it had some very formal gardens, but there were also lots of natural areas and unexpected touches.

The Gardens are located about 3.5 miles from the Town Dock Marina where we are staying. We had hoped to rent bikes and ride up there, but there is no bike rental in town! so, I decided to walk. No one else was particularly interested or able, so I did it alone. With water and a snack packed I started out about 8:30 this morning - at a very slow pace. There is a fine walking/riding path all the way and I encountered only a few bikers along the way. There are several resting places with benches and [mostly working] water fountains, so I had several stops. I made two mistakes in my preparations - forgot to take a sweat towel and bug spray. Fortunately, I was able to remedy both once I arrived at the Gardens. It took me about two hours, but I really enjoyed the walk.

Altho the path was only a couple hundred yards from the water, I could not see it except occasionally down a street end. I passed old cottages - some lovingly fixed up and some falling down - a working farm, new developments and even some undeveloped land. Altho one has the feeling that there is not square inch of undeveloped water front, there still is plenty of space on this island once you get a block off the water.

The Gardens were very interesting. The formal center garden was the typical English manor garden with boxwood shapes filled with summer flowers - a lot of pentas in different colors. There was also a rose garden that was pretty disappointing. It has only six or eight plants, altho all are special in some way, but nothing was thriving. This time of summer it should be full of blooms, but all the plants appeared to be struggling. The natural walkways were more interesting to me than the formal spaces. There were hydrangeas of many varieties and types, as well as many azaleas (the former in bloom and the latter not, of course!) This oak leaf hydrangea was easily ten feet tall. Lots of shade loving perennials and annual bloomers for filler in the sunny spots. There are also several overlooks onto the Roanoke Sound where historians believe the Roanoke Colony was located.

The most interesting things, tho, were the sculpture. All of it has been donated, and I am sure the donors gave for specific reasons, which were not well explained. There is a huge - like 20 feet tall - bronze statue of Elizabeth. Ok, I got that one. The bronze work is spectacular, with the lace around the bottom of her dress showing intricate detail, and the rose in her hand is just perfect. There are many cairns and basins - most with water in them - which help with the peaceful feeling one finds there. And, then there were little surprises hidden away - some water features, some elves and other story book characters and some more formal pieces. I really enjoyed them all.

But by far the most interesting piece of sculpture was a full life size sculpture of Virginia Dare. It's carara marble, carved by an American artist in Rome and very pretty. You all know that history is not my strong point, altho I do usually muddle thru American history fairly well....but, I thought that Virginia Dare was the first child born in the Roanoke Colony and disappeared along with the entire colony when she was a toddler. Are you with me there? I am asking because the statue is of a full grown woman - a nude wrapped in a piece of fishing seine. Like Elizabeth, it is a gorgeous carving with lots of attention to detail, but I keep wondering if it is Virginia Wolff or Daisy Fitzgerald, or one of Max Parrish's models. I think it it's Virginia Dare then the artist used up a lifetime of "artistic license"!

Since we are traveling, I did not purchase a plant, but believe me.... I looked and considered. I am not convinced that I need to find a way to irrigate so that I can have some bear's britches!

I decided to fore go the two-hour walk back to the marina, so called a cab. But that is a story for another time. This is a really pretty place and I highly recommend it as a way to spend a couple of hours. The Lost Colony is next door and there is an historical part, but I didn't really feel like doing both, so that is a trip for another time. Stay tuned.